Sins of Harmony Volume 0: Starswirl's Legacies

by Kalsik

Chapters

Harbingers of Oracle Mount
Farewells before the First Step
Romane Imperium
LOYALTY II: Gloriosa Mashri
LOYALTY III: Lineages of Legacy.
LOYALTY IV: Cost of a Choice.
MAGIC I: Imperial Pandina, Tragedy
MAGIC II: Hinai's reminiscences.
MAGIC III: Reluctance and Power.
MAGIC IV: Ambushed, Sullied Sorcerer.
MAGIC V: Hinai relinquished, last allure.
LAUGHTER I: Faroench joie de vivre.
LAUGHTER II: Alicorn Insights, Contemned
LAUGHTER III: Frello's Shame, Secrets
LAUGHTER IV: Cirque, Flamboyant Frello.
HONESTY I, Cursed Malabutu Valley.
HONESTY II, Malabutu Huntress
HONESTY III, Geldrath's Lair
HONESTY IV, Rakshasa, Nahia's grief
HONESTY V, Vengeful Inferno.
HONESTY VI, Truths and Lies unspoken.
GENROSITY I, Shetland port plundering.
GENROSITY II, Glacial Waters.
GENROSITY III, Business, Grolstrom
GENROSITY IV, Creatures of Avarice.
GENROSITY VI, Reflection, Siral Departs
KINDNESS I, Of War, Daimyo and Ronin
KINDNESS II, Bushido: Code of Cruelty
KINDNESS III, Peace in Solitude
KINDNESS IV, Chack's Rampage
KINDNESS V, The Wizard Returns
25 Years Later, Equestrian Civil War
12 years later: A Savant and his servants.
Starswirl and Royal Sisters.
The Sixth: Lady Ave-Dol, Fortification
Celestia, Luna and the Savant's Academy
Cruel Duel, brewing Envy.
Tense Relations, Birth of Envy
Six’s solidarity, Sowing of Discord
Insecurities
Hearth's Warming Wrath
The Council of Starswirl
Siege of Baltimare
Treason of the Citadel
The Scourges of Canterlot
Grief becomes Cruelty
Dreams, Lord of the Forest
Resignation to new Paths
When Wizards crave Power
Hearth’s Malicious Schemes
Secrets, Starswirl the Hunter
Starswirl in the Catacombs
Friends to Foes
A Wizard saved, a Seventh enslaved.
The Ronin and the Old Forest
The Distant Drums of War
Revelations, the Seventh Awakens
Battle of Tartarus, Into the Fray
Battle of Tartarus, War at the Hellgates
Battle of Tartarus, Forces of Nature.
Battle of Tartarus, Cataclysm.
Necessary Evils.
Siral’s Denouement
Citadel's Fall I, Insurrection
Citadel’s Fall II, Anarchic Beings
Citadel’s Fall III, Siral’s Damnation
Citadel’s Fall V, Dissolution of Sins
Starswirl: The Lie that is Destiny.
Baltimare Affairs: High Society.
LUST: Iena the Manipulative.
LUST/GLUTTONY: Decadent Battle
LUST/GLUTTONY: First Blood.
GLUTTONY: Satio the Voracious
The perils of shadowed schemes
Royal Crisis, Ultimatums
GREED/WRATH: Crystal Empire Carnage
WRATH: Odi-Viscer the Destroyer
GREED: Golmov the Vain, Death of Aurora.
SLOTH: Ave-Dol's submission, Fractured
Two Years Later.
KINDNESS VI: Cruelty begets Suffering.
KINDNESS VII: Chack's Compassion.
KINDNESS VIII: Breaking Cruelty's Cycle.
The Savant's seeds and root of Evil
Fearful Odds, Harmony's Resurrection
The Rise of Discord.
Six Years of Chaos
The last Farewell to the Royal Sisters
Starswirl the Reclusive, Epilogue.
BONUS: THE LOST ONES
Old Friends
LOYALTY I: Dishonored.
LOYALTY V: Venatrix, brisk departures.
GENROSITY V, Leviathan, Irvin: Altruist
Equestria’s tipping point
Battle of Tartarus, Valley of Violence
Citadel’s Fall IV, Discord takes root
ENVY/GREED: The Problem of Alicorns
Through the eyes of the Elements.

Harbingers of Oracle Mount

800 BNM

13th March

Late Morning

Oracle Mount

Monastery halls

"Good fortune be with you Starswirl.." Siral drawled, stood near the doorway as Starswirl was led to the upper temple chamber by a brown robed monk Earth Pony.

"I think not, given the summoning's specifics of asking of me over others."

With a slight nod, the black furred, white maned unicorn turned to head back to the monastery's archives, willing to pass the time there.

He was led out of the temple's stone steps by the quiet robed Earth Pony, a lower monk that, like all below a certain rank, had taken a vow of silence. Up above them, atop the winding marble covered stairs, the circular, almost bell shaped pillar ringed temple stood isolated on the hills.

Walking up the stone steps, Starswirl gazed around the temple mount, getting more and more alert and tense as they climbed the steps. Normally the Oracle came down to them, and to be called up directly to the temple itself was so infrequent that it was thought to be a sign of changes to come.

One thing was for certain though, the ambiance around the temple seemed to be holding its breath also. Down below around the main halls, the mountain breeze, faint chirps of birds and even the bleats of the locally kept herd of sheep and goats were the natural background in this peaceful, mythical place.

But up here, at the threshold of the upper temple, the centre of Oracle Mount's grounds, the breeze was silent, no livestock noises echoed up here, and no birds chattered their song. Silence, pressing on all senses, a place where the natural world began to be blurred, emanating from the temple itself before Starswirl now.

With a hoof gesture, the brown robed Earth Pony stallion directed Starswirl inside, and as if a voice in his head said it, he was compelled to enter the darkened temple's innards.

Starswirl strode down, confidence feigned as he entered into a place he thought he would never enter in his life.

Oracle Mount

Temple of the Sight

Hoofsteps were silenced somehow in here, as Starswirl stopped at the outside of the circular inner chamber. Inside, a trio of brown robed servant monk ponies, flank and fur hidden from view, marked the edges of the room. Further inside, a set of 6 dark purple robed ponies of unknown kind, two perhaps bigger than others, stared at him beneath the faceless masks they wore, blank grey/blue masks with only some vertical vents for breathing at the mouth, and a set of two slit like eye slots in all of the masks.

Staring around, Starswirl composed himself as he heard more voices in his head, his own thoughts serving others:

Sit, and we shall enter.

Sitting on his hunches, Starswirl stared down at the centre of the circular room, the darkened atmosphere humid with the incenses coming from the vents in the floor below. The air seemed to ripple before him as he saw a trio of dark, blood red robed figures wander through a hidden alcove, almost gliding through the air to sit on the opposite side of the main floor circle to him.

As the humid air made him blink a few times, Starswirl breathed in awe as he saw the Oracle ponies, the three Seers, remove their hoods, exposing only their heads. All 3 were elderly aged mares with stark white fur and traces of dusty grey and black manes. Triplets by the looks of it, all of them Unicorns. And the eyes stared at him from all three, probing, knowing far more than one would think with them.

The rumours were true then, that the 3 legendary Seers of Oracle Mount were indeed blind. But in losing their sight, they gained the ability to truly See.

One of the purple robed ponies, a larger stallion, spoke with a stern voice beneath his mask:

"Starswirl the Bearded. Place your fore hoofs on the floor before you, in the red marked circle."

Keeping his composure, Starswirl placed both hoofs on the red tile marked circle at the centre of the room, while in front, the 3 blind Seers began to speak as one, the voices carrying around like whispers on the wind, piercing like the most frigid of cold gusts into Starswirl's mind:

You are marked, your destiny has become entangled in grave events to come. Menaces yet to emerge loom ahead of you in your future, that much the divine has shown us.

Breathing hard to maintain his cool, Starswirl relaxed, using techniques he employed to calm his mind to focus on any challenge ahead of him.

The red robed mare on the left murmured deeply now, a voice like a low breeze over a mountaintop, though just as much in his mind:

Your past is revealed to me, for I see what has occurred before. History is a cycle that repeats itself, changing in shape, but same in form.

You already have greatness, and you are renowned in this time of peace in your nation, and even further beyond. You have accomplished much already, proving you are worthy of the tasks to come.

The memories of his past, learning under his own master, then rising to influence enough to take his first student, Clover the Clever. When Equestria was reunited, she put in a good word for him, and his opportunities to lend his services and counsel to many grew with it. Hence he became known as a more 'involved' wizard among those of higher magical ability.

The second mare then spoke, her own voice like a sound of rustling leaves:

Your present is revealed to me, for I see what occurs now in all places. What occurs that we do not witness in any moment will have its effect later on.

You are respected among your brethren, despite being more outreaching, and yet also close friends with the most withdrawn of your brethren, the Savant. You are independent, powerful, few in friends but trusted in those you have, and ready in mind and spirit for what you fear we have to reveal of your future.

Starswirl slowly nodded, this was expected, the Seers, like all foretellers, were 3 that saw all. One saw the past, another the present, and the last the future. The future was what the message had been about.

The third mare spoke, her own voice like an icy high pitched whisper in the night:

Your future is revealed to me, murky and uncertain as a whole, but what lays at the end of yours is as we feared. Cataclysms and monstrosities lurk in your future, and in the future of the nation you are borne of. Beyond your lifespan, longer as it is, and yet you still are directly involved.

You, Starswirl, are destined for greatness in times long to yet come. Destiny calls you to the futures that these troubles yield, to learn, gain insight, stifle the unseen threats to the world's balance, and strive to end them if they come to fruition.

All of a sudden, before Starswirl's eyes, the air between them shimmered and blurred into a smoky haze, as the 3 voices then rang out:

Beings of strife and destruction, borne out of that most destructive desire there is, the desire for power over others. Power corrupts all, corrupting more as it grows in strength.

Creatures bred from the need to acquire power, in a time of greatest turmoil.

The Lustful One: A deceitful tempter, taking pleasure in sowing division.

The Gluttonous One: A voracious force, consuming all things like a plague.

The Greedy One: A cunning creature, ensuring it gains in any outcome.

The Slothful One: A careless bystander, apathetic to the suffering of others.

The Wrathful One: A mindless beast, all that breathes is its enemy.

The Envious One: A cold hearted servant, scheming for power and revenge.

The Prideful One: A scheming master, moulding all things to its own ends.

More so than others, the Prideful One shall be your final challenge in your greater destiny that we see.

Beware the enemies that lay closest to your heart, though not yet enemies they themselves may be.

Seek the essences of true Harmony, the greatest power to be had to combat these threats you are to face at the end of your destiny.

A Treacherous One, for you and they to learn of True Loyalty.

A Restrained One, for you and they to learn of True Magic.

A Glum One, for you and they to learn of True Joy.

A Selfish One, for you and they to learn of True Generosity.

A Deceitful One, for you and they to learn of True Honesty.

A Cruel One, for you and they to learn of True Kindness.

Your future is written, you are called to answer the unseen threats to the world.

This is the command of the world, to you.

As the last word echoed like a dragon roar in his mind, Starswirl finally succumbed to the choking atmosphere and mind visions he was constantly receiving.

Amidst the sweltering fumes and experience, Starswirl's world turned on its side as he felt the floor rush up to welcome him with calming silence and darkness with a painful thud.

7 hours later

13th March

Late Afternoon

Oracle Mount

Monastery halls

Blinking, Starswirl looked around. He was in his room back in the halls, and he felt a dull ache in his head. Rubbing his head, Starswirl wondered if it had been a dream.

A slight lump on his head begged to differ, and as he gazed around, he saw a small scroll, tied with the Oracle's seal. Before he opened it, he gazed out a nearby window.

It had been morning when he'd entered, and now the sun was close to setting on the horizon to the west. Many hours had passed it seemed.

Unrolling it, Starswirl saw the cryptic words confirm that what he'd experienced was real.

Heed the words of us. To aid you in your task, your foretelling revealed to you the order in history which the essences of Harmony to meet shall appear. None shall be alive to see each other, but with your destiny laid out, you will live to see them all, before the beings of power emerge to threaten Equestria first, then the world, when conflict is at its height here in the distant future.

For the sake of the greater world, and the damage that is foretold to be done around their emergence, you know what must be done to be able to be around to accept this.

Accept your destiny, and use the spell enclosed here whenever you travel along your destiny's path. It shall stop you when one you must seek to learn from is near in time.

Your destiny is just beginning.

Putting down the letter, Starswirl held his head in his hooves, scratching his medium length grey beard as these troubled thoughts plagued his mind for many hours.

3 hours later

13th March

Late Evening

Oracle Mount

Talk had spread of Starswirl's experience being so great with the oracles that he'd passed out for nearly 8 hours. But this wasn't uncommon with tales of direct experiences with the Seer trio. Visitors who directly were met, becoming so overpowered by the visions, aura and words to the point of passing out was to be expected.

A few curious Magii and Wizards had asked Starswirl what he heard, but he merely said he'd reveal it in time, that it was something he still needed to think on.

But Siral knew Starswirl, and not much got under his skin.

He confronted Starswirl in a secluded part of the archives, and after pressing hard enough, and making sure none of the monks, servants or other visitors would hear, Starswirl admitted what he'd been told.

Archive halls

Stood against a wall, forehoof leaning against the stone wall in question, Siral was quiet after hearing the prophetic visions and sayings Starswirl had been told.

Dubious as Siral was with Seers and Oracles, there were a fair few, the most notorious, that were consistently correct, vague or not as they were in telling the future. The Dalphi Oracle, and the Equestrian Oracle Mount seers were among those with reputation for accuracy.

The black Unicorn scratched his white mane absentmindedly, shifting it from his robe, while Starswirl admitted to Siral quietly:

"I am being asked to do so much Siral... To leave behind this time, everypony I know. I know I already have outlived many, besides those here at the monastery as visitors, but to leave them all for times where I may be the only one of us still living?"

"You would be known for greatness if you went, if these beings of Harmony, and of Power, are as influential as the Oracle Seers predict." Siral reasoned to his friend, though the grey bearded Unicorn stallion paced slightly, questioning his decision to be:

"I have no specific times to go off of, no idea how far into the future these threats are, only that the essences of Harmony will emerge in history before them, at least still a normal Pony lifespan from now. Long lived as we all are, we have limits, and I will not live another 2 normal lifespans easily. There is one course left if I do this, to wait out the time in a way that will not age me."

"You are thinking of some form of hibernation." Siral realized, before he also added: "You did create the stasis spell, which could lend itself to a long sleep spell of some kind."

Starswirl walked over to Siral suddenly, remarking: "Siral, focus away from the how of the situation, and please focus on my actually dilemma, of what me actually going away would mean for everypony now!"

At his stern words, Siral backed off, remarking apologetically: "I just tried to help you if you decide to do it, how I could."

Starswirl blinked a little, as he asked with some apologetic tone to his voice: "If I left, what would become of you Siral?"

"I would manage, in my own way. I did before I knew you."

"But would you miss me?"

"Undoubtedly, but I feel this responsibility of yours is too great of a call."

With a sigh, Starswirl asked: "If you'd been called, not me, would you choose to accept it?"

"Yes. But like now, I'd consult with my closest partner, friend, before I made it final."

"It is that big of a responsibility then in your mind?" Starswirl asked. Siral gave a small smile, as he remarked:

"To travel to ages to come, see how the future unfolds, shape it for the better even? Anypony with a shred of imagination and desire to be a force of balance would accept in a heartbeat."

As Siral finished, Starswirl caught the faint glimmer of ambition in Siral's eyes, the same ambition that drove him to work so diligently behind the scenes, just as Starswirl's same drive prompted him to actively participate in cultural and political occurrences that he saw he could aid.

Thinking to himself, Starswirl added thankfully: "You know if I did this, it would mean goodbye."

"There are many worse, less glorious ways to part." Siral added with some humour. With a faint chuckle, Starswirl guessed aloud: "I suppose you shall want to work with me, one last time, as I form the means to go forwards."

Siral gave a nod, but he stressed: "You shall go first, and I may not use it myself at all. You are the more 'outgoing' one of us after all. It's appropriate you be seated with this ambitious responsibility by forces greater than us."

Seeing Siral's understanding, Starswirl made the last remark between them as they made to leave the archives together:

"I'll tell the others here of my impending quest to who knows when and where. I shall have to inform some in Equestria's courts of my leaving, tie up loose ends. Then, I shall find you."

"See, if you were like me and kept to yourself and each other mostly, we could start sooner."

"Siral, I'll have plenty of time where I'm going, and you may want to cherish the time I'm still here anyway." Starswirl admonished his comrade, sensing it was Siral's eagerness to trial new, experimental magic, coupled with a destiny that permitted such experimentation, coming to the surface.

Starswirl sensed that Siral would likely have a strong legacy as he moved through history, when he set out.

For now, he had loose ends to tie up.

Author's Note

The prophetic vision of the Oracles sets up Starswirl's future, and Siral already looks to be a useful ally in forming the means to travel along the path of destiny laid out for Starswirl.

The beings of power will come late in the story, during the Equestrian Civil War era, whereas the beings of Harmonic essence will come first.

Each of the six will be in a different era and region, and I figured it would be more worth storytelling if they were individuals that didn't reflect the 'Element' they would when Starswirl first meets them, to see character arcs from all 6 of them.

Especially given that none of them will ever meet each other, only Starswirl will know them all.

Farewells before the First Step

800 BNM

26th April

Midday

Reinvare, Palace citadel

Over a month had passed since Starswirl's experience with the Oracles of the Mount.

Rumour began to the magic wielding ranks in Equestria of the lauded Starswirl being summoned and instructed, what it was exactly still a mystery, of a great responsibility. Word spread of this being perhaps a portent of ill future, yet nothing else besides rumour flew.

But all that was known was that Starswirl would be travelling for the rest of his foreseeable days, his age fighting magic making that time perhaps a century or so at most, double his current age.

Such rumours would die down in time, as he disappeared from current knowledge. Wizards and Magii were enigmatic figures among Equestria, delving deeper into magical arts beyond just the raw magic of unicorns, but also in the inherent magic of both pegasi and earth ponies, along with other races. Talk figured that this may just be a Wizard deciding to expand their travels and knowledge seeking of magic to races beyond those in Equestria and other horse races maybe.

For the sake of secrecy, Starswirl decided that vague rumours such as this were the best way to leave things. He was 150, and had outlived many, growing somewhat detached from many 'laymen' ponies because of this. He had few reasons to refuse this destiny, committed to leaving this time forever for the future.

Though that would not stop him bidding those few he personally knew some last farewells.

Royal Offices

Princess Silvian had made sure to make time today for this, and knew how much this meant to her assistant, a part of a family that had long served her own family line loyally for decades, over a century even.

Her Aide-de-camp, and foremost advisor and assistant, Harshrub the Cunning. He was his namesake suggested, and his namesake was a family tradition, labelled for a trait that best exemplifies them.

Princess Platinum, Sivlain's own grandmother, had known Clover the Clever in a similar relationship, ruler and assistant. And more so than with Clover and Platinum, both Silvian and Harshrub had known Starswirl more in their lives. After Clover's good words of Starswirl, following Equestria's unification, the Wizard had been more active in counselling many a pony about getting into, or advice amidst prodigal professions and positions in power.

"You are certain you will not be returning then?" Princess Silvian looked forlornly at her own magic tutor in her younger days, while Starswirl merely looked down slightly, murmuring with some vindication:

"Yes, I won't return, there is much to do, much to find out."

"But the Oracles didn't say what exactly you need to do?" Harshrub asked, the brown coated Unicorn stallion asking his former tutor also, a family friend too in his case. Starswirl gave a telling pause, as he decided not to lie, merely conceal.

"They revealed everything they knew, but for secrecy, it is best I reveal it to nopony else unless I need to."

Harshrub sensed the obvious decline to shed light on the reasons for him leaving, but decided to probe no further. Starswirl was notoriously stubborn when it came to his secrets and plans.

Leaning forwards from her desk pillow seat, Princess Silvian asked with some understanding, albeit with a sad smile: "Have you bid farewell to anyone besides us yet?"

"You are the last. I have already bid my partings to my Magii and Wizard brethren, but other than that I have given my regards to Chancellor Fondanne and Wise Wafarnold, along with General Maelstrom and Captain Orchid. Only those who I have history with in their families.

Nodding in understanding, Princess Silvian thought it appropriate. Those four mentioned had been descended from Chancellor Puddinghead, Smart Cookie, Commander Hurricane and Private/later Captain Pansy, the founders of Equestria that she and Harshrub were descendants of too.

Starswirl's true respected members were clear in that regard, and the families at least got personal farewells.

With a smile, Silvian offered her hoof forwards, the signet anklet seal showing her family crest beneath Equestria's, a gesture of goodwill from her.

"Take this Starswirl, as a sign of Equestria's thanks, my thanks, for your legacy. I hope it is a piece of your home nation you can always have on you, wherever your travels take you."

Surprised, Starswirl stared at the anklet for a moment, as he saw Princess Silvian remove it with her magic from her dark silver coat, hovering it over to him. Nearby, Aide Harshrub seemed to agree to this, as he then admitted: "I think my grandmother would want you to take it. You've already done much for our families, and many others in Equestria."

Pausing, Starswirl slowly seized the anklet midair in his blue magic, depositing it inside an inner pocket of his blue robed. Feeling a slight hollow feeling in his chest, Starswirl gave a low, respectful bow to the Princess, and the Aide, before he turned to stride from the office. As he left, Starswirl spoke his final words ever said to them:

"The future warned of a threat that in many forms fed on what divides ponykind and others, sours relationships of family, friend or lover. I have one last piece of advice, do not let Equestria stray from the path of peace and prosperity if you can help it, but remain vigilant. And tell your descendants that I will, one day, return, and that I hope to see this nation remains on the path it needs to truly be great."

As the Wizard left the office, his words would resonate with Princess Silvian and Harshrub until the end of their days. And along with the Pegasi and Earth Pony leadership, until the next generation of descendants of the Equestrian founders came to prominence, be they Unicorn, Earth Pony or Pegasi, Equestria remained in a period of peace and prosperity, and steady growth, only soured by the occasional skirmish and dispute over trivial matters.

But as history would show time and time again, many of the greatest periods of conflict can arise from what appears to be stable and affluent regions, situations and ages.

When Starswirl would next become involved in Equestrian history and events, the changes undergone would be beyond what he'd envisioned, for better, or worse.

Time was the greatest engine of change there was after all.

9th May

800 BNM

Late Evening

Neighagra mountain range

Siral's Tower

By the nature of the required magic to jump forwards in time to be able to find those he needed to find, as cited by the Oracles, be they the 6 essence beings of Harmony, or the strange 7 creatures of threat he would face, experiments were needed.

And Siral, friend of Starswirl's a non-factor in this, was most willing to try ambitious spells, and particularly potions.

Ever since arriving a week ago, Starswirl had worked with Siral to find a way to travel forwards in time years in one go, however it was. They needed a spell, a potion, or both, that would also be in sync with a repeated incantation language of the Oracle's foretelling of the 6 beings to meet, and the 7 beings amid a time of great threat. When Starswirl returned, it had to be in times where he could be around to not be too late, or too early.

So they worked, and already some ideas were in the works.

Basement rooms

Siral leant back, while Starswirl examined the potion brews in the caldrons, none of them looking promising.

"We have only been at it a week, and yet you say a spell won't work?"

"You risk travelling too far forwards if you use the spell even slightly off with the incantation of the Oracles repeated. You want to be certain, something that is guaranteed to work on the timeframe needed when enchanted with the prophetic words. Potions are your method Starswirl."

"But what about my time travel spell I devised and have refined? Can it not be easier to go forwards, rather than back?"

"That spell you devised only temporarily puts you there, a failsafe you said was on purpose in your writings."

At Siral's retort, the older Wizard frowned in agreement. And besides, he realised something just then, the grey bearded Unicorn pacing slowly as he remarked:

"And I still might overshoot if I don't know the future too. I can find out about the past to precisely travel back, but not forwards with precision."

With a sigh, Starswirl looked at the failed potion brews on the table, asking: "Why did you bring me down here Siral, if these aren't working?"

"Your aversion to using a hibernation means is to avoid your body being at risk while you slumber. I wanted to show you…this."

Backing up from his desk seat, Siral's eyes glinted slightly as a bright white flash lit up the darkened, torch lit lab between himself and Starswirl. As the other Wizard stopped shielding his eyed with a hoof, Starswirl blinked in surprise at what he saw.

A frog, much like the ones tested with these potions before. As it gave a weak croak upon snapping awake, before hopping off, Siral spoke up:

"I have done it. A form of hibernation without a body to harm, and have returned the tester many times, such as now."

Starswirl was impressed, but he asked directly: "Why did it appear as if the frog teleported into here?"

Siral's eyebrows rose in pride as the black Unicorn jabbed a hoof at Starswirl: "It did, and that's the simplistic beauty of it. The potion is a one off teleporter brew, and it transports you through time, not moving from the spot you are in. A one-way trip, as expected, and you sleep during it. An age may seem like a moment to the user."

"Very impressive Siral, this is what I need. But, maybe more tests before I indulge in this." Starswirl suggested helpfully, laying a friendly hoof on Siral's black shoulder. The black furred, white maned Unicorn gave a snort, as he then mumbled audibly:

"Not like you'd be doing this alone, couldn't start this alone."

Starswirl's expression faltered at Siral's remark, while he dropped the hoof. The grey and white bearded Unicorn stared at Siral, making it clear:

"Siral, this is my destiny, not yours. I must do it, and I don't want you to leave behind this time and era needlessly. Your gifts could help them all, if you take over from me in being the public figure for our gifted brethren."

Siral frowned, the darker Unicorn remarking: "We have a time of peace now, the rest of the Magii and Wizards can handle it. I wish to be more, do more, and I don't want my greatest legacy to be seeing my friend off on a one-way journey without help."

"Siral… I have to go alone. The Oracles said this was my responsibility, nopony else. I don't want this burden to be anypony's but mine. I have no idea what might be encountered, and what might join or put at risk me or anypony on this path."

Beware the enemies that lay closest to your heart, though not yet enemies they themselves may be.

As Siral looked strongly at him, Starswirl suddenly was reminded of a certain line of the Oracles. If Siral came, that would be more of them as travellers, more to potentially make allies, enemies, or more. More potential for trouble.

Cutting ties was easier, less things to be concerned about.

"You have the potential to become even more accomplished than ever, and you expect me not to want to come with you?" Siral remarked, the normally reserved black Unicorn more outspoken, even incredulous, at this fact. Starswirl saw once again the hidden ambition of Siral, and how he had come to respect ponies for their deeds, not their words.

Siral clearly wished to witness what Starswirl had to confront, and perhaps even help with or carry out his own deeds during the journey ahead.

Mentally, Starswirl weighed the opposite chances. Siral was a highly capable wizard, able to take care of himself, and Starswirl had divulged the key details of the prophecy only to him, nopony else got the full details. He knew what to expect as much as Starswirl did.

But the Oracles warned of enemies close to his heart, not friends and allies, and of enemies yet to become his enemies. Given he'd been rather detached from many as he time jumped, it left only anypony that came with him.

With a sigh, Starswirl remarked: "Siral, I can't let you come. I have to do this, but I want you to stay because you have so much you can accomplish, more than I can see myself perhaps."

"But it may not be as great as what you may do in your journey ahead." Siral interjected. Starswirl then angrily retorted loud enough in the basement room to shake some potion glasses with loud rattles:

"My life is forfeit to this destiny, yours is still your own to decide! Don't throw it away by caving to your curiosity, form a life beyond the withdrawn one you already live! You can be involved in affairs as I am and still be as skilled as you already are!"

At Starswirl's stinging words, Siral's ears fell slightly, as a slightly darkened look came over his face. Regretting his words, Starswirl calmed himself, offering the words he could to the black Unicorn Wizard:

"Siral. Please, I care about you, as a friend, and about your life among ponykind now, in the present. That is why I can't let you come with me, you'll be giving that up as I also have to. Better only one be burdened, than more. Even if I wasn't specifically destined, I would do it so nopony else had to. Least of all a trusted friend I'd be pained to see miss home at any stage."

Turning away from Starswirl, Siral scratched his white mane and short white beard with his hoof, before he gave a sigh, and turned with a regrettable tone:

"I'm sorry I spoke as I did Starswirl. You're right, I can't let my curiosity get the better of me. I have to do what I feel would be best for myself, and running with you for no reason other than curiosity isn't the way."

As Siral finished, he gestured to the testing potion setup: "The potion you will use, like you said, will need more tests to be certain. Once you go forwards, you will need to brew it yourself in whatever the year is, but you can learn it easily."

Seeing Siral had calmed enough, Starswirl gave a thankful nod, as he requested as he exited:

"Let me know if there is anything I can do to he-."

"I am the greater potions master between us Starswirl. Leave these mere tests to me." Siral absentmindedly waved the grey furred wizard up the stairs, turning his focus back to the large caldron of potion he would be testing.

With an amused snort, Starswirl trotted up the basement stairwell to the tower's living quarters above.

Left amidst the festering fumes of the potions, Siral's brows knitted in thought as he mused over Starswirl's selflessness in the act, taking this 'burden' as he called it, so nopony else could.

Siral felt it was the right choice, to not give in to simple curiosity. He had much grander things that could be done with his time than waste it on an array of aimless travels.

18th May

800 BNM

Late Morning

Neighagra mountain range

Mist Valley

Over a week had passed, and not much more had been said. Siral expressed no more desire to join Starswirl, but still agreed to help his friend up to the end.

At last, the day had come, and as friends, a last dinner and breakfast together the night before and this morning was well appreciated by both wizards before they set out. The 2 Unicorns, a Grey 150 year aged Wizard, and a Black 90 year old Wizard, wandered from the younger's tower home and across the paths atop the Neighagra mountain range.

The pair had passed down the winding causeways of the mountain valley, where the mighty double horseshoe shaped falls carved the river deep into the earth, a large stone column rising up like a sword thrust between the waterfall pairs, rock harder than the rest in the valley giving birth to the landmark over time. The Neighagra pillar it was called, amidst the falls.

But their journey took them south along the river banks a half mile from the falls, into a low lying valley which was always obscured in fog until early afternoon each day by the mist from the waterfall upstream carrying through the steep valley and creating greater fog in the aptly named Mist Valley.

They knew of caves that existed in the Mist Valley, ones which were not suited for a dragon or potential monster, but good for suddenly reappearing within out of nowhere, unseen.

At last, they found one, a crevice carved open in the side of the earth high above by an unknown force, perhaps a river long gone now.

Mist Valley

Secluded Cavern

Stood within the cavern, both their horns illuminated, the size of the cavern was not a concern for them even more.

The cavern was far too small for any dangerous creature to truly consider as a home at any stage, certainly any creature that might prove a challenge for a Wizard.

But now, as Siral watched, he saw Starswirl holding the flask of potion in his blue magical grasp, paused in thought. Turning to Siral, Starswirl remarked: "I can't thank you enough, for helping me. I will miss you greatly."

With a small smile, Siral urged Starswirl: "Whenever you're ready."

Taking a deep breath, knowing he'd prepared, Starswirl went over everything.

He knew the recipe to brew the potion, knew what spell to infuse into it before he drank it, as the spell and potion were useless alone, and responded only to the Wizard it was tailored to.

This was a one-way trip, any time he used it. But he doubted he'd have as many close friends like Siral to have to see off at any time after this. After this, it would be easy.

Calming his mind, Starswirl looked at Siral one last time, bowing his head to the Black Wizard before he raised the vial in his magic grasp.

The sour tasting potion ran down his throat, and as soon as the last drop was gone, Starswirl focused as he felt a heat build, not uncomfortably, in his stomach, and he began to quietly mumble the words he knew to say.

In front of Starswirl, Siral took a few steps backwards, eyes widening in awe as he saw a faint blue aura encompass Starswirl, and the air around him seemed to vibrate, distort, even crackle in places with miniature lightning bolts.

Mumbling the last verse, Starswirl finished his incantation, looking around to see a sphere of pulsating blue energy engulfing him, the world around him slowly fading as the arcs of energy slowly engulfed him.

Siral stood back, passively watching his friend vanish into the magical stasis, becoming a ghost effectively, until the time arrived when he would re-join the physical world. A teleportation into the future.

A bursting hum filled the cavern as the flare of blue lit it like a teal coloured star, before the cavern went pitch dark, save for the ribbon of light coming from the cave entrance behind Siral.

His White magic illuminating the cavern again, Siral saw the slightly disturbed rock where Starswirl had once stood, and sensed with his own magically enhanced senses.

It had worked flawlessly.

But now, alone as he was, Siral pulled open another potion vial with a slow movement of his magical grasp, staring with a look of certainty at both it and where Starswirl had vanished from.

His magical senses, attuned specifically to the energy of Starswirl using this spell, were flared as Siral suddenly gulped down the different potion.

Casting the vial aside as the vile formula made him acutely focused on the energy left behind, Siral reached into his robe pocket, pulling out a second vial. This one held a potion already used in this cavern by another.

Siral knew curiosity was no reason to go on a journey alone.

And if Starswirl would benefit from this travel, so could he. Starswirl was right, this was his life to choose the path of.

And he saw much more potential in the world ahead beyond what he could immediately see, than here and now.

********78 years later********

2nd June, 722 BNM

Mist Valley

Secluded Cavern

The cold rocks greeted Starswirl's senses, as he'd passed out during the intense energy field around him when the outside world vanished. He looked around the cave, noticing it was slightly more rounded, but largely the same.

He knew first thing to do was get his bearings, mostly what time he was in. He was still in Equestria, that was certain, and the potion had attuned him to the Propechy imbued on him.

The time he was now in held one of the Essence beings of Harmony, one who would come to exemplify Loyalty.

Turning to brush off his cloak, Starswirl felt a prickle on the back of his neck, as the air turned hot behind him.

Turning around, Starswirl saw a white crackling ball of energy grow all of a sudden, arcs of miniature lighting arcing off it as it occupied and lit up the cavern like a miniature star.

Inside it, a crumpled form lay as the light suddenly flared and began to dissipate. A dark grey robed Pony.

In disbelief and silence, Starswirl saw Siral get to his hooves slowly, rubbing his temples and horn.

Turning his head, Siral's eyes widened at Starswirl's expression of shock, as he then slowly stood to his hooves and brushed some cavern dirt off his grey robes.

While Starswirl silently morphed from shocked to demanding an explanation, Siral gave a small shrug, remarking broadly:

"I felt there was more to be found ahead, rather than before. And I know you won't turn down help you're stuck with."

Starswirl simply stared dumbfounded at Siral's act, an utter defiance, a lie, even if it was a friend aiding a friend's quest.

Frowning, Starswirl merely growled as he turned to leave the cavern: "We shall find out the time, before I decide how to handle your decision. There is no going back for you now."

Siral showed no regret, and Starswirl had no more to say to Siral until they found the nearest settlement in Equestria and found out what time they were in.

The great journey had begun for them, even if one participant had been unplanned. Both Wizards had taken their first steps, one forging alone, the other following despite being told not to.

The smallest step was always the first though, as the world, and the future, beckoned before them as they exited the cavern to the unknown time they now had arrived at.

And somewhere in this time was the first of the Harmony essence beings, one to exemplify Loyalty.

Perhaps rather fittingly though, to Starswirl's mind, Siral displayed perhaps too overt of a loyalty to him, or his own curiosity.

Author's Note

The journey, and the legend, begins.

Unlike many great journeys, where the protagonist often is hesitant at first, Starswirl is quick to make his choice, and given his relative lack of ties to bid farewell to, he's quick to leave.

Of course, that doesn't stop a certain other Wizard from tagging along. Now Starswirl's stuck with Siral, how exactly Siral got here to his exact same time to be revealed in the next chapter.

Romane Imperium

722 BNM

9th June

Late Morning

Equestria,

Manestown, Muttlantic coast port

The two Wizards found little trouble in magically acquiring the funding to travel upon a merchant ship bound for the Eoropean continent, namely the south Espana port city of Daciz, where passage to Romane's capital was easy.

Boarding the merchant boat, the wind rustling the sails in a comfort of a guarantee of a fast exit from Equestria, Starswirl cast a quick gaze out to the East, while Siral quietly tended to the supplies of theirs, few in number.

Magic meant they could travel light and be comfortable.

But magic was limited, as was teleportation spells devised thus far that came with it.

They had a long journey ahead, and only a vague sense of what to search for once there.

The years passed totalled 78, and it was likely most, if not everypony that they knew were dead, or had long thought them faded to memory.

But Starswirl had been the one ordered to come, so it was he who decided their first steps.

As he focused on the prophetic words of the Oracles, he received visions, and the words rang in his head as a red haze, like a ruby being the window to these visions, combed over a great city in the Old World, the centre of activity in Eorope at the time, and had been when they left.

A Treacherous One, for you and they to learn of True Loyalty.

With little time wasted, Starswirl told Siral that if they must begin this journey, they must do it soon.

The Romane Empire beckoned.

10th June 722 BNM

Early Afternoon

Muttlantic ocean, heading East

Espana merchant ship

The bull crew worked diligently on the rear of the ship, as they made sure course was kept as usual.

Up at the front of the ship, as the sea sprayed very slightly with another wave rising the ship upwards slightly, Starswirl leant untested against the railing, while Siral murmured spells to soothe his stomach under his breath.

Seeing this as payback, one of many, Starswirl added rather cheekily: "You still have no regrets about following me?"

Casting a glare at Starswirl, Siral said nothing as he continued to mumble the anti-nausea spell like whispered mantra. Regarding him with some laughter now, Starswirl added with some mirthless laughter:

"Ironic, the great Savant, one who devised a tracer spell to know when I came back from the time teleport spell you did, so you can follow me precisely through time…"

Raising an eyebrow, Starswirl finished as Siral suddenly seized the ship's frame with a hoof, suddenly not whispering any longer:

"Defeated by sea sickness."

"…Enjoy my woes, why don't you?"

Siral slumped down on the ship, managing to hold down his morning rations on the voyage. Sitting on the ship deck beside him, Starswirl remarked with some blunt facts:

"We have perhaps another 10 days of this, then we travel through calmer seas after Daciz."

An incomprehensible plea, likely to a higher being, trailed lowly from Siral's lips, while Starswirl simply sat back and enjoyed the early afternoon sun on the ocean horizon, while the ship's crew made the most of the smooth conditions.]

25th June 722 BNM

Midday

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Imperial Square

The tales of Romane's glory from those visiting Equestria were often dismissed as legend, exaggerations.

But as the masses of thousands of Chamois [the majority], Dogs [2nd most populous], Horses, and an assortment of other Imperial citizen races gathered in the city square, as a parade was held in honour of Emperor Iulian and the conquest of the Germaneighic barbarians in the north west of Eorope, securing a contested border of the empire, Starswirl and Siral couldn't help but be impressed.

The Imperial Legion passed by, as crowds cheered the warriors in their dark red underclothes, and dull grey torso armour and helmets, mostly a collection of Burly Dogs, Chamois, smaller ponies and a minority of larger horses towering above others, with the odd bull here and there in the ranks of hundreds of troops parading down the square.

Stood amidst the crowds, Starswirl had already sensed with his attuned mind, honed in by the prophetic spell's words, on the presence that called out to him. Beside the brown robed, grey Unicorn, the Grey robed Siral turned to Starswirl beside the crowd, growing bored:

"Well?"

"..There are too many, but they are among the legions coming up now.."

Starswirl turned his head to the approaching legionnaires, these ones also known as war heroes, but not for a lone, brave stand in Germaneigh's barbarian borders, but a series of smaller, but collectively just as impressive string of victories across the hotly contested Saddle Arabian south eastern borders of the Imperial territories to the Middle East.

The legions were more numerous in horses, making up half of these legion members. Gaining local races as fighters for the empire always made the enemy having the home advantage less of a threat, and the Saddle Arabian horses of the Iudian Provinces proved that, warding off the barbaric tribal warlords and clans harassing the borders and territories that bordered the allied Haygyptian Kingdom.

Cheers welcomed the marching legion, despite the 'master race' of Chamois and Homeland dog races making up less of it. They were citizens of Romane enough to be part of the army.

The thunderous marching of the hundreds of armoured warriors wandered past, and over the rumblings of the crowds and blares of celebratory bugles, Siral noticed something remarkable as Starswirl focused on this legion of soldiers:

"I didn't realise there were females in the Romane Empire now.."

Losing his focus, Starswirl noticed it too, as there was the vaguest of hints, mostly in body shape, be it horse, chamois or dog, of females in the armed forces, noticeably less numerous than the males, but there nonetheless.

Clearly some things had changed in recent years in Romane, though perhaps the constant barbarian attacks upon the long stretched Imperial borders required more warrior capacity beyond that of only males.

As a legion of Saddle Arabian horses, armoured head to toe in smart warrior attire and helmet marched past, Starswirl felt a surge in his horn, as his mind flashed with a vague haze of ruby red as the group marched past.

"There, the one to be of Loyalty is among that battlegroup."

Looking over at the marching warriors, Siral knew it was pointless to tell Starswirl the obvious, all of them were under armour, and indistinguishable except for race and gender.

As the crowds continued to roar and cheer with more processing soldiers, Starswirl and Siral pulled back into a quieter market, the two Unicorns planning their next move. Though it was Starswirl that possessed the extra sense for these Harmonic 'essence' beings the prophecy stated warnings of.

"We cannot access that legion freely, we are visitors, and not even citizens can get close to them at will unless we catch one in public. One of a thousand being the one we need to run into is slim odds."

"I know Siral, let me think. The Prophecy stated: "A Treacherous One, for you and they to learn of True Loyalty." Treachery. Why would a treacherous one be among a paraded group of decorated warriors?"

As Starswirl pondered, Siral mused, thinking aloud: "Maybe, not outwards treachery, but inwards. Treachery of the self perhaps?"

"One who would become loyal, that implies loyalty to others. Perhaps then, we must find one of them that is loyal to themselves first. What greater service to themselves can a decorated warrior have?" Starswirl figured, looking west to a particular landmark prominently standing higher than others in the city skyline, though only barely.

"Glory, honour." Siral concluded. Seeing where Starswirl was looking, Siral followed the grey unicorn's gaze, as the black Unicorn saw the landmark in the distance too.

"Weren't there set to be re-enactments of the battles they won for the masses?"

"With prisoners as the defeated ones, yes.." Starswirl gave a knowing smile, realising how on the same page he and Siral were.

Looking across the marble coated senate district skyline, the wide round structure of the great Romane arena beckoned.

After all, the Colosseum was a veritable fountain of entertainment, execution and glorious display of Romane's glory all in one. And with barbarians pressing on the furthest borders, putting Romane's might under strain, distractions from doubts of the empire's power were a well utilised tool right now.

26th June 722 BNM

Late Morning

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum

If the crowds had been loud amidst the military parade the day before, then here in the arena they were practically deafening.

Towering high up, packing in what seemed like a quarter of the population of the Romane Empire's capital city, the massive seating laced walls of the mighty Colosseum loomed over the circular arena of sand, stone pillars and hidden features beneath its arena setting.

As the fierce Chamitalian beat down today, large rigid awnings that pivoted atop the colosseum's upper structure had lowered to shield the crowds with shade, leaving only the circular arena to bake in the heat.

Sat together, the two Wizards knew the legion of troops had a few of its more accomplished members volunteering to reenact the more glorious battle in their 2 year tour of duty, for the entertainment of the masses.

But Starswirl had not sensed the one of Loyalty-to-be had yet to emerge, but he knew they were here. For now, Starswirl could only watch with some mild disgust, and awe, at the spectacle on display here.

Beside him, Siral avidly paid attention, either enthralled at the bloodshed, or analyzing it for whatever he wished to think over.

Amidst the throngs and hordes of Romane, the Bearded and the Savant watched as the Gladiator Chamois team, all slaves sold off by their old masters, finished off the last of the Bull rebels from Espana, prisoners of war.

The last bull lay bleeding with no head on the sandy floor, as the Chamois gladiators, half of them having survived 5 fights at least, raised their forehooves, and held swords, high in the air to stimulate the crowd's roars of approval.

As the crowds settled, and some Colosseum guards quickly wandered out to clear out the bodies of the fallen, usher out the Chamois Gladiators, and bring out an armor clad 2 dozen various Chamois, Dogs, Bulls or Saddle Arabian horses, all sporting crudely made Arabiac armour and weapons.

From nearby the Emperor's box, a booming voice from the announcer echoed through the air as the next round of combat, an exclusive was set to start:

"-pay witness, nay, experience the glorious battle against the savage, brutish desecraters of Romane Might, the scouring barbarians that plague our Might at every turn!"

"The heroic champions of the Iudian Provinces, the Venata of Iudian!"

From out of the western gates, swarming out like a set of well organised armoured horses, the Venata were protected head to hoof, apart from the limbs. The mostly Saddle Aradian horses wasted no time, advancing on the Chamois gladiator group as they turned to regroup.

One Horse surged forwards, leaping forwards to headbutt the trailing gladiator Chamois in their knees, flooring them as the others formed up their defensive shield wall ring to protect themselves. But the lone Venata victim now was pinned beneath the armoured horses's hooves.
As its companions charged by, finding a weak point in the shield wall to exploit, the Venata fighter was thrown off as the Chamois guard kicked them off, rolling to reach for a spear.

As swords clashed against shield and other sword, as the lone Venata warrior, Saddle Arabian horse by race, reared up and crushed the skull of the Chamois attacker below her.

Stomping, the Saddle Arabian female charged the shield wall, the armour making her indistinguishable from a male to the naked eye, along with a mask too. The crowds exploded in excitement, as the Venata, apparently Gladiatrix in this setting, relished it, welcomed it, was driven by it.

As Starswirl felt an intense ruby red haze like nothing else consume his mind, he flashed Siral a knowing, but also uncertain grin.

This Saddle Arabian female horse was clearly whom they were searching for.

The crowds roared as further blood was shed in the arena, but for 2 in the crowds, the focus was on what one Venata member had yet to accomplish.

And for others, there was the concern of what she failed to accomplish, and callously and/or irresponsibly what she failed to in the campaigns, that had only recently come back.

Already, the wheels were in motion for a test of true loyalty, and where it lied for the destined Warrior in the arena.

To Starswirl though, as well as Siral, they wished to know of this female in person, her destiny knonw sort of, and her position seemingly unlikely for her kind.

Author's Note

Brisk pace, but will slow up slightly as Starswirl/they actually meet each member of the 6 along the way.

The Romane Empire, an epitomising era of loyalty to be acquired, tested, and then some.

Specifically, this is within the last century of the Romane Empire in this world, hence the increased barbarian border attacks and female soldiers/gladiatrix role allowances. Any resource/distraction goes, especially if done willingly.

LOYALTY II: Gloriosa Mashri

2nd July 722 BNM

Midday

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, basement levels

Combatant holding area

Armor clanked slightly as the Gladiators alongside her breathed and calmed their nerves, the rumblings of the Colosseum's thousands strong crowd echoing through the stone and marble superstructure to their very bones. Voices of those seeking entertainment, and them seeking those to shower with praise, or relish in the shedding of inglorious losers' blood on the sand.

Mashri steadied herself in her armour, sensing the nervousness around her, as she was placed among many less trained combatants, some barely trained at all. She expected at least half of them to die. They weren't warriors, she was, and she had to survive, and fight well.

If she won the crowds, she could guarantee surviving even if she was injured, just as all instructors taught their gladiators. Easier said than done, and crowd disapproval guaranteed death.

"When you enter the ring, you stand together, raise your weapons to the Emperor, and shout the Gladiator's salute as one! Now go, and fight for your glory!"

Their trainer, the grizzled Chamois elder male, remarked loudly as they thundered up the steps into the arena, the piercing midday sun shining like a blinding light as Mashri saw the Colosseum come into view through her helmet's eye line.

Compared to when she came in here to kill prisoners and enslaved gladiators for sport, honour, or simply being ordered to, this was daunting.

The Colosseum reared up all around them, seats of writhing, chanting masses bellowing for battle and bloodshed. Mashri galloped out, her armor and weapons clanking as the other gladiators marched out beside her, many in awe at the arena which was the centre of Romane activity at this very moment.

Looking around, Mashri's gaze fell upon a pair of robed figures in the lower stands at one section, their grey and blue robes betraying their identity to her, and her alone. The Wizards had come to watch, as promised 2 days ago, the first, and probably hardest fight she'd face here as known right now.

She knew this well, for she had been in line to fight in the Colosseum on this very day herself, with her regiment. For glory, and as a soldier, she'd be likely to win.

Now she was on the receiving end of the fabled arena of glory and blood.

As the crowds died down at a hand wave from the Chamois Emperor Iulian, the announcer began to monologue:

"Today, your Emperor is proud to present, the recreation of the triumph of the Iudian Garrison over a barbarian sneak attack, taking many brave Romane lives as they fought back this bid by a desperate, defeated and disparate foe! Today, before you now, your Emperor presents, the Barbarians of Iudia!"

"The horde snuck in, braving the wilderness of the night, sand and beast, to sow destruction and death upon Romane's power. Today, their offensive is displayed for you, the people of Romane!"

"And of the first obstacles the barbarians face, is the wild creatures of the untamed wastelands, and the barbarians beyond their own violent clansfolk! Behold, the Clash of the Iudia tribes!"

At that moment, chains were pulled by guards at the edge of the arena, as trap doors suddenly opened in the floor of the arena in 3 sections. Out from them, roars bellowed.

A fearsome roar came forth as a trio of grey wolves, massive in size for their kind, and scarred many times over, leapt forth from each of the pits, numbering nine in total.

Snapping at the gladiators from their chain links, preventing them from charging the huddled gladiators immediately, the Wolves snapped at each other aggressively while another door opened at the edge of the arena.

From inside, a pack of 6 Romane dogs, armed head to toe in faux barbarian armour, wielding swords, snarled as they shouted taunts at the Gladiators/barbarians they were about to combat.

Mashri recognised some of the dogs from practice, and she recalled what had been said by her trainer:

Win the crowd, you can beat them, but training new recruits is expensive. Please the most possible to earn your freedom quickly.

Standing firm, as the Wolves snarled menacingly, presenting a trio of no-go zones for her and the other gladiators, Mashri loudly shouted to the others in the ring with her:

"Stick together, lock shields, take them one at a time as they come!"

Wolf snarls filled the air as the 6 Dog gladiators charged. These gladiators were sportsmen, while herself and the others were disposable compared to them.

The first enemy bore down on one Dog, the desperate prisoner blocking one slash with his sword before the more experienced gladiator then sidestepped a retaliation strike, slashing deep into the dog's back enough to send him down in a bloody heap.

The Crowd roared as Mashri and the other Dogs huddled close, while the Wolves snapped at them from afar as the 6 Dog gladiators pounced on them.

Up in the stands, Starswirl couldn't help but feel apprehensive as he saw the group of eleven remaining lower gladiators scattered, as the experienced, but fewer in number Dog gladiators routed them, driving them apart.

One Chamois enslaved fighter, a slave sold to pay off her master's debts, wandered too close to one of the wolf trios, and the grey blurs pounced on her while the crowds hollered in glee.

Siral turned to Starswirl, wondering with some marvel at the entire spectacle:

"Amazing, isn't it? The suffering of others, celebrating victors, spectacle, entertainment, all to distract from issues at the Empire's borders, boundaries becoming harder to maintain."

Snapping out of it, Starswirl gave a quick nod in agreement, before he added over the roaring crowds: "No population revolts if they're distracted from insecurities."

Turning his gaze to the arena ring again, Starswirl murmured under his breath:
"And yet, I can't help but wonder exactly how such brutality like this may alter Mashri's loyalties."

Siral still had unvoiced doubts about this whole prophecy being specifically about this soldier turned gladiator, but he kept quiet.

By the looks of things, as Mashri reared up and slammed her forehooves into a Dog gladiator's back, she was able to handle herself easily.

There were now 4 dogs left, 1 dead, and 1 injured by her hooves. But she was right, they'd lost 5 of their people already, the least experienced, leaving only 6 left fighting, 1 more injured and unable to get up, safe from any wolves for now.

A howl sounded, and rearing back, Mashri felt a hot prick as the edge of a dog gladiator's blade just barely missed her less armored upper foreleg, the horse whipping around to kick out her other forehoof, knocking the sword from the dog's hand.

Growling, the dog jumped back, while off to the side a fighting Chamois ally of Mashri's backed up quickly, sword clashing with one of the Dog fighters. One dog nearby, having been knocked back by another Horse gladiator's last suicidal charge [into the dog's outstretched blade], brought him too close to a trio of Wolves.

The crowds roared, and Mashri saw the Dog gladiator in front charge her again, weapon out and glinting in the sunlight.

Throwing a curse from her mouth, Mashri turned, and ran towards the Wolves tearing the Dog fighter's body apart, throwing off the one coming for her slightly by her actions.

As the crowd roared once again in awe, and some laughed out loud, Mashri charged full force, sword outstretched as she leapt up, tackling off one of the wolves while near completely decapitating another. As the 3rd wolf snarled loudly and charged, she span and kicked it in the head full force, smirking beneath her helmet as the skull crumpled beneath her hooves while the wolf flew backward unmoving.

Ignoring the wheezing last wolf of the trio on the ground that she'd tackled hard, she shot a glare at the Dog coming for her, while she scrambled to pick up every weapon on the dog's person.

As she raised the spear she'd salvaged, the dog's eyes widened at the truth behind her bold actions. Now she had weapons that weren't sub-par compared to their own.

Spear curled in her foreleg, she hurled it hard within a second of picking it up, and a howl rang as it buried itself into the dog's shoulder, throwing him backwards.

One dog turned in surprise at the noise, and was cut down by the neck by the Cattle gladiator male he was facing.

Now, there was only 1 Dog left, the big one, their leader.

He stood as tall as she was, and wielded a large blade in one paw, and an axe in the other, and wore armour that only covered his torso and upper legs, leaving his bristling muscles exposed.

Looking around, the Arabic Horse female saw that only the Bull Male and the two Chamois male gladiators remained, but only the Bull was fit enough now to fight. All the others were dead, or too tired.

Aside from the big dog though, 2 of the dog fighters were injured. Her own speared dog was struggling on the ground, the spear dug in tight, but not lethal, just painful enough to stop him fighting.

But as the crowds roared at this turn of events, they knew the champions of these rookie, prisoned gladiators, and the Dog fighter's big leader was underway.

The Bull charged first, snorting loudly as he lowered his head to ram the dog, some mounted shoulder swords also extended.

The Dog stood fast, and actually ran towards the Bull too. Sand kicked up as the two charging behemoths came closer, until the move was made.

Leaping up, the Dog swung his body midair enough to barely side dodge the bull, but he plunged his first sword deep into the bull's back, leaving it in there as he landed, and the bull continued to run.

Like a driverless chariot, the bull slowed, teetered, until he slumped down in the sand, blood dripping from the sword hilt buried in his bristling shoulders.

Turning his gaze to the remaining 3, the Large dog disregarded the tired two Chamois males for now, focusing on the skilled Arabic Horse. Pulling out another sword, the Dog snarled in a challenge at her.

Breathing hard, Mashri knew she had to be careful here, and let him attack, but not give him an opening.

The Large dog charged, and as he reached her, sword swinging down, Mashri surged forwards shield first, the metallic clang ringing as she made his swing rebound from the impact, and she pressed the attack back with gusto in a heartbeat.

Sword swinging, she missed his arm, the large dog fast for his size, and as the dog swung again with his other sword, Mashri sidestepped, hoof kicking out to knock the outstretched sword from the dog's paw.

Enraged, the Dog ducked as Mashri swung her blade at his neck, and grabbed her forehoof before she could swing again, pulling out another sword with his free paw. Eyes widening, Mashri grunted with the effort as she swung her body around, the Dog caught by her physical strength as he was hurled from his grip on her to land roughly on the sand a few feet away.

Raising her shield, she slammed it down edge first, missing as the dog rolled backwards, and his sword then came swinging in from the side, aimed for her head. Backing up, Mashri swung her shield straight up, knocking the dog's arm upwards, the sword flying from it, and she then swung low, the sword making a sizeable slice into the Dog's lower left leg.

Gasping, the dog staggered, and fell over, unable to fight anymore as Mashri then raised a hoof up and slammed it down onto his chest, her other hoof raising the sword to aim at his neck.

Suddenly, she felt a hammer like blow to her stomach, and she staggered away as the Dog fighter rolled away, the kick to her abdomen made before she could get him completely secured.

Wincing, the Dog put his weight on his good leg, grunting as he stood, ready to fight, one legged if need be. Raising a sword, he stood firm as Mashri gave him a dour look through her mask, her head rolling backwards from exasperation at his determination.

"I shall not fall so easily Venata!"

He knew her by the name she and others went by in the army, clearly, but any lack of respect he had for her had evaporated silently in combat.

Seeing that he was a stationary target, one hit meaning he'd fall over, Mashri gave a look over to the referee, the robed Chamois male having a hoof to his chin in thought at the situation.

A whistling in the air brought her back to the arena, as Mashri ducked, a spear clattering to the ground behind her. Turning quickly, she saw the Dog readying to hurl his next spear, and as he chucked it in her direction, Mashri raised her shield in her forearm, bracing as she extended it forwards.

The spear head dented the shield's inside noticeably, and remained imbedded in the shield, missing her hoof itself from the shield's behind. But now, as she lowered the shield, she saw the large Dog had no more weapons, aside from a small knife, and was unable to move.

With a sigh, she pulled out her sword, beginning to walk towards the Dog.

As she walked, she heard faint chants rising:

"Live, Live, Live, Live!"

As agreeing with the audience, a loud bugle sounded from the referee, and the call to end the match was echoed with the doors opening for some arena guards coming to bring in the survivors, and retrieve the dead and wounded.

Turning her head, Mashri saw the Emperor, Iulian, standing with his golden crown glinting atop the Chamois male's head, clad in fine blood red robes and armor, inside the royal box. As the crowds chanted, the Emperor cast his gaze upon them, lingering slightly longer on Mashri. Extending a forearm, the Emperor heard the chanting, and then raised the hoof up in the air.

Cheers exploded, the people's will had been heard, the survivors would not be slain, they had put on a good show.

Over the roaring crowds, Mashri turned to see the 2 surviving Chamois male gladiators allied to her being hauled away by some guards to the arena doctor, along with the only other remaining Dog gladiator, injured earlier in the battle.

Battle rush leaving her, Mashri slumped in her armor, as the crowds cheered the names. The name of the Dog champion she'd faced down, bested, and been made to spare, and her own.

Her imprisonment didn't matter here, she had put on a terrific display for their tastes.

As the crowds roared, she felt a swell in her chest, and couldn't help but raise her sword triumphantly before she began to slowly walk to the tunnel back to her quarters. As she raised her sword, the crowds roared in approval once more.

Mashri left behind the blood stained Colosseum arena for today, having won the crowds.

As she heard the howls of the 6 remaining Wolves in the arena sound with the Wolves being dragged back into their holding pens, the one she tackled having been stabbed to kill it for its crippled state, she couldn't help but ponder the short term future.

This was how she would last long enough to witness her brother be brought to Romane. She would fight, she would put on these displays, and she would enjoy them.

Their approval of her fuelled her drive, and despite her predicament, she felt a sense of gratefulness to the crowd still giving her this chance, and allowing her to perform as she had.

But now, as she walked down, mind set to a potential future meeting with her brother, perhaps even here in the arena, she wondered what might change in the presence of ones who divided her initial loyalty to earn her this spot in the glorified gaze of the populace in the first place, even as barely more than a celebrated slave.

Up in the stands, Starswirl looked around the arena, as the crowds continued their cheers of approval at the fight that took place. Mashri had won the crowd's favour, and she clearly both relished in it and intended to keep it so.

As Starswirl thought for a moment, Siral beside him couldn't help but turn his grey robed head:

"She seems to have many devoted fans now. How long until they grow tired of her I wonder?"

At these words, Starswirl couldn't help but remark: "That remains to be seen. But of the Prophecy, of her being of the Essence of Loyalty. What loyalties? Hers to what she ultimately decides, or that of those that know her to her?"

That question still remained, as no overt display of loyalty to trigger any sort of influence over Starswirl, as predicted, had taken place.

But in time, it would come.

Author's Note

An action heavy chapter, but one demonstrating the exaggerated 'to the death' media interpretation of the Colosseum. If they fought well enough, professional, and reknowned 'slave' gladiators were spared death. Expensive to train too, non-lethal fighting where possbible was encouraged and trained for.

Exceptions included prisoners and unaffordable slaves, who were thrown untrained into the ring, and disposable fodder.

And a question surrounding many celebrities, up and coming or current, be it ancient or modern day setting. What loyalty matters more/is more secure, star to fans, or fans to star? Just as important as what is more important? Ideology, self and legacy versus heritage, even if not as much a member of it like Mashri was.

LOYALTY III: Lineages of Legacy.

22nd July 722 BNM

Midday

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, basement levels

Combatant quarters

Nearly 3 weeks since her first bout, and Mashri had quickly secured a reputation for herself as a force to be reckoned with. The crowds loved her, for she killed, spared, quickly or tauntingly slowly killed in ways that earned great praise. She knew how to play to the crowds, and she revelled in the glory.

And besides, there was nothing wrong with revelling in the same glory that was saving her life.

Despite fighting bitterly at the beginning of her turn as a Gladiator, the large Dog warrior she fought against and spared at the crowd's behest, a seasoned gladiator, took an interest in her.

The large brown dog, standing her head height when upright, had introduced himself as Caikus Arelius. They only fought in the ring once more since they first met, and again, to a draw. They put on a good enough show to please the crowds enough to have their lives spared for more entertainment down the line.

Gladiators fought bravely, even if outmatched, because such bravado in losing was worth seeing again by the crowds, and they let the referee and Emperor know that.

As some laughter rose in the Combatant mess hall, the one place where 'employed' fighters and 'enslaved' fighters could come together, Mashri took a patient sip of her cheap wine as Caikus regaled the story of the night before. He was a free gladiator, paid to fight, so he could venture outside in his off time into the city at will. This charming tale involved him and a few other gladiators enjoying one of Rome's brothels last evening.

"And there was Hamalus, up against the wall, wracking like a sail on a storm swamped ship as he was upon this small maiden, and yet beneath him she looked as if she were staring at the ceiling tiles for something more enjoyable! The shame Hamalus felt, oh how he drowned it with more goblets, it was a sight to behold!"

"I'm sure it was…" Mashri remarked, the story itself amusing, though she'd never go into a brothel herself, even if it was one of the rare double gender serving places. She had a greater degree of self-control than many others her age, gender be damned.

Looking around, Caikus stopped laughing as he saw 2 hooded figures speaking in a visitor's corridor nearby in a barred off place from the fighters. Gesturing with a nod, Caikus remarked:

"Your two Unicorn friends are back. What is your link to them anyway?"

"Just some old friends form my army days. They probably want to fill me in on what I missed."

Bidding Caikus a polite farewell, Mashri trotted from the table, shifting past a few other gladiators eating at other areas too. After a while, she reached a secluded corner close to the bars of the visitor corridor, and listened in as Starswirl and Siral lowered their hoods to speak to her.

"They've arrived in Romane, yesterday night. The family you said they'd imprisoned months ago and were bringing here as a captive."

"My brother." Mashri remarked, not emotive to this fact that Siral spoke. She'd suspected they'd be here by now, and he was. Starswirl paused for a moment, as he asked Mashri:

"They are likely to bring you to him, the Romanes. Whatever they're planning might not bode well."

"I know Romane tactics. They will test me, see where my loyalties truly lie." Mashri remarked. Starswirl arched an eyebrow at this, while Siral merely stood by intently listening as Starswirl probed her, a hoof resting on a bar near her turned back:

"And where do they lie?"

With a slight pause, Mashri remarked: "Nearly a month I've had to think that over since I was brought in. One choice I made changed everything. Looks like another might cause such change again."

"And what will you choose?" Starswirl asked, genuinely interested in her potential choice, beyond any normal interest. Keeping it to herself, being uncertain deep down anyway, Mashri retorted bluntly to the two Wizards, though Siral was sceptical:

"I'll choose what feels right to me, and no one else."

As Mashri wandered off, she failed to see Starswirl's face fall slightly, as he turned away from Siral to wander down the hallway, deep in thought.

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, entrance steps

Siral found Starswirl sat by an entrance statue of the Colosseum, the unicorn too deep in thought to notice his close, also time travelling friend sit down beside him quietly.

"I know the Prophecy stated she would be a Treacherous one, but all she did was make one choice, to spare her brother."

"One choice that differs compared to a lifetime of other choices is enough to be labelled as treacherous, by definition." Siral pointed out, while Starswirl put his head in his forehooves as he lamented slightly:

"Uhh, and Mashri seems to be no closer to determing what she'd loyal to, or if she'd loyal to anypony."

"What feels right to her… That does ring as loyalty to me." Siral remarked.

"Yes, loyalty to one's own self interests. What they are can have good or bad effects on others though." Starswirl debated. Nearby, they saw the guards from the military guard marching to the combatants' quarters stairwell, clearly the guards sent to retrieve Mashri for meeting her brother and others.

Siral looked at Starswirl now, remarking in a rare bit of expressive smiling: "You must see that any and all loyalty starts with the self. If your loyal to a cause that you doubt, treachery is a given. All she needs do is rethink where any associations she had lie, which is best for her, and to settle for helping them. Helping what she feels would best benefit her is both selfless, and self-fulfilling. Loyalty is to something one truly believes in and can gain from, not only to something they can gain from at the cost of their own unhappiness."

Blinking, Starswirl gave Siral an odd expression, while Siral replied callously once more: "What of it? I may not have many friends, but I know what values are prized among them, and I understand them."

The elder wizard simply wistfully remarked, as he noticed the guards coming out, with a recognisable Mashri, bound and being escorted to where the meeting was, exit the Combatant's quarters, 4 guards around her as 2 more led her.

"We'll see what she chooses."

2 hours later

Early Afternoon

Romane Prison complex

Lower detention level, prison cell.

The basement of the city's outer garrison base housed war prisoners brought back for justice, so naturally her brother and his accomplices in the massacre and raid on the Iulian Garrison base had been brought here.

Now, with 2 guards stood nearby the doors, stoic and silent as always, she had been sat at a small wooden table opposite her brother, Kalmai.

While she was burly and brown maned and furred, Kalmai was taller, but lankier, and had a tar black mane on top of a sandy yellow fur coat.

And in contrast to her piercing red eyes, his own were a meeker green/yellow colour.

Quietly, Kalmai remarked as he'd heard what she'd been through in the Colusseum as part of her punishment for aiding his escape.

"You see now the barbaric nature of this Empire sister? Just like I told you."

With a slight snort, Mashri remarked: "Actually, the reason they're punishing me isn't because of me simply aiding your escape. It was because in allowing your escape and then you coming back and leading a sneak attack with your knowledge of the base that I gave you, I was responsible for dozens of garrison soldiers dead."

"And what of the dozens they kill of us every month?" Kalmai reasoned, as he began to stress to his recently found sister. They still seemed somewhat like strangers.

"They're simply trying to maintain order, if you all stopped attacking patrols and Romane empire assets, they wouldn't attack."

"They are on our land, they have no right to it!" Kalmai nearly shouted, thrashing a hoof on the table between them. As her brother stressed this, Mashri then asked the obvious:

"So you kept it up despite me asking you to leave the territory and find someplace further from Romane territory? You used what knowledge I gave YOU, to betray my trust."

"I was doing it for us, our people, my family, YOUR family and kin." Kalmai seemed to plead, though he was losing his cool. Nearby, the two Chamois guards shared a few unreadable looks as they heard the exchange between their guarded prisoners in the room.

"The family that abandoned me as a toddler?" Mashri asked.

Kalmai was dumbfounded, as he near exploded: "The ROMANES attacked our village, like so many others, and we lost you in the panic! We thought you dead, just as I told you in the Iulian base! They're savages that dominate as they please, for no reason other than their own glory and desire to rule!"

"I heard in my studies that the villages were attacked many times as a response to many raids on transport routes through the deserts by bandits coming from them." Mashri retorted. Kalmai snorted, as he pointed out to his sister yet again:

"You believe anything they say? We raided them because them coming to our land put trouble on us. They started this fight by expanding beyond their own lands! We just decide to not bend over and take it, like you seemed to have when I met you."

"I risked my life and standing to free you, the family I never knew, in hopes you'd live peacefully. You instead conducted the raid, and I had to take the fall for it!"

"And you see how the Romanes operate. They are using you as a scapegoat, because you are my sister, and not a 'borne citizen', but an adopted one."

"A fact they didn't find out until I pleaded to have you released, before I ever aided you with knowledge of how to break out. Before that, I was among them as any other citizen would be by their rules." Mashri replied coolly.

Staring at his sister, the golden and black maned stallion put a hoof to his head, remarking with a great strain of lament: "They've indoctrinated you, my sister. They turn kin against kin, serving the greater 'ideals' they tout. Family is the core of why I launched the attack, you were stationed there, and I waited until you were gone to ensure nothing could hold me and my men stallions back."

"So you attacking that base was supposed to be an act of brotherly compassion?" Doubtfully, Mashri pressed Kalmai for an answer.

With some sadness, Kalmai admitted to Mashri over the table: "I just want my sister back, I want you with our people, away from these, demons and their empire. You were born part of my family, part of my kin. Please, come home Mashri. You'll end up betrayed by them all in the end, once you're no longer useful."

"I grew up 28 years without you Kalmai, don't preach to know much about me." Mashri warned, though she thought on this matter herself.

Kalmai's last words rang in her head even after she left him, superimposed over anything else he said afterwards:

"That's what the Romanes robbed me and my kin of, along with our land. You."

Later that night.

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, basement levels

Combatant quarters

The faint whispers and smell of smoke, but her first vivid memory was of somepony different from her. A few soldiers found her and brought her to their leader, where the Romane Chamois Centurion found her endearing enough to take her in. Children were considered innocent, and worth remoulding for the Empire's benefit, assimilating cultures from the youngest ages possible.

Her 'father', a single Chamois Centurion, later a Tribunes before his untimely death in the Germaneighic barbarian uprisings 7 years ago, had been patient, kind but stern, and taught her many skills and crafts, military and cultural.

As she grew, she saw how Romane held a wide variety of races, cultures and ideas, brought and pooled together for exposure of the best ones. Of course the Chamois were the 'elite', being the origins, but it worked.

-One day of sword practice as a teen, Mashri stumbled and nearly sprained her ankle, and her father took a few hours from his garrison station posting then to make sure she would be properly attended to. In the Romane hospital, she saw a wide variety of races being tended to medically.

-As a storm raged when she was a little filly, the servant woman her Centurion father employed hugged her tight, as Mashri braved her first storm.

-The polite salutes to her as she was accepted into the army ranks, being of that rare female soldier that also out-muscled many others in the army.

-She saw blood and death on the battlefields and skirmishes, as the ambush came out of nowhere. The Haygyptian bandits had traveled far, wishing to pillage the productive town she helped guard now.

-Wincing slightly, Mashri ignored the sounds of the whips against the backs of the prisoners and slaves taken with the capturing of another barbarian encampment.

-Screams of those the Empire needed to be rid of as it expanded, and yet the cheers of those successfully assimilated into the empire.

"That's what the Romanes robbed me and my kin of, along with our land. You."

Snapping awake in her small stony bed, Mashri rubbed her forehead, the Saddle Arabian horse shaken by the dream. Her loyalties to the Empire and her family, she was facing turmoil she'd never faces.

Letting some stress out, Mashri stifled her whimpers as she slightly wept to relieve some tension and stinging in her eyes, as any and every aspect of her life, her childhood and life cast into doubt.

Her choice she faced would determine her path in life from there on.

Author's Note

Shades of grey on both sides.

LOYALTY IV: Cost of a Choice.

25th July, 722 BNM

Mid Morning

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Main Forum

They had not seen Mashri since she was taken, and she had actually only asked for them now. And yet 3 days had passed since Mashri was brought before her brother in prison, which they didn't know themselves.

Waiting patiently, Starswirl noticed the familiar dark grey cloaked Unicorn approaching among the throngs of crowds in the Forum square.

Somewhat irritated, the Grey bearded wizard confronted the younger, black furred and white maned Unicorn wizard.

"You were gone last night, and I sincerely doubt it was just for an excursion to the public libraries of the City like you said in your note." Starswirl semi reprimanded. Narrowing his eyes slightly in annoyance, Siral spoke calmly:

"I was researching the culture, the politics. For all I know we may not come back here once we go to the next being like Mashri is supposed to be."

"We've yet to see how Mashri is this avatar of Loyalty." Starswirl pointed out, to which Siral remarked:

"Perhaps we haven't been proactive enough."

"We mustn't interfere Siral. The Prophecy stated that-"

"That you would meet them, nothing else concerning them was mentioned aside from them being exemplary. Sometimes you have to push things for them to head along tracks destined even for themselves."

"We shall take a hooves off approach Siral."

With a slight look of surrender, Siral looked away with a meek remark: "I just feel like we might inspire loyalty in her by demonstrating it to her from ourselves."

"But we-.. You may have a point in this case Siral. Very well, I suggest we intervene if it looks like she'd about to die without proving her loyalty." Starswirl decided, before noting aloud:

"My senses and magic alerted me to finding her, I suspect some sort of message when the example she's destined to set occurs, which I must witness as destined."

"You were never this slavish to anything decided and rigid before that Prophecy was mentioned." Siral remarked. While throngs of crowds milled around them, they began to head in the same direction as a large portion, Starswirl remarking as the Colosseum began to draw into view around a corner, down a large main road:

"They've not been wrong before, only vague. So remember Siral, hooves off unless she's going to die with no loyalty proven."

"I shall not intervene in there unless you do." Siral promised sincerely, his mind subtly drawing inwards about his activities the night before, what he'd found out would likely happen, what it was meant to do.

He hid from Starswirl exactly WHOM he'd met last night, that was a private matter he needn't worry about. But Siral refused to be a passive bystander. His friend was concerned for this Mashri, and slaven to his destiny he'd heard.

Siral was a free agent in this regard.

Midday

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum

Combatant Quarters

A strange box had arrived 2 hours before her scheduled match against a mystery opponent, a few prisoners of war, and alongside a few of her allied fellow low ranking gladiators.

Curious, her gear for the match ready, she opened the box, finding a strange set of clothing inside it, almost like desert robes with many holes and pockets for weapons, tools, and other things. A few vicious looking daggers, a spear and a curving bandit sword accompanied it.

The garb of the Iulian region bandits her brother was associated with.

Below that, she saw something sorely missed, but now implying something terrible.

Her Romane army uniform, complete with the maroon coloured battleskirts, armour, sword and shield, and even a chain whip she seldom used.

Inside was a very morbid looking note, written in plain text:

The words on the note almost made her crumple in shock, and she had to shuffle over to a nearby seat to sit herself down.

For an hour Mashri was silent, pondering, thinking over everything.

The Romanes were expansive, they took the village she was born in, forcing her family to abandon her somehow. They expanded, taking land because they were the strongest.

Yet they were strongest, the most advanced, the most deserving. And she was raised into glory and duty, a greater existence, then she'd have had like her brother had.

On the other hoof, her brother Kalmai betrayed her trust, using knowledge she gave him to escape, after she failed to have him released as a sign of mercy, to lead a sneak attack through the tunnel he snuck through and kill dozens.

Yet he'd waited until she was gone, and killed only the Romane soldiers there. And he was family, the only family she had left by blood.

But the Romane Centurion that took her in, her late father, had also been family.

She was born an Iulian, Saddle Arabian Horse, but would have been a bandit most likely.

She was raised a Romane citizen, but was taken from her birthhome and parents she'd never know, the same empire that imprisoned her now.

She knew Romane policy though, and this was as agreed by her. She was being punished as the Romane laws required.

But staring at the two uniforms, she didn't know who to trust. Her Iulian origins, or her Romane legacy.

Up overhead, she heard the crowds growing excited as the first gladiatorial bout today was over after a gruelling hit and run type battle.

2 hours later

Early Afternoon

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, grandstands

Crowds roared in approval as the last of the bodied was cleared off the arena floor, and the announce took to his podium at the edge of the ring. Not killed animals were roughly lead back down the arena's floor set hatches by their chains, and the 4 bodies of the ones who were killed in combat that round, among about 16 fighters and 3 others among the same lot injured, had been cleared up by the Colosseums workers, slave or hired.

As the announcer began to speak the results of the re-enactment of the Espana mountains battle waged 200 years ago, the 2 wizards listened intently as the talk then turned to the next match.

"-pleased to announce, a surprise, last minute alteration to the schedule. A change issued from the military arm of the Empire itself, and an offer of redemption, or martyrdom by glorious fall in battle alongside, by blood relation, enemies of Romane."

"The reknowned Gladiatrix, Mashri, came here disgraced after one act of treasonous mercy on a brother from Iudian, her homeland, allowed him to lead the assault of the Iudian fortress. She had since gained great favour, and yet now she has the opportunity for freedom, or glory!"

In the centre of the arena, a trap door opened, as a group of Iudian bandit fighters, clad in their armour and weaponry, was raised, all of the 5 flanked by Romane guards:

"Presenting, from the very bandit hordes that raided the Iudian Garrison, the bandit leader Kalmai, Mashri's brother! And his fellow bandit leaders he aided in attacking and spilling Romane blood!"

Roars and bellows, jeering at or cheering for blood, and some flat out boos, rang down on them. In the stands, Starswirl shook his head slightly, but he paused, noticing Siral seemed slightly pleased.

"What is it Siral?"

"Wait for it."

It took less than a second to realise it.

"You had a hoof in this, didn't you?"

"I did. You wished to see her as an exemplar of loyalty, and I dug up an old test the early Romanes had to determine loyalty. I visited the manager of the gladiators and 'persuaded' him to consult with the military, and I managed to 'persuade' them to agree. A simple mind altering potion slipped into his drink did the trick, and a few words of mine whispered into his mind."

Starswirl was stunned, as Siral spoke calmly: "Now instead of fighting aimlessly and slowly regaining her standing, Mashri can prove if she'd truly a symbol of loyalty by making the difficult choice that all loyalties start with, alignment."

"I told you we aren't to interfere!" Starswirl hissed, while Siral turned sharply to Starswirl and hissed back:

"And I wasn't willing to wait around for potentially years to see the exemplar, if she really is it, show her example behaviour!"

"I know you meant to induce a situation to force pressure and a decisive action, but you interfered in predestined events you weren't supposed to be a part of in the first place!" Starswirl felt like shouting, but Siral turned to face the arena, saying calmly:

"Berate me if this doesn't work out. But if it does work, you'll see that passiveness is not the only way. I thought you would be up for an active role, given you being a more 'involved' wizard before you became self-enslaved to this role of 'witnessing' these destined 6 before the conflict to come."

"Dramatic examples can garner results, but you had no right to engineer them to occur yourself! You are toying with somepony's life and others here, might you do the same with others we meet after this?" Starswirl reprimanded harshly, while Siral's ears flattened slightly as he heard his friend finish his slight diagreeement. Around them in the crowds, the chanting and cheering had ensured nopony had eavesdropped on them.

Turning to the arena, Starswirl then noticed the 5 Iulian barbarian fighters, flanked by their Romane guards in a circle around them, were looking about more confusedly now.

"Where is she anyway?" Starswirl wondered, the same question prevalent on everyone's minds.

As the trap door then lowered nearby, the crowds roared at the sight of, apparently, the gladiators finally in place.

"And now the fighters, the brave garrison who withstood the savage attack those months ago! Your Emperor is proud to present, the Iudian champions!"

The trapdoor began to rise, and 5 figures rose, all of them somewhat to more seasoned gladiators. As the figures came into view, the crowds gave a massive roar at the sight they saw.

Early Afternoon

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, arena base

In the dark, as they saw the final gladiator approaching, the worker Chamois began to lower the levers and pulleys to bring the trap door platform down to raise them up.

Caikus, the large brown dog fighter, noticed Mashri approaching, the outline and vague colours of her armour looking rather fitting for her. She seemed to suit it well, given what he knew of her.

The brown horse marched quietly onto the trapdoor, while the other 3 gladiators, 2 Chamois males and a Minotaur, paced impatiently. In his deep voice, the Minotaur male, Braxius, demanded:

"What kept you?"

Mashri shot a dark look at Braxius, clearly not in the mood for smalltalk right now.

Beside her, Caikus readied his sword, while Mashri herself took a deep breath as the trapdoor was raised, the sunlight from above in the arena piercing as they rose.

The crowds roared in utter anticipation, and she wondered if they were surprised at her choice.

Arena ring

As the crowds roared in excitement, Kalmai turned to look at the competition. Mashri was the only horse among them, there being a dangerous looking Minotaur, a large dog, and 2 seasoned looking Chamois male fighters, all 4 of them decked in the usual 'faux' Romane military gladiator attire.

But Mashri, his burly, brown maned and furred sister, stood there among, defiant, but head slightly turned down, as she sported the traditional cloak work by the Iulian bandits.

With a slightly prideful smile, Kalmai then saw Mashri walk forwards from the others, gesturing silently for no fighting yet.

Reaching the outside guard, Mashri venomously asked: "A few words with them please. And I'll make what happens later worth it."

Looking between them, one of the guards, a Chamois male, then saw Mashri pull a small part of her cloak aside to reveal something none of the other 4 saw, nor did Kalmai himself. Taken aback, the guard gave a signal, and Mashri walked forwards, re-tucking the cloak to appear just as Kalmai and his 4 followers did.

The crowds utterly raged now, demanding action, but the 4 gladiators and guards still did nothing.

She knew she'd best keep this quick, so Mashri gave stiif looks to the other 4 Saddle Arabian stallions, clad in similar cloaks she wore, hiding their weapons under them. Turning to her brother, Mashri gave a small snort, as she admitted:

"I, made my choice. I had to choose those I felt most at home with, most belonging to. If I die, I'll die with them."

Overcome with pride in his younger sister, Kalmai moved forwards to hug her, but she suddenly held up a forehoof in defiance of his gesture.

Backing up slightly, Mashri then gripped the cloak, and ripped it off herself, revealing the Romane, Centurion rank battle Armour she sported underneath it.

"You are family only by blood, and I feel more for the Empire and its citizens, faults and all! You using my help to further your violence, throwing me under the wagon to do it, made this choice easier for me. I was born Iudian, but I live as a Romane!"

Taking a few more steps back, as she heard the crowds realize what she had been doing, and roar in utter support of her choice, Mashri raised a hoof in the air to incite the crowds further.

Behind her, the Minotaur, Dog and 2 Chamois gladiators laughed and cheered at the dramatic flourish Mashri had displayed, knowing she'd played the crowds like a master.

Kalmai stood dumbfounded, as he saw his sister wearing the armour of his people's enemy, and his captors, and even her own punishers.

He began to boil, as his 4 stallion allies began to shift, ready to fight, as Mashri gave them no more looks before she turned to stride back to her 4 gladiator allies.

"TREACHEROUS WHORE! DOES YOUR FAMILY MEAN NOTHING TO YOU!"

Under her breath, Mashri remarked coolly, confident in her choice as she solidified it herself.

"Home is where one's heart resides, blood family or not. Romane, not you or your people, is my home."

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, grandstands

As Mashri walked from the guard ringed 5 Saddle Arabian stallions, back to her 4 gladiator allies, Starswirl suddenly reeled over as something burned in his mind.

He saw a hue of ruby [or blood] red, and his eyes were drawn strongly to the Romane Centurion mare rejoining her comrades, surrounded by the cheers of the Romane empire.

Home is where one's heart resides, blood family or not.

Those words, Mashri's words to herself, burned into Starswirl's mind as he came out of this phase, while Siral had suddenly released from his slight regret at Starswirl reprimanding him for his choice, pulling Starswirl up before anypony noticed the elder looking Unicorn seemingly suffering from heat stroke.

"Are you feeling well!?"

"Yes, yes, but, it worked. Whatever it was, it happened. She displayed her choice, where her true loyalties lie." Starswirl remarked, as he saw the Romane guards suddenly begin marching from the Saddle Arabian fighters to the arena edge, while the 5 gladiators, Mashri included, readied to fight. Among the enemies, Kalmai was raring to go.

Starswirl gave Siral a blank look, remarking: "Your choice worked Siral, but it won't happen again without my input. You can guarantee that."

"I'm sorry, and yes. But what of Mashri now?"

"I want to ensure we can have some way of tracing her. The Prohpechy mentioned she would be an exemplar of Loyalty, and I think it would be best to obtain something to recall her by. A token from, or of her."

As Starswirl remarked this, Siral saw the fight about to occur, the white furred, black maned wizard remarking:

"What if she falls in combat here?"

Starswirl said nothing, before the bugles of the gladiator ring sounded.

In the arena, over the roars of the crowds, the war cry of Kalmai, the lead Saddle Arabian stallion, echoed, as he charged forwards, eyes only for Mashri. The other 4 cloaked stallions ran too, ruffling cloaks revealing armour and weapons they had experience with.

The 5 gladiators readied, the Minotaur male, Braxius, snorting as he surged forwards, as Caikus ran ahead too, flanked by the 2 Chamois male twin gladiators and Mashri, who clearly would not charge headlong into battle yet, being known for both her strength and tactics.

But the crowds didn't care, they had clear sides to root for and against, and a gladiator that displayed clear loyalty beyond many others in the army among them. She certainly would live if she didn't fall in combat.

But among her enemies, her brother, Kalmai, was the one she'd meet in life most determined to kill her at any moment.

Her greatest test was two-fold, being both one of choice and loyalty, the other of facing the consequences of that choice.

Romane rules made this happen, and she knew that. But she would now face down her past she'd now discarded.

In the grandstands, despite her proving herself, the two wizards, Siral and especially Starswirl, could only watch for now.

But it wasn't just Mashri that would make a big impression today.

Author's Note

Mashri's fakeout with her Romane Centurion gear beneath the robe, in public, was an excellent way to get the crowds on her side before the fight even began, and to make a display to her brother. Two birds one stone.

Mashri's loyalty is determined by which side she feels she is most at home with. Loyalty to what you yourself is has to come before anything else. If your true self is selfish, or selfless, be true to it for greater fulfilment. Besides, the Romane Empire's done more for her than her family ever did, who abandoned her in a panic when the Empire came to her village to expand, though they didn't kill her or other abandoned children, but assimilated them.

But more on these specifics for the last chapter.

Unlike other gladators fights in this micro story though, where non-lethality and showmanship was heralded and encouraged, these Saddle Arabian Horses are ready to maim and kill, especially Kalmai now.

The choice has been made, now the consequences.

And in other developments, here is where the microfractures of Starswirl and Siral's methods come to blows. To interfere and engineer to expose what they need [Siral], or to sit by and let fate play out due to not messing with the Prophecy on its own [Starswirl]. These two mindsets won't be rigid for all the Element beings' eras with these two, and will alternate given the situations.

Not all the Element Essence beings will be in such dire situations as now, as in not imprisoned and forced to fight. But Loyalty seemed more militaristic, more imperial, as a concept in life, friendship or otherwise.

MAGIC I: Imperial Pandina, Tragedy

117 YEARS LATER

13th March, 605 BNM

Dawn

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan mountains

The month long trek across the immense mountain passes to the west, meeting Sherpa tribes to aid their passage, then crossing the lower, more treacherous mountain ranges, the two Wizards had taken up camp on a ridge at the edge of the mountain range.

Rubbing sleep from his eyes as he emerged from his tent, one of many items he and Siral could carry in a shrunken form with their magic, Starswirl stopped as he saw the sight in the massive lowlands before them, a few miles away.

The dawn mist was boiling off, and already the frigid night air was giving way to the heat of the sun. Down below, the long expanses of green forests at the foot of the mountain range's edge stretched on for a long way, bamboo making up the vast majority of its greenery to the north and west, more normal darker coloured forests to the south and east.

Up ahead, as the internal prompting by his prophecy memories told him, the small city kingdom of Shenghu beckoned, with the rice paddy fields and farms surrounding the sizeable city for a mile at least in any direction.

Behind him, a rustling sounded as Siral had already begun packing up his own tent, shrinking it as he folded it with his magic.

"I sometimes marvel at the world's beauty, this place is so much different from Romane. The green forests down there, and the mountains, everything."

Siral looked over the sight, his own normally harder gaze slacking at it. In some wistfulness, Siral remarked:

"Better than Romane was when we reemerged a month ago."

Starswirl looked down slightly at this, before he straightened his robes, remarking: "We should get moving, if we wish to enter the city before it's too close to noon."

"Why? We took a month to get here, a few more hours may not impact the Magic be-" Siral reasoned, before Starswirl retorted politely:

"If I wasn't getting a feeling besides one I have to go now, I would agree with you there."

There was a difficulty in explaining how the prophecy Starswirl was operating by 'prompted' him in hunting down these 6 beings, this being the 2nd one so far in history. But all the two wizards knew was that they were vague, but correct.

It had already served them well 117 years prior, but that era had long changed for them.

The two wizards were on the road to Shengdu, down the mountains and into the Bamboo forests leading to its rural outskirts no less than 5 minutes later.

In the city, on the day of their arrival, there was a festival in the works, a celebration of noble visitors, whose exact reasons for being there were not entirely known by all.

But like the Romane empire of old, the Hain dynasty in Pandina held many different races, and again, some clearly superior to others in standing.

And yet, for some, as upcoming events would show, even that wasn't enough.

There was truth to Siral's blunt statement, as in the 117 years since their time in Romane with Mashri, the mighty empire had finally crumbled, as barbarians pressed on all fronts that had expanded further than the empire could grow to manage. The unstable culture as a more monotheistic faith, contrary to the 'god emperor' ideals, undermined their own authority, as the new faith began to dominate, impose and create infighting within the empire's other subservient cultures only served as a catalyst for the breakup.

Remnants of Romane's greatness remained in the great city state and empire of Dasyntium, but it was a mere shadow.

Here though, in the Pandina empire, the Hain Dynasty ruled strong and proud, though Shengdu, like many cities, was more or less self-operating anyway, adhering to the Emperor in more desperate times.

13th March, 605 BNM

Late Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shengdu provincial capital.

Main square

The brown and yellow thatched wooden, sloping roofed housing and merchant buildings that formed the city's structure were covered in festival decorations for the few days the Lantern Festival took place.

Dogs and Cattle milled around, many couples and families either enjoying the various wares being sold, entertainers on show, or themselves fulfilling these roles in the festival.

The Bamboo forests nearby guaranteed a large Panda presence, and there were many easily distinguished in the crowds by their black and white coats and burly figures, mostly among the ones enjoying the festival.

Wandering amidst the crowds, noticing the odd looks they were getting due to them being Unicorns in travelling cloaks, Starswirl spoke lowly to Siral over the bustle of the crowds and music playing in many places in the busy market.

"I can't sense where the one of magic is, but they are in the city for certain."

Siral took a quick look around, remarking as he and Starswirl saw a few stalls offering fortune readings, sorcery, and even a stage being prepared for a display advertising, in the local language they magically could understand with some spells, magical acts.

"A magic user in this city? I can't say that makes it much easier."

"Many of these are illusionists, not true magic wielders." Starswirl remarked, while Siral took an interest in one sorcerer stand offering potions for sale:

"Magic, no, but some of those potions appear genuine."

"Of course, potions can be done by non-magicals, if they have the knowledge and skill." Starswirl consolidated this fact, while Siral stood aside as a panda child ran by excitedly, the chiding parents apologising to the cloaked Unicorn as they sauntered past him.

"Perhaps we should get somewhere quieter?" Starswirl suggested with some humor, Siral himself not as amused by the crowds around.

Market square, seating area

Among a few tables set up for patrons, Starswirl and Siral now sat, having got some quick meals of rice, and bamboo shoots with some various sauces dressing them dishes, and some vegetarian dumplings.

As Starswirl thought to himself, eating a slightly spicy dumpling, Siral mused aloud as the black furred, white maned Unicorn looked about the festival:

"Remind me, what did the Prophecy state of this one we're looking for?"

Starswirl was quiet for a second. He had indeed told Siral everything, except for the line about watching for any friends that follow him.

"A restrained one, that's who we're searching for as a Magic exemplar."

"Restrained. Perhaps that's why you're struggling to find them." Siral thought. Swallowing the dumpling, Starswirl put a hoof to his chin, thinking for a moment as he remarked with some longing:

"If only they were as public as Mashri was…"

"Before she was convicted of brief treason." Siral finished, but as that joke had left Siral's lips, Starswirl smacked a hoof slightly on the table in a eureka moment:

"Mashri, hmm, I was all for restraint back then. Perhaps Siral, on this occasion, making a public scene of some kind might be a good way to go."

"What happened to not messing with destiny?" Siral asked quizzically.

"This time both of us will be aware of taking more proactive steps. But let us go to the top and prove our skills in a public setting for maximum influence." Starswirl remarked, jabbing a hoof at Siral. He was still mixed about Siral's tactics of arranging situations to force Loyalty's exemplar to display her potential, but this time interfering actively was necessary.

Magic attracted others that had potential for it after all.

Evening/Dusk

Shengdu palace

The leaders of Shengdu, like a great many cities in Western Pandina's region, had ties to the great Eastern Dragon clans. In this case, the leaders themselves were Eastern Dragons, one of a fair few families that split peacefully from the other Eastern Dragon clans in the mountains to interact, guide and even lead the more numerous races of the many eastern lands.

It wasn't uncommon for a strong family to be head of cities largely made up of other races in the Hain Imperial territories, and Shengdu was under the guiding hands of the strong Eastern Dragon family, the Honshai family.

Front plaza balcony

Parades and bright red and yellow colours decorated the lanterns and marques, and the various animal costumes in the parade waving as they advanced along the line shook like golden waves amidst a sea of red in the main street part of the plaza.

As the distant music of folk music, refined or 'common' echoed up to the plaza, the leader of the family, the Elder male Eastern Dragon, Jaio Honshai, laid the claws of his large, 20 foot long green and red scaled form on the railings. Like so many Eastern dragons, who all had a higher affinity for magic amongst dragons, they could regulate their sizes at will, and not just with greed impulses as other Western Dragons or Fire Drakes could.

"Husband. A word please?"

Turning around, the green and red serpentine dragon saw his wife and mate, dressed in a set of robes that, like his, had openings in the back for her wings. Kei-la Honshai, once of the Ju-shia Eastern clan, and his mate of 55 years now. She had a troubled look on her face, and Jaio suspected he knew why.

"What has she done now?"

"Nothing, but she has fallen ill again with a fever, the doctor has treated her. Her magic is acting out again."

"...She must power through this, this is necessary, otherwise she won't be able to fulfil her duty to this family."

"Must she go through this? Might she be a more desirable wife for any of the other Dragon families across the regions if she still can-"

"No, this family has enough sorcerers, our sons. Yu-shai is my heir, while Peng and Shung can fulfil the Emperor's call for magic wielders against the Muttgolian attackers in the north. We must have Hinai marry one of the provincial princes, but they-"

"Won't want a powerful wife, but an obedient wife. I understand, but why must she suffer the pains of restraining her magic as she blooms into full maturity?"

Kei-la repeated the often remarked reasons, as she understood her husband's desires, and in fact, so did Hinai as she suffered from the magic restraint induced fever, but the fact that steps to take to ensure Hinai's magic never fully developed pained the mother to see. Every child in their family had strong magic, and unlike herself, Hinai was told to restrain hers if any of the dragon princes wished to marry her, as all of them too could wield magic already.

Jaio walked over to his yellow and green scaled wife, the Eastern dragon holding her hands delicately in his similarly clawed ones: "If I had my way, she could have learned with her brothers. But for the sake of the populace and the city, links must be maintained. Hinai knows this, I tell her it every time she recovers."

In truth, it pained the Dragon father that his daughter was having to be restrained so her powers would never fully manifest, as she clearly had much potential. But the provinces needed to band together to keep the Hain dynasty strong, and her marrying would be easier if she wasn't see as such a spirited, powerful magic wielder like her brothers were.

When Eastern Dragons had conformed to the customs of the people, and vice versa, some respect of strength regardless of gender had to be diminished.

As Kei-la looked out, the first fireworks of the night flew into the sky, and she remarked with some sadness as the first red sparks flew in the sky:

"Such a shame. Hinai always loved the Lantern festival."

A fond memory of a young Hinai riding on his back, marvelling at the pretty coloured bursts in the night air, came to Jiao's mind, while he stood watching the display on the palace balcony with his wife.

Down below, other fireworks readied, but in the crowds, 2 cloaked figures emerged unnoticed, waiting for their opportunity. The 2 Eastern Dragons were their target audience, and Eastern Dragons were guaranteed magic wielders.

As the next, and last round of fireworks flew up, both Unicorns began to shine their horns, the show about to unfold a guarantee of their magic.

One firework shot into the sky, a colourful green stream flying skywards before it burst into many smaller green stars.

As a second, larger yellow firework shot upwards, the sky itself flashed a very slight hue of blue, and at that very moment, the green firework bursts suddenly glowed even brighter green, and shot inwards towards the yellow firework.

Colliding, the yellow rocket exploded larger than normal, a myriad of orange greens, yellows and reds blasting outwards, before each of them morphed into a series of multi-coloured flashing animal shapes. Pigs, Phoenixes, Dragons, Eagles, Bears and Scorpions, all hued in blue.

As more of the planned rockets fired, a different grey hue caught them midair, moving them in the air unnaturally to the air high above, before they all exploded together in a fountain of colours, raining down like shooting stars from much higher than normal, before settling into a hypnotic spiral of lights around the now prancing or spinning animal shapes lit up high above.

The circling lights moved faster and faster, as the crowds below drew quiet, and even no more planned fireworks were being sent up. As they moved faster, the lights moved inwards, the sparkling animal shapes dissolving into rapidly spinning, blue hued mutlicoloured forms that grew brighter and more compressed, before the rapidly circling halo of sparkling grey hued lights finally met them.

The blue hued orbs and grey hued orbiting lights suddenly lost their outer hues as they collided, and a massive disc of light and sparks of red, yellow, orange and white light burst outwards with a tremendous band, every spark shooting upwards and outwards in a neat arc, before arcing down and out to sweep out across the skies, dissolving like waves dissipating on the seas.

As the sparks faded, the crowds picked out the 2 Unicorns that had been responsible for the event's alterations, but the interruption and display was greeted with immense cheers.

The booming crowds praised the 2 Unicorns, one blue cloaked and the other grey cloaked, while up on the palace balcony, Jiao couldn't help but remark in some awe:

"Very impressive. Unicorns? They must have travelled very far."

"And the commoners seem to love them for the display." Kei-la noted, the yellow and green scaled Eastern Dragoness. She already had an idea brewing as another goodwill gesture to the people, to keep them on side for good face and giving back to their subjects.

"Perhaps we should reward their heroes of the night? Our two younger sons are up north, so there is room for them at the banquet table tonight." Jiao proposed, on the same page as his wife.

Later Evening

Shengdu Palace, dining room

The ornately decorated dining room of the Shengdu palace was adorned in gold and jade fittings, and many colours of red and yellow across the floors, ceilings and pillars at corners of the room.

Now sat at the table, the two Unicorns had their hoods down, and as the tales [abbreviated and edited for no mention of time travel] that Starswirl and Siral had were shared, the other occupants took a great interest in affairs beyond the Pandina territories.

The eldest son, Yu-shai, was a red and golden coloured male Eastern dragon, adorned in red and white robes befitting a local prince, and as first in line, he made the polite, but offhanded remark as the tales from Equestria, unknowingly from much further back than told, were regaled:

"It's often told that while Unicorns lack the raw magic power our kind has, they have great skill in using the art of it for many different feats."

"As was certainly displayed tonight by you two, much to the embarrassment of the fireworks artisans." The local Queen, Kei-la, the Green and golden Eastern dragoness remarked, while King Jiao quietly laughed at the fact that two outsiders had outdone the local fireworks 'experts' by hijacking their display.

While Siral hid any emotion as he ate the much more delicious food at the table, him and Starswirl being the only vegetarians eating here, Starswirl remarked with some honesty: "You can tell them we meant no harm to their reputation, and that they contributed to it with their fireworks."

At the other end of the table, there was 1 other Eastern Dragon male, and a tiger, both visiting from the lands to the East, closer to the Imperial capital. The dragon had a dark orange set of scales, with dark black and yellow alternating stripes vaguely marking his spine, one of the Imperial Royal Sorcerers. The Tiger male, Delegate Jai-ming was a respected delegate from the neighbouring Fa-ghing provincial kingdom. Looking around, the Tiger male finally asked the question about the empty seat and lack of plate for a usually occupied seat area:

"Might I ask where your daughter is tonight?"

"Princess Hinai will not be joining us, she has recently contracted a fever and must have some rest." Jiao remarked, while Queen Kei-la gave a slightly sad look, and Prince Yu-shai inwardly had some thoughts about the matter himself. None of this was missed by Starswirl, while Siral himself was giving a very subtle series of looks towards the other Eastern Dragon male, the Imperial Royal Sorcerer.

The Sorcerer then gave the slightly disappointed reply at this: "A shame, she was always pleasant company I heard, and a prodigy just like her brothers."

"I'm afraid she lacks the skill capacity for magic like her brothers, her duties to her people won't require them thankfully. She is losing her magical abilities from lack of use as it is." King Jiao remarked, but as this was stated, Starswirl picked up on the very vaguest of slight lies with that last sentence. He chose to keep quiet about that, as he then asked:

"I didn't realise your kind lost their magic potential if underused."

"Only at the age approaching maturity, much like how our more savage Western ancestors can have greed induced growth spurts instead of natural slow growth at their maturity ages." The Eastern Dragon Sorcerer, named Ghung Chian explained to Starswirl, not noticing the slightly narrowed gaze Siral shot at him before he returned to finishing his bean bun dish.

Turning the conversation away from this family matter, Queen Kei-la asked Siral now: "You have been quiet this evening, Siral is it not? Is something the matter?"

"Forgive my apprentice, he is somewhat shy, but very capable and knowledgeable, rivalling me already in some areas." Starswirl remarked.

"What else of Equestria's magical endeavours can you tell us?" King Jiao replied, while Ghung Chian listened with polite interest.

It would be a fair few minutes before they all retired to their rooms, and Starswirl and Siral had been granted at least one night's stay in the guest rooms of the palace as a gesture of goodwill.

Later Evening

Starswirl and Siral's guest room

Settled into their guest room, Siral had cornered Starswirl as the slightly older wizard readied for rest.

"Apprentice?" Siral demanded indignantly.

"I'd rather you be interpreted as shy rather than your true abrasiveness amidst these dragons, especially if any of them is the one we're looking for as I feel." Starswirl remarked.

"Like the Princess Hinai?"

"I have doubts. She was said to not have much potential, and they were only lying about her willingly not using it. She must want to use it, but clearly not be good enough for it to be useful, hence more politics than Sorcerer in her future."

As Starswirl finished, he then recalled the dinner: "And what was the cause for your suspicions towards Ghung Chian tonight?"

"I sensed something about him, deceit in every word he spoke despite not lying, somehow." Siral remarked. Pausing, Starswirl remarked, both laughing and serious somehow:

"I did too, but what I don't know. I suggest we be cautious tonight, alert. The Prophecy prompting me here on the onset of trouble won't be a first time event."

Midnight

Shengdu Palace, living quarters

Princess Hinai's chambers

The Princess, a Yellow and mixed Green/red striped Eastern Dragoness, was awoken by a horrific feeling, both natural and magical in senses.

Her head pounding, Princess Hinai's pink amethyst eyes shot open, as the faint whispers of magic from an unknown source were detected. Her fever had almost gone, yet another outburst of restrained magic she had to keep down at her own health for her future family duty's sake.

Stumbling from her bed, donning the white and faint pink dress robe as quick as she could, she silently stumbled out into the hall, bracing her clawed hand on a doorframe as she slid open the frame.

On the ground, as she felt the mystical incantation sapping her strength somehow, she saw the faint blue aura trail almost feeding slowly off her, though ever since she became more alert, it was less strong.

Outside though, the 2 Dog guards were unconscious, as if drugged by the faint blue mist.

The mist trail ran to her other family's rooms, and Hinai began to panic as she made a dash down the hallway, the darkened halls of her own home seeming to echo oppressive, malevolent demons feeding on her.

She feared this was another panic attack, brought on by her constant restraint of her magic to serve her family as a humbler powered being. But her panic attacks hadn't caused guards to drop unconscious or weaken her.

She saw the blue mist had made her elder brother's guards fall unconscious too, and as she wrenched open the doorframe, she almost screamed at what she saw, what fate she avoided by waking up at sensing it before it could really start.

Blue mist surrounded Yu-Shai in bed, as the Red and Golden Eastern dragon writhed and moaned loudly in pain as scales and what looked like white essence from his mouth and nose, and even his eyes, began to be leached from him by the blue smoke.

As he gasped, turning to face her in a levitated state, she saw his face seeming to shrink inwards, as if he were being consumed from within, his bones showing as his flesh began to sink and wrinkle.

"Yu-Shai!" Dashing forwards, Hinai was shocked as the blue field seemed to burn her, a dragon, as it finished the job. Slumped and clearly not breathing, Yu-Shai's corpse, sunken eyed and seemingly drained, came to rest.

Hyperventilating, Hinai tore out of the room, knowing her parents may be next.

Queen and King's bed chambers

Gasping, King Jiao writhed as he felt something eating him from within, and could only gasp with horror and desperation as he saw Queen Kei-la's shuddering green and golden form give one last writhe before she fell still, her skin and scales inking in as the blue mist finally released her, no longer alive.

He felt it, his strength going, as if he were continuously using high level magic. This spell that sapped his every bit of magic was also killing him.

"Father! Mother!"

"H-HINAI!" Jiao gasped, and the King barely clawed his way out of bed, the blue smoke around him relaxing slightly as he was actually moving. From outside, his daughter burst in, her clawed hands flying to her mouth as she saw what happened to her brother having finished her mother, and was finishing her father:

"You must get away from here! Before it gets you!"

"Father, you-"

"GO!" Jiao bellowed, as he strained under the consuming blue smoke encircling his tiring body once more. Tears staining her eyes, Hinai turned and ran, her wings flexing as she clearly was ready to fly as soon as she was out.

"Let her find help, by gods…" Jiao breathed, as he felt his last strength sapped, the consuming blue smoke finally rendering him a dried out dead husk, like his eldest son and wife.

Shegdu palace, Guest Living quarters

"MOVE SIRAL!"

Starswirl bellowed, as he leapt over another unconscious guard, while Siral fired off another spell at the blue smoke trying to catch them. It was tailored to Eastern Dragons, and wasn't fully effective on them, but had a weakening effect on them.

Getting too close, Siral slowed, as he felt his very magic being sapped from him. Turning back, Starswirl fired a large surge of blue magic, blasting the blue aura smoke back while also pulling Siral through the air towards him.

"We have to go, now!"

Turning aside, Starswirl fired a blue beam at the wall, blowing it out onto the rooftops before he leapt out, Siral slowly regaining his motor skills as they ran across the night shone rooftops of the Shengdu palace.

All around the palace, guards were unconscious from the blue smoke that had spread everywhere before targeting the full magic users in the palace at the time.

As the 2 Unicorns fled across the palace rooftops, and through the city streets, they were ignorant of the Eastern Dragon female that had fled the Palace in the night, in a distraught state, her silhouette distant in the night sky, heading for the Shicuan mountain range.

For now, the distant Shicuan mountains to the north west beckoned to them as well.

14th March, 605 BNM

Midday

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shengdu province capital, Shengdu palace

Throne room

"Whoever did this must be found and executed for their crimes!" The tiger delegate, Jai-ming, had awoken just as Ghung Chian had in an uproar, as someone had broken in, magically murdered the King, Queen and Prince somehow, and also kidnapped the Princess and 2 Unicorn visitors, and had unconsciously rendered the guards.

As acting command from the Imperial capital in such an emergency when and if it happened, Sorcerer Ghung Chian gave a stern bow to Jai-ming, sating the tiger's outrage while some guards nearby awaited the Sorcerer's command:

"Whoever did this will get what they deserve, my word upon my honour."

"I must leave for Fa-ghing, my king will want to hear of the terrible news from a witness."

With a very brisk pace, his stuff already packed for the long trip, Jai-ming gave a swift bow to Ghung Chian, before leaving the impromptu 'King' in charge of this kingdom he'd had negotiations planned for today with King Jiao.

As Ghung Chian turned to speak to the local monks about funerals for the dead King, Queen and Prince, his tone low, he felt a surge of strength in his body that he had not possessed the day before.

For now, there were many matters to attend to.

Mid Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan Mountain range, Bamboo forests

Trekking along the mountain trail, amidst a large mountain sloping bamboo forest, the 2 cloaked Unicorns gained their composure and direction after yesterday.

With a fast exit the day before, they had hidden in the mountain for a day to gather their bearings, before deciding to venture out to the mountain paths.

Starswirl was cursing their luck, but also was confused:

"Somepony murdered them!"

"Might you have sensed if any of those killed were the one?" Siral suggested.

"Maybe, but something else is going on for this to happen." Starswirl remarked. As Siral answered with his own thoughts, Starswirl became distracted by something in the distance, walking slowly away:

"That was magic, but nothing I've felt before. We should go back and try and find out what-where are you going Starswirl!?"

Siral exasperatedly called out as Starswirl galloped ahead, the slightly younger, but still middle aged looking black Unicorn muttering a few choice words under his breath.

Deeper into the bamboo forests, Starswirl and Siral now stood over a sight that wasn't hard to figure out.

The Yellow and red/green striped Eastern Dragoness wore what looked like night robes, muddied and tattered from fleeing into these forests, even after she'd likely flown with her wings at first. She was asleep, but troubled, and crumpled as if escaped from something truly traumatic.

"Royal robes, this may well be Princess Hinai." Starswirl remarked wistfully, as Siral bent down to put a hoof to her forehead. Retracting it, he spoke lowly: "Hot, even for a dragon. Fever, just like they said."

"What looks like she slept out here recently didn't' help that." Starswirl pointed out, as he knelt down before the crumpled, sleeping heap of an Eastern Dragon.

Beside him, Siral asked: "So is she?"

With a stiff nod, Starswirl added: "Just like with Mashri, but slightly different in feeling."

Looking at her, Starswirl and Siral knew the first thing to do was find somewhere better for her to recover, before their next move. It seemed that this time, direct interaction was much more guaranteed.

Author's Note

The beginning of the Magic Arc, and a change of scenery to the equivalent of Ancient China's Han dynasty.

As for the draining magic, this is a magical precursor of an art practiced by a certain villain in the main show, in a less refined, less precise and ultimately more likely to outright kill form, a rusty first iteration spell/curse.

More on this Harmony Essence being, Hinai, in upcoming chapters.

Meanwhile, this time around Starswirl and Siral are more on the same page, and take more direct action out of necessity. Not always by their own actions though, as fate would have it.

MAGIC II: Hinai's reminiscences.

15th March, 605 BNM

Mid Morning

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan Mountain range, River Caverns.

Water dripping amidst the rushing of a nearby river greeted Hinai as she woke up.

She was inside a tent, a dull brown travelling tent used by merchants it seemed, and still in her night gown. Her Yellow scales, and mixed red/green scale stripes along it, had been cleaned of the mud she recalled falling into before she passed out in the bamboo forest.

Over in a corner of the cave, as she blearily peered out of the tent mouth, she saw a smoking fire was dying, as a Grey Unicorn was donning his travelling cloak with his back turned to her. Her tent was one of 2, but she could sense some magical essence from more than just herself and this strange Unicorn, a 3rd, also a Unicorn, but different in magical feeling.

As she struggled out of the tent, the grey unicorn came over to her, his face sympathetic and showing concern as he helped the Eastern dragoness to her feet:

"Do not rush, you may still be weak."

"What happened?" Her question, trembling but demanding in tone, was multi-layered.

Before her, the Unicorn Wizard, Starswirl, hesitated, as he explained what happened, based on the first time that his friend, Siral, had secretly scouted out Shengdu after getting her to safety here.

Her parents and brother were murdered by some strange magic, draining their life and magic all at once, almost claiming them and her too, but them being awake made it fail.

It would be a few hours before Hinai would come out of her tent, her eyes stinging from shedding more tears than she had ever done in her life all at once.

Outside, as he thanked the rushing river further down in the cave mouth for stifling her sobs in her tent, Starswirl sat in deep thought, puffing on his weed pipe as he tried to figure out what to do next. Prophecy be damned for now, they needed to get an idea of where to go from here.

"Siral, please don't take too long to return this time." A hushed whisper of urgency escaped Starswirl's lips as he eyed the rising sun. Siral had been gone for only an hour so far, sneaking unseen and unrecognised as his true form into Shengdu city.

Midday

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shengdu provincial capital.

Main square

The palace soldiers, dogs cattle and a handful of tigers and pandas, marched through the roads as they exited the city in their search.

Amidst the crowds, looks of mourning for the local ruling family were plastered everywhere, while the messenger from the local government issued the statement, the interim leader, the Eastern Dragon Sorcerer Ghung Chian, standing nearby as the Cattle spoke hoarsely and loud enough to be heard across the square:

"-weekend for the funeral procession, but the warning must be heeded! The murderer of the Royal Family killed them for their magic and life essence, and it is certain now that Princess Hinai is dead. Shreds from her night robes she fled in were found in the forests in the mountains. Ghung Chian himself confirmed it himself, his sorcery skills proving the same curses were used on her there."

Bowing his head low in a respectful mourning, the Eastern Dragon Sorcerer was quiet as the Cattle male messenger continued from the podium's front:

"Messengers have already been sent to the 2nd eldest son to return from the Muttgolian campaigns. Peng Honshai shall be made king upon his return within 2 months, and until that time the local council shall preside, and maintain order as best it can. In the meanwhile, Ghung Chian has offered himself to a new task as he relinquishes his interim control duties."

Backing up, the Cattle male let the Orange Eastern Dragon, yellow and black striped along his spine and wings, speak, Ghung Chian stroking his lengthy snout hairs as he declared boldly:

"Citizens, this is not the first time such an act has occurred, but it is the first time the culprit has been daring enough to attack a governing family."

"As a word of warning, this evil wielder has been known to take on the appearance of those they do not kill immediately, such as those they kidnap or capture elsewhere. Beware anyone that resembles Princess Hinai, they are NOT who they say they are."

"By the Emperor's will, and that of the Sorcerer's council, I shall take up the task of bringing this evil magic wielder to justice for what they have done here, and ensure no more fall to their evil consumption!"

As the Eastern dragon raised his hands in a gesture, the crowds cheered in support, knowing a full blown sorcerer would be pursuing this menace, and at least guaranteeing they wouldn't return.

Amidst a crowd of dogs and cattle families, keeping his magic hidden as best he could, the cloaked cattle male turned to leave subtly, nobody noticing the fur beneath his cloak was a dark grey, or that the cloak itself was magically altered to appear brown, not Siral's usual grey.

As he shuffled through, getting into the roads, Siral saw the soldiers leaving, obviously too in search of Hinai, the supposed disguised murderer.

As he left, Siral had his suspicions, as he sensed something familiar. There was Ghung Chian's unique magic signature, his own, and yet something else, something sinister and powerful that matched the same thing Siral felt sapping his strength in the corridors on the night of the attack.

He had suspected it was Ghung Chian, but it wasn't by what he felt. Ghung Chian was clearly lying, but for what end if he wasn't the one that pulled off the attack by what he sensed?

Mid Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan Mountain range, River Caverns.

Sat in front of the fire, Hinai stared at the fire intently, her mind wracked in grief that she managed to hide.

Beside her, Starswirl uncomfortably tried to break her silent stupor. He'd explained a lot of Starswirl and Siral's dinner and meeting her parents, her brother and the 2 less important visiting delegate and Sorcerer. As he recalled it, he noticed Hinai's eyes move towards him slightly as he regaled the fireworks alterations:

"-can't say the fireworks professionals were entirely happy, but the crowd was impressed. We had to make a big show to meet your parents after all."

"Why?"

Hinai's one word again could mean many things, but Starswirl jumped for the obvious answer first:

"We heard a great deal about magic wielders in your family, a strong lineage as well."

Hinai shifted uncomfortably, the hard cavern floor unfamiliar to her more high-end lifestyle, but she was too grief stricken to truly complain about this. Just some salt in the wounds. The Yellow Eastern Dragoness gave a sad remark, as one or two more tears shimmered in her eyes:

"My brothers, they were good, my Mother too, and Father, was the best."

"What about you?"

"I have a lot of power, but I can't use it. Being too powerful can make me less of a suitable wife for my future husband."

Understanding that thinking, especially for a political alliance as it seemed to be presented as, Starswirl had to remark with some sadness in his tone: "Is that your choice then? Or family duty?"

"I choose to serve my family by my duties."

"But you have many illnesses as you restrain your magic.." Starswirl carried on, trying to understand. Shaking her head, Hinai remarked: "I have only 2 more years before I am mature, and my restraint finally sets in. It has been done before among our kind, it is perhaps more of a struggle than embracing our powers, to make ourselves humble to rule with greater consideration for those less powerful than us."

"A suppose you think that's a noble cause then." Starswirl couldn't help but give a mixed smile and grimace at this, while Hinai remarked with her tears finally coming out:

"Father always said I was the bravest of his children for making this choice. Wielding power is easy for us, restraint isn't."

Starswirl couldn't help but agree with that statement of Hinai's, the nearly mature Eastern Dragoness wise beyond her mere 27 years. But he knew that restraint held a double meaning for her, but he wouldn't share that knowledge with her.

Laying a hoof on Hinai's arm, Starswirl was impassive as he added:

"When Siral returns, we'll make our next move. Fate has plans for everything, we can only do what we can with what Siral will help us learn has occurred."

"Is he much like you?" Hinai asked, wiping a tear from her scaly cheeks.

Hesitating, Starswirl added with some hidden meanings to it: "He's reliable, but keeps to himself except around me. He isn't as approachable as I am though, more abrasive, but again, reliable as an ally. He will come with information we can use to make our next move."

Late Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan Mountain range, River Caverns.

"That is the last tent, we move out in 15 minutes. If we stick to the mountain ridges these maps show, we can outpace the normal soldiers."

Siral ordered, taking charge of the initial steps. His news had been dire, as the 'killer' had been told to have taken on Hinai's identity, a lie by Ghung Chian, though he himself didn't seem to be the killer himself. Something was off, but they had to get away from this valley, away from the populated areas.

The way west, through the vast mountain range, the largest on the planet as a matter of fact, was the best way to remain hidden.

As Starswirl passed Hinai a waterskin to drink from with his magic, he saw her clutch her head slightly with her free hand, groaning slightly. Nearby, the embers of the dead fire suddenly glowed a brilliant yellow colour, and the fire leapt upwards as if oil had been poured on it.

Alarmed, Hinai apologised profusely, but Starswirl waved a hoof dismissively:

"Restraint like yours causes this. Can you fly at least?"

"Yes, that wasn't something I had to restrain for my duties."

"That can come of use when we are further from this province then."

Rubbing her head, the magic enhanced fire dying very quickly, Hinai then asked Starswirl, and even Siral up ahead at the cave's mouth:

"They'll be looking for me, so I must not appear as me. I can't do disguising spells."

Looking at Siral, Starswirl knew through unspoken agreement that he was the better spell caster, while Siral was for potions. Given they were short of supplies, Starswirl nodded to Siral to keep getting ready to lead, while he turned to Hinai:

"A few small changes will be enough, until we're further." His horn shone blue as he finished these words.

Shutting her eyes, relaxing her resistance to the magic as Eastern Dragons could, unlike other draconic races, Hinai opened her eyes to see the blue aura around her body had vanished, revealing her body had changed to a plain, green scaled and yellow striped colour, rather than her brilliant yellow and green/red striped back form.

Sighing, Hinai shuffled uncomfortably, feeling naked without her usual robes on. She had no clothes on now, though they had always been more for show.

But around her neck, after removing her nightgown, she still held the necklace given to her by her parents 11 years ago, when she began these 'restraint' exercises of her magic inherent to her body.

The family stone, Jade, lay inside the small golden chain. Pulling it off her neck, she instead recoiled it around her wrist, tighter than on her neck, remarking to Starswirl as the wizard watched with some curiosity:

"I want a piece of my family with me, and on a part where I won't lose it so easily if we encounter trouble."

"Is it a recognisable family heirloom?" Starswirl asked cautiously. With a head shake, Hinai added sadly:

"Family eyes only."

"We have to leave, before they think to look in this valley!" Siral called from up ahead, the other Wizard's grey cloak changing to his disguised brown already, and his face morphing to a cattle just as he had in the city.

With a slight nod, Starswirl changed his cloak colour to brown too, but stayed a pony, but removed the born to become a grey furred Earth Pony stallion.

Not 5 minutes later, there was not one trace of the 3, disguised as a grey Earth Pony stallion, Brown cloaked and black furred cattle male and the plain green Eastern Dragon female that had left.

Even as a pair of solders from Shengdu came across it, they only found the fireplace.

Early Evening

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan Mountain range, River Caverns.

Sensing the ground where they camped, Ghung Chian was left alone in the cave while the 5 soldiers let their superior do his work.

The Orange Eastern Dragon caught the magical 'scent', that of 2 mid aged Unicorns and a female Eastern Dragon nearing maturity.

Turning to the mouth of the cave, Ghung spoke aloud: "They're heading into the Wildnerness, likely the mountain passes."

"They have so many places to hide."

Wandering the cave, thinking for a moment, Ghung knew that only he knew exactly what happened that night, and the full story. But these 2 Unicorns, the same that were at the dinner table, were a mystery.

Starswirl the Bearded, and Siral the Savant.

Turning to the commanding officer, a Dog soldier, who saluted him as he approached, Ghung Chian began to make his long term plans:
"We shall return to Shengdu for the night. Tonight, send forth messengers, tell them to spread calls for a search. One for signs of a pair of Unicorns travelling together, and also to search for an Eastern Dragon of any appearance seen with them. I want them to be brought in for questioning, they knew where the curse wielder is."

As the dog commander saluted, leading his others away with him ahead of the Eastern Dragon leaving the cavern, Ghung Chian bitterly stared up at the first stars in the dusk skies, visible beyond and amidst the towering bamboo forest treetops.

He had got the most promising ones anyway.

1 week later

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan Mountain range

Over mountains, rivers, valleys, canyons and ridges, and enduring mountain passages, they stuck to the paths carved by travellers whenever possible, though always the far less travelled ones.

The Unicorn pair and the Eastern Dragon Princess would continue their long passage West, for many dozens of miles, a hundred at most, before they finally grew confident that they had lost their hunters.

Travel was made much easier when they could drop the disguises, and with her pride and state recovered during her travels, Hinai was gracious enough to fly, which meant Starswirl and Siral were not constrained by an Eastern Dragon's slower walking/running pace.

For now, the mountains beckoned, a quiet place of respite.

23rd March, 605 BNM

Imperial Pandina, Shicuan province

Shicuan Mountain range

300 miles from Shengdu city

As they set up camp on the mountain ridge, it was with some agreement that the 2 Wizards asked Hinai to hear them out.

But as they spoke, Hinai was hesitant: "I feel as if I'll be betraying my promise to my duties, to my family."

"You must be able to defend yourself, and you have great potential." Starswirl seemed to quietly plead.

"But too much power to be what I need to be."

"Right now you need to be strong, capable, and in full control of your inherent power, which we know to be very great indeed. Power is only dangerous if uncontrolled, just as your restraint makes you at some times, to others through random outburst, or yourself via sickness." Siral remarked bluntly, the grey robed wizard even more blunt than Starswirl was.

"I can wait 2 more years until I finally am mature, and it shall be subdued." Hinai remarked hopefully, but she knew the answer. Starswirl gave her a dour look as he pointed out:

"The duties that call for that are not your future anymore. You need to adapt, and be ready. We can help you learn to control your power, we have instructed other magic users before."

Not dragons mind you. Siral telepathically remarked to Starswirl, though the latter ignored the slight inwards doubts.

With a sigh, Hinai promised what she could: "When shall we start?"

Starswirl announced the next day, and with Siral also helping, these mountains would become their home for a good while yet, training Hinai.

So far, the Element of Magic was proving to not be someone they merely interact with and encourage, but a flat out student. But Hinai's latent magic restraint for so long, mentally and physically, would prove troubling.

And they already were being pursued by a myriad of bounty hunters and a certain Sorcerer, Ghung Chian with a keen fixation on them, and the same mysterious force differing from him that had claimed Hinai's family, and apparently others before.

Author's Note

On the road, and hunkering down amidst the mountains for a good while yet. The former Princess finds herself with 2 magic teachers [Starswirl more so], while they are hunted by this Sorcerer Dragon and his soldiers at his command. The magic that claimed her family's lives is close to the Sorcerer, but yet, also not from him, something else is afoot.

MAGIC III: Reluctance and Power.

8th June, 605 BNM

Northern Eastern Imperial Pandina, Hung Province

Muttgolian border, Great Wall

The drylands tinged the entire area in a brownish yellow colour, a contrast to the many dead raiders been picked clean beyond the boundary of the similarly coloured stone superstructure of similar stone that was present here. Worker toiled, soldiers scavenged but remained alert, and the defence against the northern raiders continued to grow across Pandina's northern reaches, one that would endure for millennia once finished, even as it became a landmark instead of a military structure.

The massive stone structure stretched for miles, and was a work already decades underway. Where it was completed, it was extremely effective in stopping the northern raiders and armies.

At the chokepoints, where construction was still underway, the majority of the battles took place. Now the battles were often in the same places, and bigger, than decades prior.

The Emperor commanded a draft from every family in the north for soldiers to defend the wall, while others built it up.

As one of the Emperor's own Sorcerers helped oversee the wall, his task would change very suddenly.

Great Wall tower

Ghung Chian shaded his orange scales under the stone of the competed tower, the scorching sun overhead murder on everyone working or guarding this part of the Great Wall.

Along the wall's constructing segment, 5 miles long, hundreds of workers worked tirelessly to build the massive structure.

Out to the north of the wall, the soldiers, mostly dogs and cattle, were busy stripping and burning the corpses of the most recent Muttgolian invasion army, numbering in an intimidating few thousand this time. There were hundreds of dead Muttgolian dogs, but they always came back.

Shaking his head, Ghung Chian recalled the exhilaration he felt using his magic from the wall, wiping out a hundred of them himself from the tower.

"Ghung Chian, messenger brought this for you, from the Sorcery council."

Turning, the Orange Eastern Dragon saw a Dog Soldier give him a salute, before handing him a scroll. With a stiff nod, dismissing him, Ghung stepped out into the sunlight slightly, taking in a last sight of the many arrow, hacked up dog bodies, and the efforts of the wall builders and defenders he'd helped defend.

Inside, he saw a report. His Sorcerers had set up contact 'stones', for instant communication, but they were limited. This message had been sent by messenger from the nearest, the 'Siren Stone' a hundred miles east of here. This gave a tremendous speed advantage of communication for the Sorcerers, and the Emperor they served, but of course army movements were still much slower.

Upon reading it, Ghung Chian remarked with some pleasure: "Finally. After this, no more loose ends."

Life force draining Sorcerer sighted, disguised as Yellow Eastern Dragon similar to missing, presumed dead Princess you reported with the Honshai murder case. Sighted in South Eastern region, Xigongyian Valley.

At the ground level, the leader of the local construction of the wall saw the Orange scaled Sorcerer suddenly land before him:

"Captain, I must leave. I have been informed of a dangerous rogue Sorcerer we've been tracking in the South."

"Yes Sir. And whatever the issue is, may fortune be with you." As the Panda saluted, Ghung Chian resisted the urge to make a retort, before he flew off, ready to make the long trip to the south.

He knew exactly what would happen when he got there.

[1 month later]

10th July, 605 BNM

Late Morning

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Wizard's shelter

Sat on the riverbank on the valley's flat lower area, the massive Hilomeyan mountains rearing up on both sides, and the mostly Panda resided Zenglansi village a mile up the valley, the Shelter the Wizards had constructed for them and Hinai was more of a stone house if anything.

They had found this secluded valley in early April, and had resided here ever since, training Hinai. The secret agenda was to reveal her magic, if that would bring her out as Magic's exemplar, and prompt Starswirl and Siral to move on.

But unlike Mashri in the Romane era, this was proving more time consuming, but less urgent as an upside.

But over time, the differences in approach, and desires, began to be apparent to Hinai, as she considered the two wizards.

She trained with both, but there was a distinct difference between them.

Riverbank

"FOCUS!"

Straining, her hand out, Hinai focused on the large rock in front of her. Today Starswirl was testing telekinetic magic from her, but he was once again pushing her.

Focusing, she saw the rock shake slightly, lifting off the ground very slowly, but as she gasped out in exhaustion, the rock crashed down the 2 feet it had risen, onto the river bed.

As she recovered, Starswirl shook his head slightly, remarking aloud as he walked briskly over to her:

"You must focus, clear your mind, let your inherent magic flow through you, you mustn't resist it. I thought you'd be over this by now!"

"I don't know why, but I just can't get this right." Hinai admitted, looking away from the grey Unicorn. Starswirl frowned slightly, before he turned to face the rock, his own blue horn shining now. The rock lifted up 2 feet easily, hovering sideways towards the river as he spoke:

"I can sense you have a lot of potential, and you performed many low level spells well. But.."

With a flare of his horn, the rock suddenly burst apart, cracking slowly until the many dozens of fragments slowly hovered to splash into the shallow river before them. Looking at Hinai now, who was looking down slightly still, Starswirl stressed to her:

"You keep hesitating. You must break through this lack of will of yours, or you will never reach your full potential."

"Its not easy for me to suddenly be trying this after years of restraining myself. I never learned from a young age how to push myself!" Hinai nearly shouted at Starswirl, but she kept her voice down enough to merely make her point to him.

"I know you did. But you do this to honour your family, even in their death." Starswirl remarked, but Hinai jabbed a finger at him, the yellow Eastern Dragoness accusing him:

"Not all of them. My other 2 brothers still live, one is King of Shengdu now, they carry on my parents' wishes, so must I."

"And that is why you keep struggling. You must let go of your restraint. That is enough for today anyway."

As Starswirl suddenly changed tack, Hinai stood upright more, her gaze regretful as he remarked: "You are brilliant, and could be more so, but while you know how to do all I and Siral have taught you, you lack the will to fully use it. Theory can only get you so far."

As Starswirl left to return to the quarters, the grey wizard rubbing his temple in frustration, he stopped, saying back to Hinai before he got too far:

"I understand that you miss your family Hinai, but please understand this is for the best."

"I know Starswirl, but unlike you, I have not yet lived a long life to get used to being parted from family."

Hinai turned to the river, sitting down on the rocks to dip her toes in the cold mountain water by her lonesome, while Starswirl shook his head to himself before leaving.

Wizard's shelter

With Hinai visible at the riverbank a few hundred feet away, Starswirl met Siral as the other wizard came out of the door, a few supplies for his potions 'lab' in a basement he magically excavated himself, in a bag at his black flank's side.

As he saw Siral however, Starswirl openly gasped slightly:

"No wonder you weren't up early this morning, what happened to you?"

Siral's face was baggy from bad sleep, and his body visibly had some looks of starvation to himself. He had been healthy looking the night before, and now looked as if he'd been starved.

Blinking slightly, Siral mumbled to be barely heard: "Success is what happened. I was trying to replicate the magic that drained Hinai's family, whatever it was. I finally found a mixture that replicated some of the effects, barely."

Laying a hoof on Siral's shoulder, helping the Black Unicorn stay upright, Starswirl remarked with some worry: "Don't experiment like that without me helping Siral, that was lethal to Hinai's family, and you too if you aren't careful."

"I will be fine. I am heading to the river to get some water for the healing brew I had ready. I didn't want to waste the water for drinking we gathered."

Letting Siral go, Starswirl turned to head into the shelter, before he added to Siral, the other Unicorn slowly walking to the river still: "I'll be heading into the village for some supplies. Do you need anything yourself?"

"Nothing unusual. But how did Hinai's training go, she was good with her potions training yesterday if I might say so."

Scoffing at Siral's remark, Starswirl pointed out: "Potions can be done even by non-magic users. She's likely more comfortable doing that than outright magic."

Rolling his eyes, Siral walked to the river as steadily as he could, knowing this bickering debate they had of which was better, potions or spellcasting, despite them both being highly skilled at each, as they each showed a preference for one over the other for 'experimentation'.

Riverbank

Looking around, Hinai saw Starswirl walking off from the stone house, clearly off on a supply run to the nearby panda village in the valley.

But beside her, Siral came up, weakened and tired looking from what as clearly self-experimentation.

He was quiet as he took some water in to a flask, shaking it before gulping it down in his magical grip. After also taking in some drinking water on its own, she visibly saw the sunken lines on the black and white maned Unicorn's face begin to vanish, looking healthier by the second.

Siral was less sociable, and didn't push her as well. If anything he was the most curious about anything new they came across, be it legends, new magical arts and particularly potions brews. He had already been a frequent customer to the local panda village's apothecary.

Finishing his drink, Siral noticed the slightly downcast look Hinai had, as he tried what words of comfort he could. He wasn't slaved to a prophecy [which neither of the two had told Hinai of at all] like Starswirl was, he'd come along out of curiosity, and helping one of his few friends, at its most basic level.

"Forgive Starswirl, but he only wishes to bring out everypony's full potential, whatever their skill is."

"I just wish he would not push so hard."

Siral kept it quiet, but he felt a sense of irony. With the Loyalty exemplar, he'd manipulated events, being the impatient one back then. The tables had turned now, though the onset of a murder of her family, and being hunted a while back, made intervention necessary.

"You will overcome your own limits, everypony does, in time. But, just be aware that sometimes the time can come when you least expect it. If your potion learning speed reflects your spellcasting potential, you could be a very great magician one day."

Hinai said nothing, neither objecting to or liking that future outright. The yellow dragon's awkward silence was only broken by an offhanded remark:

"Everypony, you use expressions that emphasize pony. Was your home country less varied?"

"Yes, but perhaps as the world grows such expressions may change." Siral guessed, glad the subject could be dropped for a more levity inducing topic. He wasn't one for supportive words necessarily.

10th July, 605 BNM

Late Night

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Wizard's shelter, rooftop

It was much later that night, after the evening meal had been finished, the 2 Wizards and Eastern dragoness had taken to the roof of the shelter, stargazing before heading to their sleeping rooms. Being magically forged, the house had plenty of room.

On top of the roof, reclined back as the cool mountain valley air washed over them all, they enjoyed the sights how they could.

Siral had his muzzle buried deep in a book of Star Charts he still carried, a magically glowing white light hovering over his book, and filled in where certain stars moved to over time [days to decades, known only to Starswirl] out of hobby interest.

Listening to a few tales and myths from his time in Equestria, which she was told was recently, and not from over 200 years ago roughly, Hinai gave a laugh as Starswirl finished recalling certain students' accidents with new spells.

"So really Hinai, you hesitating, is actually a blessing compared to some problems other pupils I've taught have had."

"I can understand that from you. I'll try not to turn the house into bread anytime, if I can help it." Hinai jabbed, lightening up about her resilience to using her magic more strongly now that Starswirl clearly didn't mind it as much as she figured.

Sharing a laugh, Hinai couldn't help but remark: "This is, odd. I've never had this freedom in my life."

"Do you miss your old life?" Siral asked, not once looking up from his star chart book.

"Maybe. I miss the safety of rules, knowing what to expect, I was kept busy. But, the lack of as much a schedule here, I don't know what to do with myself many times, but I feel less stressed."

"Aside from hesitating with your magic." Starswirl countered with all sympathy he could manage. He finally understood a little as to why she was still hesitating. She was still getting used to a vastly different life, one which was also rather quickly adapted by Starswirl and Siral once this valley was found, rather than travel all the time, which kept them busy.

Hinai leant back on the stone roof, eying the golden and jade stoned necklace down her neckline scales, remarking aloud: "I'll want to return to Shegdu in the future, say goodbye to them, see if my brother came back to claim the throne yet."

"Tell me about them, Peng and Shung." Starswirl asked, Hinai's family an interesting topic. All the while, Siral kept one ear open to the conversation.

12th July, 605 BNM

Late Morning

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

He had flown from the north, his larger form used for ease of flight, and gathered backup only from towns and cities within 400 miles of the valley, to ensure they arrived here not too soon after he did.

Standing at the end of the valley, where the river wound down in the vast Hilomeyan mountains on each side, the Orange Eastern Dragon eyed up the distant village and farmland a few miles down the valley, visible from up here at the line where snow formed on the mountains in summer.

Beside him, the lead Tiger of those he gathered growled to his team, about 2 dozen tiger and dog warriors of both genders, mostly male though, along with a pair of burly cattle males. Ghung Chian used his sorcerer title to get some very good talent at his use.

"We head into the valley, low key. Even magic users will stay near a settlement for food and supplies they may need and not know how to make alone."

The words of the Orange Eastern Dragon were an order and a statement. For now they were watching for them, the 2 Unicorns and Yellow Eastern Dragoness.

If all went well, Ghung Chian would have found them.

As he stared down at the valley, and the village, while the hunters he'd brought with him made final preparations before the long trek into the valley, he lightly fingered a small object he had in his draconic robe's inner pocket.

As he felt it, he relaxed, feeling his energy expand, a relief and a booster he needed. The rocklike substance, as he imbued it with some magic, fed him back in turn. Ghung Chian had been one to experiment with enhancing his own and others' skills, which were all seen as useful by the other Sorcerers.

And he had at least 2 distinct means of boosting his power, one of them a mysterious blue/grey rocky substance he always carried with him.

The other was a spell only he knew, as he'd invented it, and he'd practiced it over many years on many beings of great power. And if not for the rock he carried, it would be even harder to pull off.

But Ghung Chian had a dragoness to catch, and 2 Unicorns. Unfinished business after all.

Author's Note

Magic part III is done, and I can promise some key magical techniques and artefacts/resources will see their 'primitive' forms in the 2 next chapters, the climax of the MAGIC arc.

MAGIC IV: Ambushed, Sullied Sorcerer.

14th July, 605 BNM

Late Morning/Midday

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Zenglansi Village, Market street

The stone walls of the village, many Pandas strolling about with their everyday business, along with the odd dog, panda and even some recent tiger arrivals too, was a calming sight.

In a bid for some better food than normal, the Wizards and the Eastern Dragon had ventured into town as one.

Sat at the table of a small noodle and soup kitchen, there was a bit of peace as the strange travellers simply came to mingle in their own ways. And after all, food was aplenty in a Panda village, by necessity given their rather large appetites. Only meat was banned, but for taste alone, despite carnivores visiting the village, many of the vegetarian soups and dishes made up for it.

Hinai, being an Eastern Dragon, could eat anything, but had a liking for meat. Even so, as she spooned another lot of the soup to her mouth, she found no complaints at the velvety, smooth and rich liquid meal running down her throat.

Siral was sat on the other side of the table, his muzzle down as he read over a scroll he'd borrowed from the local chief's book collection, on loan for now as many scrolls were. While the black Unicorn enjoyed the meal also, he was just as engrossed in his scroll.

On Hinai's other side, Starswirl moved his chopsticks with his magic, frowning as he tried to [for knowledge's sake], learn how to use the accursed utensils just to pick up a new skill every now and then. Ever since he heard not using utensils was rude, as he had previously just used his magic, he'd learned to do it for the sake of learning customs.

"Cursed, pieces of, grr…"

Suppressing a giggle, Hinai looked around at the town, noticing the pandas, family, merchants or otherwise living their lives freely.

"Excuse me, may I get you anything else?"

In surprise, Hinai turned to see the Panda, the restaurant owner's wife, come up expectant and polite. Politely shaking her head, Hinai replied to the Panda female, while Starswirl continued to fumble with the chopsticks in his magical grip, and Siral kept his muzzle buried in his scroll, soup forgotten.

"No thank you, but it is wonderful food."

Beaming, the Panda bowed her head ecstatically, remarking: "Oh you know not how pleasing it is to hear that from one of your kind. Your kind is held in high regard here, and to have two here at once.."

"Pardon me, but, two Dragons?" Starswirl suddenly asked, the chopsticks dropping into the rice bowl he was struggling with. Siral too looked up, interested now, while Hinai listened to the Panda female at their table's end:

"Yes. Orange scaled, came a long way from the North by the sounds of it. A group of dogs and tigers too came with him, but he looked much less unruly than those, thuggish mercenaries."

Shaking her head, the Panda female then heard her husband call from inside the kitchen, and with a quick thank you, she briskly took off to help back in the kitchen.

Looking oddly at Starswirl, Hinai wondered aloud: "A loner from a clan maybe? They often live up here in the high mountains."

"But why here?" Starswirl wondered, while Siral was clearly deep in thought at this. The Black Unicorn asked Starswirl: "Do we know any Orange Eastern Dragons?"

"That's hardly much to go by. Orange is actually a common scale colour for my kind." Hinai reasoned, while Starswirl began to suspiciously eye about. All of a sudden, his eyes began to glow a slight blue colour.

As Siral clutched his head from the vaguest of dizzy spells, and Hinai did also, the Black Unicorn saw what Starswirl was doing, remarking:

"A mind probe field?"

Hinai marveled at the sight, unknowing of the extent of Starswirl's mental search of the entire village. What thoughts lay at the forefront of everybody's minds.

He sensed a few with eyes for them specifically, but one mind was strangely clouded, distorted, and powerful.

Snapping his magical gaze back to normal, Starswirl hissed lowly: "We're being watched, hunted maybe."

"I thought some a tiger yesterday was following me beyond just curiosity." Hinai remarked, while Siral rolled up his scroll, placing it back in his robes.

"We must leave, if they decide to try anything."

"Don't make a scene, any of you. We don't want to draw attention." Starswirl reminded them. With a dour expression, Hinai pointed out as they stood up, Starswirl dropping money on the table to pay for the meals when the Panda wife came by to collect:

"We're a Dragoness and two Unicorns, attention is certain to be on us."

"I know that, but the attention I fear is of those actually looking for us." Starswirl reminded them.

As they left, Siral hesitated in his walking slightly, sensing something in the back of his mind, a tingling in his spine.

He'd experimented, replicating the draining effects of that lethal magic in the Shengdu Palace attack at night, enough to recognise them. The feeling was unmistakable.

Whoever it was, was here.

Zenglansi Village, rural outskirts

Walking along the dirt path, a few rice paddies beside them, Starswirl and Siral kept a high alert, while Hinai decided to idly fly beside them in orbiting circles low to the ground, wanting to stretch her wings.

Starswirl noticed that Siral seemed quite on edge, but he didn't blame him. Though he had to keep a level head among the two of them, for Hinai's sake, and for their own safety in general.

Approaching the riverbank, where a wooden constructed bridge crossed the shallow stony river to the other side, the riverside their stone house was upon further down the valley, the way seemed clear. They kept to paths to avoid suspicion.

Beside them, as a child Panda working in the rice fields suddenly cried out excitedly, Starswirl heard something splash, and leap out of the water.

Beside him, a mud covered Dog had been hiding in the water, waiting to pounce, while behind and in front a handful of dogs, 4 males and 2 females, joined the male in surging onto the path from the rice paddy field depths.

Blade slashing out, Starswirl leapt back instinctively, his blue magic horn flaring as he fired a repulsion spell, flinging the dog backwards to land in the watery rice fields. Beside him, Hinai grew large all of a sudden, defending her teachers and sort of friends with her larger physical size, one magic she knew well and accepted.

Stomping down, the yellow serpentine dragoness breathed a forest of flames towards the dogs, sending them fleeing into the rice paddies for cover, though 1 male and female dog each were caught in the flames, screaming as they fell to the ground ablaze.

Siral heard more splashes, and then at his hoof he saw a narrow, short wooden shaft bury itself into the ground from behind him, tipped with feathers on the ends. The black Unicorn turned, and saw a pair of male Tigers surging forwards from a long way down the path, ignorant of the fleeing Panda farmers behind them, each also wielding a bow and arrow.

While Starswirl focused on the dogs ahead, Siral turned, his magic flaring the usual grey as another volley of arrows came at them. The arrows deflected in grey flashes, breaking in midair as they went, while behind the black Unicorn, Starswirl focused his magic on the dog attackers before him, having an easy time with Hinai breathing fire at them and keeping their heads down.

"Who are they!?"

"I don't know, we have to-"

"DRAGON!"

Siral's warning cry from behind, and a rush of air, cut off Starswirl mid-sentence. A long orange shape leapt like a snake from the village a half mile away, surging forwards as he'd spoken, wings extended and a pair of bright green magical flames in his hands.

As the tigers he'd hired fired arrow volleys to keep them busy, despite them seeing him, Ghung Chian flew forwards, firing a shockwave of magical energy at them in a sweeping green arc.

As it washed over them, a cold burning engulfed them, even the tigers and dogs, though to a far lesser extent. Starswirl visibly shuddered, as did Siral, whilst Hinai suddenly grew worried for them, forgetting about the enemies for a moment:

"Are you alright?"

"He did it!" Siral bellowed, finally confirming the suspicions. He recognised that Dragon, Ghung Chian. But as soon as Siral had bellowed, he saw a pair of orange scaled claws surging forwards.

Hinai shoved Starswirl and Siral each off the path, into a rice paddy pond, but as she made to duck the incoming attack, she felt claws grip her side, and her large 40 foot form get dragged away, the thrashing she let loose only serving to make Ghung Chian hold her in his forehands much tighter.

"We'll leave them alone for now I think." Ghung Chian remarked, dragging Hinai across the river, to the other side of the landscape of the valley.

Zenglansi Village, rural outskirts

Riverside bridge

Dripping wet, Starswirl and Siral charged forwards, intent on pursing the dragons up the mountain.

Behind them, arrows rained as the tigers kept up their attacks, but Siral kept up the field deflecting them. Up ahead, at the footbridge, a trio of dogs charged them, one of them throwing a set of tangling leg traps at Starswirl. Leaping over it, Starswirl fired a spell at the river, satisfied as the river beneath the bridge surged upwards like a giant hammer, smashing down on the bridge's land joint, swamping the trio of dogs off onto the ground.

Running now, other dogs and tigers still pursuing them, Starswirl angrily kicked a dog as it struggled for a weapon when they passed over it on the bridge, while Siral caught an arrow and deflected it to hit one of the tiger archers in the head.

But up ahead, as they ran full pelt to escape the backup, Ghung Chian took Hinai higher into the mountains above the valley, as he began to recite a familiar spell in his head.

Midday

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Mountainside, forest slopes

She felt weak, tingling, drained, being eaten from the inside, and she knew this was the same thing as had claimed her parents, almost claimed her.

Writhing, she angrily made a last effort, and lunged her head forwards and bit Ghung Chian in the forearm, hard enough to draw blood. The Orange, serpentine dragon howled in pain as he released her, Hinai having been drained of her energy a noticeable amount. But she flapped her wings, diving into a forest lining along the mountain face, obscuring her from sight. Around the forests, the cliffsides, snow and trees loomed, natural threats that paid witness to the unnatural one that had come to claim her.

As she hid, Hinai breathed as calmly as she could, but found her heart raced. She felt raw fear now, her parent's killer had been the Orange Sorcerer that had visited. He killed her parents, and he was a Sorcerer of Royal standing.

Two reasons for her to be fearful of her chances, and she suddenly realised just how vulnerable she was now.

Hiding, hiding her magic as much she could, key trick she learnt that she readily adopted from Starswirl and Siral, Hinai heard the wingbeats settle on a slope further down the mountainside, unseen to her.

She slowly shrunk her body to a height of around 10 feet, her 'civilisation interaction' size, and peered cautiously around the tree.

There, orange scales, and a red/green striped spine. Ghung Chian was searching for her, his back turned to look downhill right now. Looking carefully from around the tree, her senses hearing all animal noises had ceased in the forest area, she saw the Orange Eastern Dragon fiddling with something in his hand.

Some sort of object on a chain, too much like the family necklace of gold and jade she had on right now. But he was fondling it in his grip feverishly.

As he shook once, Hinai suppressed a gasp as she saw Ghung Chian suddenly begin to glow a slightly cold blue, exactly the same colour as that mist that consumed her family from within during the night.

"Where is she?" The whisper to himself carried up the slope, eerie and piercing as he said it, right as a misty cloud of blue shadows and fog began to spread up, down, and across the mountain slopes. As Hinai saw it spread, she saw leaves on the trees closest begin to very slowly change, withering and turning brown.

She saw the decay approaching, but kept hidden behind the tree, higher up the slope than the Sorcerer dragon was. As Hinai hid, the yellow and red/green back striped Eastern dragoness heard the voice of Ghung Chian carry up the slope, him clearly looking for her.

"Step out of your hiding hole Princess. You can't withhold your power, nor should you. It is always a waste to see such potential go to waste, and I could ensure it sees proper use in serving the Emperor."

Shaking her head, Hinai stifled the urge to yell an accusation back, as she heard the rustling of the fog of decay, that which claimed her family that night, spreading.

"I know you were withholding for reasons of being a less intimidating wife in future, your brother Peng told me so when I oversaw him taking his place in Shengdu as king. He was grateful of my efforts to hunt down the one that killed his family, and swore more service directly to the Emperor.."

Breathing hard now, her pink eyes wide, Hinai realised now what this had been all about.

The Emperor was building the Great Wall, itself a response to the Muttgolian raiders increasing their efforts to the north. But the Emperor was expanding his power full stop, forcibly bringing provincial governments under his direct influence.

Her father had been cooperative, but on the condition of being more self-governing, given how far from the north border Shengdu was. But now it seems the campaign at the north was bad enough to need much more cooperation from the south.

The disappearances, deaths, like her parents, all to ensure greater loyalty to the Emperor from the successors. And at the same time, Ghung Chian improved his reputation by tracking the murderer, which he framed as one who looked like her.

He gained political influence in killing her, as a loyal and accomplished servant of the Emperor, and added to whatever his way of magical power growth was.

Claws to her head, she bit down on her wrist to stifle her scream of outrage, remaining hidden. The Emperor's need had prompted this, monster, to come after her and her family, and he grew stronger every day.

The decay reached her, and as she saw some small grasses on the mountain slope begin to slump at her feet, she felt the familiar draining sensation. As she felt it build, Hinai let out a small gasp, and began to stifle her magic, a way to fight this draining.

Down the slope, Ghung Chian snapped his head upwards, sensing something resisting his energy absorption spell. He gripped the pendant in one hand tightly, as he flew upwards now, above the treeline, a magical echo in his voice as he bellowed a curse of assault.

From his free hand as the orange Eastern dragon flapped his wings, a ball of green energy shot forth, firing fast up towards the top of this mountain's peak. As it landed amidst the forest slopes, the ball contracted, then detonated in a bright sphere.

Trees, dirt and rock blew upwards, and an entire section of the mountain slopes was deforested by the blast. Hovering above the slopes, Ghung scanned the ground he'd destroyed, searching for a tell-tale set of yellow scales.

"Give up now, to let your gifts serve a greater, more useful purpose! I shall not kill you if you do!"

On the ground, hidden amidst a pile of dirt and debris that had coated her, Hinai seethed now, knowing Ghung was lying. That magic of his always killed when absorbing someone's magic entirely. But she kept her magic low, hiding from him, and it was working.

Overhead, Ghung hovered about, flapping his wings as he gripped the amulet in his clawed hand, and with a roar, he fired another green burst at another part of the mountain slopes.

He would level the forests of this mountain if that's what it took to find her.

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Mountainside, climbing pathways

Dashing up the mountain, they took the fastest route up to the forest slopes, up the steep cliff faces where a path had been carved.

The dogs and tigers were in pursuit, the odd arrow flying in their direction from the slopes and pathways far below.

Up above, the mountain lit up green in the midday sun as the orange dragon overhead in the distance fired another of those detonation spells.

"Hurry!" Starswirl beckoned, leading them on. Behind him, Siral span around in their flight, looking up as he also saw some dogs round the pathway to the ridge they ran along. His grey horn flaring, Siral aimed at the ridge above their path, and sent a shockwave at it.

Rocks tumbled down, and the avalanche of dirt and terrain falling onto the path, collapsing part of it as it continued to tumble down onto the winding mountain pathway sections below.

But the path blockage would merely slow their pursuers, and Siral galloped fast up the steepening mountain slopes after Starswirl.

Further up the path, Starswirl nearly stopped as he saw some grappling hooks land on the pathway they had yet to reach, and saw a Tigress and 2 Dog hunters climbing up. Focusing his blue magic, Starswirl fired a shot at the lines, managing to cut them all.

One of the dogs fell down to the path below, whilst the other dog clung onto the rock wall with his claws. The Tigress however scrambled upwards onto a ledge, pulling off a crossbow on her back to aim at Starswirl, taking only a second to fire the triple shot crossbow.

Raising his magic horn, Starswirl deflected 2 of the bolts, and stopped the 3rd in midair, sending it back at the Tigress. As she ducked her head on the distant ledge, Starswirl saw Siral catch up, calling out:

"They're over the landslide!"

Gaze snapping back, Starswirl saw the dogs and tigers, about a half dozen now, running up the slope, with 2 more dogs coming up from below. The Tigress was reloading her crossbow as he was distracted.

"BEGONE!"

Losing his temper, Starswirl let loose a massive spell, a blue sphere that expanded in all directions.

The Tigress on the ledge shrieked as she convulsed, the spell forcing her to tumble off the ledge to her death. Back on the path slopes, the dogs and Tigers roared as the spell attacked their bodies, wracking them with pain enough to subdue them.

Higher up, Siral had his magic up, as the spell was easily blocked by any level of magic wielding. But the black Unicorn turned his gaze to the mountain as Starswirl breathed to recover from the spell.

The forests up there had been flattened a lot, but there was worse yet to come.

An Orange Eastern Dragon, a slight yellow glow fading on his body, was surging through the skies now, down towards them.

Minutes earlier

Early Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Mountainside, forest slopes

Surveying the levelled forests, Ghung Chian knew she was here. But she was good at masking her magic. Or else, she really had weakened herself from years of self-restraint for the sake of being a more subdued wife as a political tool.

Something then flared in his mind, a warning. Right then, as he turned to fight, a searing hot magical bolt hit him on the left arm. Howling more in outrage than pain, the Orange Dragon Sorcerer coiled his serpentine body in the air as he turned to see the yellow shape that had emerged from some dirt and tree debris piles on the slopes.

Her hand outstretched, Hinai stood like a cornered animal, horrified that had single powerful shot had not hit him in the head like she'd hoped. Up above, Ghung Chian swung around, his left arm waving to cool the burning, while the pendant it gripped in the left hand swung free in the air.

Right as the green blast left the Sorcerer's other clawed hand, Hinai braced herself with a shield spell.

Her world exploded around her, the blasting spell sending the dragoness cascading down the slopes, into the edges of the non-levelled forests. Wincing, the yellow Eastern dragon scrambled to her feet as she heard Ghung Chian come to flap his wings nearby, and she caught a good glimpse of the pendant that swung free from Ghung's neck, much like her family amulet necklace.

It was a silver chain and holder, with an odd looking blue/grey crystal in the centre, which seemed to glow a sickly blue that was too familiar to her for coincidence's sake.

"A sneak attack, how cowardly."

"You murdered my family while they slept! You have no right to call me as such!" Hinai spat back, her voice faltering as she saw the blue fog seeming to leak from Ghung Chian's body itself, enclosing around her on the slopes.

"Your family's legacy lives on, their power, with me. Yours, what little you seem to have left, will too."

"To think the Emperor has such monsters like you as loyal servants!"

Growing angry now, Ghung Chian hoarsely yelled as Hinai gave a pained gasp, the blue smog catching her and beginning to glow as it fed on her.

"I WON'T LET IDEALISTS LIKE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY STOP ME! The Emperor wishes for peace, and I and many others want that too, for the sake of the lives of those ruined by the invaders, like so many including myself! Living a life of luxury and peace in the south makes you blind! To fight monsters such as the northern hordes, sacrifices must be made!"

As Hinai let out a scream of agony, collapsing onto the ground as the blue smog around her became slightly yellow now, Ghung Chian breathed deeply, his eyes glowing a malicious blue as her magic became his. The pendant and blue/grey crystal inside it glowed a brighter blue as he drained her magic and life force, perhaps the final light Hinai would take as a memory before death, even in broad daylight.

As if aroused by the sheer power he could feel growing, Ghung Chian make a last cold remark:

"Even if you resisted, your sacrifice for the good of my power, to bolster a loyal servant of the Emperor, will put you in good stead with the spirits."

With a last spasm, Hinai slumped on the forest slopes, very weak, and likely to die up here. Inhaling deeply, Ghung Chian casually walked past the near unconscious Dragoness, spreading his orange wings, the Sorcerer waved his left arm as he took off, the cold air passing over it cooling the blast damage Hinai's lucky shot had done to it. With his free right hand, as he took off from the mountain slopes, he gripped the pendant hard, focusing his wealth of magic into healing his left arm at a faster rate of only a few days.

But down below, Ghung Chian saw a large sphere of blue energy fire outwards from a mountain path, and his dog and tiger service hunters howl and roar in agony. The 2 Unicorns, those Wizards from abroad, were stronger than anticipated.

There was always room for more magic to be had for proper application on the Imperial will's behalf.

Early Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Mountainside, pathway plateau.

"Starswirl, he's coming for us!"

Looking up, Starswirl grunted at the new danger, and worried for the fate of Hinai if Ghung Chian was coming for them. He had no idea what was supposed to happen to his senses if one of the exemplars died before they displayed their defining act of their hidden attribute.

"We shall meet him Siral, do what we must!"

"That's all we can do!" As Siral bellowed back, his grey horn readying, Starswirl flared his blue horn as he clambered up the slopes to join Siral on a less steep mountain section they'd been climbing to.

As the Orange dragon soared down, a green pulse fired from his free hand, another blasting spell. The shockwave and green light brightened the already noon soaked mountainside, incinerating grasses and bushes, but not the 2 Unicorns who raised their magical protective shields against it.

The Orange Eastern Dragon reared up, magically going to his full size. The 100-foot-long dragon loomed atop the 2 wizard Unicorns, green magic seething from his one good forearm, his left one burnt badly from some sort of magic attack it seemed. As the Orange scaled Sorcerer reared up, wings casting a shadow over Starswirl and Siral, they noticed a strange pendant around the dragon's neck, the silver chained, blue/grey crystal pendant glowing an eerie blue.

"You two are strong, but you will fall like others have."

As Ghung Chian threatened them, his mouth filled with scarlet fire, pouring forth the sea of fire onto the mountainside plateau ahead of him.

Starswirl dashed sideways, magic deflecting the raw heat of the fire upwards. Siral leapt the other direction, blown backwards as he was caught more by the sheer heat. Tumbling backwards, the Black Unicorn's grey cloak flew about as he scrambled with his forehooves to grip onto the cliff edge, magic granting him strength to easily do it.

Turning, Ghung surged forwards on the plateau, a blue mist shooting outwards from the serpentine dragon to engulf the entire plateau, with Siral on the outskirts, and Starswirl right in the centre. Magical shields raised, Siral felt the sapping magic eating away at his shield, just not the magic from his body itself. But in the end, it was sapping his magic still.

Up on the plateau, as Siral peered over the edge, climbing as he kept up his shield, Starswirl strained to keep his magic shield up. The mist would begin eating not just his magic, but his body, if it failed.

"STARSWIRL!" Siral's cry was barely heard over the rushing wind and magical echoes emanating from what looked like a swirling whirlpool of blue aura atop the plateau, encompassing both Unicorns, Starswirl at the centre taking more of the brunt on his own shield.

Overhead, Ghung Chian was in a state of ecstasy as the magic being exuded to safe their hides was absorbed, and stolen, seeping into the pendant gem he wore, his bad arm gripping it to further fuel his own magic to keep it up. They were fuelling their own demise.

"See how you bow and submit! Your power will serve the empire through me!"

Utterly consumed by the raw power coursing through his body as the feeding loop of magic fed on the Unicorns, Ghung Chian trailed off from his declaration upon high, hovering above the blue mist vortex, as he began to slowly grin in triumph.

Off to the side, as they saw Ghung Chian give a swift nod to stay there, the 5 remaining dogs and 1 remaining Tiger hunter stayed on the path, watching their job finish. If anything, seeing those Unicorns die would be half their payment with no protests from them.

On the plateau, these foreign wizards would be robbed of everything and cast aside, for the greater defence of the Empire, bolstering the Sorcerer that went to any methods to acquire power to serve with.

If he enjoyed it at the same time, there was even less holding him back.

Early Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Mountainside, forest slopes

Slumped, drained, nearly unconscious, Hinai could barely sense anything, her senses numbed. She had crawled enough to see the spectacle down the slopes, see her teachers of a few months, friends and travellers, under siege, some of the hunters nearby.

The yellow Eastern dragon coiled up on the floor, cold, and helpless. She clawed at the dirt weakly, as she lay amidst the destroyed forests Ghung Chian's magic had levelled.

Her hand then clenched her family's necklace, the golden chained, jade gemstone a firm presence amidst her weakened state. The single hard stone, her last trace of what Ghung Chian had taken from her in a bid for power to serve the Empire with, proved warmer than anything else she felt right now.

As she clenched it, she relaxed, thinking it was over now, her family was gone, and she was unlikely to meet ever her 2 living brothers again.

But as she spared one last bleary glance down at the mountainside, seeing the swirling green vortex on the plateau, the triumphant orange Eastern Dragon sorcerer maniacally taking pleasure from his success, her mind became one track.

Her grip on the necklace jewel tightened, and she felt a surge of strength coming from a part of her she didn't know she had. Red hot feeling surged in every nerve of her body, as she devoted her every semblance of willpower onto the Orange Dragon below.

Without warning, as she willed herself to move, to get there and stop Ghung Chian, an electrifying sensation overcame Hinai, and a yellow glow began to heat her up. She felt the familiar pull of magic needing to come out, which in the past she resisted as it built.

But now, despite the pain from her long years of holding back, she let it build, and build. Whatever came forth, she wished it only to be directed. She had 2 brothers in life still, and she would not lose her 2 newfound friends to Ghung Chian like her parents and eldest brother.

Her bellow of utter pain, mixed with rage, was drowned out by the blaze of yellow light that suddenly flared and engulfed Hinai on the mountain slopes, trees and dead grass blowing as it flared out, lighting up the noon lit slopes just like Ghung Chian's green blasts had. She had felt her power surge, hit her mental blocks and physical restraint, and did nothing to stop them.

As the yellow magic engulfed her, Hinai had one focus only. Her friends were in grave danger, and she had magic that was buried enough for Ghung Chian to not get at. Now, she was unleashing herself, out of a duty to her friends, and to her family she lost.

The yellow glow suddenly vanished from the slopes, and on the mountainside, Hinai was gone, not a trace remained other than some heated dirt where the yellow Eastern dragoness had laid a second ago.

Author's Note

There will be one last chapter of MAGIC's arc after this, but a long one like this one to ensure everything crucial is told.

MAGIC V: Hinai relinquished, last allure.

14th July, 605 BNM

Early Afternoon

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Mountainside, pathway plateau.

In contrast to the afternoon sun over the valley, on the plateau there was much less of a pleasant event.

5 dog hunters and 1 Tiger hunter stood back, watching as the blue mist seemed to be devouring the magic from the shields the two wizards within, one at the edge and the other in the middle. The plateau was a vortex of blue mist, with the orange Eastern dragon, their boss, hovering overhead, growing stronger as he drained them, magic and physically, by that cursed mist.

As the blue mist sucked dry Starswirl's shield, the grey Unicorn stumbling as his strength began to fail him from having to keep it up, Siral climbed up, his own shield not as drained at the edge of the blue fog.

Overhead, the Orange Eastern Dragon hissed with glee as more and more magic soaked into his body, and the grey/blue gem imbued silver amulet glinted fiercely amidst the magic leaching fog.

Eying it, Siral charged his grey horn, but felt tired himself as the shield he needed against the parasitic fog was all that stopped his life from being drained like a fly cocooned and eaten by a spider.

As Starswirl finally fell to his knees, Siral made to call out and charge in defence of his friend, but something suddenly blinded him as an unbearably bright burst of yellow light suddenly appeared in front of Ghung Chian overhead.

As if the sun itself had suddenly flashed into existence before Ghung Chian, the Eastern Dragon faltered in his draining curse, a hand shooting to his eyes.

Not 2 heartbeats after the light had blinded them, before his vision even cleared, a scorching yellow beam hit him directly in the face.

Ghung Chian howled in agony as he was sent flying backwards, the blue fog suddenly breaking as if blown away by a gust of wind, while the yellow glow faded. On the edge of the blue mist, as the shockwave dissipating it spread, the 5 dogs were sent tumbling backwards, down the slope or painfully onto their backs, while the Tiger hunter was knocked off the pathway's edge. As the Tiger hunter barely clung on, he saw 2 of the other dogs go tumbling too far, falling to their deaths headfirst on the pathway below. The other 3 dogs were sent off the edge, but were merely winded and bruised. As he recovered, the culprit came into focus atop the plateau.

The yellow Eastern Dragoness hovered there, her body seemingly ablaze with the yellow aura pouring from the gaps in her scales, her amythst pink eyes ablaze with a seemingly deadlier fire than her magic she exuded.

Removing the hoof from his eyesight, Siral slightly gaped as Hinai hovered down towards Starswirl briskly, though she looked at Siral, gesturing to the Orange Eastern Dragon lying in the mountain slope dirt a few dozen metres uphill.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No." Siral shook his head, while he gazed uphill, alert to the stirring orange serpentine dragon regaining his senses as Hinai came to stand over the weakened Starswirl.

"Starswirl, Starswirl!"

Her gentle shakes woke Starswirl from his bleary state, the grey Unicorn looking up at the slowly less yellow glowing Hinai. In his mind, he felt it.

The surge, the amethyst mist that hazed his mind the moment she miraculously appeared. She had done it. She had pulled off her act of magic. But, how?

"How?" Starswirl asked aloud, to which Hinai gave a small thankful smile on her scaly lips as she helped Starswirl steadily to his feet:

"I'm not sure, but I-GET BACK!"

Turning from thankful to alert in a split second, Hinai roughly shoved Starswirl aside as the yellow glow permeated from her scale gaps once again, whilst up the hill an Orange Eastern dragon soared upwards, the green glows in his hands signifying his readiness himself:

"HOW DO YOU STILL LIVE!? I TOOK ALL THAT YOU HAD TO GIVE!"

Hissing, Hinai formed a few spheres of yellow magic in her own clawed hands, her wings beating to bring her to hover above the ground while the dirt on the ground swirled around her yellow glowing serpentine form:

"You took my family. I won't let you take my friends too."

As she spoke, Starswirl realised that the drive to protect her friends, him and Siral, had given her strength to finally unshackle her self-imposed restrictions, and from it all, she'd accomplish through raw power alone, a feat that hadn't been accomplish in known magical texts or lore except in legends.

Hinai, the Exemplar of Magic, had unlocked her power and become what would be known later in history as the first confirmed Self-teleporter.

As the air became charged by the magic surging from Hinai, Siral heard a noise from the plateau edge, as he saw the first of the 4 remaining hunters clambering over the cliff side, the Tiger male, raising his crossbow.

As Hinai gave a draconic shriek of challenge, Ghung Chian surrounded himself in the blue fog again, and charged down the slopes, wings spread, and green magic surging from his hands. The yellow Dragon charged also, yellow lightning bolts surging outwards like tendrils waiting to seize Ghung Chian. A clash of blue and yellow light exploded atop the mountain as Hinai's lighting attacks seemed to be too focused for the blue mist to drain, and the yellow dragoness began to circle Ghung Chian as she scorched him with more and more spells, his own green spells forming shields to deflect the blasts and send his own bolts back, himself giving up on the blue draining mist for now. He had raw energy, but it wasn't his own and wasn't self-replenishing anymore, and Hinai was more determined, though less powered. She did have her unique trick though.

Hinai vanished in a flash of yellow light, appearing behind Ghung CHian to fire a surprise bot into his back. Seething from pain and enraged at this turn of events, the Orange serpentine dragon spun and loosed a slashing wave of green energy, setting ablaze a line of trees further up the slope. But he caught no yellow dragoness in his attack.

As another round of yellow bolts followed a yellow flash to his side, Ghung Chian found himself losing control of this bout. Clutching the amulet around his neck, he focused on its raw energy banks he'd attained through it.

If this contest was one of raw power, he was sure he could win. But with the dragoness's ability to suddenly chance where she was, he wasn't completely certain of victory any longer.

Behind the clash, Starswirl whipped around as Siral galloped towards the Tiger hunter aiming at them, conscious of the other 3 dogs coming up the pathway nearby.

Charging forwards, Siral fired a grey spell at the tiger, who ducked and let the crossbow bolt fly. Barely missing Siral, who was charging a magic attack again, the Tiger hurled a locking rope, with a small rock tied around the end, around him, arcing it out.

As Siral fired the spell, Starswirl saw the rock loop around Siral's neck as the spell hit the tiger, locking it in place like a lasso. The rope went taut as the tiger's body was blasted off the cliff, the tiger going flailing by the shockwave spell, the rope still tied to his equipment belt.

"SIRAL!"

Choking and gagging, Siral was dragged off the edge of the plateau, hoofs scrambling as he slipped over the edge. Rushing to the edge of the cliff, Starswirl couldn't see where the two had landed before he heard the howls of the 3 dogs to his right, coming up the Cliffside paths.

Weary, the grey Unicorn spared a glance uphill to the clash of the two magic wielding dragons. The treeline atop the hill and mountain slopes, even if a small part of the massive valley they were in, was ablaze in broad daylight, the smoke blotting out the sun slightly now.

The smoke from the ablaze trees Ghung Chian's reckless attacks had created choked the air, but the Orange Dragon paid them no heed as he focused on the ground before him.

As he saw Hinai flying before him, her yellow glow between her scales almost taunting him, he gave an outraged roar, before he raised his hand to the skies suddenly.

Splinters, branches and sections of tree burnt and broken were lifted into the air, further being sliced up into a hovering forest of bark and wooden spikes and daggerlike shapes. Turning to the Yellow Dragon before him, he encircled the spike maelstrom around him in midair, the smoke swirling from the blazing forest beneath him as well. Now, Ghung Chian was surrounded by a bubble of spiked and deadly forest tree fragments.

Wary, Hinai flew upwards, but not before she had to duck from the first spearlike tree fragment suddenly shooting up at her as if hurled by a giant. As she soared around, more fragments flew, and some even began to chase her, some of the tree spikes still smoking from being ripped from the ablaze forest. Wincing as one or two sliced her rear leg and wing membrane slightly, Hinai heard Ghung Chian declare wildly from below:

"If I cannot drain you I'll simply kill you instead!"

As he barked his words, magnified amidst the whirling hurricane of trees, wind and smoke, Hinai focused, and in a flash of yellow light, she vanished yet again.

She appeared behind the swirling tree dagger cloud, behind Ghung Chian's back, her yellow magic surging around her as she charged inside. Tree spikes incinerated harmlessly off her as she charged into the cloud, glimpsing the orange scales as the owner of them turned in a slight panic, before his own sickly green eyes focused and shone a slight blue.

All around her, the swirling forest of spikes also became enshrouded in blue smog, and she suddenly felt a great strain as she tried to push deeper into the vortex of spiked wood and parasitic magic. She felt her breaking point closing, and in a surge of panic, before she saw Ghung Chian's eyes light up in victory, she gave a scream before she was engulfed in yellow light, teleporting out of the cloud of impending death.

Mountainside, pathway plateau.

The 3 dogs surged on Starswirl, though one of them slower now that he'd been stunned in the thigh.

As another yellow flash appeared behind him, Starswirl saw the dogs blinded slightly, and seized his moment. He fired a different spell, a sound blast spell, and at that moment a deafening crack followed a bright white blast in front of the 3 dogs.

As the dogs whined and groaned at the sheer noise, too high frequency for Starswirl to hear, he fired yet another, and began to muster the dogs away from the sheer agony of the noise.

As the dogs turned tail to run, Starswirl gave a last spell, a straight up sticking spell. The dogs were flung into the rock wall they were running beside along the mountain path, the spell sticking them to it as if nailed there.

While the dogs howled, Starswirl looked behind him. He saw Hinai wincing and struggling to stand up, numerous pieces of spiked bark embedded in her scaly body, her yellow magic glow strongly diminished. Heart racing, Starswirl ran up, sparing a glance down towards the plateau slopes below.

He saw the body of the Tiger hunter, mangled on the rocks he'd landed on. But Siral was not to be seen.

Rushing up, Starswirl saw some of the embedded bark causing bleeding in Hinai, who wheezed: "He's too skilled."

"We must find some way past him, get through his defences!" Starswirl urged, looking up at the ominously approaching maelstrom of wooden spikes, smoke and leaching blue mist, the orange dragon obscured within it.

Wheezing, Hinai asked out loud, thnking but not very hopeful as the whriling noise of the incoming enemy grew in volume: "How? He has power beyond anything I've seen, he can suck us dry.."

"He has that power, and something that is helping him absorb others' magic, or else helps his magic. That amulet, it gives him power, but he's too well defended, we can't get to him."

"I can." Hinai realised, as she stood shakily on her feet, towering over Starswirl. As he stumbled back, Starswirl heard Hinai remark:

"Whatever happens, thank you for helping me, both of you."

"Wait, HINAI!" Starswirl was cut off as the yellow glow surged once more, Hinai focusing intently on the centre of the cloud of swirling wood spikes and blue smog. And like that, she was gone.

As he stared on ahead, he saw the inside of the cloud flash yellow inside, before it began to wildly behave, the cloud becoming unstable, wood spikes flying in every direction wildly, blue smog and forest fire smoke trailing from them as they flew out.

Starswirl ducked behind a nearby boulder, before he heard a charging hum suddenly emanate from the cloud unseen. Then, a large blue flash, and a massive bang.

The yellow engulfed him, and Ghung Chian suddenly felt a set of yellow scaled claws scrambling over him, the dragoness's serpentine form struggling with his own.

Growling as he clawed at her, Ghung Chian compacted the hail of wooden spikes, and contracted the blue smog. He felt some of the wood slash his tail and rear legs, but he wanted her more wounded than he would be.

As she gasped at one or two spikes going straight through her wing membranes, she fumbled wildly, suppressing a scream of pain as Ghung Chian's claws, imbued also with yellow magic, cut deep into the back of her neck. Madly scrambling, she found something small, on a chain, within Ghung Chian's other clawed hand.

Her clawed hand surged yellow, and amidst the hailstorm of wood around them, and the blue smog slowly draining her, she burnt the orange dragon's hand enough for him to release the amulet from it, and with no second thought, she gripped it tight in her own.

As if turned on itself, the blue smog suddenly surged, and she no longer felt weakened by it, but empowered. She redrew the energy she felt was her own from it, and then, she felt Ghung Chian's energy itself. He was barely siphoning off the vast energy this amulet was carrying, he was taking the maximum of what he could handle, and keeping plenty in reserve with this amulet.

"You want power, my power? You have it already in your grip, SO TAKE IT!"

She focused, and sent the vast energies of the amulet directly into Ghung Chian. As he was overwhelmed, his body wracked with the blue energy surge, the whirlwind of wood around them blew apart, wood fragments hued with blue smog and black smoke remnants firing in all directions.

Her hand still gripping the amulet, Hinai's scream of pain was drowned by the blue explosion, but she felt herself launched away, the amulet flying from her grip as the fragments of Ghung Chian's body soared in every direction.

Mountainside, pathway plateau.

The blue smoke trailed the body parts of the orange dragon that flew in all directions, and one fell over the cliff face with a particularly strong glowing blue amulet showing itself around the ruined upper torso part.

The smoke cleared, and the wood fragments lay scattered about as the thump of someone collapsing on the ground caught Starswirl's ear.

Coming out from his hiding place, Starswirl saw Hinai painfully collapsed on the ground, her yellow hued magic strong on her body, but numerous wooden spikes imbedded in her tail and lower leg, and some holes in her wing membranes. Exhausted, bleeding in places, but she was going to live.

Panting hard, Hinai simply lay down on the rock plateau, giving a weak smile of triumph towards Starswirl as he came out, before she rolled over to a more comfortable position on the rocks.

Walking out briskly, Starswirl paused as he spared a glance down the cliffs, hoping for something he wished to be false.

There, down below, there was movement. A black unicorn was straggling, with a slight limp, down the rocks, in the direction of a large torso fragment of Ghung Chian's body that had landed nearby.

Calling down ecstatically, Starswirl was all the more pleased when Siral's voice called back:

"SIRAL! YOU'RE ALIVE!?"

"Yes! I just took a bad fall, my leg is sore, but it works still!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, which Starswirl also heard Hinai give nearby as she overheard this call, Starswirl called back: "Stay there, we'll come down to you once we're ready!"

Starswirl saw Siral look up from below, waving a hoof in acknowledgement as he continued to crawl towards where the torso had landed, why exactly Starswirl didn't quite care about at the moment.

Wandering over, Starswirl remarked as Hinai breathed deeply through the pain of the imbedded wood fragments in her tail:

"You were remarkable today, I've never seen magic like that before."

Laughing, Hinai breathed as she suddenly felt Starswirl running a healing spell over her, before he began to slowly have a go at one of the wood spikes on her tail with his magic:

"I just wanted to protect you two.."

Laying a hoof on Hinai's forearm, Starswirl said with some subdued warmness: "And you did. And I feel that now, I think you have some things you could teach me and Siral when we get back to the hovel we have in this valley."

Laughing slightly, Hinai winced as she felt Starswirl tug at one of the wood fragments, before he let it go. Looking over her, Starswirl remarked aloud:

"You should heal, but I don't want to remove these until we have something to cover them with. Can you still fly?"

"Heal me up more, and give me some rest time, and yes. Enough to get us back down the mountain."

As Hinai answered, Starswirl nodded in agreement, as he sat down on the ground beside Hinai, running his healing blue magic over her body, enough to give her strength to endure the wood spikes and fly until the former could be removed.

Below the plateau, mountain slope ravines.

Wincing as he staggered on 3 hooves, keeping weight off his badly hurting rear hoof, Siral came upon the now no longer smoking upper torso of Ghung Chian.

The Orange scaled upper torso held only one of his forearms and half a wing, the rest blown off in whatever blast happened up there.

As the smoke from the forest fires up above cleared, Siral sifted the torso over with his magic. He knew it was here.

As he turned the scorched torso part over, he saw it. Its blue glow had diminished to barely a visible glint of a light source, but it was remarkably unharmed.

The Black Unicorn found himself staring at the amulet, the silver chain intact, and the blue/grey crystal in the centre of the amulet head tempting, emanating the power it had already drained, even if it lost.

Unconsciously, Siral's grey magic reached out, taking the amulet in its grip. As he pulled it off the torso, the chain coming over the neck to hover closer to Siral's eyes, he felt his magic straining more than usual.

Having second thoughts, Siral let the amulet suddenly drop to the ground, at his forehoof. Shaking his head, he realised it was still a potent artefact if used correctly or incorrectly. He tried something else.

Touching the amulet with his forehoof, he felt the same feeling of cold draining, but it was much more manageable. Even so, Siral was cautious as much as he was callous and curious.

With his magic, he took a small money pouch he had somehow not lost in this afternoon's events from his now slightly dishevelled robe pocket, and hover it out before the amulet. With a breath, Siral quickly gripped the amulet in the same aura and shoved it into the money pouch, releasing his direct hold on it before it could do any draining to him.

As he held the money pouch in his magic grip, he felt no draining. It was safe to carry it in something that was lifted, just not itself. And it would remain that way until Siral knew more about this artefact.

As the Black Unicorn sat back, he spared a gaze upwards, seeing the 3 dogs Starswirl had stuck to the path's nearby rock face had been released, but were instead fleeing down the mountain.

A smart move, given their paymaster was dead.

25th July, 605 BNM

Late Morning

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

Wizard's shelter

11 days passed, and recovery was swift but not complete by that stage.

Sat outside, basking and relaxing in the near midday sun in the mountain valley, Hinai only felt the slightest of painful twinges from her tail and forelegs.

As they'd healed, it had been clear what they each wished to do. Siral had stayed indoors as his leg, merely now needing a brace he'd had constructed by a local metalsmith. He would take a few more weeks to fully heal, but he was fine. But he had yet to stop poring over the amulet he'd recovered from Ghung Chian's corpse, much to Starswirl's mixed opinion. The slightly older Unicorn didn't trust the amulet, but saw use in investigating it, and counter it if similar spells and artifacts cropped up later in their time.

Hinai on the other hand, couldn't bear the sight of it after what Ghung Chian had used it for on her family.

Starswirl on the other hand, had busied himself with learning something from her for once.

Before her, a blue flash suddenly blew some wind in her face, as Starswirl stumbled before her, his horn fading from fierce blue to normal as he held a hoof to his head:

"Better, but I still wish it wasn't as draining."

"Practice will refine it, make it easier." Hinai said, the faintest trace of smugness in her tone as she propped her chin up with a yellow scaled forearm.

Casting an unimpressed look at Hinai, Starswirl remarked back as he walked over: "I am getting better each time. But one trick you teach me is not enough to turn my sayings back on me with that tone."

"Forgive me if I enjoy being the teacher for once." Hinai jabbed a claw in Starswirl's direction as she gave a small smile at his expense. Under his breath, Starswirl mumbled with a mixture of annoyance, yet pride in her accomplishment:

"If you are this confident, you may not need me and Siral soon."

"Actually, I was going to ask about that…I think I should return home."

At Hinai's remark, Starswirl paused, turning to look at the suddenly introspective yellow Eastern Dragon, her face serious. Hesitating, knowing subconsciously that she had proven herself and he and Siral need not interact with her anymore, he had to admit he was curious.

"Why?"

"Ghung Chian took my parents and eldest brother, but Peng has now taken the throne in Shengdu. And Shung is still north, but Peng can contact him easily enough."

Understanding, Starswirl reminded her: "You are thought to be an imposter, it may not be safe."

"I have secrets that I'd have taken to my grave that my brothers and parents knew. I'm certain I can prove myself to Peng, and in turn Shung."

"What then if you do?"

Pausing, Hinai thought to herself: "I, don't know. I've embraced my magic side, more than any in my family have, and I've come up with magic unseen on my own. Maybe, maybe this is my path."

Cracking a small smile, Starswirl remarked: "I believe so too. Given your raw power, and your potential skill in coming up with being in any place at will on a spurred moment, you have an incredible potential if you choose this path. And if I may, you might honor your family more than you previously would have if you do."

Looking down, Hinai thought for a moment, asking: "If we do go apart, what about you and Siral?"

"I think this is for the best. It may be time for me and Siral to move on, we have much of the world we wish to see."

"Anyone you are looking for in particular?" Hinai suddenly probed.

Pausing, Starswirl told the truth, but not entirely: "We are searching for beings of distinguished ability and character, to learn from. I'm glad to say you were one we happened to stumble across."

Hinai sensed the semi truth, but understood the secrets that they would rather not say. She would not say exactly what her brothers would be told by her to know it was her either, everyone had secrets.

"Then I guess we should enjoy the last few days. I'll leave as soon as I'm healed. Will Siral be fine with his leg?"

"I'll assist him. And perhaps our next few endeavours won't be so dangerous to us." Starswirl hoped aloud, to which Hinai silently agreed.

With that, the last few days passed calmly. Hinai knew Starswirl would teach Siral to teleport in her stead.

It meant her return home would be faster for herself.

29th July, 605 BNM

Mid Morning

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

River banks

The 4 days had passed, and the Wizard shelter had been disassembled, the river bank it was on returned to normal, as if they'd never been there.

Now stood on the river bank, the mountains of the valley looming up on either side a mile high and wide at least, a cloud bank rearing up the valley as the morning boiled off the clouds.

Stood on the rocks, the panda village upriver merely a feature amidst the massive mountain-scape.

Kneeling down, Hinai wrapped her forearms around Siral, the Black Unicorn cracking the tiniest of smiles as the Yellow Eastern dragon backed up from her embrace, thanking him while Starswirl stood by:

"I'll miss you Siral. I hope your leg heals well."

"In time it will." Looking back, shifting his leg slightly, the metal brace clicking slightly beneath his grey cloak, Siral turned back to Hinai, urging her:

"I myself wish you well Hinai. You have great things in your future, if not already behind you."

With a slight bow, Hinai silently bid Siral one last look before she turned to Starswirl, remarking aloud to both him and Siral:

"Stay out of trouble if you can. Though if what you say is true, you may be drawn to it anyway."

"It seems to unfold that way for us." Starswirl pointed out, making Siral slightly groan at the in-joke and unfortunate truth. He wasn't the only one hoping their next endeavour would be less combative.

Pausing slightly, Hinai then she pulled the chained necklace off her neck, admitting with some pained expression:

"They'll assume the kidnapper took anything of value, to throw off the trail. And, I got this because I pledge to retain my magic for my parents. I know its all I have left of them, but, I think its best I let them go. I can make new ties when I return to Shengdu, or whatever comes next."

Pulling off the necklace, Hinai held out the necklace to Starswirl, asking him: "Its customary among my family to give a token of my appreciation. Please, take it, as a sign of my thanks, to both of you."

Walking forwards, Starswirl slowly hovered the necklace from Hinai's grip, placing it delicately into his cloak pocket on the inside. As Siral nodded to Hinai from the other side, Starswirl stepped backwards, with a silent nod, bidding her goodbye.

Keeping her tears down, Hinai spread her wings, the holes in her membranes patched for now with stiches, and beat them hard, taking flight.

As Starswirl and Siral watched, the yellow dragon flew up high, her serpentine form curling in the air a few time as it glowed yellow. With a familiar flash of yellow, Hinai was gone, as another yellow flash followed far away atop the mountain ridge to the east of the valley's rim about 10 seconds later. She would teleport in stages, resting by flying before she teleported next.

3 hours later

Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province

Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley

River banks, 5 miles south

Walking down the massive valley, Starswirl and Siral were already searching for a place to begin their next 'hibernating state spell round', for they had more individuals of merit to find.

Walking along the river bank, Starswirl asked Siral cautiously:

"What of the amulet found on Ghung Chian?"

"It may take weeks, months to fully understand it. I know not who forged it, but I think together we can understand the magic behind it."

"A side project, we must remain focused." Starswirl reminded him, to which Siral waved a hoof in acknowledgement.

Looking south, as the sun was high above the valley, Siral at least admitted: "But we have already seen much, haven't we?"

"Yes. A lot, and who knows what else." Starswirl remarked.

To Siral, what lay ahead was tantalising, what he could learn, but this time around, they had been involved not by choice, but by necessity. In Romane with the exemplar of loyalty, Siral had actively interfered.

What lay ahead, whenever they came out once they emerged from their upcoming hibernation. But from here alone, they had learned the new trick of Self-teleportation.

What more could be learned, be it tricks or philosophies, was beyond both of them.

And yet, in the back of his mind, Starswirl couldn't help but feel nervous at how devoted to that amulet, or any new magic or knowledge they came across, that Siral was slavish to trying to understand. He kept these fears to himself, for they had much more to do.

There were still 4 more exemplars to encounter, whenever and wherever they were. And still to come, those 7 beings of threat to their homeland, the world, the Oracles' prophecy to Starswirl had mentioned.

But ahead, they concerned themselves with the immediate future of moving on.

Author's Note

The MAGIC arc is over, and as said, the accomplishment of Hinai comes from unlocking her magic she'd buried self-consciously to protect her 2 friends and teachers, and pull of a previously unheard of magic trick. Teleportation already existed before Starswirl and Siral even set off to Romane, but not SELF-teleportation yet.

LAUGHTER I: Faroench joie de vivre.

76 years later

12th May, 529 BNM

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Their travel lasted only 2 weeks this time, miraculous given how far they had travelled, nearly a quarter of the world's circular path.

The ability of self-teleportation had aided them greatly, and it greatly saved them in travel time and money to forge to gain safe passage all the way from the Far East.

Starswirl's prompting upon leaving the hibernative state, and Siral following, told them to head west. Very far west, over the heart of the mountains, and across the eastern Eoropean scrublands and hills, until they arrived at the Faroench Kingdom's running green plains and lowlands.

Now, they had arrived at the city Starswirl was called to.

The capital of the Faroench Kingdom, the heart of Eoropean affairs concerning cultural exchange, be it religious, art or literature. A veritable hub of the continent, and they were here amidst a time when, for once, the kingdoms, Faroench included, were not battling wars for glory or just for economic gain by greedy monarchs.

12th May, 529 BNM

Late Morning

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine riverbanks markets

"A good deal monsieur, no?"

"6 livre? For a dozen of these? No, it is not."

"Oh come now monsieur, the suppleness, you won't find it better anywhere else in this market, I can assure you!"

An eyebrow raised, amidst the busy market noises, and Siral impatiently waiting nearby, Starswirl gestured to the subject of his bartering with the tricky little merchant horse, a wiry looking brown Faroench stallion. The various tree roots for sale at this apothecary were useful for their potion brewing in their spare time experiments, or namely Siral's, but Starswirl had reservations about some other prices.

Namely the bottles of medicinal liver extracts the merchant was overpricing. That liver extract was useful for some healing medicine he and Siral liked to keep a stockpile of.

"Please, can you not lower the price. My friend here is healing his leg, and that medicine stops the cramps keeping him awake in the night."

Gesturing to Siral, Starswirl shot a look at the black Unicorn, to which Siral purposefully groaned slightly as he lifted a rear leg slightly, pulling up his grey robe to emphasise it.

A hoof to his muzzle, the brown merchant gave a small smile:

"For you and your friend, …5 livre for the liver extracts."

"That's still somewhat overpriced you cantankerous mule!" Starswirl grumpily shot back, to which the brown merchant horse took only minor offence:

"Overpriced, but generous. Believe me, with the festival upcoming, all mine and other stalls' stock of this stuff has been getting bought up, anything that can be used to make the finest wines and ales possible. Now, if you have a problem with the price I offer, then please kindly move along!"

"Fine! But don't expect me to come by your stall anytime in the future." As Starswirl magically reached into the money pouch, to pay the full 7 livre, 5 unfairly for the bottles of liver extract, Siral's own horn briefly flashed grey, as he looked straight into the eyes of the merchant horse.

"Here you go monsieur. And here is your change, 3 Livre."

"But wait, I paid you exactly-" Starswirl was surprised as the 3 Livre coins were dropped in with the medicine and supplies he bought, but the brown merchant horse dismissed him, a slightly glossed expression on his eyes fading away.

"Move along please, I have business to do!"

Catching the glossy look, Starswirl turned around to walk towards Siral, who magically took the liver extracts into his cloak, while Starswirl kept the tree roots in his satchels bought with them.

Walking through the throngs of horses in the market street, Starswirl remarked to Siral as they shuffled past a laughing group of young fillies and colts chasing each other through the streets:

"You know better than to enchant innocent beings like that Siral."

"Come now Starswirl, you and I both know the extracts were nowhere as high in value as he pushed on you."

"Even so, don't make a habit of such acts." Starswirl admonished, though the fait sliver of an agreeing smile caught Siral's eyes, who shook his head in a playful acknowledgement.

"Another 2 weeks and this infernal brace can come off my leg." Siral muttered, the clicks as he walked inaudible over the noises of the market crowd.

Passing down more streets, the rounded one corner into main road, the wider, less market strewn roads easier to navigate now.

"Where do you suppose the next exemplar being is? This is a big city." Siral asked aloud, while beside him, Starswirl recalled the prophecy:

"A glum one, who will teach the meaning of true joy. Joy means celebrating.. What is there to celebrate soon?"

Looking around, Starswirl recalled the words of the merchant about being bought out a lot of stock for anything to produce drinks.

"Of course, the festival. The victory against the Baahverian princes, ending the war."

"The main festival is taking place in the cathedral square." Siral added, pointing out with one hoof what looked like a horse drawn wagon of supplies heading down the road, over the Reine river bridge ahead.

On an island within the river Reine, saddled between the city on each riverbank, the main Cathedral plaza marked the beating heart of the city.

"We know then where we might see the exemplar come out." Siral reasoned. But Starswirl wasn't too convinced, as he suggested:

"But we should keep a look out, search. A glum one isn't very much to go by."

Looking ahead, Starswirl couldn't help but admit:

"And amidst our search, I think I might be curious about the tales of the cathedral's grandeur."

With a smile, Siral remarked to Starswirl as they began to head down the road: "So you decide to indulge in mere curiosity for once in these ventures?"

"We have time, so why not?" Starswirl pointed out, as the cathedral's top spire, a mere shadow of what it would become later on in history, and be surpassed by when a new Cathedral was commissioned centuries from now.

Midday

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Like so many cities in Eorope's kingdoms, Cantolicism was a big cultural aspect, the key religion in the continent. The religion was only a few centuries old, the grand structures built in honour of them originally Romane temples dedicated to the older pagan gods.

The Pahrii cathedral, on the city's central locale in the middle of the Reine river, had originally been an Imperial Romane Sun god temple, but now served a different faith, a monotheistic faith. A purer faith, its members would argue.

And despite instabilities in and around the holy lands in the middle east, an upstart religion calling itself Mooslam spreading like wildfire, Cantolocism remained strong across the continent, a last vestige laid down by the now shattered Romane empire.

Within the grand hall, the stained glass windows glowing their multitude of colours as the light of midday sun streamed through. The pictures of their patron saint, Neigherre-aux Danme, was flanked by pictures of notable religious figures, saints, angels and beyond. The tall marble pillars flanked the long hall as the final quiet chant of the ending prayers echoed in the halls.

The quiet shuffling of hooves marked the end of the midday sermon service, one of 4 occurring today. The weekends were always busy with even the less devout coming to at least one service.

At the entrance hall, the chaplain stood with an alter foal, the collection plate on the boy's back, in case anyone wished to give now and had not yet. Small clinks as donations were made were repaid with a quick blessing from the chaplain, the red and white robed stallion elderly with a white and grey fur over his features.

A quiet hymn tune played on the organ from on high, its ambiance resonating through the cathedral's main hall as the congregation filed out.

And on cue with the massive clock atop the cathedral, the midday bell rang from high above, reverberating through the hall as the last of the congregation, an elderly mare, gave a last bow to the chaplain before leaving through the main door.

A hoof on the alter foal's shoulder, the chaplain, Father Homlein, gave a small smile at him:

"A good sermon today it seems. Now run along Fletchhoof, your parents will want you back soon."

"Thank you Father." The alter foal handed the collection plate to Homlein, before he left for the antechambers to remove his alter robe and leave the church in his layman attire.

Walking through the church hall, Father Homlein gazed around as the organ music began to slow, as the congregation was now long gone, and the last of the midday bell rings faded. He never tired of the beauty of this place, and he could understand why someone would not feel much of a desire to leave it.

Walking up the main alter, Homlein blew out the candles for the service, knowing there was a few hours until the next service. But as he blew them out, the front doors creaked slightly, signalling two things. First was that he needed to get that oiled before it became annoying, and second that somebody was here.

Turning, Homlein was surprised to see a pair of robed horses, shorter than Faroench kind. As he saw the grey and black, ponies, approach, their blue and grey cloaks' hoods down respectively, he saw the horns on their heads.

"Unicorns?" Under his breath, Homlein was surprised to see them. In Equestria, across the Muttlantic they were common, but rarer in Eorope.

He noticed the black Unicorn was openly curious, even impressed by the church's architecture. As was the Grey Unicorn, but he seemed distant, thinking of something on his mind.

"Greetings, you must be travelers by the looks of it. We don't get many Unicorns, even in a city this big."

Approaching the 2 Unicorns, the Chaplain saw them both bow, the black one slightly less though, before the grey Unicorn in blue robes began to politely speak:

"Yes, we're travelers, and we couldn't help but come and see if the tales told of this Cathedral lived up to reality. The rest of the city so far has impressed, but I must admit, this is already above that in majesty."

"Kind words, and forgive me for asking, but, you are from Equestria, correct?"

"Yes. My name is Starswirl the Bearded, and this is my Colleague, Siral the Savant. Wizards to be specific."

At this, the Chaplain's eyes wandered slightly, remarking as he stopped before them, in some deep thought: "Starswirl, the name is familiar, but I thought he vanished from Equestria. And Siral, is it? Not much is said of you."

At this, Siral's eyes narrowed slightly, while Starswirl remarked: "Vanished, no. But I and Siral here have been travelling, as I'm sure you're aware, magic allows us to counter the effects of age, though not eternally."

"I trust you will have seen a lot, if you are that old then."

"Less than you'd expect, but more than we hoped." Siral remarked bluntly, keeping the fact that they technically 'hibernated' most of the years a secret. At this, Father Homlein remarked:

"But the only others I recall with known ageing resistance are the Alicorns, but there are still some Wizards and Mages among Unicorns from what travelling scholars-"

"Alicorns?" Starswirl suddenly remarked, while Siral was also genuinely surprised.

Surprised that the two Wizards didn't know of the Alicorns, Father Homlein sensed the two would have questions.

"You have not heard of the Alicorns?"

Both shook their heads, to which Homlein offered them:

"Perhaps you might wish to visit the Cathedral archives, given your tone. But before you do, I just ask one thing of you two."

Eyebrows arched in listening, Starswirl and Siral heard out Homlein:

"Whenever we allow outsiders from the church's clergy, we simply ask that they have some form of knowledge to donate to us. After that they may come and go for the rest of their lives. We grow our archives and keep them open to the public that wishes to use them that way."

"I understand. Siral..." Starswirl turned with a slight smile to Siral, who gave Starswirl a pointed look, and then a slight retort:

"What?"

"Come now Siral, given your curiosity you must have something you've gathered from the all the libraries and archives we've been to over the years that we can give up."

With a slightly irritated sigh, Siral remarked as he began to dig into his robes: "Fine, but I'm making a copy before we leave. I'll leave the original."

Pulling out a rather thick scroll, Siral remarked: "Imperial Romane metropolitan archives, a copy of the scriptures of Romanus and Roames's flight from Trot to establish Romane as a city."

Eyes nearly bugging at the scroll, wondering how it fit inside the cloak and remained hidden, Father Homlein took it into his own robe's side pocket, remarking graciously: "I'll have the Father Lowaen let you in, allow me to fetch him now."

The chaplain was gone then, leaving the two Unicorns alone in the hall, the silence ringing in the stain glass lit congregation chapel. Turning to Siral, Starswirl probed him with some astonishment:

"How did you get the entire scriptures?" Starswirl remarked, to which Siral gave a slight shrug, remarking: "That merchant wasn't the first time I convinced somepony to go easier on demands."

"Why do I get the impression that merchant won't be the last time, despite what I tell you?"

"We do what we feel is necessary."

"Did you need the entire scriptures?"

"I needed them, otherwise I'd never have lived with a missed opportunity."

Starswirl nearly rolled his eyes, remarking as he looked up: "Your curiosity may well get the better of you one day."

As Starswirl looked up, he barely heard Siral's remark as a small form high up in the bell tower was quietly escorted away by a larger form:

"It is called being proactive. Besides, I think that-What is it?"

Starswirl's vision had flashed a slight blue, the familiar feeling as he saw the two figures:

"Up there, somepony in this church's members. The exemplar, they're here. But I'm not sure who."

Looking up, Siral suggested quietly, ensuring his voice didn't carry in the hall:

"Perhaps we can look into things in this church other than these, Alicorns, while we're here."

Starswirl could only nod in agreement, but the slightly elder wizard couldn't help but be thankful of the prophecy subtly luring them to where they needed to go for each exemplar so far.

Early/Mid Afternoon

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Upper balcony levels.

The adolescent foal leant over the stone banister of the cathedral's rooftop balcony, overlooking the plaza in front of the building. He always marvelled at the sight of the tents being assembled, ready for the festival in 3 days' time, along with the massive stores of delicious looking food, drink, and all the entertaining sideshows that would be in the Summer Eve festival, hosted by the church. One of the few occasions where the church tolerated the presence of more, rambunctious pastimes, and by the clergy's admittance, a time to let those most numerous 'smaller demons' out to exercise them.

And this year was a great one to look forward to, the defeat of the Baahverian Princes to the north of the Faroench Kingdom, and the end of that war.

Coming down, the foal, equivalent of between an adult and a full blown child, stumbled slightly as his back legs gave out. Little 'Kayeno' he was affectionately called, Kayeno by his name Fathers Homlein and Lowaen gave him when they discovered him on the church doorstep.

Lame in the back legs, bulky in the front legs, shorter overall for his adolescent age, and sporting a mixed white and black coat, Kayeno was the church's bell ringer, hardly seen outside at all, much like the church organist who raised him in place of the understandably busier Fathers Homlein and Lowaen.

Kayeno was clearly dumped by his parents because he had been born lame on his back legs, and would be a burden on them, but the parents had been kind enough to leave him in the night on the church's doorstep. The boy had been raised in the church, as they knew he would likely not be fully supported enough given his needs by the local orphanage. And their faith demanded they care for the sick and needy.

As he grew, he had to learn to walk more on his forelegs, and that meant his forelegs became more muscular than normal. As he was raised by the church organist, the most involved in his raising, he grew into his role very readily.

His forelegs made him, despite his lame backlegs, a very strong church bell ringer.

Steadying himself, Kayeno kept his forehooves planted, his larger than normal forelegs making up for his lame back legs. To those less than kind who saw him, he resembled a rumoured 'ape' creature from the savage jungles, or one of the church gargoyles, by how he walked on all fours at an angle.

Nearby, inside the alcoves of one balcony, the other figure, a brown robed, ash grey Faroench horse, who always wore a scarf around his neck whenever anypony was around, or no matter how many robes he wore.

"Papa, do you think it will be as good this year?"

With a slight smile, the ash grey Horse stallion gave a stiff nod, looking down, his icy blue eyes conveying all Kayeno needed to know.

"Do you think maybe we could go down this year? Not just me, but you too?"

His smile fell, and the church Organist, Claupe Frello, gave a morose shake of his head, indicating he still was unwilling to do anything beyond simply look on at the festival from up on high, as he did every year.

Kayeno had lived for 11 years, and had already been to 2 festivals with Fathers Lowaen and Homlein, indulging in the entertainments, the joyousness.

The white and black adolescent foal looked slightly downcast at his most involved father's continued reluctance, but he understood. Putting on a playful smile, Kayeno remarked:

"Okay. Maybe I could bring you back something then when it happens?"

A soundless series of breaths escaped Claupe Frello's lips, as the grey stallion gave a nod through his silent laughter.

Kayeno's more childlike giggle was all the noise Frello needed to share in to make his own feelings known. Casting his gaze down, Frello gave a slight hoof gesture to the horses filing in down below in the plaza, then to the bell tower:

"Okay, next one's starting soon. I'm going."

Kayeno strode away, forelegs doing more of the work walking as usual, but as Frello turned, Kayeno asked aloud: "Hey, maybe I can talk to those wizard guys after the service. They're in the archives."

Kayeno didn't even need to see Frello's soundless lips move to reply:

"Yes, I won't move any of Lowaen's scrolls while I'm down there, I know he likes things in their place."

As Kayeno clambered up the wooden walkways in the bell tower, more like an ape than a horse in his movements, Claupe Frollo cast a slightly long gaze downwards as he heard the vague noise of a musician playing a jovial tune to the workers putting up the stage for the festival in 3 days' time.

As the horses continued to file in, Frello wandered back into the church, until he came to his domain, the organist's box, with his life before him, how he could make noise in the world, noise that was always beautiful and meaningful, to make up for his inability to make his own.

Claupe Frello had come to the church as a young stallion, barely older than Kayeno was now. Before, and when he'd had his voice, he'd been part of a family of wandering gypsies, performing acts, music, and travelling for a living across the Faroench kingdom.

One day, when someone in the troupe had conned someone a bit too much, they were attacked in the night. They tried to be con artists, those who performed enough to make their 'victims' still happy despite being tricked by an act that amused them enough to give their money. But some used the acts as distractions to take what wasn't earned.

A local noblestallion's guards attacked their encampment in the night, and that was the last Frello saw of his parents and brother and sister, uncle and cousins. Not all were killed, but they were scattered.

Frello lived as a singer, and when the guards captured him with others, they sought to remove what made them able to carry on their acts, all being left alive if possible. Dancers had their legs wounded or cut off, musicians had their forehooves, or paws in some cases, damaged to stop their skill, and singers, like Frello, had their necks delicately cut open and their vocal cords cut.

Alone, mute and seeking a new life, Frello and the other mutilated Gypsies lost track of each other, as they were all dumped randomly across the province they'd been staying in.

Eventually Frello found his way to Pahrii, and the local Cathedral. He knew the basics enough from his uncle, a musician, to know musical notes, and with some kind help from a younger Father Homlein, became the Cathedral's organist.

When young Kayeno was found on the church doorstep, Frello saw something in Kayeno that reminded him of his younger brother, bright eyes, slightly deformed, but innocent. He volunteered to be the boy's dominant father, raising him well and kindly as he could manage.

Now the boy and he were very close, but unlike the curious Kayeno, Frello had no desire to venture beyond the confines of the Cathedral, where he could entertain as he once did, how he could do now. He played now to offer support during prayer, sermons, hymns.

And he listened in, wishing he could be among those voices that sung. Sometimes he mutely mouthed the lyrics as he played the organ, pretending he could speak.

He watched the festival each year from afar, never involving himself in it as Kayeno or the other church Fathers did. He physically could not express his joy, he felt couldn't take part anymore without expressing his laughter in the first place.

So he played, he remained here high in the church, or within its walls, where the silence was the norm.

It drained his spirit slightly, whenever the congregation ended each time. He felt a part of the world again, but he would remain here where he would not be judged except by that highest judge, fairest and impartial.

Kayeno was braver than he, venturing out to the festivals, the world, with his lame legs. But pride prevented jealousy from setting in.

Claupe Frello felt at peace here, in the quiet and melodic union interchangeable of the Cathedral, where he would blend in unseen. As he played the organ each time however, he found himself jealous of the instrument itself. Something not living could make such beautiful noises, while he could no longer.

They admired the organ, not the player. But he didn't mind. He was better off that way.

Frello was keen to remain an onlooker, letting others experience life's joys while they could still express their joy.

Mid Afternoon

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Main chapel, organist's balcony.

Forehooves raised, Claupe Frello absentmindedly shifted the scarf around his neck beneath his robes, rubbing the slight itch that developed on his neck from time to time after all the 16 years he'd been here at this church as organist, in his now 34th year of life.

The scars on his neck from his vocal cords being cut as punishment to his entire gypsy family and troupe by the disgruntled noblestallion's guards were hideous to behold, which was why he still wore the scarf. Shame of his gypsy past, and shame of what talent he lost. The church frowned on such temptation-fuelling use of talent for gain, but there were far worse sins in their book. It was why he kept his past as a Gypsy singer a secret.

He knew there would be gypsy singers in the festival too, and other gypsy acts alongside an all manner of entertainers. He had no desire to be there, it would remind him of what he'd lost.

Pressing his forehoof onto the organ keys, Claupe Frello played the first note of the first hymn.

High above, his adoptive son Kayeno rang the church bell to signal mid-afternoon.

Author's Note

The beginning of the Laughter/Joy arc, and I decided to keep it focused this time. No combat, more culture, even religion, and issues of self/others' joy, entertaining, mourning and protectiveness.

I also brought in that in history, the first Alicorn has emerged in Equestria, beyond Starswirl and Siral's knowledge, to which they seek the church's archives [more on that next chapter].

LAUGHTER II: Alicorn Insights, Contemned

13th May, 529 BNM

Early/Mid-Morning

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Lower level, archive library

Poring over the scrolls of Equestria's history of the last 270 odd years since they last were there, Starswirl and Siral found not much of surprise. The first 78 of those years they'd caught up on before their travels to the Romane Empire during their first time jaunt.

But 160 years after they left, they found notes of the Alicorn ascendency, reports from Cantolocist missionaries, of how a new rank of Equine race stood head and shoulders above others in power and authority.

Those wizard and mage unicorns that had been their colleagues back in the days before their travels had noted with surprise this transformation of a few select Unicorns into this ascended state of body, the Alicorn, the strength of an Earth Pony, the flight of a Pegasus, and the Magic of a Unicorn, all of them greater than normal, especially the magic. A natural outcome of those magical ones who placed emphasis on using magic to improve their abilities through experimentation and practice of magic, attaining a critical point where their inherent magic forced the body to undergo a metamorphosis to keep up this growth of latent magical abilities.

And now, the family of the first Alicorns had borne children, all of them Unicorn mates, and all the children exhibiting high magical prowess from birth.

Shutting one scroll on the workdesk, Starswirl couldn't help but remark as he also pored over the images of the Alicorns:

"I'm not sure I like this. Favouring raw power of the self, first and foremost. Yes it means they can be of great service to their cause, but they rule, and it means the rulers have much more power on their own. If this keeps up armies may be merely toys to them."

"Yes, they lack the creativity, the variety of techniques that Wizards and Mages strived to learn. And they seem to already be using their power to mould Equestria as a nation, literally moulding it."

Siral had spoken as he drew out a set of maps of Equestria and the north western continent, gesturing to one earlier and one more recent map:

"Some of these forests and swamps have actually shifted slightly, moved on purpose by Alicorn led magical efforts."

Looking at the most recent map, 20 years old, Starswirl frowned as he pressed a hoof to the parchment:

"Hey, my hometown's gone!"

"Moved, according to records. The diverted river by the Alicorns for the river project to the capital, forced them to move the whole town west."

Grunting in annoyance, Starswirl leant back on the workbench, remarking with some distaste:

"Powerful we wizards and mages were, we didn't actively use our powers to shape the world, we sought to expand them as one would knowledge."

"They're ruling class, they value power and influence, resources, first. And knowledge only if it serves them to gain from." Siral remarked, a slightly barbed tone in his voice. Starswirl recalled his early days as a wizard, the respect they had from the rulers for their influence and power.

"And wizard and mages have been reduced to serving the ruling classes, their knowledge more, applied now. Gone are the days of intellectual innocence it seems, idle curiosity creating grand things."

Siral cursed under his breath. Such curiosity is what drove him for such great things, because it could possibly be done. Starswirl rolled up a scroll, giving pause slightly as he wondered aloud as he walked off to place them back in the shelves with his magic:

"What might it be like when we're done with these tasks? What will our place be?"

As Starswirl wandered off, Siral was now deep in thought, as he mused over the part of the prophecy concerning the 7 beings warned of, to come once they were done.

If knowledge was only being applied now, and these Alicorns had little respect for knowledge and power aside from their own, it wasn't a far leap of logic to imagine such terrible forces emerging from their own rising power.

Often massive power undid itself through errors in judgement.

1 hour later

Still in the archives, Starswirl and Siral had packed up the scrolls they had been using, sitting out the sermon and service as it occurred up above them in the main chapel.

Putting down the mug of water at his side, Starswirl looked sideways at the newcomers to the archives, giving Siral a slight kick under the table, the black Unicorn looking at him gesturing slightly to the new arrivals.

Father Lowaen, the other priest here in the Basilica besides Homlein, was more wrinkle faced, his own features a sandy yellow and orange, almost like the parchment on some of the scrolls in the archives he watched over.

Beside him, a robed foal of adolescent age, white and black furred, walking with a clear lean upwards, as if taller at the front legs.

"Greetings Wizards, is there anything I can offer you in the way of help while I am down here?"

"No thank you, but the offer is kind." Starswirl remarked with a gracious smile, while Siral merely shook his head politely. As both wizards then regarded the boy with some query, Father Lowaen laid a hoof on Kayeno's shoulder, remarking to the Wizards:

"This is the bell ringer I informed you of, young Kayeno. He and the organist Claupe Frello live here as Father Homlein and I also do. Not clergy, but family regardless."

"Hello." Kayeno meekly greeted, the tray of bread and water still on his back, and also some scrolls in his side bag.

"A young scholar?" Siral asked suddenly, pointing a hoof at Kayeno's scrolls. Father Lowaen gave a small laugh, remarking: "Not yet perhaps, but he carries out his studies in the tower to keep up his bell ringing duties. He is quite the avid reader as well."

"Really? And forgive me for saying this, but you've been a rather obvious shadow to me and Siral since we've arrived. Might you be interested in some teachings that travelling Wizards would have picked up from around the world?" Starswirl added with some cheeky humor, nodding towards Kayeno.

Eyes lighting up, Kayeno looked at Father Lowaen in a silent request, to which the sand yellow stallion gave a small nod, remarking: "As long as you keep up your normal studies and duties."

As Lowaen left to take care of some archive sorting in the back rooms, Kayeno took the seat that Starswirl gestured to at the foot of the work table. Siral looked at Kayeno with a slight smile, before he turned to Starswirl, a knowing question in his eyes, before the vaguest of mental communication spells set in:

Is this boy the exemplar?

No, but he knows him, a slight echo of some sort, its unmistakable.

You know better in this matter. I can keep myself busy in here.

Shaking his head slightly as Siral set his eyes back down the piles of scrolls and books he had in front of him, Starswirl turned to Kayeno, the boy's eyes alight with interest:

"So, what might you be interested in that we may have done?"

"Have you been to many places?"

"Have we ever." Starswirl remarked, before he began telling tales of the Romane Empire, and the strange Far Eastern Pandina empire, of dragons, battles, vast landscapes and strange beings. Nothing of the time travel, prophecy or their search was mentioned, just names and individuals without giving any of that away.

1.5 hours later

Their talks lasted long enough that Kayeno had to rush off at one point to ring the eleven o clock bells, but he was back down before Starswirl could really begin talking to Siral about the boy, and links to a certain other who now seemed certain to be this Frello.

After a while, Starswirl asked about Kayeno's life, while Siral half listened as he returned with a new set of texts of Equestrian imported histories and folklore. Apparantly potions were a touchy issue with Cantolocist archives, and were taboo, but straight up magic was not, because the creator blessed those with magic to do magic, and potions meant commoners and/or the wicked could gain power they were unworthy of.

In his mind, Siral could see some legitimate thought behind that mindset, but as a magic user also using potions, he simply saw potential beyond comprehension given time and skills gained.

Siral was now sat poring over the new books he had, while Kayeno merely explained meekly the state of his life here:

"-athers Lowaen and Homlein busy, so my Papa Frello raised me most. He was taken in by the fathers too, he and I get along well. Plus he says I do enough talking for both of us. Its good he and I can both write, he has much to say that way."

"A shame about his voice, does he say how he lost it?"

"No, he writes that it's a private matter." Kayeno said, still recalling how Frello would not even write much if asked about it too much.

Pausing in deep thought, Starswirl asked: "And how would you say you like your life as it is? You are, happy, with you life?"

"I'm lucky to have my fathers looking after me. I know I'm not normal, my lame legs, but its okay, I have my long robes. And I go out when there's something really good going on or something is needed from the markets. The festival is my favourite, as are other celebrations that hold fun things in the courtyard."

"A time for great joy I'm sure." Starswirl remarked, before he and Kayeno turned to see Father Lowaen gesture with a lowered voice:

"Come on Kayeno, time for the next service. I'm sure you've graced the Wizards with your attention for long enough now."

"Okay father. Thank you Starswirl, Siral." Kayeno moved off the seat, bowing slightly as he turned to walk to the exit to the archives, his lame legs giving him the slight ape like hobble beneath his robes that made him wear the robes in the first place to hide his legs.

As Kayeno left, Starswirl remarked to Siral quietly: "Before the day is up, I want to meet this Claupe Frello. He's clearly the one we're searching for, the boy's traces from him prove it, and it isn't Father Homlein or Lowaen for certain."

"Are you sure its wise to interfere in their lives? I still recall the scolding you gave me with Mashri back on our first of these ventures. And Hinai doesn't count, we got caught up in the mess with that sorcerer with her before we even met her."

Starswirl wondered at this. Indeed, Siral had interfered in their Romane empire exploits, speeding things along, but Starswirl wasn't one to mess with destiny as freely.

"I just wish to speak with him before any action, or none, is taken."

"…You realize the folly of speaking to a mute-"

"Yes yes, I realized the moment I said it Siral. What will you be doing in the meanwhile as I find him?" Starswirl asked, as he shifted some scrolls on his desk.

"What we've already been doing thus far today. Reading, making notes, catching up with what in Equestria we've missed, and other histories."

"Exhausted the spellbooks already?" Starswirl joked, to which Siral remarked:

"This is a Cantololic archive, they're touchy enough about spells, and potions are taboo. I was through all 8 magic scrolls yesterday."

Siral dismissively joked back about the literal lack of spell material here, though he clearly could spend days in here if he was allowed. As Starswirl settled down, he heard the organ playing overhead, remarking within the echoing archives:

"After the last service today, I'll find him."

Mid Afternoon

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica island bridge

The markets at the end of the Reine river bridge bustled as normal, and amidst them, at the rare opportunity given by the Church's needs, Kayeno, the bell ringer foal of adolescent age, had sprang at the opportunity. He hardly ever got to experience life outside the church, and relished any opportunity he did.

The inconspicuous brown robes the white and black horse boy wore made him blend in with many in the market, but they also served the role of hiding his lame legs as he walked. Admittedly though, he didn't see any other horses his age, foal or filly, wearing robes as long as his were, they mostly wore tunics or ankle length dresses.

Kayeno made sure to wear his robes whenever he was out, as Claupe Frello had told him to through written notes, as he usually did. Unusually for his age, Kayeno could read and write as well as most adult horses in the city, learning from the Basilica's fathers just as Frello did.

Kayeno stopped the small cart he pulled, laden with some church wine orders and a few luxuries in the form of apples and cakes for the clergy [him and Frello as well], all easier paid with a church tab in the markets. Taking some time to rest, as he sat on his hunches at the edge of the bridge, the boy inhaled the smells of the city and river. It was slightly grungy, not quite pure, but the mixture of Faroench kind and the natural river the maker forged through the land combined in a unique mixture of sights and sounds.

As he stared up the river, a small barge pulling up to a dock further up the river, near the city's fish markets, a series of excited giggles came up behind Kayeno.

"-too hard Renee!"

Out of the corner of his vision, Kayeno saw ball, a leather made construct, go flying up the bridge, bouncing off the cart he'd been dragging. Lunging out a hoof, Kayeno deflected the ball backwards with his slightly larger foreleg, watching as it bounced to roll to the feet of a gaggle of children nearby, one or two his age. 3 foals, with 2 fillies seeming to cheer them on and/or watch.

The leader it seemed, the bigger brown foal about his age, stopped the ball with a hoof, giving a small smile of relief: "Merci, uh-who are you?"

"Kayeno, nice to meet you."

"Kayeno, I am Lequii, this blockhead of a foal is Renee, his younger brother Jezen, and my sister Maria and her friend Esmela."

As he introduced the others, the stocky grey foal his own age, the younger grey foal brother, the scarlet red filly in the tunic and dress, and the brown filly in a bonnet and dress, Kayeno gave an embarrassed wave as they came up, noticing the robes he wore, and the cart he pulled:

"Where do you live to have such robes?"

"The Church."

"You live there? You must have a good view from up in the tower." Esmela remarked, looking at the distant Basilica's tower before back to Kayeno. Her friend, Jezen, walked behind Kayeno with a slight giggle, beginning to lift up his robes:

"Really long robes too."

"Hey! Do you mind!" Kayeno indignantly remarked, rearing up slightly on his forelegs beneath the cloak, making Lequii notice:

"You look shorter near your back end, why?"

"Uh, I just stand like that." Kayeno said nervously, wishing the conversation would end now. He felt his robes suddenly flick up, and a slight squeal from Jezen as she remarked to her friends while drawing back:

"Eww, he's got weird legs under there."

"What, no, they're not weird, I-please!" Kayeno interrupted, before Lequii looked him over, remarking: "Now I know why I think I've heard of you, you're the lame bell ringer."

"What? Lame? But I-"

"I heard your parents left you there as a baby." Renee remarked, recalling more stories.

Gulping down some nervousness, Kayeno heard the first of what would become a series of teases begin:

"Easy to see why."

Before Kayeno knew it, as he ignored their continued remarks, their hoofball game he'd saved forgotten, he began to pull the cart back to the church, but not before the attention of the children began to attract other eyes, more judgemental adult eyes.

In that time, Kayeno began to run, and his visible shuffling rear legs flapped from beneath his flowing robe as he had to hitch it up to run. The boy paid no heed to what seemed like a blur of amused, some disgusted, others contemptuous faces.

Time blurred further, and Kayeno had left the cart of wine and treats in the church's supply annex, and darted up the bell tower.

As he sat up there in silence, he waited until the clock struck three, then rang the bell thrice as he had for a few years now.

His legs gave out for him to sit in a slump for a long time up there, as if adding salt to the wound.

Kayeno knew those kids from memory, he'd seen them at the festival, but never spoke to them in person, and their interactions today had made memories and stigma in public of him very fresh in the lead up to the festival. Kayeno heard from Father Homein that time healed all wounds.

But now, he couldn't go to the festival, he would not be healed in time, it would be too fresh.

Early Night

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Upper level quarters

The boy had been distraught, but now had at last fallen asleep. Truthfully Claupe Frello didn't find the boy until after he finally came down from the bell tower, after the last bell ringing at 8 o clock in the evening, as the Sun was finally set completely.

Laying a hoof gently on the boy's once shaking shoulders, Frello had heard what happened, and couldn't help but cast a mournful gaze on him beneath the covers of his small bunk. The foal had enough problems without predictably ignorant, cruel children, and knowing perhaps crueller adults deriding him for being born lesser than others.

As he saw the white and black furred Kayeno in the bed though, troubled and sleeping as best he could, Claupe Frello recalled sadly how he would sing to his old gypsy family's brother and sister when they had trouble sleeping, being the eldest brother.

The itching on his neck from the scars was in his mind, but it reminded him that what comforted his siblings could not be used here.

Life just seemed unfair, perhaps, Claupe thought to himself, this may finally show Kayeno that he was better off remaining in here more often than not, just as he did, with less of a 'disfigurement' also. It was safer, fair, the only judge being that most unbiased of all as the Fathers and scriptures promised him.

Yet at the same time, Kayeno suffered because his secret had been blown to the locals. They'd likely forget about the lame legged foal in the bell tower, but Kayeno would be affected.

All it meant was Frello would do what it took to protect Kayeno's cheerful demeanour. The boy was the one last glimmer of joy in his life, amidst a life in the church that had been slowly over the years become more silently cynical and unfulfilling, as he had to keep his secret of his gypsy past and reason for his muteness or face shame by the church's stance on such gypsy cultured entertainers and con artists.

Looking out the window, Frello saw the faint lanterns of the festival tents being blown out, as they stood erect and ready to go for the event in 2 days' time, not filled with the usual amenities or foodstuffs yet. It was a shame, Kayeno really enjoyed the festival each year he went, the highlight of his life.

Deep in thought now, Frello leant down and placed a light kiss on the foal's forehead, before he quietly walked from the foal's bedroom.

Catching the grey horse stallion as he headed to his quarters, Starswirl had lit his horn to a blue enough to illuminate the darkened church living corridor, the stallion only mildly surprised by a magic user. Clearly Frello was always aware of things going on in the church.

Starswirl had wished to speak to the stallion, but hesitated when he overheard that Kayeno was in a state of grief, and Frello being there first before all others to silently comfort the foal.

"If I may, my condolences for what happened to your adoptive son. Perhaps we could talk tomorrow? He spoke highly of you when I helped him with his studies earlier today."

As Claupe Frello regarded him cautiously, Starswirl probed into the grey stallion's mind, sensing turmoil, secrets, but most of all, an unending, slightly subdued but ever present sadness. The blue aura he exuded within Starswirl's mind made it clear.

Claupe Frello was the exemplar, a Glum one to learn joy from.

Before Starswirl, Frello gave a stiff nod, looking back towards Kayeno's door with some unspoken worry on his face, before he then turned back to Starswirl, giving a quick nod of goodnight.

In his mind, Starswirl sensed what Frello wished to say. Midday tomorrow, he had a lot to think over tonight.

He wasn't the only one, as was Starswirl's thoughts before turning back to walk towards his own small room beside Siral's bed chamber.

Author's Note

The Alicorn sprang up while they were gone full stop from Equestria, no Wizards but ascended members of society, who clearly seek power within society as anybody naturally would in medieval times.

That is the distinction between Wizards/Mages and Alicorns. The former seek knowledge and diversity of magic, drawing on it from around them in many different ways. Alicorns meanwhile are self-empowering, becoming forces of nature themselves, though they have nowhere near the variety of magical abilities they can use as Wizards and mages have, simply through lack of training and magical academia and practice at things other than those that can boost their own power and influence.

To Wizards/Mages, Magic is knowledge, a privilege. To Alicorns, Magic is power to unite under a rightful path to peace, how the Alicorn sees that peace varying over times to come.

As for the Exemplar to be of Joy/Laughter, his adoptive son faces criticism [kids can be cruel, but adults that see what kids have noticed more so', and now he's disenchanted from the festival he so enjoys happening in 2 days' time.

LAUGHTER III: Frello's Shame, Secrets

14th May, 529 BNM

Mid-Morning

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Upper levels, balcony.

The day today, like all the day before Summer Eve, always held fewer services, one early morning and one evening, a policy for the church with the Summer Eve festival, made even greater this year by the Baahverian Victory celebrations being coupled with it, occurring tomorrow. Even the clergy wished to indulge in the celebrations enough to ease up on services they urged their followers to come to for the sake of their souls.

The morning service had ended, and that was when Starswirl had agreed to meet with Claupe Frello, high up in the upper levels of the Cathedral. Siral had agreed to come too, but said he had much to search for in the archives when they were done.

Siral sat back more, the black Unicorn a passive listener as quiet as the mute Claupe Frello was. While Frello wrote on the linen notes he was normally used to writing upon, he was visibly in awe each time Starswirl wiped the note clear the graphite writing marks from his sketching pen. As Frello wrote the next note, while Starswirl stared out, they were musing on the boy that meant so much to Frello, despite Starswirl doing all the talking:

"He's a very curious boy, curious enough that his love for you and Fathers Homlein and Lowaen surpasses it. If he's given time, he'll recover, a shame he had to miss the festival tomorrow by the sound of it."

As Starswirl remarked this, he eyed the tents being finalized, the workers milling about, and even a few silent rehearsals going on atop one of the stages, a dance act of some sort. In the distance, the last grey clouds were parting to show sunlight.

Claupe Frello's grey hoof passed the note to Starswirl, the grey horse's face still slightly saddened at the topic of note.

Perhaps it is for the best. He will be safe from them in here.

Starswirl gave Frello an odd expression, confused at this stallion's rather blunt, depressed optimism of the situation:

"Why would you think that? All he's learned is that the world is full of preconceived notions about anyone less than normal, unblemished. Believe me, it is those with such blemishes that are often of stronger character than the common rabble. Difficulty breeds greatness in those that overcome it."

As Frello wrote on the note again, Starswirl saw the downcast expression on the stallion's face not falter, right up until he was handed the note again:

We will both be safe in here, as we should be. I know neither of us would last out there long before it becomes too much.

"But he is not you, and you know that. He wishes to explore the world, while you wish to remain in here. Yet he is more visibly blighted by his body than you are, so why?"

At Starswirl's question, the stallion this time no longer amazed by the wizard wiping clean the linen paper scrap's markings, Frello didn't waste any time in writing his retort, somewhat feverishly this time.

He is young, I am older. I know the world and how it judges those like us, blighted in body. We all have lost something needed. I lost my voice, my family and my dignity, and was mocked for it. Kayeno lost his parents because he was born blighted, and now he has seen what his blight does to draw ire from those around him. Kayeno was still childlike, innocent. Now he has seen the truth, the only safety is in here, regardless of what you have lost.

Frowning, Starswirl shot a judging look at Frello, earning a slight gaze away of fear from the grey stallion, the scarf from his neck actually shifting slightly under Starswirl's blue magic as the wizard replied sternly:

"Is that what you've been told, or is that merely your shame speaking? You lost your talent in life, but you became what you are to this church without your voice, what you are to Kayeno without it. You don't need your voice to live and love."

The reply came swiftly, as Frello tugged the scarf back up his neck, hiding the scars of his removed vocal cords, a punishment he had admitted to the Wizards the moment they told him they could also read minds, and that it was pointless hiding the truth of his own 'ailment'.

I lost my voice, family, life, because of my appearance alone. The world does nothing except hate, scorn, jeer, ridicule and more. It won't change, and while the past insults are forgotten by those who throw them, those who get them live with the pain, and the pain of what they lost to bring them on themselves. And more risk coming if we venture out, as Kayeno bravely, foolishly decided to do one too many times.

"That was years ago, things have changed. And that was from first impressions. You said it yourself, Kayeno's reputation as what he is will fade, if he hides away in here like you have. Anyone who met you outside this church all those years ago will have long forgotten you."

Frello said nothing, the Grey stallion taking a moment to stare out at the Pahrii cityscape, the Reine river glistening in the first morning sunlight that day. Starswirl turned and shot Siral a look of annoyance, and sympathy even, to which the Black Unicorn simply gave a subtle nod of encouragement. Turning back, Starswirl probed again:

"Which is why I ask again. Why do you hide in here?"

Frello heard this, but the Grey stallion made absolutely no move to write anything. The Unicorn wizard pressed again, seeing the look of internal questioning on the grey stallion's face, his dull blue eyes cast downwards in true self-reflection:

"Do you hide only because there is a chance of being badly treated? Those you met, who terrified you into hiding in here, they have seen only what you look like on the outside. It is what is inside that counts."

At this, Frello turned to cast a very sour look at Starswirl, before he took the note paper in hand to rather briskly write the reply.

My inside, my passion, was something my voice could bring out. I cannot do that anymore."

"Then you must find a way to bring out your true self. Actions will always, ALWAYS, speak louder than all the words there are to be said."

But how?

Frello hadn't even let Starswirl wipe the note clear with his magic before scribbling the question, the look of silent desperation blatant across the grey stallion's face.

"That is for you to figure out. Search yourself."

Frello let Starswirl wipe the note clear, hesitating before he took the linen paper from the wizard, writing a last note to Starswirl before the talk ended.

What does this all have to do with Kayeno? How does inspiring me help him?

With a slightly sympathetic, somewhat mysterious smile, Starswirl offered this last piece of support to the Grey stallion.

"Because Kayeno looks up to you, you inspire him, like any good father would to their son. But he also wishes you to be out, for once, as he dares to. So if you can brave the world he's recently been scorned by, he can too, if he is much braver than you as you so proudly declare."

Eyes widening slightly at what Starswirl was suggesting, Claupe Frello stood up suddenly, his breathing actually audible as he cast a quick look down towards the courtyard, the festival tents and stage and staff all down there getting ready for tomorrow.

Looking back, the Grey stallion scrunched his eyes as he then opened to give a hard look at Starswirl, then at the other black wizard further down the balcony. Succumbing to his nerves, Frello turned away and strode from the balcony, his hoofsteps audible from the corridor he entered.

Late Morning

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Upper levels, balcony.

Still on the balcony after Frello's nerve infused leaving of them, the two wizards were staring out at the Reine river and the Pahrii cityscape. With a slightly dejected sigh, Starswirl gave a slight lament:

"I tried my best, but in all honesty, with him, who knows. I actually am not sure what he can do to inspire joy in anyone, let alone his son. Even if he has the courage to go to the festival, it was a shot in the dark as a piece of advice to him."

"Starswirl the Bearded admitting defeat by consoling a reclusive church organist? If I'm going to be in the archives so much while we're here I may add that to the records they have of you and us in Equestria." Siral remarked, the black Unicorn leant against the balcony railing as he turned to Starswirl. The Grey Unicorn cast a pointed gaze towards Siral, not condoning the joke at this time with a direct response:

"This is not a jest worthy matter Siral. This is the first time the success of one of these exemplar beings is entirely out of our hooves. There is nothing we can do to help him."

Going quiet, Siral began to make a slow remark: "If we had the time, if we had arrived perhaps a week earlier than we did to this place, we might have helped better."

Growing wary, Starswirl turned to Siral with a questioning look, which changed to a frown as Siral remarked: "We could have made a potion to restore his voice, for a time. But it would have been better than what he is now."

Turning fully to Siral now, Starswirl jabbed a hoof at the black Wizard's face: "Siral, if we had done that, all we would have done is directly interfered. Your actions with Mashri back during the Romane era were one thing, this would have been too far."

Growing slightly irritated, Siral asked straight up: "And what would have been too far? Granting a stallion his voice back to allow him to exercise his long lost talent, amidst crowds, and to give him something to use in the festival to restore his son's joy?"

"A temporary fix he, and his son, would lament, as it would only cement what Frello has lost, and make it clear to Kayeno exactly what his father lost. If anything Kayeno would be worse afterwards." Starwirl remarked.

"Or their memories of the joy of the one off event sustains them. This is semantics Starswirl." Siral dismissed, to which Starswirl took a step towards Siral in a quick retort:

"And your suggestion of intervening in that way is the same as with Mashri. During her gladiator times you merely manipulated, without my say so may I remind you-"

"You often do." Siral remarked in an annoyed tone, to which Starswirl continued after being cut off:

"You manipulated events already in motion to happen in a specific manner all at once, to coerce her act of Loyalty out of her in a single swoop, merely accelerating what was to happen. With this however, you propose actively shaping events to unfold along a path they were not on in the first place."

"And what is wrong with that?" Siral asked straight out. Starswirl turned away, looking out to the world:

"If we actively use our magic, in ways like that, it will encourage us to wield our abilities with more frequent abandon, and perhaps more recklessly. Magic will cease to be an art, and many will come to be dependent upon it. And when they ask why we selectively use our magic not enough to help everypony, we will create enemies. If we try to solve everypony's problems, especially ones that would be regarded as miracles, we attract attention to magic that it should not get."

"And yet in Equestria right now the Alicorns are beginning to shape the country to their desires with their magic, with little word from the Wizards, Mages or Oracles mind you." Siral stressed this point from their findings in the archives, basic knowledge passed of Equestria during their jaunts towards the Pandina empire and now.

"Which is why when these exploits with the exemplars are done, we will be fully equipped to steer them on the right path. I know it." Starswirl finished, but Siral was not entirely convinced.

The Black Unicorn sensed the uncertainty in the Grey Unicorn's voice, though whether it was from greater uncertainties Siral had just raised and brought to the table, or just the unwillingness of Claupe Frello, he was unsure.

But this was not the first time Starswirl had shown an unwillingness to derail what he saw as destiny. Growing impatient, Siral made a last parting remark:

"A wise Unicorn once told me that destiny is like a thread. It intertwines with everyone we interact with, a fabric of destinies all interwoven. The moment we interact, we-"

"Become intertwined. Yes, I know you and I have read Hauddise's spirituality writings." Starswirl interrupted this time, leaning forwards on the balcony as he looked out at the slowly sun soaked Reine river beyond the Basilica's building covered island, sandwiched between the cityscape on both sides.

"You criticize becoming intervening. Yet you don't fully realize that by the Prophecy itself, we will intervene with their lives by simply meeting them."

"I realize, I am just wary of not pushing that involvement too far." Starswirl retorted, to which Siral made no remark in response to. The Black Unicorn gave a last groan of indignation, remarking under his breath that he'd be in the archives if he needed him.

With Siral gone, Starswirl took out the pipe with his magic, igniting the weed he'd saved from their Pandina exploits, and lit up the smoking tool to ease his nerves.

Puffing slightly on the pipe, Starswirl mused to himself over a great many things, whilst ahead, Pahrii bustled on as normal, the last normal day before the Summer Eve, and this year Baahverian victory celebration, festival tomorrow.

Late Afternoon

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Lower level, archive library

Poring his gaze over some scrolls from Equestria, Siral was surprised, and saddened, to find records of some of the exploits of the Wizards, Mages and the Oracles in their time gone from Equestria since they timejumped within it. Within the past 200 years, with the rise of the Alicorn ascendancy 160 years ago, the exercise of more direct magical power over Equestria had given rise to some minor power struggles.

The Wizards and Mages now served Alicorn royalty, or nobility, either as direct service, or loose but affiliated magical personnel. This loss of independence from politics, as power shifted much more thoroughly in not just governance, but magic as well, to the ruling families, was not universally greeted well.

The Oracles began to have to be more open with all but their mysterious oracles, and one or two portents of doom or warnings had caused them to fall out of favour. Now they were much less visited, and even some rumours had begun to spread about them that simply could not be true, such as living pony sacrifices. Scare tactics, nothing more.

But one name, a high ranking member of the Oracle 'staff' a high priest that directly served the Oracles, had been mysteriously dismissed it seemed, a mere 20 years ago, under charges of treason and violence against the Oracles.

Treason among such devoted members as those to the Oracles was unheard of, even for the 5 centuries they'd been running before Starswirl had the prophecy told to him 270 years ago. The name was only mentioned briefly, but it was written with such scolding remark, at least by the words of this Mage Gaelhooves:

-shameful than the story of the brash, recently ascended Unicorn turned Alicorn stallion, Vigilan.

Vigilan disgraced his brethren by attempting to usurp the great all seers, betraying his life devotion to them in a bid for greater power than he'd already been gifted.

The gift of becoming an Alicorn was not enough, and in his selfish rage he lashed out against the honour of serving the Oracles as a prisoner would his bonds.

Castrated as punishment, he continued to behave against his sworn allegiance, and took on a new name to bear his shame and determination to act against his allegiance.

Geldrath.

Geldrath was dismissed after numerous continued objections and decrying the Oracles, and was never seen or heard from again. Rumors stated he left Equestria, but nothing else is said of him.

Looking at the dates, Siral remarked to himself: "He was dismissed 20 years ago. The trail will have gone cold by now."

Putting the book down, Siral mused in his thoughts. Alicorns had been rulers mostly, but it seemed this greatness could be achieved by even non-ruling, high magic capable beings, proven by this Geldrath, formally Vigilan.

But all this did was make Siral think that this power needed, fed upon, power to rule, to lead. What might come if one too many Alicorns came into the world?

Already power struggles became common between those with ambition, what of an entire race's subgroup, higher than others, where ambition without ruling power to supplement it was dangerous? Where ambition and power to rule were as natural as eating or breathing seemed to be, and long lived to boot?

Every reading Siral had of these Alicorns made him concerned.

And Starswirl focused too much on the destiny of learning these lessons from these exemplar beings. To teach Equestria, the world in turn, these ideals made clearest by these beings, of which 3 still remained if Claupe Frello gained the courage to act how he could.

But there were always those that did not listen well, and they were often those that felt they need not listen, being powerful themselves.

The Black Unicorn wizard continued to search for anything more on the Alicorns, though as he searched the archives, he found nothing else about their exploits in much detail.

All he found was talk of a mysterious, wild forest that had suddenly begun growing in mid Equestria shortly after the Alicorns started moulding the country's landscapes to their needs, a forest where the magic normally used to alter the country did not work.

All this, Everfree Forest showed, was that there was some sort of consequence to excessive magic usage on the land. Though a wild forest was not Siral's first guess of what could happen.

When he met Starswirl later that night, he'd be sure to pass on this knowledge onto him.

Late Evening

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Main level

As Father Lowaen blew out the candles from the end of the evening's service, Father Homlein took their organist, Claupe Frello, by the hoof to walk with him.

"I understand your plight. But you must realise that it is you the boy looks up to most. I know this Starswirl told you this, but you and I know this more than he already does."

As Frello silently nodded, the brown robes and scarf hiding all but his head above the neck, the red robed grey/white Faroench stallion gave Frello a reassuring pat on the shoulder:

"Trust your heart, it is the part of you that is most in tune with the almighty. Let it urge you what is right to do to help Kayeno, and yourself."

With a slight smile, Frello gave a bow to Homlein out of respect for the priests that took him in 16 years ago. As he bowed, Lowaen's curt remark from the alter came in, slicing the air with a reassuring, but stern tone:

"And if I may, your past is in the past. You are too hard on yourself for what you lived as with your family, there is no sin in Gypsy heritage."

Face alight with shame, Frello felt a second reassuring hoof on his shoulder, as Homlein remarked: "We've known for years. Kayeno wasn't always so diligent in disposing of the linen notes you used to commune with him. And some words on them drew wandering eyes in to gaze away from clearing the room as needed, despite best efforts to avoid it."

The Grey Stallion was quiet, his face slowly morphing into a shade of a smile as he hugged Father Homlein tightly in thankfulness, while Father Lowaen resisted the urge to sigh at the impending hug as he knew it was best to let Frello do the same to him.

As Frello pulled away from Father Lowaen, the grey stallion organist left without a word, as usual. He still had much thinking to do.

Looking at Father Homlein, Lowaen remarked: "I have wondered though, what exactly he did sound like before those guards took away his voice."

"Lamenting a possible choir voice loss?" Homlein suggested, to which Lowaen gave a slight laugh of derision, pointing out:

"If he sang as well as he played, yes."

Dwelling on the potential was the best the priests could do for now, as they finished up clearing the alter for tonight. Tomorrow was the festival, and aside from an early morning service before it all kicked off, there was not much in the way of churchgoing to be expected until the day after.

Overhead, the church bell rang for the last time that day, before Kayeno settled for the night. No more bells tonight while quiet was needed for sleep across the city.

Late Night

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Upper level, Kayeno's quarters

The white and black foal was sound asleep beneath his bed sheets, the candle still smoking slightly from where he'd used it to give him reading light of the studies book Kayeno had brought to bed with himself.

Creeping in, Claupe Frello laid a comforting hoof on the boy's thin mattress, and with a small, uncertain smile, the grey stallion dropped a note atop the boy's bedside desk, written by him as a last statement before tomorrow.

How so ever it went tomorrow, he wanted Kayeno to know what exactly to be aware of.

Standing up, Claupe Frello spared a last smile in the darkness of Kayeno's room before he slipped out the door, into the chambers' hallway. Nearby, he glimpsed the flickering candlelight from Siral's and Starswirl's rooms, whilst the Fathers were already asleep after the last late night prayers.

For Frello though, he merely hoped what he'd arranged quickly with Fathers Lowaen and Homlein would work out. If it did all go wrong as he feared, he at least wanted an unsullied reputation as church organist to retreat back upon.

Beating himself slightly in the head, Frello urged himself mentally, and as he thought, he still marvelled at how his own internal thoughts seemed to still be voiced by his own sound, which hadn't uttered a word in its smooth mid pitched, heavy Faroench accented vocals:

No, no bad thoughts until tomorrow night Claupe. For the sake of Kayeno's happiness, focus and be happy yourself.

Now, how to do it exactly…

Admittedly, Claupe Frello would need to rely on spontaneity for his ideas. But that was one trait from his earlier gypsy adolescence and childhood that, despite being entrenched in the routine of church staff, had not been forgotten.

He hadn't forgotten everything, but he had never applied it in this way.

If this went wrong, he easily decided he would mostly blame Starswirl, for encouraging him in the first place. That was one step done.

The evening and night rolled on as Claupe Frello retired to his room, thinking on his tactics for tomorrow.

Author's Note

Claupe Frello is urged by many things to take action on the day of the Summer Eve festival. Kayeno needs inspiration Starswirl urges it, and Fathers Homlein and Lowaen admit to having known about his past, and not being disapproving of it, which removes a source of shame for Frello.

Meanwhile though, Siral's seeds of doubts about the Alicorns begin to rise further with knowledge of an Alicorn gone rogue, who wasn't born into a position of ruling power, but into the Oracle guild that had been slowly declining in influence with the rise of Alicorns, and the Wizards/Mages becoming more directly involved in politics to stay relevant and inherently useful.

LAUGHTER IV: Cirque, Flamboyant Frello.

15th May, 529 BNM

Mid-Morning

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Lower levels, Archives

The sounds of festivities readying echoed even into the archives, as a crowd had gathered in and around the plaza at the front entrance of the basilica, the site of the festivities given its large size.

Pouring over the scrolls he'd dug out, Siral paused on a passage that shed only a little more knowledge on the Alicorns in Equestria, distracted.

The Black Unicorn heard the echoes of a particularly loud cheer go up, probably something arriving to signal the festivities were almost ready to truly kick off. With a slight grimace, Siral looked down at the scrolls, thinking to himself for a few moments.

Staring out at the rest of the archives, Siral scoffed, muttering to himself:

"Blast these archives, I won't find much more on Alicorns in here that I don't know already."

His grey magic rolled up the scrolls, as marched along towards the shelves, his grey cloak going over his body as he placed the scrolls back in their shelf of the archives.

"With the noise up above, there would be little progress here anyway."

Turning to stride out of the archives, after only a half hour of study, Siral relaxed slightly, thinking aloud as he exited:

"Besides, I can best see culture history by their celebrations."

"Precisely Siral!"

Siral's heart nearly jumped as he saw Starswirl emerge from the corridor end, behind where he'd come to walk up the steps to the ground floor. Laughing slightly, Starswirl remarked: "Relax friend, I knew I'd find you down here. I expected to have to come in and get you though."

"That archive won't reveal much more that I'm seeking, about the Alicorns. And that racket will only get louder, so I may as well indulge."

Laying a hoof on Siral's shoulder briefly, climbing the winding stairs to the ground floor, the blue cloaked grey unicorn shared a slight smile with the grey cloaked black unicorn:

"You speak of festivals as if they are a chore. You should relax, live life, not study it for once. We may have longer lives than others by our magic, but they are not unlimited."

Siral said nothing, knowing Starswirl was correct in this matter.

Reaching the top of the stairwell, the pair of wizards suddenly stopped as a brown cloaked Claupe Frello passed by, a long banner folded in a pile on his back as he was about to climb the stairs nearby to the upper levels.

Caught, Frello cast a look towards Starswirl and Siral, then upstairs. Subtly reading his mind as Frello quietly gestured to them, Starswirl and Siral need not say anything:

Last banner, all the way up the bell tower, I am to tie it and throw it down.

The brown cloaked stallion turned up the stairs without a pause after that thought, leaving Starswirl to look at Siral oddly, to which Siral asked aloud:

"So, what of our exemplar then? You think he will be going to this festival to somehow cheer up Kayeno?"

"If he is, and how he'll demonstrate joy, I do not know. I know for certain we are going." Starswirl remarked, as he turned to the entrance doors, with Siral in tow. Outside, the crowds of horses bustling as the festivities began to really kick off sounded.

Outside the church entrance, as the throngs of horses before in the island city locale's church plaza filled their sight, Starswirl and Siral saw a pair of clown dressed horses standing at the base of the bell tower, with a pile of ropes and banners dangling from them in the pile.

Up on high, what was obviously the banner Frello had carried, flung down to dangle with its end on the ground, and the clown horses were already picking up the end and extra lots to begin pulling it through the crowd, to tie onto one of the cirque tents that had been erected 2 days ago.

Pushing through the crowds, Starswirl and Siral were swallowed by the stallions, mares, foals and fillies that crowded the basilica island plaza.

The Summer Eve festival, made bigger this year by the Baahverian victory by the Faroench armies earlier this year.

Late Morning

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Upper level, bell tower

This was the first Summer Eve festival in 6 years Kayeno was missing, ever. The foal sat in the tower, beside the bell he was himself ringing each hour for the first time today in 6 years without leaving its church confines. Normally he'd be dashing up and down to ring it so he'd not miss the festival as much as possible.

But today, he sat on his lame, short back legs, gazing sadly down at the festival. Part of him wanted to go, but a larger part feared those same words from a mere few days ago returning to make today permanently scarred.

Frello had come up briefly to throw down the highest banner for the celebrations, as he always did for the festival, his one and only part of it. But afterwards, he'd knelt down besides Kayeno to give a hug to the boy, passing a small note before he wandered off to whatever he did.

Looking down at the celebrations, the feasting, the merriment, the music, the dancing, the silly and fantastic acts, the public expressing its inner joys usual kept in check, Kayeno simply let out a sigh of sadness he was not used to.

Unfolding the small linen cloth note, Kayeno read the note, his expression suddenly growing odd:

I may not see my past life as truly honourable, but it gave me talents beyond just my voice to spread merriment for gain. This time, I hope to gain just a few smiles, and if one is yours, that shall be enough.

Look for me among those acts not singing.

Dropping the note, Kayeno looked down the bell tower, but openly groaned as he saw he was a little too far up to make out any of the acts going on right now.

The uneven legged foal was heading down the stairwells to the lower balcony within seconds.

Midday

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Church Plaza, Cirque event

Music echoed with the hustle and bustle of laughter, cheers and the odd, usually off tune singing. Makeshift confetti sprayed at odd times here and there.

Wading through the crowds, Starswirl suppressed a laugh as a couple of exuberant pony dressed as fish stumbled across his path, before he waded through the crowds to where he found Siral.

"Enjoying yourself?!"

"Lets see about this before I say!"

Siral hoarsely shouted over the crowds, as he drew back his hoof. The set of stocks had been erected in front of him and 2 others taking part, 1 a young filly, the other an adolescent stallion. The cheering crowds laughed as the filly's thrown pie, smaller for her size, smacked the stallion locked in the stocks on the chin.

The adolescent stallion's pie, as large as Siral's, flew directly into the clown makeup plastered mare's face, who licked it off her mouth as the crowds gave a resounding cheer. Seeing the burly looking stallion before him in his stocks, Siral gave a slight hesitation, as he had been told no magic if they were a Unicorn. And his hoof eye coordination was better with magic.

The crowd roared in laughter as the pie soared, quite fast, over the top of the stocks, but Siral gave a smirk as he saw he'd accidentally hit one of the stallions parading in a fancy red and orange outfit a good 20 feet behind the stocks, who whipped around in surprise as the mare with him broke out in hysterical laughter.

Roars went up in laughter as Siral turned to Starswirl, remarking rather haughtily: "Yes, I am enjoying this!"

"And you thought this would seem like a chore!" Starswirl loudly remarked, as Siral then eyed up a display going on atop the main stage. One of the main attractions was about to kick off.

"Here it is, the first of our exotic acts, from the far reaches of Faroench's borders, acts to astound, enchant, and amaze! Presenting, Jaqeulle Mane!"

As Starswirl and Siral wandered up, they noticed one of the accompanying musicians that had come dancing onto the stage, playing a flute in a rather lively way, wearing a large donkey mask with a mouth hole, had a very similar grey coat and shape.

"Is that Frello? What is he-?" Starswirl remarked, though he trailed off as the show started.

1 hour earlier

Backstage of main tents, veiled interior.

"You say you can play?"

Nodding his head, Claupe Frello pointed to the wooden flute that one of the musicians of the travelling band, a part of this act, was holding, looking at the main leader with a begging look.

Grabbing the flute quickly, the lead band stallion, a jester dressed brown and black stallion, ignored the indignant white stallion's protests as he threw the flute to Claupe Frello.

As soon as the flute was in hoof, Claupe Frello blew into it, grimacing as it wasn't the right tune for him. Adjusting it quickly, he began to play a quick tune he recalled from his gypsy days, as he wasn't just a singer, but a wind instrument player too. After half a minute of very good, lively play by this mute grey stallion, the jester stallion raised a hoof, remarking aloud:

"Incroyable! I think we have found another for the act today, the more the merrier after all!"

"Hourra!" The band called out, as they began to fish out one of the spare outfits. Frello wasn't the only quick addition they'd had today.

As he began to throw a donkey mask to Frello, the lead stallion in the jester outfit, named Flopine, remarked: "But uh, we cannot pay you in wages. For this, just say that Flopine begs you good evening to any of the tables, and they shall let you buy or play food and games for free."

With a rather ecstatic smile, Frello nodded, but Flopine then gestured quickly: "Well go on, get rehearsing bon ami! The music you played is not what we are doing!"

Midday

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Church Plaza, Cirque event

As the musicians, mostly flute or violin players, Frello among them in a face covering mask like all of them, danced wildly and in sync across the stage in circles, a puff of smoke appeared on the stage, and a rather attractive looking brown furred, black maned mare with a lithe body, clad in a form hugging red and purple dress, began to dance on stage in sync with the lively music.

Cheers and whoops from the crowds rose, particularly from the stallions, as the rather seductively dancing mare continued to dominate the stage, the musicians with Frello among them only barely being distracted by her hypnotic movements.

Looking sideways, Siral saw Starswirl's mouth had dropped slightly, eyes fixated on her. Jaquelle Mane's movements mirrored the movements of Starswirl's pupils, to which Siral snorted as he flicked a hoof against Starswirl's head, remarking:

"Enjoying yourself Starswirl?"

"Why should I not exactly?" Starswirl was slowly drawn back to the stage, and as Jaquelle Mane began to dance more, Siral found his mind swimming as Starswirl's also was, everything else becoming slightly blurred as he began to feel warmer for some reason.

On stage, Jaquelle Mane sultrily danced forwards, seeing the sights of the crowds in her grip, and with a faux seductive smile, as the musicians played behind her, she leant down to run a hoof gently across the chins of a handful of earth Faroench stallions, earning looks of jealousy from other stallions and mares accordingly while those on the end of her touch quivered, or collapsed in a heap.

As she sauntered up, she saw the two wizards, their cloaks making them stand out, as she leant down, lightly bending down to put Starswirl's mouth back in place with a hoof, before turning to see Siral looking at her with a blank expression. Seeing a unique opportunity, she then ran a hoof over the end of Siral's black unicorn horn from atop the stage.

"Bleraghhh.."

Siral's odd word escaped as he slumped down, the feeling of her hoof on his horn sending him overboard. Snapping out at the sight, Starswirl completely broke int laughter at Siral's state, as Jaquelle bent up, her brown fur and black mane flowing as she trailed back to the stage, cartwheeling in her flowing red dress to come within the circle of musicians.

Circling around her, Jaquelle span as she sank down in a series of splits, the musicians leaping up to play one last loud note as the act ended. Before the cheers even began to peak, there were cries for more from the crowds.

Adrenaline racing, Jaquelle was about to call out for her musicians to do an encore, but a tune then began to play.

A grey stallion in the donkey mask, one of the freelancers, had begun to play a tune on his flute that she recognised. A common Gypsy folk tune that was easily danced to.

As he began to lightly step, Jaquelle raised an eyebrow at him with a smirk, before she began to sway in motion. She knew this music well, and could go with it.

"Come now! I dance, you play mon ami!"

Her melodic voice rang out as the other musicians, flute and violinists began to dance in tune, this one more upbeat, energetic, less seductive, and more pounding in its rhyme.

Crowd roars swelled in tune as the temptress of the stage, Jaquelle Mane, began to flourish in spins, steps and even a few leaps as the musicians tried to outplay each other. One by one, as the musicians audibly fell behind in the speed, Jaquelle leapt over in tune and ripped off the mask, flashing a cheeky grin before taking the musician in hoof and spinning him to fall off the stage, into a waiting crowd to catch him.

Soon it was down to only 4 musicians, and their playing was very fast to the point where the stomping of feet in the crowds became more constant if anything, and Jaquelle was visibly growing hot and flustered, but enjoying herself. Most surprising was that of the 12 musicians who started, 6 of them had been proper band members. Only 3 proper band members remained up there and masked, 2 violinists and one mini harp player. The only freelancer was the grey stallion in the donkey mask.

As the violinist faltered, Jaquelle leapt over and ripped off his eagle mask, before laughing through her hard breathing as she took him in hoof, dipped him, and then threw him spinning on his feet to land in the waiting hooves of the crowd to surf along a few metres.

But as she returned, she saw the newcomer fall behind at last, clearly breathing hard now. Dancing over, she pulled the donkey mask off in one fell swoop, revealing the startled, flustered and shocked looking grey stallion beneath it, flute still to his mouth.

As she took him in her hoof, her smile faltered slightly at seeing the exposed scars on his neck, but as she put two and two together, smiled all the brighter:

"Muy bien mon ami! Muy BIEN!"

As she exclaimed the last compliment to Claupe Frello, he was not at all bothered as he was sent spinning off stage, the crowds catching him to lower him down with pats on his back and returning his donkey mask. Turning around in his excitement, Frello saw Jaquelle send an air kiss towards him with a wink, a beaming smile on her face as she then turned to see the other two musicians had finally reached their speed limit too.

Frello knew he'd winged that last act, encouraging a dance and play off of some sort, but he was glad the lead dancer recognised the tune. Despite no sound coming from his throat, he was visibly cheering, the cheers of the crowds around him and for the other acts on stage and across the cirque enough for him to speak.

Turning his head, Frello glimpsed a certain pair of wizards coming over, Siral looking slightly red in the face at something while rubbing his horn rather longingly. Starswirl however, looked happy, but still expecting.

"Mon frere, come drink with us! A toast to the grey piper!"

A random shout from a stallion in the crowds drew Frello's attention, as he was whisked away, swept up in the festivities.

Turning to Starswirl, Siral asked Starswirl:

"Anything yet? Is it done?"

Shaking his head, while still smiling, Starswirl remarked: "No, but I think this one won't be instant, more gradual. He'll get it on his own."

Nudging Siral in the ribs, Starswirl remarked: "Come now, lets see if that vixen who floored you is still doing any acts later."

"You enjoy my loss of dignity, don't you?"

"Dignity is discarded on days like today Siral!" Starswirl replied to the rather grumpy remarking Siral, as the grey unicorn dragged Siral through the crowds towards some of the stalls.

2 hours later

Cirque tent crowds, souvenir stalls

"What do you think? I might keep this for a while."

As Starswirl turned to Siral, he gestured with a hoof to the hat atop his head. It was pointed, clearly an exaggerated pointed hat to stand out, with a wide base. Looking at it, Siral said with some slight humor:

"You must be joking."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe some stars on it, along with my cloak too, and some bells while I'm at it." Starswirl said rather haughtily, he had clearly had enough to drink that his reserved dignity in appearance had gone out of his head.

Shaking his head, Siral remarked as Starswirl began to rifle through the other objects on sale, small knickknacks and accessories mostly:

"I'll stick with the grey cloak thank you."

Little did he know what Starswirl concocted today would be an early rendition of his much later wizarding garb, his standard blue cloak about to change forever in appearance.

Shuffling through the crowds, young Kayeno still kept his cloak hiding his legs in place, but his mood was far from what it once was earlier today.

Looking around, Kayeno heard what sounded like a folk song being sunk by semi drunk stallions, and mares with them, as a handful of dancing stallions riotously stomped in rhythm around a rather red faced Claupe Frello, who played his flute with wild abandon, the scars on his neck giving away his muteness exposed for the world to see, no scarf, and his robes down and rolled up at the legs even.

"-brew for the brave and truuuueee, comes from the land I left behind! Waheyyyyy!"

Beer and brew mugs clanged as heads were knocked back, and a few loud noises from the crowds echoed as Frello leapt down in semi bows, while the crowds around him cheered him on.

Turning around, Frello saw Kayeno coming towards him, the foal's face laughing with glee as he darted forwards. Leaning down, Frello pulled Kayeno into a tight hug as the boy began to exclaim wildly:

"That was amazing papa, why did you not say you could play like that!?"

With an honest shrug, Frello suddenly seized Kayeno by the forearms, and hoisted him up onto his back, amidst the cheers of the stallions. As Kayeno whooped with glee, a feminine voice interrupted from behind them, silencing the mares and stallions before them:

"Excuse moi, but I need to borrow you papa. The crowds are clamouring for him to re-join the next act."

Turning around atop Frello's back, Kayeno saw a very beautiful looking mare with brown fur and a black mane, clad in a fitted red dress, waltz towards Frello to gesture with a beaming smile for the mute stallion to follow.

Gesturing with his head, Frello marched forwards behind Jaeuelle Mane, as up ahead on the stage, the other musicians and a few more dancers gathered to get ready, Flopine in his jester outfit rallying the crowd around the main stage to get more and more excited as he saw Jaquelle approaching with the freelance musician who did so well.

"You see papa, you have been missing this all the time. Thank you for this!"

Frello felt his chest soar as Kayeno wrapped his forelegs around his neck, the boy riding on his back as he followed Jaquelle through the crowds, her lithe figure parting them like a knife through butter.

Looking back, Jaquelle couldn't help but feel warm at the sight of the father and son, though she suspected the boy was an adoptive son by their differences. Passing by, the red clad mare suddenly saw a recognisable pair of Unicorns, though the Grey one was clad in a rather more outlandish outfit with a pointed blue hat and small bells on his blue cloak and hat, whilst the grey cloaked, black furred one was the same as before.

Giving a wink to the black and grey unicorns, Jaquelle saw the look of pride Starswirl was shooting Frello as surface level only, not knowing the extent of what Starswirl was feeling.

Siral meanwhile, looked away in embarrassment as Jaquelle winked at him. As Frello walked by with kayeno on his back, the white and black foal cloaked yet enjoying the festival with his father, Starswirl gave a small smile to Siral as he recovered from the flash of fierce blue aura in his mind.

"It is done. He has demonstrated what it means to bring true joy."

"To the public, or just that boy of his?" Siral wondered. Starswirl added pointedly to the other wizard:

"Does it matter which? Both were ways shown, and what better way to spread joy is there than that made from laughter?"

The roars of the crowds soared in the plaza as the next dancing act, as Frello deposited Kayeno on a backstage area, began, Frello donning his donkey mask as a similar act to before began yet again.

From the basilia's main doors, Fathers Homlein and Lowaen looked on in pride, and gladness, at their two other church occupants regaining, or even increasing, the joy in their lives that they deserved.

By day's end, when the festival ended, Frello and Kayeno would return to the Basilica happier than ever felt in their lives together.

16th May, 529 BNM

Midday

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Downtown, Reine river

Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.

Main entrance.

After the night to recover, the normal morning services had been done, but as said to some sadness by Kayeno, they had to be off.

Father Lowaen and Father Homlein had bid them farewell and thanked them for the honoured visit, and the contribution to the archives, saying they'd pass on the contribution's knowledge to the rest of the churches across the country, even continent, the collected works compiled by the two of them from the Romane Empire's early history.

Within the church entrance hall however, Kayeno had joined Frello in seeing off the two wizards who helped his papa in a time of need, or his need if one looked at it differently.

"Will you come back?" Kayeno asked innocently. Starswirl gave a small smile, remarking:

"Likely not, but what time we spent was memorable, no?"

With a nod, Kayeno agreed while Claupe Frello then took the scarf from around his neck, removing the thing he used to hide his neck scars from the world, and held it out in his hoof to Starswirl and Siral, nodding in a universal message to take it.

"Is this a gift?" Starswirl asked, to which Frello nodded confidently, while Kayeno stood by in some awe at his adoptive papa's choice of thanking gift to the wizards.

Siral nodded to Starswirl, who had already pulled open his cloak, as Siral's grey magic lowered the scarf from off Kayeno's outstretched hoof to fold up into the inside pocket of Starswirl's cloak. As Starswirl shut his cloak, Siral promised bluntly:

"It will be kept safe."

"We promise. And thank you." Starswirl added quickly, as he gave a bow to Frello, while Siral did the same afterwards.

The two wizards were leaving without another word after that, while Kayeno waved ecstatically as his father held the boy aloft atop his shoulders. The boy's lame legs, and his muteness, now were secondary to the joy they knew they could conjure up and bask in to compensate for it.

As the wizards left though, Siral and Starswirl each noticed a familiar Mare and Stallion from the cirque walking up to the church. Jaquelle Mane and Flopine had come seeking Frello at the church.

As he saw Jaquelle approach with Flopine, Frello gulped slightly, before Kayeno gave a slight giggle as he pointed to them coming up.

The smile from Jaquelle back at them both, particularly Frello, only made the future no less joyful, but perhaps murkier.

In the end, what would occur was a long distance bond, until a few years later, Jaquelle left the cirque, and Frello left the church, both of them on good terms, to settle on a mutual tavern job many years down the road, and where Kayeno would only have just turned to adult age when they had their first child.

But that story was not one of utmost concern for the 2 wizards that so affected the lives of them in a way of pushing the father out the door to embrace life's joys and spread it with merriment, to inspire his son, and himself, and make a new life to the full for himself.

17th May, 529 BNM

Mid-Morning

Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]

Outskirts, farmlands

As they travelled, they knew from Starswirl's beckoning in his dreams overnight since they left that they had another jump forwards in time for the next exemplar being, and likely long travel too.

But with self-teleportation learned on their last journey, in Pandina with Mashri, the journey travel time would be a simple matter.

As they walked down the road, the Bearded and the Savant relished in the warm early summer sun. It would be a metaphor for the last truly un-infringed times together.

What lay ahead were times where their bond would be tested, and what was once thought true and noble as agreed between them, began to diverge.

The exemplar of honesty would not be the only one to begin to face truths about themselves, as the world altered them during their next travel stage.

Author's Note

I decided the LAUGHTER arc would be best finished in 4 chapters only, as it would have dragged too much with 5. And as promised, the HONESTY arc is next, and that's where the setting, and overall story of the 2 wizards, begins to truly come into play.

Some secrets long kept by them and others will come to surface, and the next setting will also incorporate more magical elements and creatures than previous settings, with good reason.

A backcheck, the gifts from each of them.

Mashri-Loyalty-Her Gladius sword, showing her test of loyalty by the culture she loyally believes in.

Hinai-Magic-Her family's gold and jade pendant, showing her sacrificed self restraint.

Claupe Frello-Laughter-His neck scarf, showing him finally losing his glumness and not hiding his muteness neck scars.

HONESTY I, Cursed Malabutu Valley.

4th July, 485 BNM

Mid-Afternoon

Indo-Burmese Sub continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Bruhmupatru River

Teleporting for 3 weeks' travel time since their awakening, Starswirl had led them East, to the Princely kingdom dominated Indo-Burmese lands. Up the river Starswirl and Siral travelled, teleporting together up the enormous winding Bruhmupatru river for nearly 300 miles upriver.

Stood on the river bank, Siral sighed with some relief as he refilled his water flask, making sure to use his spells to treat it for disease. The humid, hot air and burning sun was a pain to have to travel under.

Nearby, Starswirl looked around, trying to focus himself to find their next exemplar. But there was something off about this feeling, a lack of clarity, as if it were blurred somehow.

"It's somewhere, that way."

As Starswirl remarked with some uncertainty, and a hoof pointing, Siral looked in the same direction.

To the east of the river, there was nothing but steaming jungle, leading up to what looked like a long ridge of small mountains covered in jungle growth.

"Nothing more?"

"No, its odd, blurred, this is as best I can manage with the feeling this time." Starswirl remarked oddly, pacing with some nervousness. Capping his water flash, the black Unicorn remarked bluntly:

"Perhaps the prophecy was too vague this time from the Oracles."

Sighing in aggravation, Starswirl looked back in the same direction, noting what he'd read during one of their rest stops a few days back in a coastal Principality's city.

"There should be a small town here, in the jungle. Probably behind those mountains."

Looking out, Siral remarked with a keen eye to back him up:

"Might that be a road?"

Looking towards the far Eastern bank of the river, Starswirl and Siral indeed saw a road.

Upon crossing with their magic, they found a sign, weathered and old looking, that designated this as the road to the Megheleya town nearby.

A few flashes of teleportation spells kept them along the roadway, for 2 miles into the jungle, along the cleared path.

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Bruhmupatru River Town

Town had been a generous description, as they found only a few thatched wooden huts and what looked like a spice plantation building.

Timid looking townsfolk peered out of huts, silent, watching. All cattle, all wary.

The town leader, an elderly Bull, had greeted them cautiously, and the moment Starswirl mentioned the place over the mountain ridge, he fell silent, eyes darting warily towards the shaman's hut ever so briefly, then back towards the mountain ridge barely visible to the east over the jungle treetops.

"Only fools dare venture over that mountain."

"Why? What's over there?"

"We do not speak of it. But, we shall tell you tomorrow. Come, let me find you a place to sleep for the night, so you may be on your way by morning."

The wary voice of the Bull leader was punctuated by the pair of ghostly looking eyes from the Shaman, who'd come out of her hut nextdoor to stare at the 2 Unicorns with a look of suspicion, perhaps even fear in some parts.

Casting a look of wariness of his own, Starswirl shared mental conversation with Siral:

Something is not right here.

I am thankful we're spending only one night here.

Siral's retort echoed Starswirl's words, as the chief quickly found them a room in a small hut around the back.

For the rest of the day they kept to themselves, but there was an air about the town that clung to them both as they went to sleep later that night.

Elsewhere, something stirred deep in the jungles, past the mountain ridge. Something that had festered there from a time further back than any in the town had been born, save the 2 Wizards.

5th July, 485 BNM

Night, Pre-Dawn

Indo-Burmese Sub continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Bruhmupatru River Town

The Jungle near the village had fallen silent all of a sudden, the noises of the insects, frogs and the odd bird only echoing from further away areas. Only the faintest brush of a breeze could be heard, which obscured something brushing aside some undergrowth nearly silent as the wind itself in the darkness.

A few watch bulls scanned the dark forest beyond the dimly illuminated wood hut village, but they saw nothing. But the sudden silence had them on edge.

Inside the Shaman's hut, the elder female cow had awoken, mumbling to herself as her eyes seemed to have rolled into the back of her head as she laid on her bedroll.

A family slept in one of the huts, dreaming contently as the smallest of creaks sounded outside their door, as something quietly slunk into the room. Something big, powerful, clawed, and hungry.

Glinting yellow eyes scanned the hut's room, faint sniffing echoing as the hulking figure prowled inside.

Turning, the creature headed over to the sleeping calf, young enough to not sleep with her mother, on her own bedroll. With well-practised stealth, the creature slunk towards the calf, a paw extending slightly to nudge its head around slightly, exposing its neck.

Looking about, utterly quiet, the jaws silently engulfed the female calf's neck and clamped down hard.

No bleats, just muffled shifting as if in a nightmare, until silence at last.

Its work done, the Tigress bent down to pick up the calf, careful to not make a sound as she lifted it off the bedroll.

Turning leave, the Tigress winced, and then her own heart, soaring with this easy kill from this village, leapt and froze as her bad front leg gave out, making her stumble and fall audibly forwards, hitting a doorframe with the calf's body protruding from her mouth.

The parents woke up, hearing the noise.

"Mei-se, why must you get up at such bad times to-."

The mother and father awoke, the father mumbling about his daughter's weak bladder past as he did, only to catch a glimpse of the quickly shuffling away, very large Tiger silhouette, a limp form hanging from its mouth as it made a less stealthy, fast getaway.

The mother's shrill scream pierced the village's ambience as the Tigress burst through the back door of the hut, her way of sneaking around the watch guards.

All were awake now, as villager tore from their huts.

Starswirl had awoken in a daze, just as Siral had too.

The watch guards had ran towards the hut, but the Tiger was too fast, and all they found were a few pawprints leading away from the hut, into the jungle.

Coming tearing over, Starswirl and Siral shuffled through the cattle villagers gathered near the hut, some mourning the girl's obvious death, others hopelessly scanning the jungle dark beyond the village with all fires in the village now lit.

"It was one of the beasts! They've come this close again!"

A random villager call rang somewhat off in Starswirl's ears, as whispers of a sign of things to come echoed around them. As the chief wandered over, he sadly shook his head as he explained to the 2 Unicorns, his horned head low as he spoke:

"Beyond the mountains, there is a large valley. Dense, wild, savage even. Nobody who enters for longer than a day returns. There are evil spirits within many creatures there, something wicked. But the beasts do not come here unless…"

As the chief trailed off, Siral asked, the Black Unicorn not liking the tone here:

"What might change?"

A hush of whispers arose as the female shaman wandered over, her eyes grim and set in her wrinkled bovine face. With a trembling hoof, she pointed as she spoke in a voice that seemed to grate like stone yet be as harsh as the wind through the mountains:

"Sacrifice. The spirits have taken their usual offering. They spoke, such horrors, as the beast claimed the girl."

The shaman trailed off, and as Starswirl gauged her, he did sense truth to her words. She clearly had an affinity to the mystic, but as she stared at them, Starswirl felt threatened all of a sudden.

"You wield the power some of the spirits have. They want it."

Those cryptic words seemed to come from both her mouth, and her mind, as Starswirl looked at Siral suddenly, who had the same idea.

The villagers suddenly began to stare at them, fearful, yet also angry, the cattle faces, particularly the 2 parents, collectively certain of the next step.

"We're not-AH!"

Siral began to shine his grey magic, but felt something prick his neck suddenly. Starswirl felt something nip his neck suddenly too, and as he instinctively brushed a hoof against his neck, he felt something hard, and pointed, fall off.

Whipping around, Siral saw a pair of Bull hunter, who had been standing beside the Shaman, lowering a blowpipe each.

He felt stiff, and as he stumbled, he felt numb all over. Beside him, he saw Starswirl visibly stagger too, his blue hued horn glowing as he grew angry at the betrayal.

Siral pitched over onto his side, collapsing, but still half awake. Whatever drug was in his system made him weak, but not fully paralysed. As he fell, he saw hoofs engulf him, pulling a makeshift sack over his head.

Nearby, Starswirl turned to see the blurred, angry, almost fearful faces of the cattle tribe staring at his blue horn, their faces growing dark as his strength suddenly failed him.

As he keeled over, Starswirl saw the shaman gesture out towards the jungle vaguely, the chief listening intently along with some hunters. It wasn't long before he was down, similarly blinded, and easily restrained.

Starswirl didn't know how long they were out, or where he and Siral were all the time, as the bags over their head were only lifted to allow the most basic of food and water to their mouths, as they were kept in the drugged, half asleep state.

A few choice words mumbled through his drugged hearing, were enough.

They didn't dare venture to the 'edge' except in daylight, where they would leave them where the others had gone.

He was kept blinded, but the slightly brighter inside of the brown woven sack over each of their heads told Starswirl and Siral that they were outside, and moving, carried by the hunters.

5th July, 485 BNM

Early Afternoon

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

6 miles from Bruhmupatru River Town

Malabutu valley

'Sacrifice' Riverbank

The sacks had been torn off their heads, but they were still slightly delirious.

Craning his head around, Starswirl saw he and Siral were tied to a large tree stump by their two rear legs each, their restraints only a few feet long, but made of very thick rope. As he gazed up, Starswirl nearly gaped at the 300-foot cliff, nearly vertical in some places, where he saw some cows being hoisted up by long ropes by cows at the top.

The cliff was marked at its base by a muddy river channel, and as he stared, there was another cliff what looked like a half mile away, and a distant roar of a waterfall. They had been lowered down and left upon a shore by the hunters, crossing the lower river's muddy banks and shallow waters with ease, to leave them tied to a tree stump near the rainforest's edge. Clearly, the wet season wouldn't allow such a tying place for their victims, as the river would have them underwater where he and Siral were tied up.

Nearby, Siral looked around, angrily shaking his head as he tried to use his magic. But as the black unicorn struggled, Starswirl noticed a black ointment completely covering his horn.

Trying his own magic, Starswirl felt nothing but painful heat, as he gasped blearily:

"Siral, don't! They've, blocked it."

As he maintained a level head, while he stared up at the hunters giving them one last look atop the cliff, before turning to leave then, Starswirl heard Siral remark angrily:

"No salve is going to stop me!"

Bending down, seeing his hooves were tied in a way to stop him grabbing anything sharp to scrape it off, Siral rubbed the salve with his hooves, only spreading it over some of his head as well as his horn now. Grunting, he tried scraping it against the tree trunk, but to no avail.

"We have to wait until it dries, then scrape it off." Starswirl remarked, looking around the jungle ahead of them as Siral calmed down. The jungle looked very dense, a slightly browner colour, and with many more vines than previous jungles.

Looking around, Siral sat down, wishing the drug would wear off quicker as he was still slightly woozy. The Black Unicorn saw something disturbing, as he called quietly to Starswirl, a few feet from him:

"Starswirl. There were others that were brought here, I don't think the salve will dry quickly enough."

Turning, Starswirl followed Siral's head nod, as he saw a tree stump sticking out of the ground a few feet away, with a similar looking rope extending from it.

A cow wrist and hoof, from what looked like one of the villager's own, hung by only the wrist, stripped of flesh by either decay, or what had taken the rest of the body. It looked a weeks old at least.

Turning, Starswirl prayed to himself that the salve would harden before dark. Even then, Siral and he couldn't help but look towards the jungle, as it somehow seemed to feel as if it were staring back at them from all sides.

Dusk

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

6 miles from Bruhmupatru River Town

Malabutu Valley

'Sacrifice' Riverbank.

The noises of insects began to echo, as the jungle began to grow in noise while the sun began to dim, having disappeared over the cliff above and behind them.

They were fully aware now, and yet, the salve on their horns was still moist enough to not be removed from their horns, despite 5 hours having passed.

Parched from the heat, still in their clothes they'd come in, perhaps a gesture for them to die in what they came in by the villagers, they were thankful the cliff above them that they'd been lowered down as bait by the hunters had protected them from the sun.

But now the jungle ahead was growing darker, as around this time the sun had set, despite the sky still being slightly red lit.

"Keep trying!" Starswirl called, as he continually tried to use his magic. The salve was nearly dry, but it was now dusk. Nearby, Siral gasped as he gave up another burst of magic, before he took the rope in his mouth and angrily chewed it.

"BUCK! The ropes are too thick!" Spitting the ropes from his mouth, Siral saw Starswirl give up too, remarking: "At least our back legs are free, cows cannot buck like we Equines can. We aren't helpless at least."

As Siral sighed, a silence filled between the two Unicorns, before Starswirl admitted:

"Well, there are worse situations we could be in. At least we'll get through this with a good friend by our side each."

Siral resisted the urge to retort, as he knew this was the one thing they still had in this scenario. As he nodded in agreement, Siral and Starswirl's ears fell as they heard something.

Or rather, they heard nothing. The Jungle had fallen silent, not even the wind was blowing.

Unseen, as they stared, Starswirl and Siral both felt an aura of menace, and hunger, coming from the jungle ahead of them.

1 hour later

For an hour they stood wary, shuffling close to each other, while quietly trying to wipe the salve off their horn. Starswirl managed to get a small hardened chunk off, and in success, a small portion of his magic began to come forward, enough to begin working the rest off his horn.

"Okay, now get it off you, then me!" Siral whispered.

"Don't repeat the obvious, we'll need to be ready for whatever it is out there." Starswirl remarked, as he felt, and Siral saw, the black salve cracking off his horn bit by bit. Siral whispered harshly back:

"What isn't out there wanting us right now?"

The retort wasn't answered, as Starswirl kept up the slow work while Siral kept an eye out.

Inside the jungle, many things approached through the undergrowth and trees.

A sudden brush of wind went over the jungle, which Starswirl paused at briefly, as somehow an aura of hunger, slightly different this time, swept over the rainforest and the river bank, seeming to rumble as it hit the soaring, darkness obscured clifftop behind them.

All the creatures moving towards the trapped Unicorns stopped, as one of them deeper in the jungle than the usual hunters moved forwards, this one different from the others.

10 minutes later

Night

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

6 miles from Bruhmupatru River Town

Malabutu valley

'Sacrifice' Riverbank.

Ever since the foreboding gust, Starswirl had felt something change in the nature of the jungle. Gone was the usual hungry aura, now was one somehow more wicked in intent, yet equally hungry.

With no magic in their horns, they were now in pitch darkness, the looming shadows of the cliff above and behind, and that of the jungle trees obscuring the stars above, with only the noise of the distant waterfall half a mile away as ambience.

As Starswirl fought harder, the faint blue glow cracking slightly further into existence as another chunk of the black salve broke off from his magic, he saw Siral's face briefly, staring into the black jungle ahead of them.

The Black Unicorn saw something, as he turned to give Starswirl a desperate look, right as Starswirl saw what Siral had seen.

As his blue horn's faint light faded, a pair of glinting orange eyes, large, angular, and so close the veins could be seen in them, stared at them through the jungle trees.

Right as Starswirl's blue light died, the last flash of the burning, wicked orange eyes suddenly began to come closer, as trees then crashed and twigs snapped.

Heart leaping, Starswirl dove sideways instinctively, his magic bursting at levels only pure adrenaline could. The black salve was eviscerated from his horn as fierce blue light filled the ground before him.

A scream of panic came form behind him, and as Starswirl turned, he saw Siral's form vanish as it was snapped up into the grip of the creature.

Its form was massive, dwarfing him and Siral, as its mottled, decaying looking skin was punctured by vines and spikes that seemed to be growing out of its skin. A pair of short back legs held large claws on its toes, as did the much larger forearms, and what looked like knotted skin on its arms.

Whipping around, a flash of the burning orange eyes, and a cackling, wind like hiss, burned into Starswirl's vision before one of the massive arms came out suddenly, reaching towards him as the other arm held Siral close to its chest in a vicelike grip, the black Unicorn gasping for air.

Backing up, Starswirl felt the claws brush past in the air, but the claws then cut his rope to the tree, leaving his two forelegs bound together, but free. As the creature gave a snarl, Starswirl's light faded very quickly as it flashed to cut his forelegs' rope.

Looking up, Starswirl saw the creature seem to cower back, as if frightened by the blue magic, but not before it quickly cut Siral's rope binding him to the tree and backing up, Siral still in grip.

"Kill…it!"

Siral's wheeze barely escaped his mouth as the creature backed up, orange eyes ablaze as the blue light made it angry. As the Grey Unicorn fired a spell, the creature backed up, raising the large hand Siral was in to block.

As the spell hit its hand, the creature dropped Siral's barely conscious form, screeching in agony as Starswirl advanced. But from the corner, something answered.

Bursting from the treeline, a similar creature, this one slightly smaller, leapt out, hissing fiercely as it tackled Starswirl, the younger one the same size.

Barely regarding the brawling younger one and the grey tribute, the creature roughly reclaimed the black tribute in its clawed hand, and tore off through the forest whence it came.

Siral fell unconscious from the rough, fast travel through the vine strewn treeline within a minute.

Overwhelmed, the flashes of blue burned the image of the snarling, jagged-toothed demon of a creature into Starswirl's mind as he grappled with it. Finally, he found an angle, and focus.

A fierce blue beam fired out, freezing the creature in place before Starswirl angrily sent it hurtling back into the treeline, smashing its back into a large tree trunk.

Turning, Starswirl saw no sign of Siral, or the larger one.

"SIRAL! SIRAL!"

The calls went unheeded, except by the creature, who to Starswirl's horror, despite being seemingly broken in back by the impact, began emitting a series of screeches across the air.

As soon as he heard echoes of returned calls, Starswirl knew he had to run.

The barking, cackling screeches echoed as Starswirl tore down the river bank, fully aware his blue light was giving him away. He could not see far, so he didn't dare teleport in his right mind.

But as the calls grew louder, he had no choice.

Hedging his bets, Starswirl focused, and hoping he would be right about being further along the river in the dark, he vanished in a blue flash, the river bank beside him flaring blue before returning to darkness.

Malabutu valley

2 miles from sacrifice site

Jungle river banks

Blind in the dark except during his magic flashes, Starswirl saw the mud rise up as soon as he came out of teleporting, the wet splash and squelch engulfing his senses as he stared around.

He was in an embankment, where a small muddy stream ran through, with trees on all sides. There was no sign of the cliff rising up above him, meaning he as much further from the sacrifice site, and those creatures.

And Siral.

Wandering aimlessly, Starswirl kept his horn up, but he was tired, wet, muddy, hungry, afraid for himself and his friend, and of what unnatural horrors this jungle valley seemed to be holding.

For what seemed like hours, deep into the night, Starswirl cut through vine after vine, his ears alert for the slightest drop in noise, which seemed to prelude a predator coming.

His head swam, despite the cool air in the jungle, as he swatted yet another flock of mosquitos from his face. Down on his feet, he had made sure to tread carefully, as he'd seen one or two snakes and a few larger than normal spiders, all out now that night had fallen.

Looking up, he saw claw marks on a tree, above his head level, meaning something big had made them.

The grey wizard, his blue garbs and pointed hat shredded, and caked in mud, then heard the jungle ambience fade.

Every hair stood on end, as Starswirl used his magic to look around.

He saw nothing, but he knew he had to run.

Darting through the forest, down a slope, tie blurring as he began to think whatever was nearby had begun charging by what he was hearing, Starswirl grunted and panicked as he lost his footing, sliding down to a muddy river stream he'd been shadowing.

Splashing down, the Grey Unicorn had hit his had on a rock on the way down, his vision swimming as he blue Unicorn horn magic faded too.

In the vanishing blue light, Starswirl fell into the stream sideways, falling fully unconscious this time as the muddy water swilled beneath his head. Eyes looking up, Starswirl saw a hulking, cat like shape prowling over the top of the river bank, eyes glinting hungrily at the easy kill.

But as he half heartedly flared his blue magic in a last show of defence, Starswirl didn't see the face, but saw the stripes. A tiger.

But the yellow eyes that shone more brightly in the light did it for him.

He felt a rush, as a hue of yellow overtook his weakened mind, finally knocking him into unconsciousness, as he audibly gasped out at the sight he saw, thinking he had finally gone mad:

"You? Impossible, no…can't.."

The Grey unicorn's light faded entirely now, leaving him and the predatory Tigress veiled in darkness at the base of the muddy stream embankment.

As the Unicorn's blue horn light faded, the Tigress did not immediately surge forwards. Something about this strange creature gave her pause.

Knowing she and her cubs had already eaten with that girl calf earlier today, she bent down to grab the Unicorn in her jaws by the neck, but instead of crushing, she bent down, not heeding the cold mud, to swing his body to sling over her powerful back.

The Tigress, bigger than the blue robed, grey Unicorn she carried on her back, prowled carefully back to her den a mile away, the visibly limb in her foreleg bothering her as always.

Elsewhere, one of the other creatures of the forest, this one much more different, continued with its gathered prey deeper into the jungle, to its keep.

Author's Note

Abridging the events to get right down to business, not one night into a village stay and a beast attacks in the night. Paranoid villagers are convinced the 2 magical newcomers are like the ones in the cursed valley, and thus sacrifice them.

The Honesty arc kicks, off, with a key aspect already occurring.

Starswirl and Siral become separated.

And the supposed Exemplar of Honesty is the same Tigress that snuck into a village and killed a little girl calf villager as she slept.

But as to why will also be to do with her foreleg limp, and her history, along with why this Valley's Jungle is so much wilder, seemingly evil, compared to the other jungles in the region.

HONESTY II, Malabutu Huntress

6th July, 485 BNM

Early Morning

Indo-Burmese sub continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Malabutu Valley Jungle

Hunter's rock

Leaves faintly rustled as Starswirl stirred, though as he blearily opened his eyes, his surroundings were different.

The birdsong, and the light from outside the, cavern he was in, showed it was morning. In here the air was cooler, and the ground a smooth stone with the odd leaf litter lying around in arranged piles.

Shifting up, Starswirl recalled what he thought, nay, hoped was a horrible dream last night. Surely that Tiger would have killed him if it were real?

Gently shifting up, Starswirl paused as he saw a striped form lying across the entrance to the cave, though this one was smaller than the one he saw last night. Slowly, Starswirl charged a spell in his horn, the faint blue light emanating in the cave.

A loud chuffing noise hissed from behind and above him, as Starswirl span to see a smaller Tiger cub, about half his size, give a loud snarl to the one[s?] waiting outside.

Spinning around to the entrance, Starswirl backed up as he saw the one outside come prowling in, the wizard breathing hard as his blue light illuminated the adolescent tiger approaching him. But this one had vibrant green eyes, not the yellow of the night before.

And as the other, a sibling, leapt down from behind him to prowl around to the tiger's side, he saw this one had shining, yet dark blue eyes. Then, from outside the cave, a rumbling growl came.

"Keep back! I'll fire if I have to!" Starswirl warned, flaring his horn as he mock charged the 2 siblings, who backed up with a slightly wary hiss, their forepaw claws extending. He was twice their size, he felt he could take them, even if he was cornered.

The mother however, then entered the cave, and Starswirl faltered.

She was bigger than he was in every way, her eyes level with his, but her body bigger than he could ever hope to be. A veritable beast of a Tigress.

Her golden yellow eyes were the same ones that, somehow, his Prophecy imbued mind told him was that of an exemplar being.

His blue horn shining, Starswirl saw the Tigress walk forwards, the 2 adolescent tigers shifting to let her come close as she snarled slightly, staring intently at the blue shining horn.

With a snort, the Tigress gave a few quick chuffs to her cubs, and they left quickly, prowling out of the burrow they had.

Turning to Starswirl, the Tigress then spoke, her voice low pitched, smooth yet emanating power and authority, her expression backing up her remark:

"You are only alive because me and my cubs fed yesterday morning, and you are too alike what the Overlord is supposed to be to risk killing, for now."

Blinking, Starswirl's light dimmed, as he sensed this Tigress wasn't going to kill him, yet. In the dark cave, he asked quietly: "Overlord?"

At this, the Tigress's eyes lit up slightly, as she remarked: "Oh, so you aren't the Overlord? Good…"

Sensing the change in her mood/appetite, Starswirl shone his horn yet again, silently standing his ground while she stared at him, mesmerised but also wary of his horn. Starswirl asked outright: "You could have killed me, you didn't, and not just because you weren't hungry. Who is this Overlord, and why do you say they look like me?"

Staring at the horn, the Tigress began slowly, as she sat down before him, still making him feel small in the cave. She began as the birdsongs, and sound of a slightly playful scuffle from her 2 adolescent cubs outside the cave rose in noise.

"The Overlord, by what my mother told me, came here to the valley, 53 dry seasons [years, Starswirl thought] ago. There was a stone settlement, a tall pointed building like a small mountain, where there were reclusive ones living there, mostly snakes many different animals not common around here., some sort of faith they followed, the Snake tribes. Something happened soon before the Overlord emerged, and the valley turned more wild than normal, and the faith tribe there vanished. The jungle turned darker, and then those creatures emerged, eyes like fire, and skin like flesh and wood."

Starswirl had a thought, as he said cautiously: "Do the creatures look like, this?"

A faint blue light shone, and in a sort of blue aura mist, a mini form of the creature that took Siral emerged. Like an ape, but with spikes and skin like rotted wood chunks and vine like hair clump lengths, sharp teeth, and burning orange eyes. The Tigress's eyes widened slightly in the blue light, as she remarked:

"You saw one and lived? You must be stronger than I thought."

"Yes well, in that case, I won't bother saying I have a need to find where it took my friend when we were attacked last night. He's like me, but darker furred."

"If one of those creatures took your friend, he's not alive anymore. Those things live in the deepest part of the jungle, not even I dare venture in there."

Starswirl sat down slightly, pulling his pointed, muddy and torn blue cloak to his hoof in a slight mourning, while he asked with some query: "He was still alive when it carried him off. One of the smaller ones also tried to get me."

At this, the Tigress's interest truly peaked, as she remarked: "Strange, they normally kill and then take any the Overlord wishes back. You must be, unique."

As she sniffed him, she curiously remarked: "And yet you smell of the village nearby, hardly too special."

"You've been to that village?" Starswirl asked, as he suddenly began to warily put two and two together.

"I may live in this valley with my cubs and others, but I know an easy meal is worth a trek up the routes only I know."

"You took that girl in the night!" Starswirl exclaimed, aghast that he was in the presence of a potential ponyeater, and confirmed calf eater. The Tigress wasn't swayed, as she offhandedly defended:

"I'll take any easy meal I can get for me and my cubs. And their hunters giving me pain for my whole life earnt some payment from time to time. I need easy prey that I need not always chase down."

His blue light shone a little more in the cave, as he saw the Tigress hold up her left forepaw slightly, showing the scarred, somewhat misaligned paw toe on the end of her limb. It looked non-crippling, which meant it must cause her pain constantly. It was a miracle she wasn't grumpier in her normal mood."

Calming himself, Starswirl decided to drop the accusation of killing and eating the calf girl, as a predator was merely feeding herself and cubs in this case. Dimming his blue horn light, Starswirl asked calmly:

"Maybe we could take this to the cave's entrance? I'd like to feel daylight, and see where I am exactly."

"Fair enough, but you are my keep, and my cubs will be curious as to why you continue to be less likely a meal later for us, if more news of yourself keeps coming."

Turning away from him, the Tigress gave a few light chuffs to the cave entrance, as her hulking form then waited for Starswirl to follow. Getting the message, the wizard used his blue horn to find his hat, amidst the piles of laves and white stick fragments nearby.

The blue light showed some of the sticks connected to a skull, and tiny bits of sinew and meat, the skull itself rather small and bovine shaped.

Grimacing, Starswirl scuttled ahead to the Tigress, who gave a small laugh at his expense, knowing he'd seen the carcass her son had been playing with while he slept nearby. Her son knew putting the skeleton there would freak him out.

Coming to the mouth of the cave, Starswirl heard the mother Tigress sternly talking to her children, one a son, the other a daughter:

"-not prey, so he is not to be bitten, swiped or roughhoused with. Understood?"

"Yes mother." A pair of replies came from the blue eyed Tigress and green eyed Tiger adolescents, both of them about half her size, though for a Tigress the mother was quite large.

Slowly walking from the cavern, Starswirl turned to see that it wasn't natural, but it was a partially collapsed stone hut of some kind, heavily overgrown with vines and foliage. It looked like some sort of shrine hut, as the site atop the hill gave it a wide view of the valley through the tree canopy's gap in front of him. Probably leftover from the faith based tribe of snakes that supposedly resided here before this 'Overlord' came.

As for the view itself, as he gave a brief marvel at it, Starswirl saw the valley's large sweeping expanse, noting how the towering mountains, like the one with the cliff he'd been lowered down, encircled it until they came together a dozen miles away to a narrow stretch curving out of sight.

"Magnificent." Starswirl murmured, though as he watched, he saw that indeed, the jungle expanse in and around the valley was a slightly darker colour than normal, including the trees around their sloping hillside.

A slight growl off to his side brought his attention back to his 'host'. Turning to the Tigress, who had taken to lying atop a rock, shaded by the old shrine's sloping stone walls, Starswirl sat down calmly. Nearby, he saw the 2 adolescents eye him up, the male slightly larger than the female.

"Let us lay the ground rules. Anything I can learn from you that might help me with my secure place among this valley is what you'll share. In return, you won't be prey, by us or anyone to the best of our abilities. Agreed?"

Blunt, but acceptable. Starswirl gave a slight nod, as he asked first: "Before any of that, what about introductions?"

"Very well. My son, Shahn, the mischief maker, and my daughter, Daila, the one that unfortunately backs up his mischief."

The female, smaller but the same age, suppressed the faintest of snickers at this, while the male merely grinned with his fangs showing for Starswirl to be unnerved by.

As she pointed a claw at him, the Tigress remarked: "My name is Nahia, and know that I have a good position of power in this valley, so don't forget your place."

"Clearly. My name is Starswirl, the Bearded."

"Wears clothes as odd as his name." Shahn whispered, to which Daila nodded with a slight chuff in agreement, a paw masking her suppressed smile as Nahia shot a look at them to be quiet.

Looking at Starswirl, as she then gazed out across the valley, Nahia relaxed slightly more, as she turned to Daila and Shahn:

"Make sure our territory is secure. And if you see Jakai, tell him I may have something to share with him. Maybe information, maybe food."

As Shahn took off, Daila paused before she left the den's area, remarking to her mother: "Are we going on a hunt with him?"

"Yes, if Starswirl here has some interesting insight to share. But, not a hunt to eat necessarily, but to keep ourselves secure."

Understanding, Daila bounded off in a different direction from her brother, leaving Nahia alone with Starswirl, the former of whom laid down on the rock perch, asking outright:

"So, tell me about your friend and you, what happened to lead us to where we are now."

3 hours later

Late Morning

Malabutu Valley Jungle

Hunter's rock

Suffice to say, Starswirl was confident he was no longer on the menu with these tigers, even with Jakai, the father, being roped in. From what he gathered, normally male tigers didn't stick around much as father roles, but there were two reasons why Jakai helped Nahia. One, she was as big as he was, yet also physically stronger, as she'd picked him for his keen intellect.

Two, this cursed valley was vicious enough that even Nahia, with her reputation, wished to ensure any cubs she had this time were safe. Apparently, to a slightly pained memory by Nahia, she'd lost an entire set of 3 cubs 9 years ago to those orange eyed demon creatures that had taken Siral.

Nahia made no apologies for the villagers sacrificing them in wake of her attack, as she seemed pleased at the fearful reputation she had, among other things in the jungle. All she was sorry for was Starswirl's friend being taken by the creatures. She said death by a tiger was at least by a natural creature.

Those things had begun to appear when the Overlord took over 53 years ago, and that tribe of faith practicing snakes, apparently a King Cobra tribe, had vanished, them having been killed or driven out save for a few stalwart ones that had embraced a wild lifestyle over their previous shrine and monk-like ways.

But the fact remained that all they gathered was that the demon creatures had not killed Starswirl's friend immediately, which was odd, and that according to Nahia's mother's tales to her, the Overlord had resembled an equine with a similar shining horn.

But it was Jakai's news from his usual patrolling that changed things.

"They were bringing mice back to their nest near the buildings along the rapids, and they saw some of the creatures come through the river. One of them had a black form in its grip."

"You are sure it was a black animal?" Nahia stressed, looking her slightly smaller male mate in the eyes, his blue eyes not hesitating as he nodded. Clearly, he was more enthusiastic and compulsive than Nahia, though he still had the air of dignified maturity about him:

"Yes. The Eagle Owls don't lie, nor do their eyes deceive them. But that was before dawn."

As Jakai remarked this, Nahia did some thinking, whilst Starswirl asked aloud, wary while in the company of 4 tigers, 2 of them adults:

"Surely there is someone who can venture in and about with those creatures? Unseen perhaps? If we find the Overlord, maybe Siral will be there, alive, for whatever reason it wishes him."

"Only someone who has lived long enough, before the Overlord came. Enough to not fear them, but know how to live with them in the valley with less trouble." As Nahia spoke, her eyes went distant, as she knew exactly who to speak to.

Standing up, Nahia scanned the jungle down in the valley, as she then spoke to Jakai, the male tiger regarding her with a knowing look:

"Jakai, I need you to watch these two. I'll be gone with Starswirl here, for 3 days at most."

"Yes Nahia." Jakai remarked, as he gently nuzzled her face, before he then bent down to gently lick her left forepaw, which surprisingly, made Nahia slightly purr with some relief. As he pulled away, Jakai cast a look over at the 2 adolescent cubs he'd sired, satisfied when they both sat beside him, though Daila and Shahn both looked somewhat worried for their mother briefly. It was Daila that asked quietly:

"Will you be-"

"I will be FINE, you know this full well, all of you! Or need I recall what I've done to secure the reputation that keeps us safe?" Nahia growled, growing irritated all of a sudden. Quietening down, the 3 tigers watched as Nahia gestured to Starswirl, who had quietly begun walking over to her as she called back sternly:

"3 days at most. Make sure you two have practiced your hunting before I get back. Come on, we must go if we wish to reach Chai before dusk draws too close."

As she spoke without pause, she gently shuffled down the rock, careful on her bad left forepaw as she landed, biting down with ease the constant pain it caused her when she walked. An old wound that would never fade.

As the tiger family watched her, and Starswirl beside her, start down the hill, the Grey Unicorn beside her had to ask:

"Who is Chai?"

Passing down a gully, to where the ground began to level off as the trees and vines grew thicker, Nahia remarked with some of her usual alert tone, despite her seeming at ease in the vicious jungle: "The oldest living creature in this valley. She will know about the Overlord, and your friend being there with it, more specifically with you there to jog her at times shady memory. She has many underlings too. I'd say she is the only creature in this valley that I hold as highly as my children and Jakai."

As he brushed aside a vine, Starswirl remarked bitterly as the air's humidity was already beginning to get irritating as the day drew hotter:

"I hope she resides somewhere shaded."

"She does. But must you tread so loudly? Any hungry animal could hear you for miles with your clumpy footfalls."

Swallowing his indignant response, Starswirl made sure to magically shrink his hat and cloak as he saw the foliage getting thicker as they went deeper into the jungle, securing them in a neck pouch he kept handy. It was best not to get caught by clothing on anything in this jungle.

But he was sure he'd never be as quiet as Nahia when it came to his footfalls.

Even so, the Tigress led the Unicorn deeper down into the valley. It was eerie, as the jungle was always quieter where Nahia trod, yet Starswirl was in the protection of a fierce predator.

A nice change of pace he'd appreciate, if his friend were not still missing.

2 hours later

Midday

Malabutu valley

River channel

A wide river clearing was pock marked with a steady, but weak current, as the boulders marking the river's expanse showed a natural crossing point by simply hopping over them.

As Nahia moved on ahead, leaping across the boulders for the sake of showing Starswirl a safe way across the river, she scanned the river silently with her golden eyes. As he drew level with her on a boulder in the middle of the current, she growled for him to stop where he was.

In a split second, an ear piercing roar came from her mouth, as she seemed to challenge the very river itself before them. Then, as if angered, or fearful, a few brown and grey shapes began to quickly swim away from the boulder crossing, scaly tails with ridges and spiked bumps showing that the river crocodiles fear Nahia.

One crocodile, a large male about 17 feet long, dared not retreat though, as he came up and eyed Nahia in a challenge from 8 feet away, before she snarled, fangs and claws bared full force:

"This equine is mine, and I shall do with him as I please! You dare attack him, or daresay it, me, and I shall bring your skull back to my den as a chewtoy, just as I did those ones I killed 14 summers ago!"

The crocodile seemed to back off at this, as he turned tail and swam briskly up river, to which Starswirl gazed at Nahia, who had a ghost of a satisfied, perhaps even relieved smirk on her face, as she silently led him across the rest of the river's crossing.

1 hour later

Early Afternoon

Malabutu valley

Vine Labyrinth

"Don't stray, otherwise you will get lost."

Nahia warned Starswirl, though he had no intention of wandering from her. As they had ventured into the forest area that seemed overgrown with vines, Starswirl had to wonder all the more what was prompting such sinister growth in the jungle.

Wandering through what seemed like a well-travelled path through the vine forest, Starswirl paused as he heard what sounded like a loud hissing coming from nearby. Only hesitating briefly, Nahia gave a loud snarl in the direction of the hissing, which stopped immediately. Out from under a vine bush, a saw scaled viper scampered away from its hiding place, not wishing to pick a fight at all now that it was clearly Nahia.

Like everywhere else, all noise decreased in the jungle in Nahia's presence, except for up ahead. With a slight growl akin to a groan, Nahia led Starswirl to a clearing, where the Vine forest at last began to open up a bit.

There, higher in the vines, was one vine that seemed to be moving slightly, grey and scaly in colour. With a knowing toothy grin, Nahia wandered over to the tree trunk the vines were growing around, and with a single poked claw she clamped down onto the moving vine's end enough to hold it in place with two claws of her right forepaw.

"Who dares pull on my tail like a-"

As the King Cobra's head darted down from amidst the vines overhead, he briefly saw Starswirl, which confused him, but then he saw Nahia, to which he gulped visibly, as he shook slightly:

"Nahia, I, er..what brings you to this humble part of the valley?"

"I'm just passing through here Rhan, my charge and I here have a need to meet with Chai, about matters which I don't think I need indulge to you."

His hood having been flared slightly, Rhan's neck became less flattened as he mellowed, or more cowered, in Nahia's presence, the King Cobra nodded in nervous agreement: "Of course Nahia, I just wondered why you wanted my attention?"

"I just know that, among the snakes that are smart enough to speak, you like to spy a lot. Chai has you as a set of eyes out and about after all. I was just wondering if you'd seen any sign of a Black furred one like Starswirl here."

"Hmm, no. My eyes can see much, but I have not seen any sign of a Black equine like he. My eyes, can only do ssso much." As he remarked this, Rhan couldn't help but stare with some focus at Starswirl, who began to sway slightly, before he shook his head, the Wizard's blue horn charging as he jabbed a hoof at the Cobra:

"Dare try and hypnotise me again, and Nahia won't be the only creature to fear before you."

Taken aback, Rhan remarked sheepishly as Nahia scowled at the careless cobra: "Forgive me, my sssight of ssseduction is still a little loossse."

A tiger paw extended out, a claw coming to gently poke and hold Rhan by the chin as Nahia spoke with a deceptively sweet voice: "Well, make sure you work on controlling it, or if not, that it works better. For your sake."

Gulping, Rhan sighed in relief as Nahia retracted the claw, gesturing for Starswirl to follow her. As Starswirl followed, he heard the faintest of shuddering whispers from Rhan as he slivered up:

"Brute and her lackey come along and interrupt my hunt, my poor stomach could use a good bird or rat snake, oh what is a Cobra to do.."

Disregarding the self-lamenting King Cobra, Starswirl heard Nahia remark back to him as she led on, not once looking back except for the odd glance:

"You're learning fast. Reputation can save your life, and time, by saving trouble."

"You seem to have quite a reputation yourself." Starswirl remarked, not approving or otherwise of it. Nahia said nothing, but she knew it was good that way.

She continued to wince, a slight twitch in her eye now a constant due to the frequent pain her left forepaw was now always in due to her injury at the hands of cattle hunters. When she had her first set of cubs, her current set being the 2nd, the first ultimately lost to the demon creatures halfway to adulthood 9 years ago, she had been raising them outside the valley before bringing them down, just as she did with Daila and Shahn. Hunters came, she defended her first 3 cubs, and in killing 3 of the hunting bulls, looking for skins, her left forepaw was badly knifed. She had been enduring it in pain since.

But in secret, that forepaw made her weak, but she refused to let it be known. Her reputation made her fearsome, and her bitter attitude, enhanced by the injury, backed up her reputation and notoriety in the valley, second only in legend to Chai, and the unnatural demon creatures.

Her family of cubs and Jakai were the only ones that knew though. Her reputation greatly exceeded her true abilities.

Had it not been for her paw, what she had exaggerated over the years, of acts she had done to get them started, was for her own protection.

In this valley, danger was greater than ever, and she refused to leave her mother's, her home. Reputation was a type of protection for her and her cubs she came to rely upon, as her hunting required her to take a more brute strength, less ambush driven approach. She could not chase prey, so she had to be strong, or take easy prey.

That was her deception. She exaggerated her deeds, even flat out lied, so as to ensure she and her family remained a feared, and dominant group amidst the valley, where their only true enemy to fear was the demon creatures.

And yet, as Nahia led Starswirl to Chai, who likely knew about the demon creatures, and their overlord, she found herself paranoid. Reputation may not be enough, and even if she was formidable, the slightest dent in her notoriety would invite trouble from many in this hyper competitive part of the world.

Lies were merely a layer of protection she relied upon, for the sake of survival. Lies built on abilities she had not had for 10 years due to her injured paw, made moot by her losing her first cubs 9 years ago by the demon creatures.

2 hours later

Mid Afternoon

Malabutu valley, mountain slopes

Despite having ventured north into the valley, Nahia had taken them east too, to the area where the curving mountains surrounding the valley came back around. Here the cliffs began to rear up. And here, was Chai's lair.

The shallow river bed rippled with the stony layer beneath the inch thick water, while the jungle covered the expanse behind and around it. Ahead though, as the stream narrowed to a channel flowing out of it, the cavern beckoned, a triangular gash in the rock face that led into darkness.

As Nahia led him in, the Tigress murmured back as it became clear this cave had a few slivers of light from crevices higher up inside the cave:

"Chai is old, hard of hearing. If you're lucky, she will have fed, and her underlings will have news of the creatures, and maybe your friend. And we both might have insight on the Overlord."

"Very well for me, but what do you gain in that regard?"

"Knowledge of the Overlord, which can help make living in this valley easier."

"Why not leave?"

"This valley was my family's home, my mother's home, before the Overlord came. I won't leave it, I'll adapt, as will my cubs and as my mate has, even if he depends on my reputation, understandably."

Starswirl frowned lightly in the darkening cave as they ventured inside, not sure what to make of this whole idea of fierce some reputation for self-protection ideology. She was a powerful tigress, why push it so?

Yet her paw signalled something deeper, also connecting to her taking easy pickings from the village outside the valley, which got him and Siral into this whole mess to start with.

As they ventured in, something glimmered a bluish green in the stream's pools in the cave, as a aurora like bioluminescence lit up the pools slightly in dotted colonies. Despite the settings, and his worries for his friend, Starswirl still appreciated the world's beauty that he was witnessing, even in this savagely cursed valley.

High above, bats rested in their usual hiding holes, while further inside, other denizens of the cave took advantage of the crevices letting sunlight stream down.

In the dark crevices to where Hinai and Starswirl headed, unseen, waiting, but already aware, Chai waited.

Mid-Afternoon

Malabutu Valley, Chai's cavern

As they wandered in, Starswirl noticed a dozen coiled up snakes, most of them King Cobras, dotted around the cavern, watching them curiously. But it was the deeper pool, where swirling waters in the cavern during floods created a deeper pond for the stream to circulate in from the deeper caves before flowing out to the jungle, that all eyes turned, including Nahia's, and Starswirl's.

A slight hiss from all the Cobras of anticipation came up, as a dark, long shape began to move in the darker waters. On a jutting out spit of rock into the pool, a large scaly head, as big as Starswirl's own head, emerged, the dark brown and black visibly glistening as the sunlight streamed overhead form the crevice opening on high.

Coil after coil, a mountainous length of scales, hauled itself from the pond, before the massive Python, a titanic 48-foot length, had Starswirl the permission, or daring, to accurately measure her. If Nahia's 12-foot length made him feel nervous, then this beast made him feel shaken to his core. The serpent could swallow him and Nahia whole, and they would barely visible as slight bulges in her long length.

Methodically, as the King Cobras of both genders around the cavern bowed respectfully to this 'Queen' of the serpents, python race regadless, Chai turned her brown scaled head to see Nahia and her 'guest' watching her, the tigress with only the slightest of awe, more genuine warm respect.

"Nahiaaa. It hasss been a long time."

"2 summers."

"I exssspect you have a reason beyond sssimply visiting an old friend to be here, with company it ssseems. He ssseems to not be from around here, doesssn't he?" The massive reticulated python raised her head to hiss at them with some humour in her voice, to which Nahia rolled her eyes at Chai's self-indulging amusement.

"This is Starswirl, his friend was taken captive, alive, by the fire eyed creatures. And does he not resemble the Overlord?"

"In the same way a Cobra, and myself, are the same? Yes, if you wish to be that narrow viewed." Chai remarked, the cobras around the cavern turning their gazes away, as it became clear this conversation was between those 3.

Starswirl, summoning his usual composed demeanour, shone his blue horn light to emphasize:

"What can you tell me about the Overlord? Does magic, like this, bring any memories back?"

Chai regarded the blue glow with some mild recognition, as she wracked her mind.

They were fortunate though that Chai need not feed for another 2 months, after a feast of a deer she'd easily caught a month ago still in her belly. She was inquisitive now, even before this revelation of Starswirl's slightly similar talents to the Overlord.

The python's coils barely shifted, half out of the water, half on the stony embankment, as she recalled:

"My underlings in here with me had their temple, their shrines. I know you use an abandoned one as a den Nahia. But yes, it changed when the Equine came here, 53 summers ago. An Equine male with a horn like your own, and yet also, wings like an eagle's."

Starswirl recalled a text he and Siral had studied in their last time travelling turn, in the archives of a church in Pahrii. The emergence of a new sub group of Equine, particularly from their own home country of Equestria.

"An Alicorn." Starswirl remarked, utterly confused. What had an Alicorn been doing here?

As Nahia sat down on her belly, listening intently for her own uses, she nursed her bad left forepaw as usual, while Starswirl and Chai exchanged what they knew. The Python would grow to like this Grey furred Unicorn very much for his intellect, and sympathised that his equally smart friend was captive, though maybe already dead.

All they knew was Siral was where the creatures resided, where even she and her followers had no eyes in, the depths of the old Cobra temple.

What best could be done was gather what they knew together.

Author's Note

Lying isn't always wrong in the scheme of black and white, depending on the environment, personal history, and otherwise.

If Nahia is the notorious Huntress Lady of the valley, then that makes Chai the Queen of the Valley.

For reference, King Cobras and Black Mambas in this story series at the only sapient snakes from hatching to death, but particularly big constrictor snakes like Pythons of the biggest kinds [Chai is a female reticulated], and Anacondas, gain a level of sapience when they reach a certain age/size, and they become sources of wisdom/leadership among snake clans like used to be in the valley.

But more on the Alicorn coming to the valley 53 years ago in the next chapter.

HONESTY III, Geldrath's Lair

7th July, 485 BNM

Early Morning

Indo-Burmese sub-continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Malabutu Valley Jungle

Temple Ruins, Central Chamber

The sight finally grew, and at long last, Siral knew he was not dreaming for certain. The pain in his vine restraints told that enough.

Unknowingly, Siral had been unconscious for over 24 hours, though what he saw as flashes of more vivid dreams were in fact times he was awoken for sustenance, force fed by strange, orange eyed, wood skinned creatures.

The Overlord did not wish this Unicorn to die of dehydration or hunger while he probed his unconscious mind.

All around him, he saw the dank, green moss and vine covered stone, and a few collapsed corridors leading off, with one intact corridor off to the side of the chamber's centre. He was bound by the torso atop of what looked like a former alter table, in the middle of the chamber.

A ray of bright morning sun slivered through part of the roof openings, the roof itself 4 triangular sides arching up to form a pyramid shaped top.

His groans echoed as he tried to break from his bindings, made of thick, mossy vines. As he tried to use his magic, he found the vines seemed to tighten in response, forcing him to stop suddenly so he could still breathe:

"I have had it with my magic being restrained!"

His protest echoed through the temple, and in response, a breeze seemed to pick up all of a sudden through the temple. Walking methodically through the only non-collapsed corridor, a group of 4 of the creatures, like lanky apes covered in rotting wood skin fragments and mottled fur locks from their arms and shoulders, entered the chamber. The 4 sets of fiery orange eyes silenced Siral for the moment, though in the faint morning light streaming in, he at least could look at them better so as to not be so fearful.

Then, instead of clawed footsteps, hoofsteps of all things, echoed from the hallway, right as the 4 creatures bowed slightly as they backed away. Even higher up, some smaller creatures Siral only just noticed stared down from the sun soaked openings in the ceiling.

Striding through, hooves slightly chipped but still whole, a lanky pony emerged. The orange glow from both its eyes, and a longer than normal Unicorn horn, formed a trifecta of burning lights coming from this equine.

But on this equine, a regal cloak had been formed, a poisonous green velvet like cloak that did not quite mask what lay beneath. On the large pony's back was a set of unusually large Pegasus wings.

Siral was silent as he saw the Alicorn, with both orange eyes and magic, and a sandy brown coat covered in what looked like light green painted markings akin to tattoos.

As the Alicorn quietly walked up to the alter where Siral lay bound, he was clearly regarding Siral with a look of both interest, and amusement.

Stopping short, off to Siral's side, the Alicorn asked as if it was an innocent question:

"Hello Siral. Do you like my home?"

"How do you know my name?" Siral nearly barked, and this caused the Alicorn to give an innocent shrug, before he began to pace in a circle around the alter he was bound to, like a predator circling a wounded animal:

"It's easy to learn a lot about someone when you read their mind. Even easier to read their mind as they're not awake. You have been through a lot it seems. Time travel, finding these exemplary beings that conform to that prophecy Starswirl the Bearded was told, letting them, and this is amusing, be set an example somehow."

The Alicorn gave a derisive chuckle as he continued to circle the alter, while Siral turned his head, the black unicorn always following the sandy brown Alicorn where he went, unable to escape his bonds. Siral remarked with some mild insult:

"You find what I and Starswirl were on amusing?"

"Starswirl? No, he was the one who got the prophecy. I find it amusing that YOU tagged along with him, out of what can simply be described as, curiosity, and a desire to not let Starswirl get too big for his boots."

"No, I wished to help my friend." Siral denied, to which the Alicorn gave him a truly annoyed look, remarking bluntly:

"We are in my domain; I have no reason to lie about what I saw in your mind. And if you're going to deny it, try and put some effort behind your lies."

"You still haven't told me who YOU are, so why should I tell you anything you want?" Siral remarked, straining only slightly against the vine bonds. Raising an eyebrow, the Alicorn remarked bluntly:

"You already know my name, my old name and my current one, following me simply trying to get out from under the controlling hooves of those Oracles. I exceeded them the moment I became an Alicorn."

Wracking his mind, Siral reached one name he'd read on the archive scrolls, of the emergence of the Alicorn in Equestria during their travels. Of one who rebelled:

"Geldrath."

"And now we are acquainted. Though from what I gather in my domain, many in the valley simply call me the Overlord." Geldrath remarked, revelling in the status he had as a mysterious ruler of the Malabutu valley, the leader of the orange eyed creatures. As he walked, Geldrath offhandedly began to pace around the alter again:

"Yes, a much less constraining life than I once had. 64 years since I left Equestria, 64 years since I gained my freedom. Those blind, inward focusing fools, the Oracle, their aides, all of them. They refined their power, never shared or used it. The Wizards and Mages at least were willing to use their power, in service to the Alicorn noble families that emerged. I wanted to simply be the leader of the Oracles, keep them independent, and all it would take was a more active expansion of the power of the Oracle guild. But instead, they saw me as a power monger."

"Yes, I heard they punished you harshly. I heard your new name was partly inspired by the fact that they gelded you as punishment, in hopes of settling you down." Siral remarked, not at all hiding the contemptuous humor in his voice. The castrated Alicorn stallion turned to offer a very suppressed glare at Siral, at which the Black Unicorn then gulped as the vine bindings tightened ever so slightly with a slight orange glow from Geldrath's horn.

"A failed, but shaming punishment. I wasn't going to stand by, they made their point of being too self-obsessed. Let their power stagnate as the Alicorn noble families gain in power. I had this power, I knew that, as has already happened, the Oracle Guild was forced to disband, their counsel being less and less used as the Alicorns gained Oracles of their own through a handful of the Wizards, Mages and other magic users that served their miniature, play-kingdoms."

As Geldrath finished, Siral soaked this in. The Oracles, the ones that set Starswirl on his path which Siral followed, were gone, disbanded in their guild or dead by age. But Geldrath finished:

"I saw the future that even the Oracles could not, my own actions knowing my power alone should have shown them. I wished to use my power to ensure the Oracle guild would not fall to emerging greater powers, but they refused to listen, and so why not let them fade? I endure while they have fallen, as of 25 years ago. And now only the Alicorn noble families and their own kingdoms remain. Even if one family is of true Royal blood, the fact is that the growing power of each and every province in Equestria, with Alicorns as their leadership, will come to blows. Power corrupts after all, I myself just happen to be aware of this, which protects me from its enticement compared to them."

"Yes, you being uncorrupted by power is clearly on show with this jungle, and those creatures you concocted." Siral remarked dryly. Geldrath shook his head as he tutted Siral, wandering over to one of the orange eyed, ape-like creatures.

"Don't be jealous Siral. They are my creations; a tribe of monkeys I grew to know upon my arrival here 54 years ago, after a decade of travelling, searching for a secluded place to make my domain. Within a year, I moulded them into an earlier form of what you see before you, made them better as time went on. Magically altered them into perfect servants, the fiercest of predators in the valley. The Cobra tribe that kept to themselves in the valley reminded me too much of the Oracle guild, so I displaced them. Only a few stalwart, wild ones remain, not a concern for me."

"And yet you hide in this valley, keeping to yourself like the Oracle guild did. Hypocritical, is it not?" Siral remarked, to which Geldrath merely shook his head, remarking:

"They were blind, and so maintained the status quo for themselves. I on the other hand, I am biding my time. When the Alicorn noble families come to blows when their collective power and influence grows, and they will, I will re-emerge with an army at my command, and as they weaken each other, I shall re-establish the Oracle Guild better than ever, under my rule, a true player in Equestria once again. I need only wait, as I have for 64 years already."

As the silence reigned in the temple room, and Geldrath began once again to walk over to the alter, Siral asked the obvious question:
"So why did you bring me here, read my mind?"

"A cunning mind gains any knowledge one can, particularly on Equestria, my country of interest. The moment I heard a pair of Equestrians, magic horned ones, were being sacrificed by those paranoid villagers to the beasts of the jungle, I had to intervene. I needed only one though, and you were the one still restrained by their glue sludge on your horn. I took the liberty of cleaning it off, but the vines will tighten and stop your magic, as you noticed."

Geldrath finished the statement as he came right up next to Siral, who couldn't help but be thrown off by the next words from Geldrath's mouth:

"Getting back to the topic of you however, I know you only came with Starswirl because you're an academic, and curious without morals holding you back. The lust to see what Starswirl would inevitably see on his travels through eras, and with no family or truly strong friend ties to hold you back in your time, the desire to tag along was too great. And already you have seen a great many things besides the exemplar beings."

Turning around, Geldrath said as he had his back turned to Siral: "The libraries of Romane's metropole, acquiring the vanished medallion of Ghung-Chian from that Sorcerer dragon in Pandina, while the exemplar of Magic, Hinai, unlocked, and taught you and Starswirl, self-teleportation. And yet, because you follow Starswirl, who is slave to the prophecy of these Exemplars, and the 7 beings to come as threats to Equestria, the world, you often do not linger to learn, to indulge, to master, what can be found in each era."

Siral wanted to say he was lying, but it was true. He said nothing, as they learned respectable amounts on each leg, but each time he felt that they could have afforded to stick around and take in knowledge and culture, and possibly magical refinement, before they moved on. Starswirl was slavish to the prophecy, while it was he, Siral, that looked beyond that scope.

"It must hurt, being a lackey, a follower, to the one you claim is your friend. If he was your friend, he'd have told you about the Prophecy in its entirety. About why he wished you hadn't come at first."

In Siral's head, he recalled the exclamation Starswirl had thrown at him when Siral pushed a little too hard for coming with him:

As if hearing this, Geldrath seemed to indulge in this doubt Siral was having, as with his horn, he began to write in orange letters in the air above Siral the Prophecy as he knew it, only missing the last line of the first half, as the warnings of the 7 beings to threaten Equestria and the world had their last line omitted, beyond Siral's knowledge.

"He is slave to the Prophecy, to the point where he didn't trust you coming with him, his closest friend. He trusts an Oracle's tale over you, to which he didn't tell you this line. By leaving you behind, he hoped to not let this part threaten his quest, as you continuing to be near him kept you close to his heart."

In brighter red letters among the orange, fiery text above the alter for Siral to see, the last line of the first half of the prophecy were revealed. The part Siral had never heard, the only part of the prophecy Siral had never been told.

Beware the enemies that lay closest to your heart, though not yet enemies they themselves may be.

Shaking his head, Siral growled: "Liar."

"As I said, this is my domain. I have no gainful reason to lie, and being in the Oracle Guild let me see records kept. I heard tales of you, spread among the Eastern Dragon clans of magicians by Hinai, so I knew Starswirl was out there, confirmed to be with you. And let me just say, the Oracles themselves were distressed you tagged along, it didn't conform to their wishes, as if they'd be willing to go out and actually do something about it."

At this, Geldrath openly laughed at the entire scenario, the laugh echoing through the temple.

Settling from his laughing spell, Geldrath then came to look at Siral with a degree of thought going on:

"But now, we have an impasse. Tell me, do you think Starswirl will come and try and save you? Or will he be obsessed with the Tiger that seems to have decided not to eat him? A protector in the jungle is a smart move I'll give him that."

Siral would have sat up at this, as Geldrath remarked: "Unlikely that it is the exemplar of honesty. This is a jungle, where everything is honest by nature, as all beasts are, if they are not eaten or dead that is."

"How do you know?"

"I am the Overlord. Not a twig falls in this valley without me sensing it. I have eyes and ears everywhere; my creatures there and elsewhere are merely more direct servants."

The 4 orange eyed apelike creatures creaked as their wood 'armor' shifted with their shuffling steps, while Siral then proclaimed boldly:

"You won't keep me here for long."

"Starswirl is slave to the prophecy, so if I told him that the Oracles interpreted you coming with him as they found out later, a threat, he may leave you willingly in my domain."

"He wouldn't!" Siral protested, to which Geldrath leant condescendingly over Siral's head, the Alicorn's ragged brown mane hanging slightly over the Black Unicorn's head.

"He already sees you as a potential danger, as the prophecy says a one close to his heart would be. How much closer than the one who travels with him through thick and thin, with no reason to come other than to help, and outperform him as a Wizard. Starswirl fears what you could become."

Geldrath then backed up slightly, remarking darkly: "I think he'd see leaving you in my care is for the best. He gets to travel alone as he wanted, and I get my way from it too."

"What do you want, even if that goes ahead!?" Siral remarked, straining against the vines, inadvertently using his magic, making them tighten slightly yet again.

"You should not have gone, and I myself agreed with the Oracles on that one count, among only a few in the end. Like the Alicorns, you two could become very powerful, and like all powerful beings, they come to blows as they seek to improve their power."

"As I said, I have goals to return and reclaim part of Equestria for a new, improved, progressive Oracle Guild. For that, I may as well not let what you gained in your unsanctioned travels go to waste."

Magically pulling out a silver medallion on a chain, imbued with a blue/grey crystal in the centre of the pendant, Geldrath gave a small smile: "Something you picked up for study in your time within Pandina, from a defeated Sorcerer. But, before anything else, I won't waste a good test subject on some new spells I have been practicing."

"No. I won't, ngghhh! You will regret this!" Siral gasped, as he felt the alter loudly creak and rumble, as the stone he was tied to rotated upwards, making his face standing up towards Geldrath, as the Alicorn pulled out a set of makeshift parchment scrolls of self-made spells.

"Some of these spells, the animals I caught for testing them did not survive. But, I'll ensure you do, I'll need you alive for when I use the medallion you picked up in your travels. I'm sure Starswirl will let what happens here go."

"You assume he'll just let you do this!?" Siral barked. Geldrath remarked offhandedly as he readied the first spell, whatever it was, on his glowing horn.

"He'll know you fell victim to the creatures, who merely kept you alive until now because they were curious. Not far from the truth. And this way, even if he is a loyal friend, we still both get what is probably for the best, for him, and me. It'll be too late for him to do anything by the time he gets here."

The orange spell fired from the Malabutu Overlord Alicorn's horn, and the temple vaguely lit up orange, the 4 ape-like creatures watching soundlessly as the upturned alter bound Unicorn was engulfed in light.

It was after a few seconds it began that the first of Siral's screams, mixed of pain and defiance, began to echo in the temple room, lost even if they echoed through the temple's sunlight inlets over the normal ambiance of the jungle outside.

Later that morning

7th July 485 BNM

Malabutu Valley, Chai's cavern

Despite his misgivings about sleeping in a cave that housed at least a dozen king Cobras, and a Python queen big enough where Starswirl thought she wouldn't eat him because he was not big enough to be worth a meal, he awoke the next morning ready to be off.

Besides, the jungle was most dangerous at night, even for a Tigress escort like Nahia, because the Demon creatures were most active then. Daylight was their ally.

And in any event, as Starswirl awoke, the few King Cobras that were awake gave pleasurable nods towards the Unicorn.

During the night stay, to pass time, they exchanged stories of their pasts or history and lore they knew. Starswirl told tales of Equestria, and of his travels in Romane, Pandina and Pahrii, not stating they were separated by decades.

The King Cobras in Chai's cave were stalwart descendants of those who resided in what was now the Overlord's temple, a monk like cult of Sun god worshiping snakes that lived alone in the Valley in peace.

That was 54 years ago, until an Alicorn of sand brown fur came, to learn, and settle. But soon after he appeared, a tribe of monkeys vanished, turned into those demon creatures by their transformations mutating and growing them in size and shape immensely. The King Cobra tribe didn't stand a chance, and the Cobras left the Valley, or if not killed, took shelter. Chai had been relatively young, but old enough to be of size worthy of intellect status among the Cobra tribe.

As she grew, her status among the Cobras did too, and she protected them in her territory as they did her. In a jungle Valley where the Demon creatures resided, predator conflict became much more frequent, meaning lines of territory became all the more important. The Demon creatures had been an impact on the valley where prey were rarer than they should be naturally.

Chai's influence was one of few sanctuaries that was reliably safe for its members, and in Starswirl and Nahia's cases, guest and acquaintance. Nahia was not the only case where Chai proved much more useful an ally and wise consultant than an enemy.

Outside the cavern, the light was beginning to grow brighter, and Nahia was keen to get going, though while she waited, she soaked her left forepaw inside Chai's centre pool. The large python let the Tigress do this, as she knew the paw gave Nahia constant pain for the last near 10 years now.

As Nahia waited while she soaked her paw, on the other side of the cavern pool, Starswirl finished checking his magically shrunken assets in a very small pouch, the artefacts, potions and even one or two journals all shrunken for easy carrying in a neck pouch hidden around his chest amulet, not just a mere decoration.

A sound of slight water ripples caught his attention, as he saw Chai's immense scaly head coming up beside him slowly:

"A word in private Ssstarswril?"

"After you letting us stay overnight, of course." Starswirl came to respect Chai, as many did. She was wise, even for her great age.

Heaving an upper part of her coils onto the rock shore of the pond, Chai laid her head low on the ground as she spoke, conserving energy as grey Unicorn stallion sat beside the immense python's bulk.

"I can't promissse your friend will be unharmed, even if they took him captive inssstead of death inssstantly. You might not like what you find."

"I was having thoughts like that myself." Starswirl remarked sadly. Looking to Nahia out of the corner of her eye, Chai made a low remark:

"Her cubs were killed by the creatures; she couldn't save them due to her paw slowing her. I am the only one she told this to outside her family. You understand now why she strives to make, back up, and ensure such exaggerated and even false threatening tales about herself?"

Starswirl nodded in understanding, as he realised the sad truth: "She spreads such tales, lies even, to ensure her and her new family's safety."

"And it worked this time, her cubs are nearing adulthood now. But I always sense her sadness, and fear, about what may happen if the truth, that she is not anywhere near what she says she is, is true." Chai remarked. At this, Starswirl wondered:

"What, is she really a gentle soul?"

"No more than any predator like a Tiger can be. There is no sense in killing except for food, and she had to spread tales of her killing for sport or threats to back up her status as it stands. She likely killed perhaps only a fraction of the senseless kills her reputation puts on her, but her temper is not as exaggerated. Tread carefully with her Starswirl."

"Believe me, I am. But I don't wish to lose her as an ally yet." Starswirl remarked. At this, Chai then added:

"If you find the creatures' lair, where they sometimes deposit their kills, do not be surprised if either you, or Nahia, finds something, or someone, left there. Tales of a boneyard are the best I can give you, my servants to give me insight are outnumbered by the Overlord's."

Hanging his head slightly, Starswirl merely said bluntly: "Hopefully we can avoid too much trouble. We're not looking to fight anything."

"Just remembr that Nahia, smartly in this valley, relies more on threat than actual act. She cannot back up her notorious status, so be wary of your acts that may draw too much violence."

"Thank you Chai. When I leave this place, with Siral, I'll be sure to spread tales of your wise rule."

Giving a scaly smile at the Wizard, Chai waited until Starswirl stood up, nodding to Nahia that they were ready to be off, before she stopped him one last time:

"I hope your next venture through time shall be to a place less troubling than this has been for you."

"How do you know?" Starswirl suddenly looked oddly at Chai, who merely slithered slowly back into the large pool, remarking: "I have only one magic myself, refined enough that even you cannot sense it. Minds are more open for me than any book. Good luck Starswirl, and tell Nahia the same."

As the Python slipped back into her underwater pool area, Starswirl blinked a few times, before a slight growl from Nahia up ahead in the cavern's darker walk towards the entrance echoed. Trotting up, Starswirl shot a few nods to a pair of King Cobras that saw him off, as he caught up with the Tigress that awaited him.

2 hours later

Malabutu Valley, lowland rainforests.

Stepping through the undergrowth and dense leaves, following a worn trail, Starswirl was accustomed to the usual faded jungle ambience that came with Nahia's reputation in the jungle striking fear all around.

As she walked on, Starswirl still couldn't help but shoot the odd look at her front left paw, and how she ever so slightly took less time stepping when it was her left forepaw that took all her front weight, giving a barely noticeable limp. So slight enough that it was nearly an unconscious habit of hers.

"So how will we find the creatures' lair? It's in the temple right?"

"Supposedly its underground, but yes, in the temple. That's why we're following their scent. That mix of decayed wood and flesh with a burning tinge to it is unmistakable."

Nahia's remark as she sniffed the ground followed back through the jungle to Starswirl's ears, as he couldn't help but gaze around. Chai said the Overlord's spies outnumbered her own by far, which could mean they were being watched right now.

If the Overlord was smart enough, he'd already know they weren't coming to fight.

As they came further down the trail, Starswirl couldn't help but remark: "Why are these vines so much denser around the creature's game trail?"

"The vines started really growing when the Overlord came, another creation of his. Legend is that the vines are one way he spreads his influence across the valley, that he draws on it through them, that the vines feed him like roots do a tree. And where the vines are densest, the creatures most travel in."

Turning a corner, Nahia's fur bristled as she suppressed a growl, as the scent of the creatures, presumably from last night, was stronger on this part of the trail. The ground was covered in vines, making it look like netting of some sort was covering the ground and trees.

And there were a few claw marks on the bark of one larger tree that was less overgrown, the creatures sharpening their claws on it. The clawmarks were above Starswirl's head, from a tall creature obviously.

"We're getting closer. Stay with me. These creatures don't fear me like most in this valley do, or should."

As Nahia hissed back, and the Tigress led on, Starswirl heard the once again need for exaggerated, flat out deceiving reputation she pushed on herself.

He only wished the creatures not fearing her was a deceit too.

The sooner they got there, the sooner he could try and possibly save Siral, and the sooner Nahia could get her insight on the overlord for the better safety of her territory and family.

Malabutu Valley Jungle

Temple Ruins, antechamber

Geldrath exhaled as he took his hooves off the large node of vines, within what looked like a ball cage of vine growth in the centre of the temple's antechamber room. Here was his throne, and from here, he could use the vines to have a vague sense of anything they touched. He could draw on the energy of the jungle for his own gain.

He wasn't exaggerating when he said he'd know if a twig fell in his jungle.

He reclined in the throne slightly, resting from a more exhausting set of spell trials. He had what he wanted, and he'd rest before he began the second round of spell tests. Then, after another rest, he'd finish Siral with the same magic and life absorbing medallion he'd recovered in a previous time period, and take the Wizard's magic, and intellect, for his own.

Siral's knowledge, skill and magic would be well served in this ready and waiting force to reclaim a place in Equestria, when the inevitable infighting of the Alicorns emerged as a result of all their growing power.

Temple Ruins, Central Chamber

Guarded by 2 of the large apelike creatures with burning orange eyes, wood and mottled skin 'armor' and spikey locks of hair extending from their arms, the alter was still upright.

Siral lay facedown, tired, aching, and stinging. The spells had varied wildly, from transformation of his limbs, to mutilation and restoration spells, he had become a dummy for anything that wouldn't kill him for this Alicorn.

He, a Wizard, and a time travelling one no less. Only Starswirl maybe was better now, and that may well not always be the case, which was the ONLY thing Siral knew Geldrath was perhaps onto.

All he knew, as he seethed through the cuts and gash on his face, which Geldrath had left as Siral hurled one too many insults at him near the end, was that he'd be scarred by this, and the next session, before Geldrath finally finished him off with the very medallion he'd been studying.

But when Siral had earnt the ire of Geldrath from his insults, he knew he had a chance. He'd studied the medallion of Ghung Chian enough to have formed a workaround, but Geldrath had read his mind.

But the fact was, Siral prided himself on just how much his mind had.

He didn't care that he'd been potentially scarred for life, as he could not use his magic by the vine bonds to heal his magically inflicted scars before they became permanent. Magical scarring was too hard to undo by magic.

He had a chance to see this Alicorn suffer and more in turn, if he played his tactics right. One more session of spells, and then the final act, where Siral had his chance to turn his potential doom to his advantage.

Geldrath had been right, and was proving himself. Siral knew it now, Alicorns were proud, arrogant.

Prideful, Wrathful when insulted, Lustful, Greedy and/or Gluttonous for power, even Envious of others, and Slothful to sit by and wait for a chance to come.

As he was left to fester, Siral couldn't help but think of how traits of those 7 beings to terrorise Equestria and the world in the Prophecy, after the 6 exemplar beings emerged, were being exemplified by an Alicorn, and by the sounds of it, others in the future power struggle.

And he had some issues with a certain friend who, given what they were searching for in this time, was needing to prove himself Honest as well.

Such thoughts were all Siral could dwell for now as he lay restrained in the temple, flanked by the 2 demon creature creations of Geldrath.

Author's Note

The first encounter with an Alicorn by either of the two Wizard Unicorns is far from pleasant.

And some seeds of doubt about the grand scheme of many events have been sown into Siral in the long run.

Meanwhile, Starswirl, at Chai's warning, keeps wary of Nahia's past and present temperament and reputation getting ahead of them, even if it's a form of defence. It doesn't hold up against the demon creatures, though she has a personal score with them for killing her previous cubs, as she was wounded by Bull skin hunters when defending those same cubs the same year they were killed. So she hates the bull villagers and the creatures equally.

HONESTY IV, Rakshasa, Nahia's grief

7th July, 485 BNM

Early Afternoon

Indo-Burmese sub-continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Malabutu Valley, Vine depths

Temple overlook

The river running alongside the ruined stone buildings ahead and below them, as they looked on from downstream atop a small stone surfaced hill, sat in contrast to what supposedly lay within, and what lay around it.

Vines choked the rainforest around the temple, the vibrant green largely replaced by decayed greyish/green webs of the suffocating vines. In some places, what trees the vines had been choking had decayed and rotted away, leaving only an intricate hollow, weblike outline of what rainforest giant the vines had engulfed.

Around here, the jungle was absolutely silent, save for the running river noises.

They were hidden amidst some vine growths, peering out the distant temple's main entrance, half collapsed in itself. Shaking her head, Nahia remarked as Starswirl himself could clearly see it:

"Front way in isn't an option, and I don't think they'll let us in freely."

"Any other ways in?" Starswirl asked. Nahia paused in thought, before she looked at the sun overhead, confident of their time before sundown.

"The creatures come out at night mostly. Day is our ally. We'll search for a way in elsewhere."

The Grey Unicorn visibly worried, as he stared at the temple ahead. Nahia gave Starswirl an unsympathetic look, pointing out:

"We shall not be long if we're in there. Remember, it may not be good news of your friend we find. At least we shall know more of the Overlord."

As Nahia stood up to begin prowling off, not waiting for Starswirl, he asked the tigress outright: "Is there anything about this temple, the creatures, the Overlord, which either we don't know, or I haven't been told?"

Pausing, Nahia remarked with an unreadable tone, though if Starswirl were daring, he'd say she was slightly fearful:

"You and I know as much as each other about all of it."

Mid Afternoon

Malabutu Valley, Vine depths

Temple outskirts

After an hour's searching, in which time no creatures had been seen, demon or otherwise, Nahia found what they were looking for, though she had reservations about it.

A cavern, its mouth flanked by slightly collapsed temple remains. There were tales of at least one or two underground tunnels leading to the main temple, something that Chai said wasn't there when the Overlord came and took over the temple 53 years ago. What they were for was uncertain, though given the collapsed state of many temple entrances of old, it was easy to guess they were replacement passages.

Sniffing cautiously, Nahia growled back to Starswirl, as she was clearly growing agitated by where they were: "We must not be in here, anywhere near the temple, before nightfall comes. This place reeks of those foul creatures."

Starswirl gave a cautious sniff, as he remarked offhandedly with a hoof to his nose: "Something else too."

"Let's hope your friend isn't what's causing that smell." Nahia said, joking in a dark manner so as to dissuade her own fears. Here, her reputation she'd built up meant utterly nothing, and she hated that feeling as much as she hated what might be dwelling somewhere in the tunnels, hopefully asleep.

As the Tigress began to slowly walk in, Starswirl couldn't help but gaze with some wariness at her left forepaw, noting the ever so slight limp she had. If things did go wrong, he had doubts about her ability to run, and maybe fight, with one good forepaw.

As he followed Nahia down into the tunnel however, something else heckled his senses. He sensed Equine magic, just as he'd envisioned, but much more refined, as powerful Alicorn magic, despite never having met one, would likely feel.

But the Equine magic was somewhat mixed with a different magic. A more primal, old, sinister magic Starswirl did not recognize.

Late Afternoon

Temple tunnel

The tunnels proved bigger than expected, though it wasn't a labyrinth at least. The tunnels split, but they all converged, before they visibly began to climb upwards to what would be the temple's interior.

They had visibly chosen well, taking the central tunnel for it being the widest, and least enclosed looking, and also the lightest due to one or two narrow slivers of light coming from cracks in the dirt and vine ceiling above.

Even so, it was still hard to see what lay about the tunnel as they walked, though by the smells, it was a dumping ground for deceased animals.

Reaching the intersection where the tunnels before climbing to the temple interior, Nahia stopped beside Starswirl suddenly, as she sniffed something on the dark cavern floor.

Flaring his horn a blue light very slightly, Starswirl's heart dropped as he saw a familiar grey travelling cloak, visibly torn and with what looked like blood stains on it. Sniffing it herself, Nahia remarked bluntly:

"Smells like Unicorn. Must have been here for at least a day."

"No, no, he can't be. How could he be dead!?" Starswirl remarked, his shock giving way to suppressed anger, and fear. His voice echoed very slightly in the dark tunnel.

"These creatures had their fill. I guess they sometimes wait until they're back before killing. He wasn't so unique to them it seems." Nahia said, as she then noticed something up ahead in the tunnel. As the Tigress wandered forwards, while Starswirl magically picked up Siral's cloak, the blue light cast a few flecks of light into the tunnel ahead.

Nahia barely suppressed a roar of panic as she saw the stationary clawed giant nearly entirely blocking the tunnel. Dropping Siral's cloak, Starswirl shone more light.

One of the terrible creatures was right there, massive and hulking. But oddly, it was as rigid and still as a tree, its burning eyes shut, the mottled and rotting skin and fur as unmoving as the wood armor and spikes that grew out of its apelike shape.

A guardian of the tunnel, clearly, more a statue right now in daylight hours it seemed. It had blocked the tunnel in such a way as only letting anything smaller than a wild pig through the gaps between its flanking arms, legs and the tunnel edges.

Relaxing, barely, Nahia remarked: "Well, we're not getting through this way. We'll have to find a different way into the temple if you want to get in."

Looking at Nahia suddenly, then down at Siral's cloak, Starswirl asked aloud, voice croaking: "Why? Siral is likely dead."

Turning to Starswirl, Nahia paused, before she remarked in agreement: "Hmm, as if you expected anything. Though I thought so too, seeing as they'd never taken anyone alive before. You thought he was alive, I thought I could gain insight into the Overlord."

Prowling past him, Nahia remarked darkly: "We were both fools."

Keeping his blue light shining on the creature guarding the tunnel, Starswirl hung his head as he also took Siral's cloak over his own. Siral came of his own choice, and now he'd paid the price.

An unfair price.

Turning around though, as he kept his lit horn illuminated, both he and Nahia froze as they saw what they'd wandered past in the darkened tunnel on the way in.

A thick layer of muck, similar to guano pits found in bat caves, was the source of the horrible stench, particularly from the smaller tunnels they hadn't come through. But in the central tunnel, where the walls and floor were pocked by lots of holes big enough for them, or the creatures, to climb through.

But as the light shone across the hall, the shadows cast down into the holes revealed a larger chamber beneath this one.

Wary, Nahia and Starswirl ventured towards one hole, peering down to see a reflective mud surface, and a large formation of woodlike boulders sitting, clinging to the walls and floor of the lower chamber.

Shining his light down, Starswirl remarked with some horror as he and Nahia saw what lay on the further wall, wriggling in response to his light.

"Oh my gods…" Starswirl's whisper carried through the cave, as Nahia was frozen, her yellow eyes gazing down into the hole, large enough to fall through if not careful and into the lower chamber.

Plastered to the far wall of the chamber was a collection of poisonous green vines that were actively shifting slightly around one of their victims. A sloth bear visibly shifted under its restraints.

Around it, a crocodile, a deer, and a wild boar were still within their vines, clearly dead.

But the sloth bear was dead too, yet it was moving somehow with the vines.

A shifting behind them from their level was the only warning, a magical force shoved them both into the hole, screaming as they fell. Before Starswirl hit the mudlike layer coating the bottom of the lower chamber though, he heard a faint, hoarse scream coming from the tunnel which had been blocked.

Siral's voice, or some malicious taunt by these clearly unnatural creatures.

Feeding chamber

Scrambling in the horrific, disgusting muck that coated the bottom of the chamber, Starswirl lit up the room with his blue magic, turning upwards to see the large creature guarding the tunnel before had sneaked up behind them to kick them down. Its burning orange eyes vanished as it returned to its post, while Nahia nearby scrambled to get towards the part of the chamber with the active vines.

"Starswirl, the deeper tunnel! Get away!"

Whipping around, Starswirl saw something he hadn't seen before as he'd looked in. A crack in the rocks, dark despite Starswirl's best efforts to light it. But from it, evil like he'd never felt.

Not the brooding, calculating evil, but the hungry, primal evil that was as old as anything magic itself.

Scrambling back, Starswirl readied more of his magic, as the unseen menace seemed to stare back from the pitch black crack in the cave. As he scrambled out of the muck, Starswirl noticed the wooden boulders on the walls and in the muck were in fact, curled up demon creatures of smaller size, perhaps newer ones, their wooden armor protecting them as they slept.

"We should never have come!" Nahia roared, as she then turned to see exactly what the vines were doing to the sloth bear.

The vines had been slowly eating the bear from the inside, some ends of them protruding out from the bear's skin and eating into other parts. While 3 other animals waited for this fate, Nahia saw the vines extended from the 'feeding wall' to the stationary demon creatures. Whatever this was, it fed the 'baby' demon creatures by the vines.

All around the feeding wall were skeletons, some intact, others shattered. As she looked, Nahia suddenly found her world stopped by what she saw in one bone pile above all others.

As Nahia went quiet, Starswirl sensed it coming out of the crack in the earth. The unseen demons, like a fluttering heat blast, distorted the air where they went. Like spots in his vision, whenever Starswirl blinked, he saw vicious demonic eyes, like a swarm of locusts, staring back at him and Nahia hungrily.

Looking around, Starswirl realized what had been happening here, to his ever growing horror.

The Overlord had found ancient demons, and with his Alicorn magic, had contained some in bodies of monkeys from a tribe he deceived and befriended, which with his own Alicorn magic, morphed them into the creatures that had attacked him and Siral.

And now here, in this breeding ground for more of those creatures, he found that the Overlord had full on translocated a Demon source to the temple for his own use, giving them form via the creatures they'd likely inhabit once developed enough by the vine infused growth.

In time, what myths arose from here would give a new shape to these demons' already fearful reputation in this region of the world.

The Rakshasa had taken physical form now.

Sensing the malicious force approaching them, Starswirl surged his blue magic, sending a shockwave out to drive the hidden demons back into their hole in the caverns. While invincible in their spirit form, they were more easily dealt with than in physical form.

The blue lit up the cave as the demons were driven back, for now.

"Nahia, the tunnels, we must go!" Starswirl loudly reamarked.

But Nahia didn't hear this, as she had carefully walked over to a corner of the cave strewn with bones. Casting a look over to her direction, Starswirl saw her standing over what looked like a few small skeletons. 3 Tiger cub skeletons.

"Nahia..."

Standing over the trio of tiger cub skeletons, one of them much less intact than the others, Nahia's world had imploded, and Starswirl's remarks fell on deaf ears as he pleaded with the clearly grief stricken tigress, herself not moving at all:

"Nahia, Nahia, look at me. Listen to me! We have to leave, NOW. Those demons are going to come back for us, and maybe ones with bodies too!"

As if on cue, some scrambling from a few holes up above them signaled some demon creature footsteps approaching, while Starswirl hopelessly tried to get Nahia to move from her shocked mourning of her 3 long dead cubs, a shaking paw reaching towards one of the cub skulls:

"Nahia, they've been dead a while! We have to go!"

A horrific, hissing shriek came from above, as a new type of bodied Rakshasa came falling down to land in the muck, ready to take them on. Clearly, not every King Cobra had escaped or just been killed.

Rearing up, as a larger number of orange eyes from larger monkey shaped Rakshasa peered from the cavern above, the large, 30-foot King Cobra Rakshasa bared its fangs as its orange eyes blazed at them, the wood protruding from its scales to resemble spines on a crocodile's back.

As the Cobra struck, Starswirl fired a burst of blue magic, hurling it back against the wall as he also formed a bubble shield around himself and Nahia, while he bellowed to her:

"NAHIA!"

This last bellow from Starswirl snapped the Tigress out of it, snatching her paw from reaching out to her nearly 10 year dead cubs' skeletons, as she turned in a panic to see the Cobra Rakshasa strike Starswirl's barrier yet again, while from above, a set of small monkey Rakshasa scrambled through the holes.

As the invisible demons clawed at the shield, while the Cobra Rakshasa struck again, the blue forcefield began to give under the pressure. Turning to Nahia, Starswirl didn't wait for her to be ready, as he focused on the first place that came to mind.

Focusing his horn, Starswirl's shield fell as Nahia vanished in a blue flash by Starswirl's teleportation spell. As he raised the shield again, a few of the spirit demons had got through, while the creatures banged away helplessly.

As he readied to teleport himself, Starswirl suddenly was wracked with nightmares, thousands of burning eyes in his mind, cackling voices hungry for his body and soul.

Shock engulfed him, and the shield fell once again as Starswirl collapsed in shock at the demons plaguing his mind.

The cavern plunged into darkness, save for the burning eyes of the bodied Rakshasa King Cobra and Monkeys. As the Cobra struck out in the dark, a horrific yell rang out as one of its long fangs punctured something fleshy.

Right then though, before it could even react, what it had bitten lit up in a fierce blue light, and the Rakshasa Cobra screeched as its knife sized fang was ripped from its mouth as the Unicorn teleported from the cave.

The cave fell silent, save for the echoing voices from within the cavern's Rakshasa demon hole, and the creatures crawling/slithering up out of the growing chamber.

That bite had snapped Starswirl from the demons plaguing his mind by the pain, and let him focus for what microseconds he needed.

Meanwhile

Late Afternoon

Temple Ruins, Central Chamber

The sunlight streaming from the roof inlets overhead into the stone chamber seemed mocking of the events unfolding in the main chamber, and what had just occurred below in the Rakshasa tunnels.

Gasping for his breath, Siral keeled forwards in his vine restraints from the upright table, sweat and stinging pain all over his black furred Unicorn body.

He could have sworn he heard the faintest of cries in Starswirl's voices, barely discernible, as Geldrath unleashed the last round of torturous, test spells on him.

The sand brown furred, orange eyed Alicorn nodded at the results, remarking: "Excellent. Now, I…"

Geldrath trailed off as he sensed something, and unknown to Siral, he was being contacted by the hordes of Rakshasa, bodied or spirit, in the temple tunnels. As he brooded internally, Siral's exhausted vision cast around to the chamber's surroundings.

The 2 apelike creatures, Rakshasa give bodies with Geldrath's magical skill as he'd later find out, stood stoic in their mottled, rotted skin and wooden armor plates and spikes, orange eyes seemingly as stoic as well as they guarded the chamber. And Siral swore he'd seen a few other, larger than normal creature shapes, such as a King Cobra, a few smaller monkeys, and even a few vultures at one point.

But he was so tired, he wasn't sure he'd manage his flimsy escape method, and he'd tired himself out hiding his plan by distracting any mind probes Geldrath made with information he'd not look for, fooling the Alicorn into thinking anything of worth had been acquired already.

Coming out of his trance, Geldrath gave a small smile as he remarked to Siral:

"Starswirl has given up on you. He presumes you dead, to the same fate that nearly befell him and the crippled Tigress that he is escorted by."

Siral was quiet, as he knew full well Geldrath was most likely not lying. Why lie when he held all the cards?

"And by the Rakshasa spirits that plagued his mind for a moment, I know I'd be wasting my time imprisoning him now. The only thing he knew of worth to me that you did not was the prophecy line he omitted from you. That he escaped is of little concern."

Geldrath made to turn, as he once again readied to leave for a rest, to gather himself before using the medallion of Ghung Chian he'd taken from Siral to drain Siral's life and magic entirely for his use. The Alicorn threw back these last words to Siral as he turned a corner of the hallway ahead, hoofs trotting on the moss covered stone:

"I told you he'd leave you for dead, and my creatures merely helped by telling him know in advance what will become of your remains when I return."

As the Alicorn left the temple room, Siral felt the pain and stinging all over his body. He had no reflective mirror, water or magic at use, he had no idea what his body looked like in its entirety.

Craning his restrained head down, he saw raw red burn marks, shallow cuts that Geldrath had healed after they were made initially deeper by attacking spells. His fur was bald in places, and blood vessels showed where his body had been wracked with pain from internal spells and curses.

Looking up, Siral saw his horn was still intact. He had one hope, that Geldrath would have to undo the magic restricting vines around him as he was drained by the medallion.

His friend's loyalty meant nothing right now, just escape. And for once, Siral would overcome something Starswirl could not.

Late Afternoon/Dusk

Jungle river shores, upstream from temple.

Scrambling up the rocks, Nahia didn't care about anything right now except for getting as far from the temple as possible. She didn't know exactly how, but she guessed Starswirl used magic to suddenly flash her to the cave tunnel mouth.

Without a second's thought, as she'd seen the sun getting lower and lower, she'd ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

As she gripped one rock, she suddenly felt her bad left forepaw give out, as she went tumbling into the shallow muddy banks of the river.

Panting hard, she heard the sounds of rainforest wildlife nearby, meaning she'd ran all the way to where the vine labyrinth that choked the rainforest around the temple were not in total control here. The edge of the Overlord's full on dominion.

Trying to stand up, Nahia gasped as her forepaw burned in agony. What was once a dull ache all the time was now a scorching pain. She had clearly damaged it during her mad dash out of the temple's vicinity, made worse by her slip down the slope just now into the muddy river shallow she now wallowed in.

Laying on her side, Nahia breathed through her pain, though she already could see in some distant trees some jungle denizens watching her. Their eyes, usually fearful of her, as she wanted, no, needed it, were not fearful. There was surprise, but most shaming of all, there was mockery.

A few monkeys pointed at her from across the river in their tree, and even a few birds overhead circled over her prone form. She did nothing except lay there. The terrifying huntress of the jungle was a far cry from what everyone thought she was, and by the looks of it, always had been.

Nahia knew the birds and monkeys would spread word of her misery, her grief, her currently pathetic state in her opinion. Her reputation had been permanently ruined.

Her body failed her with her forepaw, her spirit failed her when seeing her first cubs' remains, and her façade of over a decade was gone now. And with her current condition, she'd not survive to make it back to her current cubs and mate.

The Huntress of Malabutu wallowed in her grief, and her pain, uncaring as the night, the time when the Rakshasa roamed the jungles most, would come out and inevitably find her, a wounded animal in body, pride and spirit.

Sunset

Jungle river, Vine jungle outskirts

Staggering through the vine forests, delirious and in pain, Starswirl forced another healing spell into his foreleg yet again. The single Rakshasa Cobra fang, the size of a pen knife, was still inside his leg, and he considered it miraculous that he'd teleported right as it was likely going to pump him full of much more venom than he received.

Healing spells, and basic antivenom and poison spells, kept him conscious and going. But he'd need time, and a safe place, to fully heal himself. Neither of which was a luxury in this jungle, less so at night.

The sun was getting low, but Starswirl had to find Nahia first.

Following a magically illuminated set of tiger footprints, Starswirl heard sounds of rainforest bugs in the distance, and he knew he was leaving the depths of the utterly vine dominated temple vicinity.

Coming upon the river, he saw a slide mark, and as he quickly snapped his gaze right, he caught a glimpse of a still breathing, but unmoving Tigress.

Rushing over, Starswirl checked her over, and saw she was in a state of shock, and had a sprained paw by the look of it, combined with her usual internal injuries.

Wracking his mind, the Wizard spared a look back towards the faint stone outline of the temple far downriver a mile away, barely visible over the darkening treeline.

Hardening his heart, Starswirl quietly murmured on the dusk wind that picked up:

"I'm sorry Siral."

Turning his attention down, the Grey Unicorn knew he could save Nahia, now that he had her. And he knew exactly where to head, now that he knew parts of the jungle that were safe.

Hoof on Nahia, Starswirl began a long path of teleportation upriver with her in tow, though she barely comprehended it as a series of flashing dreams.

Early Nightfall

Malabutu Valley

Chai's territory, hidden bat cave

Among Chai's large swathes of territory, despite the vines choking some areas around the river systems her main cave flanked, there were many safe, smaller caves to use that weren't in use by her King Cobra entourage. Starswirl had spotted them as Nahia took them to Chai in the first place.

Now, as her eyes fluttered open, Nahia saw orange and yellow flickering light in the centre of the stone cave floor before her. The smoke wafting up into the cave's ceiling to trail out a small crack in the cave roof and out high up in the rocky hills they were in now.

Sat opposite her, Nahia blearily saw Starswirl running a blue light from his magical horn over his forearm, a slightly bloody, thumb claw sized snake fang laying on the cave floor nearby, though the blood had dried slightly already.

Seeing she was awake, Starswirl warned her gently: "Careful, your paw was badly hurt. I stopped the spraining, but I didn't want to do too much in case I overstepped."

Blinking, Nahia was not responsive for a few moments, as she asked: "You saved me."

"I didn't want to lose a second friend in the same day." Starswirl said darkly, his grey furred face turning from Nahia for a moment. Feeling the stinging of some tears in her eyes, the Tigress looked down morosely, adding: "I've been nothing but rude to you, threatening to kill you, eat you, or just not caring about your friend. And I didn't even wait for you when you first got me out of that cave."

"I'd question your will to survive if you had waited." Starswirl added, not at all joking after what they'd been trapped in. Nahia blinked a few times, staring into the hypnotic flames of the campfire lighting up the cave before her:

"I'm so sorry your friend is gone. Those, things, didn't even give the decency to kill him before they took him down there. At least my.."

Nahia couldn't even finish, as she sank her head down into the stone, while Starswirl simply looked away, and let her exercise her grief.

"My cubs, they killed them, fed them to those spawn of theirs. I couldn't save them, I was too weak…"

Face dropping a bit, Starswirl sympathized with Nahia. Had he been stronger, Siral may not have been captured in the first place. Murmuring in a low tone, Starswirl remarked in a show of honesty on his part of what he'd been told:

"I didn't want Siral on my journeys at first. I wanted him to live his life, not just following me. He was curious, and he wanted to go. I had to go on these travels, he chose to. And I never told him just how much that's come to mean to me, or why I at first didn't like that he'd come along."

Nahia shuffled slightly, wiping a few tears from her eyes with her good forepaw as she lamented: "I took that girl calf from the village, I tipped those paranoid villagers into sacrificing you and he to this horrible valley. I am so sorry I have caused you so much grief."

As she lamented, Nahia remarked bitterly: "But it won't be like before ever again. The jungle's seen me afraid of those creatures, an utter wreck. They won't take me seriously ever again. Now my family may be at risk when someone once afraid of me decides on repayment."

Starswirl knew this was what Chai had told him about, and he asked as sensitively as possible while admitting: "Chai told me about your whole, reputation. I just thought you should know."

Nahia blinked, but figured Chai let Starswirl know because he was trustworthy at the time to keep his mouth shut. There was no need for that now though.

"If this place had never been as vicious as it is with the Overlord, like when my mother was a cub, and if those damned Bull hunters hadn't tried to take my cubs for fur, I'd be strong enough where I didn't need a fragile facade."

"So that's why you spread lies and exaggerations." Starswirl saw it as truth now, as it had come from Nahia's mouth itself.

"I don't want to be hurt like those Bulls did to me, like the creatures did to my cubs. I had to, I was too weak, I had to have something to make me strong, to survive."

As Starswirl saw Nahia finally slump down with her face in the stone, quietly sobbing, he felt the faint rush, not as fast as with the past 3 times, of the Exemplar being demonstrating what was the most powerful form of their trait.

Honesty was at its most powerful when overcoming extreme grief. Starswirl understood this well. After all, he had things he'd not told Siral about the Prophecy, about those closest to his heart being potential threats.

He had been wrong, as Siral was now gone.

For now, he and Nahia rested from their wounds and grief in the cave Starswirl had found them in, the cursed Temple not far enough away for both of them.

But the events of that night were far from over, as the Overlord prepared to boost his power with the captured Unicorn he'd been using as a test subject, with an artefact the Unicorn had acquired in his travels, and with Alicorn magic.

Within the temple's confines, as Geldrath readied to drain Siral of everything he was in life for his own use, Siral himself braced for his upcoming ordeal.

Whatever happened, Siral and Geldrath would ensure the other didn't survive. The Alicorn wanted Siral's power and life force to strengthen his further. Siral on the other hand, wanted to see the Alicorn, this example of too many future threats the Prophecy had been warning against, dead and tortured in the process, as payback for being used as a test subject for his spells. He'd examine his body's scars later, as he didn't even see what he looked like now.

By tomorrow morning, Siral knew he or Geldrath would be dead, and if he was the one alive, he didn't care if he was scarred for life.

Siral wanted everything Geldrath had built for himself destroyed, simple as that. Nothing else mattered to the Black Unicorn wizard.

Author's Note

Grief is best overcome with honesty, even if it's painful in the short term. These exemplars are so named for powerful examples they set, not necessarily things that can be done on any given day of the week.

Rakshasa: Hindu demon like creatures. In this story, the pure Rakshasa are the bodiless spirits escaping from the pit Geldrath opened up when he first took power, as he found a Rakshasa hive and used them to take over first thing.

The Bodied Rakshasa can vary in shape too, and new bodies are grown by that vine tube feeding chamber, which Nahia's old cubs, once dead, were taken to, and the poor Sloth bear corpse in there at the time being sucked dry at that moment.

While Honesty's example has been set, the drama of this Arc is not over at all. This arc is a gamechanger for a good reason.

HONESTY V, Vengeful Inferno.

7th July, 485 BNM

Late Night

Indo-Burmese sub-continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Malabutu Valley, Vine depths

Temple main hall

The orange light of that accursed Alicorn's horn flickered ahead of his gaze. Siral didn't hide his spiteful gaze as Geldrath wandered into the darkened temple hall, while at the only other way out, the 2 Ape body Rakshasa stood imposingly stoic, their orange eyes burning even brighter at this time of night, when they were at their higher powers.

The orange light from their eyes and Geldrath's horn bathed the hall in an ominous light, like the sunset now 2 hours gone. But still restrained to the stone table turned upright, Siral did nothing as Geldrath came to a stop, chipped hooves and body only 4 feet from Siral, staring into the Unicorn's eyes with a look of satisfaction.

Siral saw the Alicorn's eyes skirting over his form, and he would wager Geldrath was taking some enjoyment from the numerous scars he likely now had.

An orange aura clad medallion floated up, the medallion he'd taken from Siral, the artefact of the Socerer Eastern Dragon Ghung Chian. The medallion that drained life and magical energy, even to the point of death.

"None of what happens now would be possible without you, without this. Your power won't go to waste." Geldrath's smile seemed innocent as he hovered the medallion up and over his neck, clasping it in place.

"I'm sure it won't." Siral murmured darkly, fixing his most hateful gaze at Geldrath that he could manage.

"Too bad Starswirl gave up trying to come and rescue you after one attempt. Not that it would have done any good." Geldrath drawled, taking enjoyment in this.

"Must you gloat?"

"You cannot fault me for indulging in success from time to time. But, you are right. Why waste any more time?"

As the medallion began to glow a slight orange, the silver chained medallion's grey/blue gem at the centre began to emanate its haunting blue aura from itself, stretching out like a tendril to quickly latch onto Siral's horn and chest in a two pronged aura stream.

As the glow in the temple hall began to flicker orange and blue, Geldrath's smile burned into Siral's mind as he felt the medallion begin to drain his magic. He felt its draw, its power, a small mind of its own that could be guided to take power, and give it.

Strapped within the vines, Siral felt them loosen slightly, as they needed to for the medallion to be able to draw on his magic. But he was locked in place of its grip now, and as he mentally resisted, he managed to slow its draining effect on his magic, and his body.

Noticing this, Geldrath's magically enhanced voice seemed to echo around the room, as he saw Siral visibly straining, in pain, but slowing the medallion's effects. The Unicorn had studied it more than he'd drawn from his mind it seemed.

"Now I complete the transfer of your power taken to me. Give up, you've lost now."

Geldrath seemed to visibly shudder with the power as he linked his own magic to it, while it was also linked to Siral being drained of magic and life.

As soon as the medallion's draining magic linked to boost Geldrath's, Siral's eyes snapped wide open, and his mind became solely focused.

"Ghung Chian was smart enough to let it finish draining somepony BEFORE he drew on it."

Starswirl's grey horn then began to glow grey, as the blue glowing aura, coated in a layer of Geldrath's orange magic, became a visible alternating orange and grey hue, glowing brighter with ever second. At this, Geldrath's expression suddenly grew in alarm, while Siral seethed through the pain, as his scarred torso, having being already slightly drained by the medallion to show his ribcage, was slowly restored:

"And he was never idiotic enough to link in the magical chain with a victim who knew the medallion better than he did!"

As he was fixed in place, Geldrath saw the medallion float away from his neck slightly, the blue hue becoming increasingly orange and grey mixed, like a growing star between them. Frantically, the Alicorn turned his eyes sideways, but despite the mental command, the 2 ape bodied Rakshasa charging towards the table were repelled by a mixed grey and orange barrier, Siral's doing.

"All power, no skill!" Siral roared, as the orange and grey light grew brighter and brighter, engulfing him and Geldrath, as the loosened vines binding him to the upright table seemed to be burned away in the growing brightness. Trying to break the connection, Geldrath then felt weaker all of a sudden.

Siral was turning the medallion against him, he did know how to use it better.

Panic growing, Geldrath stared into the fiercesome grey eyes of the Unicorn wizard before him, that hateful expression suddenly no longer amusing to behold, but a threat.

A few lightning strikes emanated from the growing sphere of visually colliding light in the centre of the temple, and from outside it looked like a miniature sun was shining through the tiny light inlets in the temple's half collapsed roof.

Staring into the vengeful expression of the black Unicorn, Siral the Savant's expression, just 4 feet from his own, Geldrath summoned his will before the medallion, turned against him, took too much.

The medallion was caught in equilibrium, neither the Black Unicorn or Sand brown Alicorn caught in the magical maelstrom losing or gaining. A few moments of building humming and light, but neither side was giving.

"NO!" Geldrath bellowed amidst the blinding light of orange and grey, the blue absorbing aura drowned out entirely as it had merely become a channel of competing magic between them.

Siral, hidden amidst the burning maelstrom, sensed Geldrath's last willpower driven attempt at breaking from this lock, and in a sudden change, he boosted all his magic into bursting the chain too, how he wanted.

The grey and orange miniature maelstrom within the temple suddenly contracted like a heart briefly, all sound and wind sucked towards it in the temple, before it erupted outwards faster than eyes could comprehend.

Temple outskirts, Vine jungle

River shore

The Temple ruins fell dark for about half a second from the lightshow emanating from within its tiny slivers of sunlight inlets, before what could only be described as a orange and grey hued detonation of light and destruction blasted apart the main structure.

Massive stone and temple ruin fragments rained across the vine forests, smoking and aflame as they came to land like meteorites amidst the grey vine forests, lighting up the night jungle as the very dry vines and what little plant life caught in the decaying vine forests caught aflame where the fragments landed. The night sky was ablaze with the smoke and fire rising from what remained of the main temple chamber, and from the now complete ruins of the temple's main buildings.

As a few more pieces of flaming debris fell across the jungle and river, some of them including a few Rakshasa demon creatures blown apart in body, a grey hued fragment was glimpsed by eyeful creatures streaking upwards and down in an arc, before it inexplicably came to slow mid fall to land more gently as a stumbling grey glowing Equine on the fire illuminated shores a 200 metres from the temple ruins.

That Equine, a black Unicorn once the grey glow died down, staggered away towards the river, catching his breath from the massive headache he had, and searing pain across his body outside and inside. Siral had no idea what he looked like after Geldrath's tortures or that blast he triggered, nor did he care.

Geldrath hadn't been ready like he had, and as an Alicorn, he may have yet lived.

By the noises of unearthly howling coming from the vine jungles, and even from the temple's underground areas, his Rakshasa underlings certainly weren't dead.

Siral glimpsed orange glows of what looked like a hundred Rakshasa creatures of varying shapes coming towards him, blazing through even a hundred metres of dense, vine filled jungle.

Flaring his horn a grey hue, Siral knew the way to kill them was to use their fear of light, and their wooden armor in places. And the vine forest was clearly flammable by the way the debris from the temple had already shown.

Taking a breath, Siral charged a powerful attack curse of dragon fire, yelling aloud for for Geldrath if he was alive, or the Rakshasa for all he cared:

"Everything you've built, WILL BURN!"

Fire surged from his horn in every direction he could, and his world, and the jungle, river and what remained of the temple, became fire.

Before the night was out, Siral the Savant would ensure everything Geldrath and his rule had built was in ashes.

Late Night

Malabutu Valley

Chai's territory, hidden bat cave

It had been Starswirl's eyes that spotted something he shouldn't have. Birds flying away visible in the night sky. And a very faint orange light discernible over the treeline, coming from the direction of the temple.

Bird cries sounded the calls in their tongues that Nahia understood, as she limped to the bat cave's mouth to hear cries of a fire, the demon creatures, and a rampage going on by one demon stronger than the others.

"What is the Overlord up to now?" Nahia wondered, but it was Starswirl who asked:

"When has it last rained?"

"12 days ago, its dry season. Why?"

"That blaze could set the whole valley on fire, destroying everything he's built. Why destroy his own kingdom?" Starswirl wondered, while Nahia staggered up, remarking as she grunted: "My family, they'll be smart enough to flee if it comes to that, as we should be."

"No, I won't let the Overlord get away with this, not after everything he's done. And he may have finally created something that rebelled." Starswirl remarked. At this, Nahia remarked bluntly:

"If I were anyone else, I'd help you. But I can't. I can't face those things again, not like this."

Starswirl grew frustrated, as he finally had enough of anything troubling on this journey. He mentally considered all things:

I cannot leave when her home is going to ruin, and I can't allow that mysterious Alicorn run amok. This leg has already gone wrong, and she has already played her destined part in displayed honesty. Its time I gave something for once, so forget not interfering!

"I can restore your paw to as good as your others!" Starswirl bluntly remarked, to which Nahia gave him a blank stare, silently questioning him. Starswirl finished, knowing he had little time:

"If you let me, I can fix your paw. You fret about your reputation no longer protecting your condition and family? Now you no longer need it, you can uphold your reputation now for all I care, but I could use your help in facing those creatures before they burn the whole valley down."

Nahia stared at Starswirl's now slightly blue glowing horn, then down at her paw. The paw wounded for 10 years as she protected her cubs from Bull hunters looking for skins, the same cubs her injured paw lost her to the creatures 9 and a half years ago. The paw that compromised her running, meaning she had to rely on easy kills, raw strength or more often rumours and threats, a reputation now shot by her understandable breakdown in the Rakshasa underground chamber.

Outside the cave, over the treeline, to which even the occupants of Chai's main cave, the King Cobras and the female Python giant herself, the orange glow of the temple and vine forest inferno grew in brightness.

Geldrath's temple, Rakshasa pit ruins

His body badly burnt, wings ruined and tattered, one eye swollen with burns, Geldrath had been silently healing himself as he dragged himself further into the temple underground, the den of the Rakshasa nest he'd cultivated and given bodies to.

As he mentally summoned them, one by one Geldrath used his magic, and the medallion still around his neck, itself magically strengthened against harm, to heal himself. Rakshasa monkeys crumpled as he sucked dry what life they had, demonic as it was, to ensure he grew strong enough.

As he sucked them dry, Geldrath felt more and more angry, hungry, and sensed the destroyer of his home, THEIR home, burning everything they'd valued and built with his inferno magic.

Crawling, Geldrath found the opening he needed, and with what magic he'd gathered, he clumsily flew to hover down into the deepest chamber of the Rakshasa underground pits, the breeding chamber.

And the crevice in which he'd stored the Rakshasa spirit hive.

"Hear me, unite, and we shall take our vengeance on the Usurper that dares to destroy what we have created as we wait for our time to conquer!"

As the orange hued Alicorn chanted this in the dank, muck strewn birthing chamber, the crevice in the wall a few metres in front of him began to shimmer and emanate in response, as quivering and heat ripple like beings began to swarm out.

One by one they imbued themselves into Geldrath's Alicorn body, and from the charred, burnt flesh and hide, a metamorphosis began to take place, as the orang hue of the Alicorn's eyes and horn magic began to grow fainter, more transparent, yet more powerful as it did.

Meanwhile, the inferno spread, while down in the underground, the Overlord became empowered by his demon horde.

When a Rakshasa bonded to a living creature, it only left them when it died. Geldrath knew this was a last resort option.

And yet, he wanted Siral dead more than he wished to live as a pure Alicorn right now.

Late Night

Temple outskirts,

Vine jungle

Fire was everywhere, and the jungle's darkness was utterly gone now. The orange eyes of the Rakshasa beasts were indistinguishable from the inferno as they charged into battle, knowing they had no choice in hiding or attacking now against this foe.

An Ape Rakshasa towered over Siral as it charged, a spiked fist being ripped from its arm, despite demon magic strengthening it, to impale it before it could even begin to slam it down onto Siral.

A swarm of Rakshasa bats, gleaming orange eyes and rotted skin, flew in hordes to try and overwhelm the Unicorn, but they were very quickly being turned into projectiles as Siral's magic crumbled them and hurled them at fantastic speed at incoming larger beasts, particularly aimed at the eyes.

As a trio of large Ape Rakshasa charged him from afar, Siral's eyes glowed a starlike white as he focused on the leading creature, his horn firing a lightning like beam at the creature.

Rotted flesh and wood flew as the creature was detonated mid charge, blinding the second as a few fragments pierced its eyes. The third creature smashed the blinded one out of the way, howling like a thunderclap drawn out as Siral suddenly saw some shimmers of demon magic shoot from its eyes mid charge, plaguing his mind with hallucinations of the creature being bigger than it already was.

Even over the roar of the inferno that had engulfed half of the more vine than tree forest areas in the centre of the valley, the blast of the grey magic beam ripping the Ape Rakshasa in half was audible.

As he finished off the Ape creature, Siral saw a few more flecks of demon magic hitting a grey barrier bubble he'd put up, and a few stray demonic hallucinations getting through. All around him, Rakshasa creatures big and small, Ape, bat, Cobra and monkey, all charged him.

Feeling it all attacking him, Siral focused his energy, and his own roar of utter rage was lost as a last, extremely large burst of dragonfire curse span out from him like a fiery hurricane, blasting out in all directions.

What it lacked in impact and burst, it made up for in sheer heat and burning. Now, with that one blast, everything within a half a mile of the temple was now at least smoking, if not completely ablaze.

Panting slightly, Siral gave a truly happy grin, one of the first in a few days, as he saw vine forests collapsing into ask all around him, and Rakshasa creatures squirming as they died, and their spirits diminishing as they were harmed, but not killed, as their bodies were lost.

Catching his breath, Siral saw no immediate Rakshasa, but as he turned to look around, he saw something that unnerved him. In the river, silhouetted by the flames of the vine jungle on the other side of the water, was an orange aura bodied Alicorn, shimmering with transparent demon energy as well as his usual orange magic.

As the aura form vanished into the water however, something in the river stirred beneath the current, as what looked like an entire riverbed of hidden vines had begun to drag itself onto dry land, forming around itself like netting come to life.

An orange and shimmering glow at its core, the vines rearranged into a slowly growing quadruped shape, low to the ground like a gigantic lizard, hooded like a Cobra, and with a long multi ended tail like a whip end. The head was elongated with a twisted vine like horn, and as he disappeared into the main torso of the river beast, Geldrath's burnt, scarred, and yet bulging veined Alicorn body seemed to ripple with beings beneath his own skin, his burning gaze punctuated by his words, the last one carrying across the river to Siral's ears like a rippling thunderclap:

"Now you face my hordes and I as ONE!"

The vine torso swallowed Geldrath, and the low lying quadruped's long tails flicked back and forth as it stomped out of the river, easily the size of a small dragon at 40 feet long and 12 feet high, body wreathed in Rakshasa and Alicorn magic working as one, the vines that made up its body seeming to ripple and squirm beneath its stomping from the shore.

A sheer bellowing screech, grating in towards the very core of Siral's heart, shook him to his core as the massive creature's mouth opened wide in a ground splitting roar. From the rippling vine mouth, jagged with vine thorns as big as swords, many vines shot forth like spears.

Teleporting back in a grey flash, Siral fired another inferno spell towards the creature, engulfing it in flames. But the creature's simmering energy field made it stronger than the others, as seemed to imbue its vine 'tongue' with the same flames without burning its vines apart. As the smoke dissipated, and the fires raged in the jungles around the incinerated mile diameter, the Rakshasa Overlord surged forwards, vine tongue darting out to strike the ground like a chameleon's tongue, setting it ablaze with fire and demonic magic as it did so.

The creature's vine tongue was too fast, as Siral sidestepped a few non blazing mouth vine attacks, the large creature having been forced to attack from half its body length away, only to have his shield all but obliterated with one fiery vine tongue strike. Grey barrier nearly failing, Siral then saw the 7 tails of the beast come surging up and over like a scorpion's, smashing the ground around him to trap him, before they close in and trapped him between the 7 prongs like a predator gripping a squirming prey item.

Overwhelmed, Siral surged his grey magic to keep up a protective layer around himself, but nearly lost his composure as he saw the 7 tails then raise up and slam him into the upper spine of the creature's back, the vines all surging and writhing to engulf him into its torso.

He was oblivious to something else attacking the creature from the outside, blue flashes, and a loudly roaring predator of some kind.

As he was dragged further inside, he saw flashes amongst the vines, searing demon eyes, of a pair of Alicorn eyes of piercing orange and now demonic hue, burning into him like the fires he'd started to his realm.

Siral focused his magic as he was trapped within the creature's torso, as it did its best to absorb him entirely. Geldrath took him close to the heart of his power to finish him off for good.

Yet another mistake of keeping enemies too close to finish them off.

Late Night

Temple outskirts,

Vine jungle, scorched river shorelines

Seeing the grey hued Unicorn get snatched up by the 7 tails of the horrific creature, and then slammed down to be absorbed into its massive back, had been what greeted Starswirl and Nahia as they burst into view by a blue flash. Not even the choking, scorching, smokey air could distract them.

Dead Rakshasa everywhere, and scorched vine forests, and yet a Rakshasa different, bigger, and altogether more evil looking, attacking something with grey magic.

It was Starswirl that had charged forwards first, galloping towards the creature with blue spells and curses blasting from his horn to aim for the creature's vine composed, shifting head.

But as he charged, a pair of Rakshasa Apes burst from the ground, having hidden as dead, while a Rakshasa crocodile surged from the river, mouth wide.

A set of claws and a strong feline bulk came slamming down on the crocodile's head before it could reach Starswirl, as Nahia tore her teeth into its rotting, yet armoured neck scales. The Rakshasa crocodile, 20 foot long, roared in a hiss as it deathrolled, but the Tigress held on, and mid roll, her teeth found the crocodile's soft underneck, and bit hard.

Over and over they rolled, but as she tore away a very large chunk, Nahia kicked too, while the crocodile demon gurgled and spasmed from its injury she inflicted, in its dying throes in the river.

The 2 Rakshasa apes, apparently having left Starswirl as he charged the big one, came for her then. One was crippled, but Nahia focused on the faster one, despite them both being double her size.

Ducking, she dashed around, relishing her paws now all working properly, as she aimed for the weak joints. Claws to the armpits and backs of the knees, and soon the large Ape Rakshasa was keeling down, at which point Nahia jumped up and took its neck in her jaws, crushing the larger than normal ape creature's neck completely.

The crippled Ape was distracted, as it turned to see Starswirl firing away blast after blast at the big creature, who was about to retaliate. As it hesitated, a tiger landed on its back, the bad legged Ape creature falling on its front.

With a roar as loud as the fires that had raged before, Nahia dug her claws into the ape's shoulders, and sinking her fangs deep into its head wood armor, she tore the Ape Rakshasa's head from its body, crushing the skull slightly as she did.

She had no time for celebration though, as the large creature delivered a blow that may have been too much for Starswirl, as its 7 tails came swinging around to swipe at him.

Vines shot from its mouth as it roared at Starswirl, as treelike spikes extended from its pony sized feet and from its 7 tail ends.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE FLED WHILE YOU COULD! THE FOOLISH ORACLES WOULD HAVE WANTED IT!"

His blue magic blew away a vine whip, severing it and sending it flying away like many others that had fired at him. But as he sent the vine flying, through his shimmering blue shield, Starswirl saw 7 tails come swinging around as he finished throwing it, the Rakshasa Overlord's tails too fast for him to teleport from.

His shield stopped the barbs, but the impact sent Starswirl flying across the river, crashing into the muddy banks on the other side, his shield failing as he first hit it, mud flying as the grey Unicorn painfully skidded through the shore mud.

Seething, the Overlord charged, though not before it glanced sideways with its massive head to see, to its amusement, a Tigress it recognised from 2 cubs its minions had taken 9 years ago.

"You won't harm him!" Nahia roared, standing her ground.

"AS IF YOU COULD STOP ME…" The Overlord drawled, his voice shaking her to her core, but she stood her ground. The creature turned from the recovering grey wizard on the other shore, stomping towards Nahia with an ear splitting roar.

Nahia responded in kind, though she stood rooted as the vine bodied, creature over three times her height and more times that length bore down on her, vine tongues, one of them still on fire by magic, ready to launch.

But the creature stopped as the large Tigress finished the roar, turning its long head back to glance with sudden alarm at its torso.

From inside, like a series of spotlights, grey and blue mixed light burst through in a series of beams, before fire in addition to this surged from it. Squirming, on fire and being attacked form the inside, the Overlord's creature form reeled to stagger away, its own 7 tails striking its own back in a vain attempt at attacking the parasite within.

A bulge began to grow very quickly, before a large gurgle from the massive creature followed vines that made up its body, and demonic/alicorn magic bursting into the air, exploding in all directions.

A crumpled mostly grey, slightly blue glowing form fell to the ground, whilst a orange hued form flew away, crashing more painfully to the ground. Nahia didn't waste time, she knew orange was the enemy.

Charging forwards, Nahia leapt onto the orange glowing form as its light diminished, and as she landed, claws outstretched, she saw the Alicorn give a shriek of agony from her claws snapping his wings off, burnt and damaged as they already were.

Geldrath squirmed painfully under the Tiger's grip, the Alicorn facedown in the burnt earth as he felt the Tiger's breath on his neck. As he resigned to his fate however, he realized two things as he lay there, death inevitable.

The medallion was gone, Siral having taken it within the creature form. And now Siral had issued a loud proclamation of victory to the demons that aided him, of Geldrath's defeat.

Sure enough, the Tiger's claws eased off him, out of fear. Fear of the shimmering, transparent horde of demons that had come for him like a horde of locusts.

Geldrath's eyes widened, but he accepted. He knew the dangers of tampering with demon hordes, but this was the deal.

It was his magic that bound them to him for their gain, and should he ever die, in a bargain sturck with him to them, his form would become their last sustanence before they were expelled. Geldrath's magic was what let them take form, let them exist in such concentrated forms in that crevice.

As he died, they'd be scattered. The Rakshasa would ensure they get one last meal before they were scattered to the winds.

Backing up, Nahia suppressed a tremble of fear as she saw the hordes of unseen demons drag Geldrath's wheezing Alicorn body through the dirt and ash quickly, back to the same tunnel she and Starswirl had dared venture down to enter the temple.

As he was dragged away, Geldrath saw the faintly recovering Starswirl on the far shore, and the barely moving Siral amidst the ruins of his largest creature form. With a slight laugh at Siral in particular, Geldrath made a mental resignation to himself as the Rakshasa dragged him down into the breeding chamber underground, towards their crevice where he'd implanted their main hive in the deepest dark he could muster.

They struggled against just me, a single Alicorn with a more confined, long term plan.

They will grow in power, and thus wish for more power. I was told Alicorns, when I became one, were the beginning of a new Era of Equestria, of greatness.

Greatness is not always good.

They're doomed, all of them. And they will likely earn their fate, as I did.

Amidst the stifling darkness of the crevice's rocky depths, as his magic confining them faded, Geldrath was ripped apart in body and mind, as the Rakshasa hive took their last feast before the dispersal.

Temple outskirts, river shores

As she paced over to Siral's prone form, facedown and slowly breathing in the ash strewn ground, Nahia turned to see what Starswirl also stared at as it flowed from the temple.

A shimmering mist flowed from the temple in all directions, like a dispersal of pollen from a flower would. But inside that cloud of shimmering mass was the thousands of Rakshasa demons dispersing, no longer to be so concentrated.

Flowing in the skies, and across the ground, instead of a concentrated mass of malice and evil, it was more a soft breeze of discontent and insidious mischief now.

But amidst the transparent emission, lit up by the now smaller forest fires around the temple outskirts, a single orange light rose with them, as it resembled an Alicorn in silhouette for a moment high above the temple, before it too gradually dispersed across the night sky.

High above, what looked like a new, faintly orange twinkling star poked into existence in the night sky, growing in plume like a translucent, moon sized shape in the night sky, orange in hue.

It wouldn't be the last Supernova to appear in the night sky to coincide with an Alicorn's death.

Geldrath became the first ever Alicorn to die, injured in battle against 2 Unicorns and a Tiger, consumed by the same demons he mastered when they saw he, their master, was guaranteed to die.

Across the valley, Rakshasa beings began to grow placid, and eventually fall too, the magic source keeping them in their bodies failing. The wood and decaying flesh bodies fell, and those Rakshasa joined their others to spread across the world in a much less potent ambience, as they were naturally, before Geldrath formed a way to concentrate them into usable entities.

Turning the barely conscious Siral over, Nahia couldn't help but grimace at the scarring and injuries to the Black Unicorn's form.

Nearby though, as he avoided looking at his heavily mutilated friend's body, Starswirl used his blue magic on clouds he had seen up in the night sky by the fires, as well as slowly sucking water from the river to spray gently down in micro-showers across the distant parts of the forest still ablaze.

They decided to remain here. While it was in the open, and it was still night, there was no risk of predators after what happened here tonight.

But the healed Tigress felt this was not enough debt repaid for healing her paw. She would protect these two until they left, even if it meant she was gone for a few extra days. She had told her family 3 days only, but now with the Overlord actually vanquished, she could spare them longer.

For Starswirl however, as he finished setting the small showers of rain and water across distant parts of the forest with magic the Equestrian Pegasi had originally conceived, he examined Siral with a hardened expression, looking over the Black Unicorn's condition. The only uncharred thing was the medallion of Ghung Chian, wrapped around Siral's hoof, that he'd reclaimed in battle inside the creature's innards.

He'd apologized for seemingly leaving Siral for dead already. Sorry may not be enough for that and more after all this. And beyond his knowledge, Siral had other issues his experience with Geldrath had brought up.

Issues, and seeds of doubt and even distrust Geldrath had sown with cruel skill, about a great many things.

All the while, the simmering flames of the jungle died beneath their small magical rainfalls, and the jungle became natural after 63 years of the Overlord's increasingly cursed rule from the shadows.

Author's Note

Siral snaps and spring his trap, knowing Ghung Chian's medallion better, and his first experience with an Alicorn leaves a lot to be desired. And Geldrath's union with the Rakshasa has its price for failure, though not beyond his knowledge.

And a concept I introduce now is that of an Alicorn's death being signaled by a supernova's appearance in the night sky, as their magic means their death is heralded by a well-timed supernova being apparent on the planet they die on. They are about the size of the moon, as described in the story.

The end of the chapter, and Starswirl finally relinquishes his desire to not interfere beyond the prophecy in wake of desperate need to save his friend.

And Nahia does live up to her brutal reputation now that she has her agility back, along with her bolstered by lack of speed strength, bite and claws, and no constant pain slowing her movements. Honest, yes. Nice, ehh...she is a Tiger.

HONESTY VI, Truths and Lies unspoken.

8th July, 485 BNM

Mid-Morning

Indo-Burmese sub-continent

Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands

Malabutu Valley, Chai's cavern

They had returned to Chai's cavern, though news of the Overlord's demise the night before, along with the scattering, subduing and near death of most of the Rakshasa creatures, had spread all throughout the jungle.

Rumours of two Equines of powerful magic taking on the Overlord, allied with the infamous huntress herself, Nahia, who for the first time proved she was fast as well as strong against a few of the strong demon creatures, and even stood her ground against the Overlord himself, delivering what seemed like the final blow.

In reality, in the case of the Alicorn, all Nahia did was pounce on an already defeated prey trying to get away, before his demon horde took him to feed on before dispersing.

No more rumours of Nahia as a coward, though she herself thought she could ease up now that she could actually run down prey, and since the food chain would be easier to handle, especially at night now.

But for others, things were not so fine.

Starswirl had been pleased to have his friend healed, but the scars wouldn't heal due to them being inflicted by powerful magic, Alicorn magic.

And Siral himself, still in considerable pain, had been very wary at the initial sight of the Tigress Starswirl had allied with, and being in a cavern lived in by King Cobras and a massive Python queen.

It had not taken long for him to settle down, and for the Black Unicorn to become accustomed to their presences, even their gratefulness to him and Starswirl as outsiders in taking down the Overlord.

As soon as Siral had stared with some overhead light, into the reflective surface of Chai's water pool however, any elation had vanished as he saw what he'd have to live like.

Staring down into the reflection, Siral raised a hoof to his face first. The blackened blood vessels were fading, but the hair beneath many of them had been burned away at the roots, giving his black coat of fur what looked like vein and artery track shaped bald lines in places. His black coat was marred by large bald lines like an illness, with scarred skin on the bald spots too.

The web-like bald scars on his coat extended up and around the left side of his face, all the way down to his insignia mark on his flank, as one curse tested on his worked with many others to ravage him inside and out.

His face was now deformed slightly, a set of wrinkles had formed amidst further scarring, making his face appear much older than he already was, and the worst was the tissue around his eyes. The fur around his eyes had gone, replaced with blackened blood vessels, like black rivulets going from his eyes until they vanished beneath the fur of his face.

As he dimmed his horn though, to diminish the reflection in the pool, Siral was ignorant of the sympathetic stares of Starswirl, Chai, and Nahia, varying in levels. He still had his magic, and he could do much without any good looks.

He now had a face and body that would frighten people, and he knew he'd have to live with it. No magic could cure the darker magic used in testing that inflicted these scars.

As a small relief though, the step from social introvert to social pariah was smaller than many other ponies ever had to make in life, normal or elongated.

The true scars however, were not on the outside, and even though they'd patch, they would harden Siral forever.

"Geldrath wanted to wait out until he saw an opportunity to make a grab for land of his own in Equestria, he was merely using this place as a placeholder and a place to experiment."

Siral remarked to Starswirl, the Grey Unicorn having found themselves a quieter corner of the cave to speak. Nahia, Chai and anyone else had allowed them the privacy.

The Bearded Wizard shook his head, thinking with some worry:

"The power he had, such a waste. But he earned his due in the end, allying with malicious spirits has its price, especially ones he harvested into a potent hive like that one. But surely there was more to his goal."

Siral was quiet, as he said nothing of details Geldrath had said yet. He looked over at Nahia, remarking: "You made strides while I was taken, very quickly too. And you healed her weakened leg, which seems contrary to your policy of not interfering."

"I needed any fully capable help to take down Geldrath, we thought it was he that was setting the jungle ablaze. We were in the tunnel, and I found your cloak, ripped and bloody…"

Taking the magical pouch from his side, Starswirl's magic pulled Siral's cloak from its larger on the inside depths, hovering it to drape over Siral's forehooves:

"I thought you'd died, before we were ambushed by the creatures and nearly fed to their hive."

"Were you planning on coming back to try again?" Siral asked suddenly, to which Starswirl actually hesitated, as he remarked:

"We were outmatched, and Nahia was traumatised. She did admit to her fears and became honest with herself, but even with that part of the prophecy done, I would have tried again."

Siral's brows furrowed ever so slightly at this answer. Starswirl had said he would try again, yet he had emphasised the needs of an Exemplar being first in his answer. A telling sign.

"So while you were half-heartedly rescuing me, you and Nahia managed to forward the prophecy by another step. You must be pleased things worked out."

Starswirl frowned at the slight contempt in Siral's voice, as he then dropped his head slightly, remarking suddenly.

"I, haven't been fair to you Siral, not all the time. At first, I didn't want you to come, and, now after this, I think its best I let you know."

Siral's eyes widened ever so slightly, as he wondered what would come from Starswirl's mouth. Geldrath's whisperings of knowing the prophecy's sentence Starswirl had omitted echoed in his mind.

"I couldn't have done any of this without you. You made what could have been a lonely journey all the better. Thank you."

Blinking slightly, Siral felt a slight elation of hope, but he had to press just a little bit further, to be certain.

"Starswirl, Geldrath told me of his past. He was part of the Oracle guild, before and after he became an Alicorn. He was ousted for acting out too much, trying to take command of the Guild as a political power, trying to keep them competitive as other Alicorn families grew. They gelded him, he was once called Vigilan, as we found in the Pahrii cathedral archives. He knows all about the prophecy you were sent on He laughed that I'd tagged along as a 'lackey'. Is that why you didn't want me to come at first?"

Starswirl was quiet, and Siral couldn't read his mind, though he could see the cogs turning in his head. At last, Starswirl's answer came.

"I didn't want you to come for the reasons I said, to live your own life. But, I'm glad you came along, I was in the wrong to doubt you."

Siral waited for more to be said as he contemplated his words in silent. But as he weighed them up, the sentence Geldrath had been ringing in his mind.

Beware the enemies that lay closest to your heart, though not yet enemies they themselves may be.

Turning his eyes upwards, Siral asked: "I need to know if Geldrath was lying. What were the exact words of the Prophecy yet again, so I can compare?"

Starswirl was quiet for a moment, but he began to regale the hallucinatory words he'd been told what seemed like so long ago now:

Beings of strife and destruction, borne out of that most destructive desire there is, the desire for power over others. Power corrupts all, corrupting more as it grows in strength.

Creatures bred from the need to acquire power, in a time of greatest turmoil.

The Lustful One: A deceitful tempter, taking pleasure in sowing division.

The Gluttonous One: A voracious force, consuming all things like a plague.

The Greedy One: A cunning creature, ensuring it gains in any outcome.

The Slothful One: A careless bystander, apathetic to the suffering of others.

The Wrathful One: A mindless beast, all that breathes is its enemy.

The Envious One: A cold hearted servant, scheming for power and revenge.

The Prideful One: A scheming master, moulding all things to its own ends.

More so than others, the Prideful One shall be your final challenge in your greater destiny that we see.

As Starswirl finished the first paragraph, Siral noticed very obviously that he had not spoken the one line Geldrath had at the end, that seemed to specific to be simply made up by him:

Beware the enemies that lay closest to your heart, though not yet enemies they themselves may be.

Starswirl continued his recital of the prophecy, but as he continued, the slightly darkened look on Siral's face was well hidden from the Bearded Unicorn's gaze.

Seek the essences of true Harmony, the greatest power to be had to combat these threats you are to face at the end of your destiny.

A Treacherous One, for you and they to learn of True Loyalty.

A Restrained One, for you and they to learn of True Magic.

A Deceitful One, for you and they to learn of True Honesty.

A Glum One, for you and they to learn of True Joy.

A Selfish One, for you and they to learn of True Generosity.

A Cruel One, for you and they to learn of True Kindness.

Your future is written, you are called to answer the unseen threats to the world.

This is the command of the world, to you.

"Yes, that is it. Geldrath told me it at least half a dozen times, one torture of many." Siral remarked, hiding the dark look on his face well.

Starswirl was still deceiving him. Starswirl was still lying to him about the full prophecy, about those close to his heart. And the only one on this journey that was close during all these travels was he himself.

It seemed that despite this period's quest for an exemplar of honesty, Starswirl was not also exercising that trait with Siral, even after this strife he endured. A little honesty after enduring torture wasn't too much to ask.

And yet, even now, Starswirl felt compelled to not say anything. He had apologised, and said how useful and appreciated he was. But Starswirl, by words of a prophecy alone, didn't fully trust him.

For that, Siral kept his mouth shut about knowing the truth.

If Starswirl was going to deceive him, he'd let the presumptuous wizard believe he was still in knowledge of the full prophecy alone.

It was not just these Alicorns that Siral had begun to silently distrust it seemed. But being an introvert, Siral knew how to hide it well.

Midday

Chai's cavern

Siral had donned his cloak, though now he visibly was using the hood and concealing fabric a lot more, understandable given his scarring. Starswirl had said that he had no intention of leaving the valley the way they came, those villagers would take years to become less paranoid, and them sacrificing the two of them tied to a tree stump was a sore spot for them.

Chai offered a few words of thanks, saying the valley would remember them for generations to come, though she did cast a slightly searching gaze towards Siral through one eye, and the other at Starswirl. Nahia however, was the happiest of the bunch, as she practically bounded out when they left the cavern, bouncing on her paws, all 4 of them, in the lead.

"May good fates await both of you." Chai's whispering words out of the cave were the last they heard of Chai, Queen of the Malabutu valley. But as the last silhouette of the 2 Unicorn Wizards and the Tigress left, Chai still felt a twinge of concern about their two futures. Something was off between them, a hidden tension that was connected, yet not admitted by either of them.

Something had been seeded in Siral, a thought, maybe even just one or two doubts. But sometimes, that is all that is needed to start a world of problems further down the line of fate.

Chai's territory border

Inside the jungles, Nahia had taken them to the river, where she then turned to speak to them at the water's edge, noting the surprisingly loud rainforest noises around her. With a loud growl, she silenced the rainforest around her.

Hearing the sudden silence of the rainforest around them, Siral remarked lowly: "Impressive. Your reputation is well founded."

"Now I may not need it as much, with those demons gone, and being able to properly run as I once could." Nahia admitted, to which she gave a twitch of her now better left forepaw, and a fanged smile at Starswirl. Even if it had been just a means of having a fully capable ally against that rogue Alicorn Geldrath, it was a gift she'd have for life now.

Starswirl shared a truly grateful smile, while Siral merely politely nodded. As she looked at the two of them, she understood Siral hadn't known her as much, but in what time she had known Starswirl and he, much had changed for her, and the valley, and all in a mere 3-days.

That 3-day span was nearly up though, and she had a promise to keep.

Looking at the river, Nahia remarked: "After the temple the river is much calmer. You can follow it to get out of the valley safely."

"A raft maybe? We may find a place to go onto our next destined place, wherever it is." Siral suggested, keeping it vague, yet enough for Starswirl to get the message. To search along the river as they left the valley for any places to safely hide for however long they needed to stay in a hibernation cycle again.

Starswirl gave a quick nod in agreement, though he turned to Nahia:

"What will you do now?"

"I can return to my nearly mature cubs and mate. I think I might go easier on them all now that you helped me heal. I can tell them I avenged my old cubs." Nahia was quiet at the last statement, while she turned away slightly, staring down in the general direction south towards the temple, where in a pit into which Geldrath had been dragged, her 3 previous cubs lay in their skeletal graves, in a better place.

She would ensure any future and current cubs didn't meet the same fate, and now she could even more so by this Wizard's help healing her, and the both of them helping take down the Overlord Geldrath.

Looking down at her paws, Nahia noticed that she still had the bandage, slightly loose now and somewhat mud stained, around her left ankle. She had not bothered to take it off yet, and while she was keen to get it off, she wanted to let Starswirl, and somewhat Siral, know how much this whole time meant to her.

Gently lying down to then raise her paw, she used her right claw to nick the bandage off, but she then turned to Starswirl as she said:

"I don't have anything to give, so, can I ask you to maybe keep this that you used on my ankle? And, a bit of my fur."

Taken aback by the unorthodox gift, though it was something for a non-civilized creature, Starswirl gently nodded as he magically formed a narrow beam of light with his horn, while he gently remarked: "Hold still, just some off the thick neck fur."

"If you get my skin, I'll know." Nahia warned, both playfully and seriously, to which Siral gave the tiniest of smirks. With practiced precision, Starswirl's magic snipped just a small tuft of white/orange fur off of Nahia's neck coat, and with some extra magic, he then used a sticking and preserving spell to permanently stick the fur to the bandage wrap, and rolled it into a small white roll with tiger fur sticking out of it.

The most ad hoc gift from an exemplar by far, yet just as meaningful.

Taking the bandage wrapped tiger fur tuft, Starswirl shrunk it and placed it with the other 3 treasures from the previous 3 they met thus far, hidden in the cloak he'd now got out of his own miniature pouch to wear like Siral's, plus the odd hat he insisted upon wearing now that this period visit was coming to an end.

As she gave a slight chuff in a friendly tiger expression, Nahia gestured towards the sun high in the sky: "If you want to leave by the river, you best not waste any time."

"It was a privilege to meet you Nahia." Starswirl remarked with a fond expression. They had started as potential predator and prey, and now were friends about to depart. Siral was distant, but Nahia saw he could have been a friend, had things been different with him being taken.

Then again, the whole Overlord scenario is why she befriended Starswirl in the first place.

While Siral had turned away briefly, Nahia called to him as he didn't turn to her: "Don't be ashamed of your scars, take pride in them."

Siral said nothing, but turned his head ever so slightly with a stiff nod. He was even more withdrawn than normal, but he appreciated this Tigress's sympathy enough to let her know so. Seeing Siral staring south, Starswirl knew he wanted to get away from this jungle, and he didn't blame him. With a sigh, Starswirl slowly turned to Nahia, wanting to wish the Tigress good luck where she went next,

But the Tigress had vanished, as soundless as a tiger could be, into the jungle undergrowth. Starswirl heard the faintest of growls slowly leaving the vicinity, then nothing.

And just like that, Nahia vanished, the last time they ever spoke.

Turning his head towards Siral, Starswirl gently walked up beside his friend, who had taken a habit of pulling his cloak further over himself to shield his scarred body.

"She's right, we best move on if we want a raft to leave and search the river. But, why a raft if we can teleport?"

"I want to be on the water, away from the jungle trees." Siral remarked bluntly, saying nothing more. Starswirl said nothing more, as he then put a hoof on Siral's back, powering up a teleport to the temple area.

Late Afternoon

Malabutu valley

Temple outskirts, Jungle river heading downstream

The large rectangular raft had been assembled easily enough with bamboo and long-grass rope formed by magic to lash it together, and the lack of dangerous animals around the burnt out rainforest vines from the night before meant they had no danger during the building, or even the casting off.

As they floated down the slow current, raised enough above the water to be dry, steering with magically used steering poles from time to time, Siral and Starswirl relaxed on the raft, watching the rainforest slowly pass by.

Staring off into the distance, Starswirl remarked as he pointed towards the slight cliffs far in the distance:

"To think this all started in a village over that mountain."

Siral merely grunted in reply, as he pulled his cloak over himself to shade from the sun. He wanted nothing to do with this jungle.

The current was gently lapping at the raft as they passed around another corner in the river, the trees hanging down on all sides as the burnt vine forest disappeared from view forever.

It was a little over a few minutes down the slow, but steady current of the wide river, as they watched the odd fish, insect, birds or even a non-sapient viper swim across the river, and a few crocodiles basking on the shore, that they saw them. A last send off.

Coming around a corner, a medium level tiger roar snapped Siral out from under his cloak, while Starswirl turned to see the culprit.

On the inside of a river bend, as they drew parallel to the opening, caused by a fallen tree, they saw something only possible with her better paw giving her speed to do so.

Stood on the sandy shore of the river, Nahia stared with a respectful look at the two of them floating by and away down the river, the closest they came to her on the shore being 40 feet away.

Further back inside the shoreline, near the treeline, Starswirl and Siral saw 3 other tigers, 1 larger male, Jakai, and an adolescent tigress and tiger, Daila and Shahn, staring out too, while their mother stood further out.

Nahia's golden eyes watched them vanish around the next river bend, the 2 Wizard Unicorns upon the raft gone from her view, and soon, the jungle.

With a smile on her face, she turned to vanish back into the now more natural jungle valley forests, with her 2 cubs and mate in tow.

The 2 Unicorns were carried out of the Malabutu valley by the river, and onwards to their next journey, both changed more than ever by this stage.

Upon the raft, Starswirl sat in silent relief at how dangerous this part had been, but the Alicorn Geldrath had been utterly unexpected.

Meanwhile, Siral gently fondled the artefact he kept, Ghung Chian's life absorbing medallion he'd had stolen briefly by Geldrath.

The Black Unicorn was not sure about his own role now, despite Starswirl urging his importance. He didn't trust him enough to tell him everything about the Prophecy, about those close to his heart potentially becoming enemies. And so he'd tried to not let Siral get too close.

But among other things, Geldrath being here had provoked a much deeper concern in Siral that he would bring up with Starswirl, of some part of him that was having doubts.

They had been away from Equestria for too long, and who knows what had become of it, and what it would become in time. Geldrath's sinister words to Siral were not lies, but founded on truths and facts, Geldrath himself being an example, that these Alicorns were a potential danger by their power alone corrupting their desires, their morals.

Unlike Starswirl, Siral was not slave to the prophecy. But what he decided was to be determined by how they found the world in their next step, when Siral could see if what Geldrath had warned/boasted of would advance further towards truth.

For now, what looked like a set of small mountains outside the valley's rim, with some caves most likely, was set to be their next spot to hide for their next jump through time, for the next exemplar being for Starswirl, and maybe Siral, to hunt.

Author's Note

HONESTY arc has ended, and its here and in the next chapter, when they begin the GENEROSITY arc, that further divisions rise between Starswirl and Siral, though not on bad terms, understandable ones.

They have been away from Equestria for a long time now, and longer by the time they next come out.

As seen with Geldrath, nobody is born evil, they become evil by their experiences and interpretations, and he had a long term plan in place before the wizards came.

GENROSITY I, Shetland port plundering.

8th November, 221 BNM

Shetland Kingdom, North Eastern coasts

Northhembrai region

Weirmouth port town

The town of Weirmouth was one of many towns in the Shetland kingdom that bordered the northern sea, a notorious juncture point for many of the shipping lanes of the Eoropean land based kingdoms, and piracy.

But the sea was the source of income for Weirmouth, and its presence at the most northern reaches of the Shetland Kingdom, a few dozen miles south of the Skotchish border, and provided a key trading hub to the Elkway kingdoms, the Gryenmark empire homeland, and any empires and kingdoms that traded across the seas.

In particular, as would become for the time of two Wizards that had arrived, was the famous Muttlantic corridor, established by the Gryenmark empire to link to the New Gryphon Empire, an offshoot empire of large size braving the colder and more mountainous regions and green lowlands further south that were not claimed by Equestria.

The North Muttlantic corridor was marked by the Glaceland colonies, and the very small Gronnland colonies that marked the last stop before the mainland New Gryphon Empire was reached, at what was known as the Newmountland region. A 3000 mile trading route to the New Gryphon Empire, and further, whether or not if they wished to risk the south Muttlantic corridor's lack of stopping ports to get to it, Equestria.

But for now, Weirmouth was a town bustling and not too eventful. Nobody ever said peaceful, as the constant trade hub they were, and a service place for longer shipping vessels, made them a target for the all too frequent Viking raids from the more barbaric Elkway regions, and privateers on behalf of other empires, and then those flat out just serving themselves, full blown pirates from even their own country.

They made sure to execute those they captured, to ensure what peace could be acquired was kept.

Still, the local garrison was always on guard, watching the seas.

Late Afternoon

Local tavern

"Here ya go gentlecolts, enjoy."

The brown furred serving wench pony mare placed their mugs of the drinks on their table, earning a smile and nod of thanks from the Grey, bearded Unicorn in the blue cloak. The grey cloaked Unicorn kept his cloak tightly wrapped around his body, only his rather scarred looking face and bald ringed eyes showing, and he merely turned hs head to acknowledge the wench.

As she wandered off to serve others in the tavern, the fiddle player giving ambient music to the background, the tavern was alive around ponies for the most part, but about one in four in the tavern tonight were Foxes, the other of Shetland's civilised races, though Foxes were seen as somewhat second rate by the nobility, but not the public, especially as foxes and ponies both had their skillsets to apply.

But as Starswirl wracked his mind over the events that led them here, he was disappointed.

He and Siral had emerged from the cave outside the Malabutu valley, and prompted by his prophecy influenced mind, they teleported quickly west, very far, until they found themselves in western Eorope, being prompted across the Shetland channel to this northern town, and then, nothing.

They had arrived 4 days ago, and nothing had happened. The only out of the ordinary events had been a Cog ship load of Pony and Pegasi mercenaries from Germaneigh being shipped to Equestria through the safer north route, an Elkway Elk and Gryphon commanded military freight Hulk ship stopping for supplies before pushing onto Glaceland, and ultimately the new Gryphon Empire, and then a small incident in the middle of town with a pair of fox bandits trying to rob a granary of a large load of seeds of varying sorts, all valuable for the spice and berry plants they produced, and a good tradable commodity.

The foxes had been detained in the local dungeon for execution tomorrow, but that was not their concern.

As they were waiting for the Exemplar of Generosity, a selfish one, to show themselves, Siral and Starswirl had taken to piecing together world history, particularly Equestria, from what they'd heard. After all, 264 years had passed since the Malabutu valley events, and only a month in their travels since they reemerged from that cavern outside the same valley, all the way in the Indo-Burmese sub-continent, halfway around the globe.

"Mercenaries heading to Equestria, and a military ship heading to the New Gryphon Empire. And based on news of territory wars and skirmishes upon the borders, I am not so sure peace will last between them." Siral pointed out everything he'd gathered from their learnings, though he was clearly the one more active, and not waiting for this exemplary being.

Starswirl paused in thought, taking a drink from his pint of ale, while Siral suddenly put down a hoof on the table with a slight thud, remarking with some bitterness:

"How many more nights will we sit here waiting for this one to show? 4 days, and if we do, its just another example to take to heart some time in the future! Meanwhile Equestria, the nation of our birth, is falling into a state of unrest, of power politics between each noble family, and against the New Gryphon Empire."

Looking up at Siral, Starswirl tried to be the reasonable one:

"I understand your concerns, but we have to find these beings. And I strongly believe that Equestria can handle itself against a normal threat like a series of power wishing warlords fighting for resources between the lands of the ponies and gryphons across the ocean. Conflicts such as that keep themselves contained to those regions."

"Yes, but conflicts like those can last for decades. Are we willing to let them happen when we could do something?" Siral asked. Starswirl gave Siral an odd expression, asking outright:

"And what would you have in mind if we did go back and try and intervene?"

"Share our input, a show of force maybe, guide as our guild once did." Siral remarked. At this, Starswirl made the point quite clearly, both understanding but also urging in his tone:

"That is precisely what I myself intend to do, AFTER we have acquired what wisdom and experience, directly and from what we encounter amidst our travels, from searching for these 6 beings. And it is not much longer, we are on number 5 already."

Siral fell quiet, seeing no way yet to refute Starswirl's response. But there was always that niggling doubt in his mind of this whole quest of theirs, and of whether these 7 threatening forces to emerge in Equestria after they find all 6 exemplar beings were anything they'd truly be ready for if they didn't return to try and anticipate their emergence.

Starswirl sensed Siral's internal doubts, but attributed them to being impatient to meet the next exemplar, just as he was.

In later hindsight, he should have taken it as a sign of what would happen by the end of their time in this period of history.

Midnight

8th/9th November 221 BNM

Shetland Kingdom, North Eastern coasts

Northhembrai region

Weirmouth port town

Dungeons

The fox sat in the dank prison dungeon cell, checking the position of half-moon from the barred window of his cell in the night sky. It was highest, and he knew now was the time.

He'd been thrown in today, and had skilfully pickpocketed the guard of one of the tools he'd confiscated from him, his compass, and hidden it inside the pockets the guard ponies thought were empty.

Inside the cell, knowing the guards were changing right now, he pulled out the compass, opened a secret compartment in the back of its bulkier than normal frame, and pulled out the set of lock picking metal spikes he had.

One paw poking one through the bars and into the lock on one side, and the other from inside the cell's way, he delicately worked. Finally, a very faint click, and the jail cell creaked ever so slightly as he opened it as much as he barely needed to slip out.

He still had his clothing, and his compass, but he needed his other equipment. Half of it had been taken by the guards to who knows where.

But as the Fox snuck up the stone steps, ducking into a small doorway to avoid the gaze of a passing guard, his mind was on the granary he and a partner had tried to rob today.

Besides, given the time already, he'd have a diversion in getting out of the town once he had reclaimed the equipment he hid with the seed bags he and his partner had left hidden nearby, knowing they were going to be captured.

Eventually, he found the dungeon's backdoor entrance, and quietly slipped out into the dark town streets, avoiding light where he could.

Weirmouth granary

Sneaking up on a side building of the granary, the fox found where he was looking for. A stack of rotting hay bales around a corner, sitting near a compost heap.

Clambering into the compost heap, mostly decaying hay and plants, he dug inside and found the bag. One bag, when there had been three.

Sniffing the air, he smelt him waiting.

"Got out okay then?"

Another fox, this one slightly bigger, and a rather smug looking in the dark, raised his paws, both seed bags in each one. The bigger fox remarked with some distrust:

"Come on Irvin, I didn't want to see you try and struggle with all these bags. We're partners, and I just want my fair share."

"Two of three is fair?" Irvin questioned, the fox seeing through the façade of his partner, Nathaniel's, loyalty. He wanted all 3, but was taking 2 for himself, making himself look better to the captain.

Snorting, Nathaniel fell quiet as he heard a few bells ring the town centre, the pair of foxes putting aside their mild quarrel as the bigger one wondered:

"Us escaping cause that?"

A few more bells, and noises from the town guards, rose in volume. But the lights from the small sea fort walls at the town's coast also were alight with more lamps than normal. Wavering lamps that resembled torches being held aloft.

"Nope, that's our way out of here! Leg it to the docks while they're fighting!"

Hoisting both bags over his shoulders, Nathanial charged behind Irvin, the smaller fox lighter with only one bag of seeds.

Spice seeds were worth more than their weight than gold anyway.

Meanwhile, their captain began raiding the town as promised, though it had been a plan B in the grand scheme of things.

The original plan had been to raid the granary and get back via a cove a mile down the coast, but that wasn't an option anymore since they got caught.

And the crew were itching for some action anyway.

Midnight

Weirmouth Town streets

Fires had been set ablaze on some coastal shacks and houses, as the raiders had snuck up on the town in their dark coloured ship, some swimming ashore under darkness from the port lights, and once they were ashore, the first arrows flew, dipped and set aflame by whale harvested oil.

Needless to say their awakening had been rude, but Siral and Starswirl had galloped out into the streets, as ponies and a few foxes not in the guards fled from flaming houses to either head to safety inland, or to take up arms or buckets of water.

At the docks, sounds of shouting and faint clashing swords echoed, but a few raiders had ventured further inside, smashing windows of shops and places of commerce, raiding and pillaging what they could.

A Shetland pony, clad in sailor garb, roughly shoved his way through the glass of the shop he'd raided of its silverware, before a blue magical blast shot him backwards into the shop, unconscious from the impact.

"Come on Siral!" Starswirl urged, while the grey Unicorn fired a grey freezing spell at another raider, this one a smaller Shetland pony, who was then yanked up by a larger Shetland raider to flee back to the boat, presumably near docks.

As the fires and noises of random violence sounded around them, Starswirl and Siral saw the docks, where a few dozen Shetland ponies and foxes in pirate garb clashed with the local garrison, while a few others came running back with loot during gaps in the guard flanks and the docks they forced.

The street they were on, flanked by shops that had already been raided, had a few ponies hurling water onto a flaming roof nearby. Siral's grey magic hurled the water higher up onto the roof's upper levels, and Starswirl was charging a full on wind spell to blow out the flames. But up the street, a shout went up:

"Stop! Prisoners escaping!"

Whirling around, Siral was all but rammed aside as a large burly fox, carrying 2 large sacks, charged shoulder first into his side, the sprinted past, only one bag on his shoulder. Black Unicorn sprawling in a daze. In hot pursuit, a second, smaller fox ran past, ignoring Siral as he noticed Starswirl, before he charged towards the grey Unicorn.

"Starswirl!" Siral called out, as he fired a grey spell towards the bigger fox ahead, missing as the bandit jumped over an overturned wagon, though catching his foot slightly as he did so. Siral's spell merely blasted a large amount of fur off the large fox's tail, with a satisfying howl as he ran on.

But as Starswirl span to counter the smaller fox, he felt a flash in his mind as the fox dashed past, a free paw not holding the sack of loot swiping at him with surprisingly no claws to speak of.

A flash of purple in his mind, of the exemplar of generosity.

Starswirl was knocked backwards, unable to focus a retaliatory spell during the prophecy induced lapse, and Irvin scrambled on ahead, faster than Nathaniel, as he managed to avoid his tail getting singed by Siral's grey hued spells.

Starswirl staggered up, exclaiming: "That second fox, he's the one we're looking for!"

Siral shouted over the noise, as the guards chasing the 2 foxes took a shortcut through a different alley: "You are sure!?"

"Positive, it is just like with the others when…wait!"

Starswirl had absentmindedly put a hoof to the pouch he kept in his cloak, which amongst a great many things, contained the 4 items each of the previous exemplar beings had given them, shrunken to fit in a smaller case like everything else, it being a magical pouch.

The pouch was gone. The fox had pickpocketed him mid tackle.

Starswirl seethed, as he bellowed to Siral: "GET THAT FOX!"

The ponies dousing the fires on their house were more than a little stunned, and angry, at the 2 Unicorns dropping their duties to pursue the two bandits all of a sudden, tearing off in a frenzied gallop from both of them.

Weirmouth town, sea wall

Irvin had caught up with Nathanial, the larger Fox having slowed by his foot caught mid jump over a boat, and by carrying two bags. Dashing along, Irwin heard guards coming their way through an alley.

But a few arrows came their way first, as some of the guards spotted them and fired crossbows up an alley as they flashed by. With a loud grunt, Nathanial staggered as an arrow imbedded itself in his leg, making him fall over suddenly, the one of the bags flying from his paw.

"Irwin!"

The smaller fox turned, his purple eyes seeing the bag, and Nathanial with the other, struggling to get up quickly. Dashing over, Irwin grabbed the second seed bag in the same paw as the other, and rushed over.

The guards were near, and Nathanial would be slow. Which meant an easy choice.

Rushing up, Irwin said with some adrenaline fuelled excitement at the loot, and considering he and Nathanial never really got on anyway:

"Sorry mate, can't fall behind in this work!"

"You bastar-AH!"

Irwin had kicked Nathanial in the face, sending him sprawling as he snatched the 3rd seed bag from the larger, leg wounded fox's grip. Yanking up the seed bag, Irwin sprinted off, knowing he could handle 3 during the last sprint to the docks.

He didn't notice the 2 Unicorns in hot pursuit come tearing around the corner, nor Nathanial suddenly get swarmed by guard ponies, and only 2 coming after him.

His bushy tail flew as he leapt up onto the sea wall, running along its narrow length with the lithe precision his fast paws gave him.

Weirmouth town, docks

Parrying another sword blow from a guard pony, the Fox raider, a young boy, called out to the captain, who had just thrown one guard off the dock to the waters below to flail in:

"Cap'n! Its Irvin!"

Their captain, a grizzled looking dark grey and black Gryphon, saw the running fox coming down the dock walls, moving along the top at a frantic pace, a few bags in his clutches.

"To the boats, have one wait for him to jump off the docks! Looks like Nathaniel fell behind!"

At this, the raiders fell back, more arrows raining from the main ship a hundred metres away upon the main fortifications of the city, fiery or just barbed.

2 longboats, snuck in with some swimming pirates, were waiting. As one was loaded up with most of the loot and crew to push off before the others, the second waited at the dock end for the last stragglers, the combatants fighting to keep control of the dock, ducking behind boxes to avoid arrows, letting guards get close to ensure friendly fire risks, so it was only blades, not arrows from the garrison, that came their way.

Dashing madly, Irvin avoided a few crossbow bolts sent his way, one grazing his tail fur, as he saw the docks, and the last of the pirates, the young galley boy fox, leaping off into a waiting long boat.

"THIEF! PIRATE!" A guard's cry was punctuated by the hail of crossbow bolts coming his way, and ahead, a guard had been lying down, slightly wounded but able bodied, as he swung a sword at Irvin. The fox leapt over the blade, but spared a slight grimace at some money being lost as the blade sliced a seed bag slightly.

Some spice seeds spilling from one of the bags, Irvin dashed to the end of the dock, and saw the gap. Charging full speed, he leapt out.

He saw the longboat, and the faces of the fox, pony and gryphon crew members aboard, and then he saw the gap of water. He'd mistimed his jump.

Mid jump, Irvin instinctively threw the sliced seed bag forwards, knowing that one risked the most if it went in the water, and he threw the other one in the same paw too, meaning 2 safe. Right before he hit the water, he saw the sliced bag land in the boat neatly, while the other seed bag landed in the face of one of the Shetland pony crew, a punch in the face equal in force, but the bag landed in the boat regardless.

Splashing down, Irvin swam quickly, as he'd only landed a dozen feet from the boat. Scrambling aboard, Irvin was barely aboard, having kept the seed bag above water as much as possible, when the crew rowed frantically, a hail of arrows coming from the main ship as they rowed towards it to cover them.

Laughing at the adrenaline rush ending, Irvin laughed as the crew realised they'd got home with more than just the seeds as initially planned, though they'd lost 5 guys.

"That was close huh?"

"Not for you, you not run fast enough to make that leap?" A pony, the one a seed bag had hit in the face, retorted back semi jokingly, earning a few laughs. Up front, the quartermaster of the ship, a gruff but young Gryphon male, called back:

"Get ready to load up and leave fast!"

Staring back at the diminishing fires in the town, Irvin breathed a sigh of relief, and anticipation.

These seeds were worth a fortune in the amount they'd stolen, or more, HE'd stolen. And they had a small amount of loot from the town to boot amidst the distracting raid to let he and Nathanial get back, thought that wasn't completely successful.

Those 2 Unicorns had been a surprise, but one of them had a very tempting pouch on his being that Irvin wanted. It looked tempting for what it could hold anyway.

He pocketed the wizard's pouch as his own personal loot as they drew up to the main boat. Those seeds were the prize for all to share in, but any loot was for who got it.

5 minutes later

Weirmouth town, docks

Snarling on the shore, Starswirl looked at the barely visible ship out in the bay, quickly fleeing with oars presumably, not sails given the lack of wind tonight.

Siral looked ahead, knowing they'd been too late. But it wasn't a total loss.

Or it could be, as Starswirl had been robbed by the fox, which gave the wizard two reasons to go after him. And Siral wanted to see, just to see if this wait had been worth it, what this one was all about. He still gave this entire quest a chance for his role in it.

Focusing, Starswirl had the ship in his sights, and Siral then had a moment of pause as he saw blue engulf not just Starswirl, but himself.

"What are you d-" Siral's cry was cut off, as this time it was Starswirl acting out. Starswirl couldn't tolerate a thief taking prized memorabilia of the ones they'd met on this journey, exemplar being or not himself.

Weirmouth bay,

Pirate Cog vessel

They'd been celebrating their looting as the arrows from the shore fell out of range, the rowers below deck also cheering.

That stopped as soon as a blue flash lit up the main deck, and a pair of Unicorns appeared amidst the crowd of Ponies, Gryphons and Foxes, who paused mid cheer with their loot still in hand.

"-oing!?" The black Unicorn in grey robes had been saying mid speech to the Grey one with Blue robes, both of whom appeared out of the blue flash.

Irvin, their captain's first mate, stood dumbfounded as his purple eyes widened suddenly, and Starswirl's eyes locked with his.

Amidst the about 3 seconds of stunned silence, their captain bellowed from the stern, looking down at this all from the steering wheel, the black and dark grey elder Gryphon male flailing his clawed hand at the two Unicorns:

"WHAT DEVILRY IS THIS!? BRIG THEM!"

Every raider on deck charged the Unicorns, but a few blasts of blue and grey sent them reeling back, while the grey one with the blue cloak pointed angrily at Irvin:

"YOU! Return my pouch!"

"All this for that little bag!?" Irwin exclaimed, the fox backing up slightly, having not even tried to jump these Unicorns amidst the ship's main deck.

Up on deck, recognising them at once as Unicorns, the captain saw that Irvin too had known what they could do. The Gryphon, Captain Blythe, this being his ship, and him NOT plagued with scurvy himself, called down in a calmer manner:

"I want no quarrel with Unicorns! Now please, before you cost me any of my men, tell me who you are, and what you want exactly."

Calming himself, Starswirl gestured to each one as he spoke: "My name is Starswirl, the Bearded, and he is Siral, the Savant. We are Wizards, special among even Unicorns from Equestria. And your crewmember there-"

"First mate actually." Irwin indignantly remarked, but Starswirl continued uninterrupted:

"Stole my personal things from me amidst his escape, by the sounds of the guards that were also chasing him."

"Like Irvin said, all this for that?" Captain Blythe asked indignantly, gryphon talons gripping the ship railing hard.

Thinking for a moment, Starswirl weighed his thoughts. They'd been waiting to meet this exemplar for a few days already, and staying with him meant staying with this crew most likely.

Siral gave Starswirl a knowing look, gesturing with his eyes to the frightened crew of ponies, foxes and gryphons. Turning back to the captain, Starswirl said in a peaceful manner:

"We'd also like to negotiate employment. Work has been hard for us to come by since we started travelling, distrust of Wizards."

"You fail to make me trust otherwise." Captain Blythe remarked, a claw going to his beak in thought. Siral spoke up, lowing his hood slightly more as he remarked:

"Surely having 2 Unicorns in your service is a boon to consider?"

"He's been through the butchers hasn't he?"

A whisper had shot up in the few dozen crew members, earning a glare from Siral towards the general direction, though no crew member spoke up to claim it.

Weighing up the choices, Blythe snapped a few talons down to Irvin, remarking: "Irvin, return his pouch. Now, Starswirl is it?"

Irvin walked up with a sheepish expression, holding out the pouch to Starswirl, whose blue magic snatched it away to hide back inside his cloak. Turning back to the captain on the deck above:

"Consider that my way of saying, welcome to the crew of the Scurvy Blythe."

Starswirl saw Irvin give a shared look towards Blythe, one of uncertainty, but the Fox obeyed his Gryphon captain well.

Meanwhile, Siral looked back to the shoreline in the distance, lamenting that this part of their journey may well be at sea, in the winter as well.

Starswirl however, had done what he could to ensure they stayed with this exemplar being, a selfish one who would display generosity. It had been right 4 times so far, yet each time it seemed to surprise them with exactly their state and ending.

Of course, none of them had stolen from them, and they hadn't been roped into a maritime crew before, of pirates no less.

All this made Siral question all the more why HE was doing this. He hated the sea, and Starswirl seemed all the more determined with this one since he robbed him. This one was personal from the outset.

Yet amidst what they were getting into were overtones of a bigger problem with the world.

Author's Note

GENEROSITY arc is kicked off, and the two wizards are roped, by their own doing and misfortune by way of a happenstance pickpocket pirate being the exemplar, into a crew of pirates working along the northern sea and passage between Glaceland and the Shetland kingdom [Iceland and England].

GENROSITY II, Glacial Waters.

17th November, 221 BNM

North Muttlantic, 500 miles north of Shetland isles

20 miles north west of Ferao Islands

For 9 days they had been on the crew of the Scurvy Blythe, and had slowly been making their way across the hazardous winter waters of the North muttlantic ocean, stopping at the Viking inhabited Ferao islands for a relatively calm supply run.

But now, the islands had already begun to grow distant on the horizon, as Glaceland beckoned at least another 5 days ahead.

There was much to be found out about the crew of the Scurvy Blythe, including the Gryphon Captain Blythe, and the first mate Fox Irvin, that so intrigued the two wizards [one more noticeably than the other, with Siral seeming more withdrawn in his own thoughts].

The crew were a motley mixture of mostly Shetland Kingdom folk, Shetland Earth Ponies, Foxes, but also a few Gryphon 'privateers' from Gryenmark, the captain himself included.

The Scurvy Blythe was a medium sized Cog type ship, 2 tall masts with triangular sails and rigging driving it to their places of venture, the crew about 30 in number.

When asked about their ways, it was simple. Raid and trade, or in more 'legal' cases, delivery runs of cargo, and any larger financial gains were split according to shares.

Where the raiding had its uses was in gaining their 'bonuses', but if there was any instance where they could take a cargo to someone other than their assigned deliveree for a greater profit, there wasn't a hesitated moment.

But apparently, their first mate, Irvin, had a knack for such 'deceit'. On a mission where a delivery of rare jewels for a governor in Elkway had a potentially higher bidder in a Germaneighish province, Irvin had urged Blythe to set sail for there instead.

The result had been a very strong gain, and Irvin being promoted to first mate, thereby getting the second largest share on the crew. But the result was them being wanted by that governor, with bounties on their heads.

But it wasn't like as raiders during times of lesser trade that they had yet to get bounties on their heads. Anybody who was known as a pirate had someone putting a price on their head after all.

And it Irvin's skill in paying themselves out bounty hunters with his wily skills that saved them trouble a lot of the time. If that didn't work, then Blythe's methods came into play.

Irvin was the cunning one, while Captain Blythe was always able to sense when they should back out, attack, or continue on their path.

After all, Blythe had named his own ship after himself in a bid of ego early in his sailing career.

When asked about the first part of the ship's name, the crew joked that Blythe called it that in anticipation of the gum disease that any long time seaman would likely incur.

Given many of the crew's breath, it was well founded, though the foxes of the crew were less prone to it by their entirely carnivorous diets.

One reason why many of them, Irvin included, could charm some their tricked out of valuables one way or another.

17th November, 221 BNM

Mid-Morning

Scurvy Blythe

"Heave!"

The net was hoisted aboard, a large enough catch of fish being pulled aboard by the handful of ponies and Gryphons holding the ropes, while 2 foxes scrambled to the edge of the railing to grab the netting itself and help it onto the deck.

As he looked around, not assigned any duties right now, as everyone on the ship had at some point, Starswirl leant against a bow railing as he stared out at the horizon ahead, the sea air now still as refreshing, but no longer as exotic.

The waves lapped around as the main fish haul was hoisted aboard, and as he stared around, Starswirl saw Captain Blythe stood beside the wheel, as the foreman pony kept them on course. The grizzled black and grey Gryphon talked with a young fox, their crow's nest boy, as he showed him something on a navigation chart he held in his talons.

But just before Starswirl, with some crew off their duties for now, they had been playing a simple game of dice, where Irvin was taking part too, though he was being closely watched by the others for some reason.

"Alright, I'll wager 2 silver pieces on, 23."

Irvin raised an eyebrow at the Shetland Pony's bet, as the fox remarked back: "Okay, I'll raise you up to 3 silver pieces on 17."

"9." A teenaged Gryphon said.

"18." A smaller fox archer added.

"No you blaggard, you have ta' go at least 3 more or less, remember?" The first Pony grumbled, whacking the small fox over the head as he said this. The smaller fox gave an embarrassed laugh, as he remarked:

"Right, sorry, numbers's not me strong suit. Uh, 20 then."

"Alright, lets see." Irvin remarked, as he began to shake the cup. Interested, Starstwirl eavesdropped from up front, as the Shetland pony crewmember asked warningly:

"Ye are using normal dice aren't yeh?"

"On my soul, MY dice only come out against those who live on dry land." Irvin added, as he threw the cup of 5 dice down.

13.

Looking at the young Gryphon, Irvin remarked with a toothy grin: "So Gunter, you and me closest, are 4 off 13 each. Split the prize, or should we do winner take all roll?"

"Split, we both still gain from these winnings." Gunter remarked, taking half of the wagered silver pieces from the deck, while the others save Irvin grumbled or cackled at the outcome. Irvin cursed under his breath at a non-risktaker, and possible gains he could have had himself.

Starswirl thought to himself what this said about Irvin. He was a cheater in gambling when there was stuff to gain, and he didn't have to live with the people he robbed.

And he was willing to get more even after he'd already ended up with more than he'd started with.

Further back on the small ship, Siral had ventured out, feeling uneasy himself. He didn't have a good stomach for the seas, but he had enough self-healing magic to fight off the seasickness. Every other pony on the ship must have a sea stomach, otherwise they'd have already died by lack of ability to vomit giving way to colic.

Ignoring the smell of fish on the main deck being sliced up, and salted for storage as food for those who had meat [foxes and the omnivorous Gryphons], Siral slowly walked up the stairs to the captain, giving a respectful salute that Blythe required of any crew that came to him without being called.

Pointing for the crow's nest fox boy to get back to his post, Blythe walked around the wheel Pony to speak to Siral against the railing.

"Your friend seems interested in my first mate, he shadows him enough." Blythe noted, to which Siral looked out at sea, remarking with a half lie to hide the truth:

"He's still suspicious after he had his money pouch taken."

"Like the rest of the crew, Irvin won't steal from anyone we have to sail with. Besides, what I'd like to know is why you are even aboard this vessel?"

"Us?"

"Nay, you. Yer mate Starswirl is clearly intent on being here, but you seem distant. Ye do yet duties fine, but what is this I hear about you being very keen on news from Equestria or the New Gryphon empire?"

Resisting the urge to shuffle a paw, the middle aged looking 90 or so year old black Unicorn replied:

"Its been a while since I've been back there, I can't help but be curious."

"Aye. We've all left homes behind, most of us for good, on this ship. I was once a captain in the employ of Gryenmark's navy." At this reminiscence, Blythe spat uncouthly over the railing, to which Siral made the note:

"You don't miss it I see."

"Aye. All a bunch of cock and bull, posturing for power and prestige, and lavishing themselves in riches and glory while hard working gentlemen like meself back then worked for them, even fought for them. It paid well, but I just hated being subservient to anything but my own freedom. And because a lot of ships disappear in the channels north of Elkway, it was easy for me and a few crew to repaint and take the ship as our own without a fight. Of course, all the old crew are dead by now, attempted mutiny that newer crew wouldn't tolerate. Aftah that, crew like Irvin came in, new faces."

Turning to the Unicorn, Blythe continued on: "But ah must admit, you two are not as arrogant as the tales of many a Unicorn, or those Alicorns, put ye to be."

Siral frowned, as he'd heard one too many tales of Alicorns and Unicorns, the former especially, flaunting their power in their governance. Blythe then decided to take advantage of this right now, the Gryphon wrapping a negotiating clawed arm around Siral's body, the Gryphon making sure Siral didn't get a noseful of his breath:

"But its obvious yer here to ask something of me, which is fine, as your mate Starswirl is shadowing the one who has this idea in wake of your two arrivals."

Arching an eyebrow, Siral then saw Blythe march to the edge of the railing, bellowing out over the deck:

"IRVIN, STARSWIRL, mah cabin, now!"

Up at the bow, the Grey Unicorn snapped his gaze to the captain, noticing Siral had been there talking with him. From the dice game, caught mid loss, though pleased he was still in gains, Irvin turned his head to the captain too.

Meanwhile, the sea waves hit the ship as it sailed on north west all the time.

Scurvy Blythe, Blythe's cabin

The captain's quarters were small, but they were one of the only two cabins that had a proper bed, though as a Fox, Irvin's bed didn't need to be as big as the Gryphon captain's anyway.

Sat at his desk, the grizzled captain let Irvin finish the plan to the two Unicorns:

"-potential for better results, so I think now we can actually embark on some of the quests, more dangerous ones, me and a few other crew would rather not risk."

Starswirl and Siral eyed each other at this, the black Unicorn with the weblike, bald lined scars all over his black fur much more suspicious. It was Starswirl who asked dubiously:

"Risks?"

"Rumours of dangerous waters, or highly sought after and competitive prizes to be had." Captain Blythe remarked, the Gryphon pulling out a few parchment papers. Taking some in paw, Irvin's purple eyes were glimmering with some scheming as he mumbled them off, while Siral and Starswirl shared some knowing, perhaps doubtful looks at each one to varying degrees:

"-Neighverlands silver bullion convoys, the Bay of Grolstrom treasure hoard, the list of high risk stuff is endless if you help us make it easier." Irvin added, but Siral asked the obvious:

"Why is the treasure hoard dangerous?"

"Uh, no one really knows, other than nobody whose tried for it ever returns." Irvin remarked offhandedly, the fox shrugging as Blythe added: "Hence why we've yet to even think it, until now maybe."

"What do we get out of it if any of these high risk ventures pays off?" Starswirl wondered. Blythe raised a talon to point at both Unicorns:

"Your fair shares, newcomer rates. So, if you help us get a very big load, you get a lot yourself."

As the Gryphon captain looked at his first mate, the fox pointed out: "I'd take it if I were any of you two. Easy money, if you wizards live up to what we hear of Unicorns and Alicorns."

Starswirl was visibly giving some thought, the grey Unicorn thinking that perhaps getting Irvin to have a lot of wealth may well what sates his greed and turns him generous by sheer excess.

But at this, Siral frowned. He was thinking of the whole point of this.

Starswirl answered:

"I think it is worth considering, once we get to Glaceland. See if anything else comes up."

But Blythe noticed Siral was clearly of different mindset, and sure enough, Siral voiced his concerns:

"I don't think we should flaunt our power for such a trivial reason."

Starswirl gave Siral a stern, almost pleading look, eyes flashing ever so briefly towards Irvin, but the black Unicorn was unmoved. A moment of stillness came over the cabin, until Irvin heard a faint shout from above deck, as did Blythe.

"-ptain!"

"What is going on up there?" Blythe grumbled as he quickly dashed out of his cabin to deck, while Siral decided to follow too, wanting to get out of the still somewhat tense atmosphere in the cabin.

As Siral left, not knowing the Black Unicorn overheard his initial agreement on both of their behalves, Starswirl remarked: "We'll do it, but we have input on what one of these quests to do."

Irvin nodded, as he said enthusiastically: "Great, and trust me when I say these are well worth the treasure they'll have. You two make it easier is all."

"We'll see what happens." Starswirl added, as he walked out too, as Irvin followed the Unicorn out.

Scurvy Blyth, main deck

Stood with a taloned hand over his eyes, Captain Blythe saw the faint greyish/white sails on the horizon, the Ferao islands much more distant now even further back on the horizon. Up in the crow's nest, as Starswirl, Siral and Irvin joined, the fox boy shouted down:

"Ee's changed course, seen us an all! Viking ship's lighter, they'll catch us up!"

"Blast it… Not the first time they've given us trouble coming this way." Blythe remarked coldly, as Starswirl had some thoughts just then:

"I could use some magic to summon a few breezes for us, save us a day and help us lose them right now."

At the grey wizard's suggestion, the conniving Fox turned to him and asked: "Why not do that earlier?"

"The need never arose." Starswirl remarked. As Siral looked out, he then turned to look at the sails, scowling in thought of his own.

Blythe turned to the wizards: "Do what ye can."

But Siral paid the captain no heed, but the Fox Irvin then asked: "Unless you don't think your magic should be used for such trivial-"

A sudden breeze picked up, but it was Siral's horn that glowed, the black Unicorn remarking bluntly: "I'll allow it to save me a day of having to contend with seasickness."

As the breeze continued to fill the sails, Starswirl added his own blue magic, turning the entire series of sails a slight blue hue as the breeze Siral had summoned focused on them. After a few minutes, at which point the ship was noticeably travelling faster, they stopped, though the breeze kept up.

By the time it was clear the Viking ship was to be left behind, and the crew were in a better mood, and less distrusting of the wizards, the voyage settled down into monotony yet again.

Yet throughout it all, there existed a divide between Starswirl and Siral. Unspoken, yet present.

Starswirl was the one who associated with Irvin more than Siral., to the point where Siral spent a lot of the time outside his usual duties of cleaning, helping keep up the ship's speeding breeze, and speaking of the state of affairs of Equestria and new Gryphon, both of which seemed intrinsically linked by recent history.

20th November 221 BNM

Night

Scurvy Blythe main deck

Sure enough, the breezes the wizards conjured up saved them a day in sailing time, and they were due to arrive in Glaceland's port of their call for trade and resupply, and planning of the next step, tomorrow.

Most of the crew slept, Captain Blythe too. But of the few that were awake, Irvin was among them. The Fox leant back, idly flipping his compass with the hidden lockpicks inside in his paw as he stared up at the night constellations.

A sound of hooves preceded the second wizard coming to join the other on the bow, and even if he didn't move from his position on the middle, Irvin's hearing let him eavesdrop enough.

A key to getting ahead in life, as his parents taught him, was to always know everything you could about anyone you work with. It could come in handy.

So Irvin listened out of sight, as he casually stargazed.

As Siral was positioned as a watcher at the front of the ship, Starswirl had decided he couldn't sleep, and came up out of the hammock quarters he and the wizard slept in.

"The stars are shining tonight." Starswirl remarked, coming up beside Siral to lean against the railing too. The Grey unicorn in the blue cloak contrasted with the Black Unicorn in the Grey cloak, both in appearance, with Siral's scars marring his coat, and in their mood.

Siral didn't speak, other than nodding slightly. At this, Starswirl gave a slight sigh after a few moments of silence, tired of just the waves lapping against the ship as it ploughed on with their breeze carrying it strongly towards Glanceland, still a night's sailing away.

"Siral, you realise you cannot keep any doubts to yourself. You're even blocking your mind. What is bothering you?"

"Nothing important to you." Siral remarked, clearly telling a sore truth, yet not telling everything. Frowning, Starswirl pointed out to his slightly younger friend:

"If it is bothering you enough to put you in an even more withdrawn mood than usual, I feel it is important to me to know."

"You never complained about me being withdrawn before now." Siral remarked bluntly. Starswirl gave an aggravated, but sympathetic look, as he pointed out:

"That was before this voyage, before we came to this time period. Before Geldrath-."

"Do not speak that name!" Siral spat viciously all of a sudden, and he himself didn't know where that spate of anger came from.

"Siral, I didn't mean to anger you. I just worry about you."

This seemed to trigger something in Siral, as he looked down in a slight lament, remarking with some bitterness:

"As much as you worry about this grand destiny those oracles sent you on? Or is that exactly why you worry about me at all?"

Starswirl was left silenced for words, as Siral than wandered away to patrol somewhere else on the ship's decks. The Grey wizard gave a small sigh as Siral left towards the back of the ship.

He'd been like this, and getting worse, since the entire incident in the Malabutu Valley, at the merciless hooves of Geldrath, while Starswirl had not fully succeeded in helping his friend despite the Tigress Nahia's aid.

He'd been growing increasingly worried about Equestria, and any events of politics or conflict, especially concerning Alicorns, but more worryingly he'd been openly questioning the entire point of this endeavour of Starswirl's he'd tagged along on.

Starswirl was all too concerned Siral may well truly become a danger if this went on much longer, just as the line to worry about those close to his heart on the journey wanted about. The one line he'd omitted to tell Siral.

The line he didn't know Siral knew about as a result of Geldrath's tortures and revelations.

With a snort, Starswirl stared down at the faintly visible white rippling waves at the prow of the ship, the lapping of the waves.

"So, what was this about oracles and Geldrath?"

A Fox's voice snapped Starswirl's gaze around, as he saw Irvin standing there, an interested smirk on his toothy mouth, twirling his compass in his paw as he did out of a habit.

Scowling, Starswirl figured if he'd heard that, he'd heard everything.

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Well it clearly concerns your friend, so maybe a second opinion who hasn't been travelling with you might offer an unbiased viewpoint." Irvin smoothly practiced his negotiation skills, but by the looks of it, Starswirl wasn't fooled by it.

Though the Wizard clearly knew he had heard too much, and with that, unlike any of the 4 times before him, Starswirl told of the first half of the prophecy.

Starswirl was careful to omit any mention of the roles of 6 exemplary beings of 6 different virtues each, and that according to it Irvin was the 5th so far.

What he did tell Irvin was of the 7 beings to emerge that could threaten Equestria and the world, that he had been dispatched to jump through time multiple times in search of to counter when they arrived, to guide with any experience he accumulated over the ages.

And he told of how Siral had voluntarily come along despite Starswirl's protests to live his own life, though he lost to Siral's curiosity and desire for experience.

Whistling slightly as Starswirl finished his tales. He'd been told pretty much what happened in an abbreviated sense with all 4 prior ones, though not one mention of them as exemplary beings.

"So that's why you were so miffed about me nicking your pouch. You had magicked gifts from your travel mates who're dead by now."

As Starswirl nodded, the wizard's expression softened slightly as he saw Irvin was understanding, though not necessarily sorry for it.

The Wizard then decided to ask: "So, what do you see in your future Irvin?"

The Fox was quiet, though he cast a slight look outwards to the black horizon of the night. Not going unanswered, Starswirl probed: "If we help you on one of these risky schemes or quests, and we all get a large amount regardless of share cut, what then?"

"We keep it and find the next lot." Irvin remarked. Starswirl bluntly made a passing remark:

"A rather narrow path to be on."

"A rich one if I keep playing my cards right." Irvin pointed out, with a satisfied smirk on his face at his history so far. But Starswirl's next question wiped that smirk from his face at what in insinuated:

"Surely if you get rich enough you won't need all of that wealth?"

"I'll have earned it though, so who cares if I need it. I'm going to finish life from as far at the bottom as I started. Every bit, penny, doilan, whatever I can get my paws on for myself is one step away from where I started in life." Irvin remarked bluntly, jabbing a paw at him as he remarked with some sarcasm present:

"You being a Wizard, a big shot among Equestria from whatever time you started in, you probably had stuff handed to you out of worship. Others wizards, Alicorns, just like all big timers in wherever you go, you have it easy, so you can feel free to be 'charitable' because you have it as throwaway stuff."

Starswirl wanted to say he was wrong, that he worked hard to be where he was, and that his natural born talent still required him to work hard. But it was true, wizards and presumably Alicorns were well respected enough to the point of gifts and easy positions and jobs coming their way, back in Starswirl's time, and now presuming by Irvin's buried dislike of the 'upper class'.

Suddenly Irvin's greed made sense. He'd likely come from a very poor background, and clearly didn't want to go back to there at any cost by gaining wealth however he could. Which meant anything he earned was all the less likely to be so freely given away.

Secretly, Starswirl knew hard cases like Irvin had been who turned out to be exemplar beings in the past, but it was here for the first time that he truly didn't believe Irvin could change. Irvin's greed was his way of living among these crew, he was merely greedier than others by way of downright cheating if he can, or using sleuth and deceit to con others out of wealth, and likely a decent fighter for when things went bad, despite Captain Blythe clearly being more the combatant among the top 2 on the ship.

As Irvin gently clawed at a railing, Starswirl added with some apologetic tone: "I am sorry you think that way, and that I can't refute your opinions."

"Still, maybe you and your friend can help us anyway, add that to your repertoire at the end of it. Besides, we may well come across something for you two to help with in Glaceland when we get there."

Irvin flicked a slight wood shaving off the railing he'd made with his claw, whilst Starswirl asked the obvious: "And what shall we find in wherever port we end up in?"

"Whatever you wish, if you have the money, and if you find those who you can sucker instead of being suckered." Irvin remarked, as he trailed off, dreaming of the last time they were at this port. As he jabbed an elbow into Starswirl's flank, the Fox remarked tastelessly:

"Might find some of your Unicorn kind there from Equestria, maybe. Mostly a Gryphon presence if anything, they don't really like each other over the last few decades. 'Bout as much as the Faroench and Shetlands like each other. But I heard that Lady Athalie's expanded a lot since we last were there."

"Who is Athalie?" Starswirl asked. With a slight smirk, or maybe a grimace, Irvin's bushy tail wagged as he said mysteriously:

"A regular Gryphon we meet for various kinds of business. You'll see when we arrive tomorrow. She might have somePONY who arouses your interest."

21st November 221 BNM

Late Afternoon

Glaceland, Raykjevick city

Harbor approach

The arrival to Glaceland's cold, snow covered capital city was pock marked only by a brief stop in a small whaling town along the south coast to resupply for the day sail to the Glacelandic capital. It was the only true city on the island, about 5,000 Gryphons and Elk living there.

Had it not been for its location along a Muttlantic trade route, the hard conditions to grow food there would have made it hard for any non-meat eating kind to build there. But they did, and so despite any tensions between empires, gangs or companies, Raykjevick saw trade from all parties crossing the Muttlantic, a transit hub, and a nest of piracy, news from both sides of the ocean, and dealings illegal or legal as a result.

Looking out from the ship, the crew excitedly murmured about the upcoming shore leave of a few days. Captain Blythe had the usual duties to uphold for resupply purposes, though he would accompany Irvin to other places to seek greater sources of income or wealth.

Having two wizards in their command for now was a boon to not waste, even if there was a divide between the two as Irvin had informed Blythe. Some shore leave may do them good before embarking on any quests or whatever if turned out to be.

Besides, if anyone had potential news for them to take to heart for wealth or otherwise, Lady Athalie's tavern and lodge was the place to go to, the heart of Raykjevick.

Author's Note

Insights, doubts and a speed boost amidst the dull parts of long sea voyages.

But unlike the 4 before him, Irvin is an exemplar who knows about the Prophecy. He just does not know the entire part, only the first half about the 7 threats to emerge later on the world through Equestria.

GENROSITY III, Business, Grolstrom

21st November 221 BNM

Late Evening

Glaceland, Raykjevick city

Lady Athalie's Lodge and Tavern

The unofficial centre of Raykjevick, its biggest tavern and place of musical entertainment.

It was also its only brothel, as there was plenty of business in that from sailors on long voyages stopping in the town during the Muttlantic passage.

It wasn't like the Gronnland colony on the Muttlantic passage was very equipped, it was pretty much a whaling station if anything. So it was Raykjevick that was the stopgap hub of the ocean.

Lady Athalie, a middle aged Gryphon female, had a virtual monopoly on business in Raykjevick, and nothing occurred or arrived, person or event, in the large port town without her at least being able to find out about it.

Main tavern floor

The music and dancing played on the small makeshift stage, as chatter between sailors and the fewer locals rumbled in the tavern's main hall. As one new round of music started up, one of the more drunk crew members from the Scurvy Blythe recognised the tune somewhat, as the burly Shetland Pony raised his mug and began a slurred song, with more eventually joining.

In the boozer

you're a loser

if the dice you're shaking.

You'll get hurt

and lose your shirt,

sit there cold and quaking.

Lady Luck, your gifts are bad,

you trick us, then you make us mad,

make us gamble, make us fight,

and sit out in the cold all night.

Staring around, Starswirl took in the atmosphere and the actions of those around him. Lady Athalie had summoned Captain Blythe, knowing he was here, as well as Irvin. But the Grey Wizard had noticed a few things.

He saw a pair of Gryphons, travellers in more official Gryphon naval uniforms of some kind, who had followed the Gryphon captain with some interested eyes. Starswirl's mental magic detected no recognition, but there was a hint of thinking brewing in their minds.

'Brrr!' The naked loser moans,

when he's cold and left alone,

shakes and shivers as he groans:

'I wish I could be

asleep under a tree

With a hot sunshine warming my bones.'

Nearby, Siral was sat at the bar, deep in his own thoughts with a mug of strong potato cider half drained by his hoof. The Black Unicorn saw one of the Pegasi mares who worked here, one of Lady Athalie's 'escorts' of many, giving him an alluring, inviting gaze.

Blinking, Siral shook his head at the Pegasus mare, who turned away slightly puzzled, but wandered over to one of the Shetland Ponies from the Scurvy Blythe's crew, while the small Fox boy who acted as lookout on the crew ogled her slightly. Little Max as they called him, had a liking for ponies over his own Fox kind for some odd reason.

But now let's roll the dice again

and win some drinking money!

Who thinks about November's rain

while it's still warm and sunny?

The cheers went up as the drinking song ended, but it wasn't long before an encore was called up.

As the music began to start up again, and a few new ponies and even a few elk from a different ship entered the tavern, a sharp whistle came from an upstairs balcony:

"Oi, you two, Athalie wants you with us!"

Snapping their gazes up, Starswirl and Siral saw Irvin leaning over an upper banister, his busy tail wagging as he pointed at the two Unicorns. With a slight groan, Siral got up to walk up with Starswirl, noticing another 'escort', this one a Faroench Horse mare who was being groped more than she liked, her faroench accented protests somewhat clear as the music got ready to start again.

All of a sudden, a howl of pain went up, and the Faroench mare leapt back as the Gryphon male from the Scurvy Blythe crew grasped at the small throwing dagger in his lower leg, not a truly bad wound, but painful:

"NO PAY, NO PLEASURE!"

A grating voice bellowed from the balcony, as the throwing dagger's owner was a middle aged female Gryphon, scowled down at the crewmember who yanked the small dagger from his leg, beginning to tear rags off to bind it.

A few laughs at his expense resumed the tavern/brothel's atmosphere, as Lady Athalie returned back to her office. Clearly she'd heard the noise when Irvin came out to get the Wizards.

10 minutes later

Athalie's office

Suffice to say that Lady Athalie was impressed, or surprised, by their plans. But she knew having two wizards in their midst gave them some much lesser risks to their plans.

"Well gentlemen, I'd not recommend the Neighverlands silver convoys, not with Equestria tightening escorts on them in recent months. I can say this from what I've been hearing, now that my mind has been refreshed slightly."

She patted the drawer in her desk, which now held a small pouch of silver Captain Blythe had given her to 'loosen her tongue' as her usual rate of information trade.

Stood around the office, Irvin absentmindedly scratched his neck with a forepaw, while Siral impassively listened in, the Black Unicorn now more focused. Starswirl asked the obvious:

"Why tighter security on the convoys?"

"Pirates raiding valuable trade between Equestria and them. Equestria's been importing a lot recently, a lot of strong dynasties in the big pony nation have a lot of power to do so for a while, though they seem to be more active now in trade, and military."

Lady Athalie's statement was well founded, as for many decades now Equestria's military had been building up steadily as its economies also did, of the separate provinces and overall kingdom grew in power, the Alicorns catalysing that growth with their influence, direct or otherwise.

Captain Blythe dismissed this, as he asked: "Anything ye can say on the other venture WE proposed?" Blythe nodded to Irvin, who suddenly played a slightly innocent look. The Fox was acting until he saw how this was going with her.

"Any time I heard anyone talking about the Bay of Grolstrom treasure was the last time I ever saw them."

"Yes, but I don't think those poor fools had wizards in their employ, did they?" Irvin stressed, gesturing with a grin towards Siral, who merely grunted, and Starswirl, who gave a politer tip of his, in Lady Athalie's opinion, ridiculous pointed hat. Not that Siral was much better, he was riddled with scars that made him look like a walking mosaic.

Leaning back, Lady Athalie heard the faint music outside her office as ambience, while she turned to Captain Blythe, remarking: "I'm surprised Equestrians are working so well with Gryphons, especially if they're powerful enough to be called Wizards among Unicorns."

"They be humbler than what you hear of others of their kind." Captain Blythe remarked honestly, to which Lady Athalie gave a slight laugh of contempt as she remarked:

"Well they must be, the last Unicorns I had in here caused a fight with some Gryphons from the New Gryphon Empire, and the Pegasi and Earth ponies didn't exactly get on well with Unicorns or each other either."

"Enough of this, what of the Grolstrom treasure, what is it?" Siral said impatiently, to which Starswirl had to nod. Despite how interesting, or maybe disheartening the news of Equestrian behaviour among each other and with Gryphons was, they had some important business.

Searching for treasure may be a way to see a display of generosity from Irvin as he was supposedly destined for.

"The Grolstrom fjord holds the treasure, a treasure supposed to be the collected wealth of a Viking Warlord of centuries old, as strong as Thor, as cunning as Loki, and as quick to anger as Odin. He hid the treasure in a fjord blocked by ice and snow mountains in all places on land, and treacherous to enter up from the sea. What makes the waters so treacherous is unknown, and likely very treacherous given that's where everyone who dared sail to it decided to travel up."

"I'm certain our two wizard mates here can help with that. What else?"

At Irvin's request, Athalie began to talk more about the fjord's little known details. Specifically, the environment that was known. It was November, and winter was high upon Glaceland after all.

Lower tavern levels

A few drunken crew from the Blythe hollered as the song ended, as they noticed a particular Equestrian Pegasus sat at the bar with an Earth pony mare 'escort', recognising something on his coat:

"Hey I know that mark, that Nagger rig we chased from the Neighverlands to Elkland back in March had it! They sure were lucky they got a bit o' wind in their sails before we got em', I bet they're still sailing now!"

A loud roar of laughter from the Scurvy Blythe crew went up, but at this, the Equstrian Pegasus roughly stood up, shoving the escort mare aside. A few other Equestrians stood up too, among those of the ship crew that had recently come in:

"That was you!? I thought I recognized that blasted hunk of rotten wood out in the docks!"

A slight hush fell over the tavern as the drunken Fox, bigger than the others, approached the Pegasus, getting up in the stallion's face:

"Oh so your lot were on that rig then? You must've run a long way then to get back here so quickly!"

"Yeah, well it'll be a long way for you to run to whatever mudhole you crawled out of you bush tailed RAT!"

CRASH!

A glass bottle smashed over the stallion's head as the Fox charged him, and behind and around the brawl, while the bartender ducked behind the drinks desk, the Scurvy Blythe's crew and the Equestrian merchant ship's crew were very quickly exchanging blows.

The musicians continued to play, knowing they were out of the line of fighting so to speak, though grunts and sounds of Ponies, Gryphons and Foxes clashing with the mostly Earth Pony and handful of Pegasus Equestrian crew.

The 2 Gryphons who had been watching ducked away, as they saw one of the Blythe's crew members get quickly wounded. In a bid of kindness, they took the burly Shetland Pony stallion, Nayrington, into a calmer corner, away from the brawl, talking to him and presenting a few documents that began to wake the stallion from his drunk, beaten stupor.

Meanwhile, the tavern descended into a form of anarchy that wasn't exactly unheard of in this establishment.

Athelie's office

"That is it. Any other knowledge to help you would be known only to those who died trying to get the treasure, and never retur-."

Lady Athalie paused as she now heard the brawl going on outside, while Irvin strode to the door in curiosity to peer outside. Sounds of a few glass shatters and the odd smashing of a wooden stool surged in with the noises of the inter crew brawl.

Giving Captain Blythe a slight scowl, Athalie remarked with a sigh: "You'd best hope you find that treasure, you can use some of it to repay me for the damages."

Not waiting up, Irvin's busy tail disappeared with a passing call back into the office:

"I'll see what I can do to get them settled!"

As Irvin vanished through the doorway, Lady Athalie gestured to the door too, remarking to the two Wizards:

"Gentlecolts, I bid you good luck. I have just a few more matters to discuss with Captian Blythe before he re-joins you later tonight."

At her expectant look, Starswirl and Siral soundlessly left the office, out into the much noisier main tavern's upper deck.

Leaning forwards over her desk, Athalie gently fondled Blythe's feathery beard with her gryphon forepaw talons, asking bluntly: "Now, my Scurvy sea mongrel, the usual discount on the incense cargo you brought with you?

"If the service given for said discount is as good as always."

"Charming as usual… My quarters, where your rabble isn't smashing either my tavern or another crew to pieces."

As Lady Athalie strode up from her desk, she slipped off her overcoat to the hook outside her more private quarters linked to the office, while Blythe got up wordlessly, leaving his own sailing overcoat behind on the office guest chair, beginning to undo his trouser belt as he entered Athalie's quarters.

The usual arrangement for discounted prices from Blythe, though he knew he wasn't the only ship captain she had this arrangement with. She used any means she could to get ahead financially.

Tavern main hall

A few glasses flew as drunken brawls raged in the bar, and Irvin ducked and weaved to avoid getting hit by anything. As he slipped between the brawls, his paws flew out to the pockets of those forming the Equestrian crew, well-practiced, sticky paws going to work.

As Starswirl watched however, Irvin was merely one sober blur among many drunken brawls going on. Siral walked down the steps nearby to head down through, paying no heed to the brawls going on, though a glass bottle shattered against a bubble shaped grey shield he had invisibly put up.

Ducking back from a thrown Fox crew member, Starswirl shuffled towards a corner of the tavern to await the captain. Nearby, incredibly, Starswirl saw Siral magically float some silver to the hiding bartender as he pulled out a bottle of wine from the bar, his shield protecting him from any brawl made projectiles or hurled smaller foxes, gryphons or stallions.

Taking out his pipe, Starswirl lit up the weed pipe with his magic as he shifted his head slightly, a glass smashing against the wooden post nearby to splatter some beer over his faint blue magic shield. Puffing on the pipe, Starswirl merely waited out their next move.

It would be about 2 hours before Captain Blythe emerged, but the brawl would last only a few more minutes, with the Scurvy Blythe chasing out the Equestrian crew.

As the crew left, Starswirl saw Siral, still sat at the bar, give the Equestrian symbols on their now torn coats, a coat of arms of an unknown nobility family, a long hard look.

The coat of arms held a series of bluebell flowers on a diamond shaped shield, with an Alicorn silhouette in the centre.

Starswirl felt his own curiosity towards this symbol of the home country, but dismissed it for now. They had a quest to do.

The only satisfied ones would be the Scurvy Blythe crew, beaten but satisfied. One Shetland Pony, Nayrington, a sort of third in command, the highest ranking non-'officer' among the crew, had cast a pair of Gryphons a flashed smile as they left, though Starswirl could not read the Shetland Pony's mind too well in its drunken state, like trying to read a smudged written letter.

Irvin was likely very pleased, as his coat pockets were slightly laden with the odd stolen trinkets here and there from the Equestrian merchant crew, mostly a handful of lightly loaded money pouches.

The Fox at least hadn't stolen from the crew, and the others wouldn't know until it was too late.

22nd November, 221 BNM

Early Afternoon

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord mouth

Sunset was already near this far north, but it was still bright enough to make out the hazards they encountered, expected and not.

The Scurvy Blythe sailed slowly up the ice infested waters, oars being extended in lieu of sails. Mini icebergs littered the waters, and up ahead, the ice choked mountain slopes, some sheer cliff faces, marked the Fjord's rim. The only way in was by sea.

And the channel was pock marked with icebergs big and small, a few odd bumps always stirring up a tension in the crew. If they hit one too hard, it would end their adventure very quickly.

But as Starswirl had cast a reinforcement spell on the hull, the icebergs were not an issue for damage. Now the concern was ice blocking their way in full stop.

Up at the front, as he brushed some snow from his scar laden black muzzle, Siral saw the mouth of the Fjord, a narrow channel choked between 2 large fortresses of ice that seemed to loom over each other in an incomplete wall, like a gateway between them.

"Cap'n! The Fjord channel's clear o' bergs once we get between the ice walls!"

Up above, the crow's nest fox boy hollered down, pointing ahead. At the wheel, checking the map he had of the area, though this part was uncharted once in the Fjord, Captain Blythe brushed some ice off his coat, while the helmsman warmed his hooves against the gas oil lamp hung on a railing nearby with one hoof still on the wheel. The Captain called out across the deck:

"All hands keep steadfast! In there be uncharted waters!"

"Cap'n, shipwreck ahead to port, pokin' out the ice!"

A Shetland pony deckhand pointed to the left, where an icicle laden ship mast top now stuck out from underwater, near where the icebergs suddenly began to clear before the channel between the ice walls. The water was shallowing as they drew in to the Fjord channel, likely only a hundred and fifty feet at most in the channel itself.

Stood at the edge of the ship's rear railing, Irvin asked Captain Blythe sceptically:

"You think any other ships actually made it closer than that one, or us?"

"We're about to find out." Blythe remarked.

Up front, Starswirl suddenly noticed Siral grow alert, as he eyed something in the water.

"TURN AROUND!"

"What is it?" Blythe yelled from the back, while all around the crew saw Siral bellow: "The current is going to pull us into the channel! Look at the ice we just pushed through!"

Sure enough, the few mini ice bergs they'd pushed into the more open channel mouth had begun to be sucked into the channel as if in a river, faster than normal. Noticing this, Blythe made a judgement, calling out:

"Belay that! Keep the oars goin', we stay the course and avoid any crashes!"

"Captain Blythe I must protest!" Starswirl yelled, to which Irvin then pointed out loudly as the crew made calls down for the rowers to make sure they kept clear of the massive ice walls they were now moving between.

"The current has us, we can't do more than ride it in!"

Up front, Siral made the call to Starswirl: "But what is causing it? It's a Fjord, not a river!"

Up all around the ship, while the rowers lower in the deck for the most part simply made sure not to hit the massive ice walls rearing up on both sides 200 feet high, the massive ice walls closed in, the ship moving faster than the rowers had ever been doing in the ice field. There was no ice in the water flowing slowly with them, just black clear water glowing blue from the sea ice below and rising high above, like two glaciers coming to crash slowly into each other, divided only by the 150-foot-wide channel between them.

As the channel turned slightly, the sounds of faint creaking ice were the only noise, the crew were utterly silent as the sun streamed in only from the narrow crack of the channel's upper opening.

As they came to the channel's widening mouth, into the Fjord itself, the current slowing ever so slightly, they saw what exactly was causing the current.

Something was sucking the water down into a large unseen underwater tunnel to who knows where. A massive whirlpool, visible as a large series of white swirling ripples on the surface, far from the tornadic shape many would think of.

But it was powerful enough to actually create a current INTO a Fjord.

Seeing it, some crew members began yelling in despair, but Starswirl actually gave a sigh of relief as he yelled out:

"Keep to the ice wall, we'll be fine!"

Sure enough, the rowers had an easier time steering in the massive, bowl shaped fjord bay, the current sucking towards the whirlpool in the centre of the bay not strong enough to overpower them once they got going around the ice wall rim.

Staring out at the spectacle, the mini icebergs bubbling and vanishing underwater by the sheer force of suction in the center of the bay, Captain Blythe cursed aloud:

"How might we escape the bay with that monstrous current in the only way out?"

"Let's focus on mooring first. I see a shore up ahead." Irvin reasoned, the fox pointing a clawed paw towards the Fjord's shoreline up ahead, where the ice walls were gone, and where the shore was not a steep hill or rock face.

"All hands, we moor as close to shore as possible, make sure the anchor and lines are strong!"

As Captain Blythe's yell went out, Irvin leapt down to the main deck, towards the front of the ship, the rowers driving the ship around the southern rim of the fjord bay 'bowl', towards the snow coated beach.

Up front, the Fox saw the 2 Wizards staring out into the bay, mystified by the current, and he made a dismissive remark to both of them.

"What are you two so mesmerized by? It's just a whirlpool."

As Irvin scrambled backwards to head below deck to check on some much needed supplies for their venture ashore to make their next step in the search, Siral gave Starswirl an odd look. Starswirl agreed, as he murmured aloud:

"Whirlpools form out in seas or in lakes going downstream, not dragging water back inland. This is not normal."

1 hour later

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord shores

Moored Scurvy Blythe

They'd moored as close as possible, until the Scurvy Blythe scraped ever so gently across rocks and sand at its bow, about 100 feet from shore. Out in the middle of the ice wall surrounded bay, a half mile from them, the whirlpool's suction was minimal here, as the worst of it was from the other side where the sea was dragged back in.

Now unloading, there was a loud murmuring among the crew, as the third in command, a burly faint black and brown Shetland Pony stallion, Nayrington, spoke on behalf of some of the more nervous crew as he unloaded a crate of supplies for the small encampment on shore.

"We are stuck in this accursed bay now. We cannot row out, and what treasure we find is meaningless now!"

"Quiet yourselves, the lot of ye! The Wizards will find us a way to get out of this Fjord with the treasure, won't ye?" Blythe turned his feathered head to both Starswirl and Siral, the former of whom remarked loudly:

"Give some time, and yes. We have ways, we just must study it from afar before anything else."

Irvin then made the smart suggestion: "Maybe one wizard comes with those who go inland, the other stay behind to do that? We don't know what we'll find."

"I'll come with the team." Starswirl quickly added, wishing to remain in close proximity to Irvin for his own reasons, as Irvin only knew half the prophecy from eavesdropping, and nothing of the 6 exemplar beings he was the fifth of.

Siral surprisingly was very willing to remain behind, as he remarked aloud: "I'll see what I can find on this, strange water current."

Blythe turned to the rest of the crew as he shouted aloud: "Split up into yer groups, we need to make sure we have a ship to haul back treasure in. Those who stay behind can search the beaches nearby too while you are here, the rest come further inland, to the hoard."

Murmurs of anticipation went up, as preparations were made.

1 hour later

Mid afternoon [past sunset]

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord shores

Scurvy Blythe mooring site

Siral stayed behind on the beach, having lit a warming fire kept alight by magic with ease. A few of the crew members on watch duty sat near the same fire, warming their paws, hooves or claws, as around half the 40-person crew, about 20, had remained with the ship.

A handful had ventured off to further along beaches, but most of the Fjord 'bowl' shores was steep hillsides or ice cliffs, not much to see.

As night fell, Siral saw the dimming sky light up slightly with eerie green northern lights. Green, ethereal ribbons slowly appearing brighter and brighter in the night sky, as the snow only gently fell now.

Despite night falling, the crew continued on, using lanterns or Starswirl's inevitable light, as despite the darkness, the short daylight meant they were still wide awake.

Staring out towards the centre of the bay, Siral had got out any artefacts or magical tools he had. A few burning incense sticks to enhance his senses, Ghung Chian's magic medallion with some residual energy in it from past uses still, and a few potions he drank to be able to sense any magical energy.

Given the nature of the whirlpool, something that was't natural was causing it. As he searched though, that was all Siral had to go on.

The crew warming their hands by Siral's enchanted fire pit watched the black wizard, hidden in his cloak, focus on the bay ahead, his grey horn shimmering in the night as he turned away from them, deep in thought.

Out in the bay, the whirlpool rumbled as usual.

And further inland, the search party pressed further in, slowed but not stopped by snowdrifts, ice walls and formations making even a potential blizzard less of a risk for them.

Siral had no desire to search for treasure, or accompany the exemplar to be of generosity. Being here on watch gave him time to think things over. Think everything he knew over.

And yet his concern over the whirlpool in the centre of the bay grew slowly with each minute he used his magical senses to examine it, probe it, find a weakness or workaround spell of its current. If anything, it seemed alive somehow.

Aware, and hungry.

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord inland ice labyrinth.

They had reached a point which legends hadn't spoken of. The ice labyrinth they now faced wasn't intended, as natural forces had caused ice to crumble and obscure the path. But they had time, and trial and error would find the way.

Taking a few small barrels of brown paint that they kept on hand, the 20 fox/Shetland pony/Gryphon crew marked up each and every passage they tried appropriately, and they had already found a degree of the path they needed.

Wandering in, Starswirl sensed the anticipation building in Irvin as he was the one most anxious to find the treasure, and surprisingly, so was the third in command and highest non-officer, the Shetland Pony Nayrington. All the others, Captain Blythe included, were keen, just not quite as much as those two, though Blythe was merely for the pride of captainship and getting the biggest cut.

The Wizard ventured further into the freezing ice labyrinth's depths, where somewhere the old hoard of the Viking Warlord of unknown name lay waiting.

Author's Note

A lot of hints dropped of Equestria's state along with New Gryphon Empire's at the moment, a sort of equivalent of the medieval Anglo-French rivalry sort of relationship is developing at the moment between the two nations, though the incursion in the bar with the Equestrian merchants and the Scurvy Blythe pursuing them months before is mere coincidence.

GENROSITY IV, Creatures of Avarice.

22nd November 221 BNM

Mid-Morning [sunrise]

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord shores

Scurvy Blythe mooring site

Groggy from waking up, Siral clambered up the steps of the ship to the main deck, having slept aboard instead of on the ice and snow covered beach. The Black Unicorn knew the daylight hours were short, and if he was to try and suss out a way out of this fjord, past the inland current the fjord's mysterious whirlpool caused, he needed daylight to see it.

His hooves dragging slightly as he tightened his grey cloak, Siral rubbed a forehoof against his face, paying the fur-less scar lines all over his fur no heed. Out in the fjord, the white ripples of the massive whirlpool were as ominous as ever.

Seeing a few crew nearby trying to hunt for fish, with only little results thus far, Siral called out to them on the shore:

"Word from the others?"

"Nay, they camped out, sent a few back. They mapped the labyrinth, but now they're pushin' deeper into the main chamber they think!" The scabby looking Fox called out, while nearby his smaller Gryphon companion threw out another fishing line.

A few Shetland pony crew dug nearby into the shrubs they'd found growing in this desolate, snowy place, finding plant roots that were barely edible and not poisonous for them.

At this, Siral knew he had to check over the makeshift charts they'd drawn of the fjord again. He knew this wasn't normal landmass and sea behavior, yet he couldn't discover why.

Doubts about his own role in this whole endeavor, this voyage or Starswirl in general, were shelved while they were confined in this fjord.

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord inland ice labyrinth.

Hidden hall

They'd mapped every nook and cranny with the brown deck paint to show ways not to go, and finally they'd found what looked like the main chamber.

Old wooden posts, remnants of a makeshift Viking village by some guesses, were hidden within this deep ravine in the snow and ice, the cloudy sunlit grey skies a sliver overhead above the towering crevice walls.

Walking about the halls, the crew, first mate, Captain and Grey Wizard were puzzled. All around them, wooden wall remnants, and some sloping snow dunes, but nothing. No crevices to hide treasure in, no alcoves, and no intact buildings either.

Nayrington, the 3rd in command Shetland Pony crew member, asked aloud: "There's nothin' here!"

"Where's the loot!?" A cry went up from one of the lesser Gryphons on the crew, while another Pony on the crew yelled out: "We're trapped in this bay with no treasure to show for it!"

Sensing impending blame on either Captain Blythe, or him more likely, Irvin paced about on the snow dunes frantically, remarking aloud in greater volume each time:

"Where is it? Where is it!?"

Captain Blythe scanned with his own eyes, the grizzled Gryphon yelling aloud: "Spread out, search wherever ye can get to!"

"Cap'n, on the walls! Cave drawings, and writing!"

A random Pony crew member's sudden call attracted all eyes to the left, where a few larger wall fragments, overhung by an ice ceiling, had hidden from view a number of drawings.

Captain Blythe gestured for Starswirl, the wizard having the same idea himself, as he pointed to the writings and pictures while ordering the crew:

"Continue searching, the Wizard and I shall see to this."

The crew spread out across the snow dunes, as Irvin, curious himself, followed Captain Blythe and Starswirl. Nearby, Nayrington stomped his hooves in aggravation, ignoring how some wide pebbles shifted beneath the snow drift slightly as he continued to walk to a few wooden pillars.

Nearby, the crow's nest Fox boy, Little Max, called out aloud across the snowy cavern:

"Oi, watch for these ice 'oles! One misstep and ye'd be slidin' ta 'oo knows where!"

Nayrington glanced around, seeing one of those ice holes himself. It was the size of a pony, but strangely it had more frozen solid ice than snow around its edges, as if water had come up out of it and frozen solid to the lips of the hole.

The dark caverns stretching down into its slippery depths were enough to ward all the crew far from them.

Nearby though, as they rounded the corner of the wooden walls, they found the wall of writing and drawings, and someone sitting in what looked like an ice covered throne.

Suddenly drawing his sword, Captain Blythe pointed it at the Viking Armored Gryphon male in the wooden throne, the latter's head pointing down and motionless, his body covered in ice, yet looking as alive as an of them short of a moving chest.

Suppressing a slight heart attack, Irvin asked carefully: "Is he dead?"

Stepping forwards, Starswirl tried some blue magic, but after a few seconds, gave the frozen Gryphon Viking, clearly a leader of some kind, a swift kick to the lower leg:

"Yes, for a while now it seems."

"This may well be the Viking Lord legends of this treasure spoke of. I guess he couldn't live without his treasure." Captain Blythe remarked with some satisfaction. At this, Irvin's strained voice sounded aloud as the Fox angrily returned back to the snow strewn grounds with the crew:

"What treasure? There's nothing here! This was for naught!"

As Irvin strode off, angered by the lack of treasure, Captain Blythe noticed Starswirl using his magic to melt some ice of the Viking Warlord body's helmet, seeing a crest upon its brow plating appear.

A crest drawn in red cave paint on the nearby rocky wall.

Turning back, as the crew searched in the main crevice hall fruitlessly, Starswirl shone his blue light on the wall, remarking to Blythe as he approached beside the wizard:

"I cannot read this old language entirely, but I recognise a few words. And that crest, this must be the Warlord who supposedly had the treasure."

"Aye, but where did he stash it all?"

Looking over the cave drawings and writings, Starswirl saw a few symbols and words that gave meaning to not just the treasure's rough location, but this fjord in its entirety.

Fortune…Upon this Earth…Hidden beneath my feet…Followed…Trapped…Guardian…Beasts…Treasure lured them…devoured…trapped...Grolstrom.

No escape…avarice…lure…greed for flesh…waiting…Grolstrom.

Not one coin…Senses it…Greed its lure.

Beware the Grolstrom.

The cryptic words also bore pictures, of a rough outline of the Fjord without a whirlpool in the middle, and a handful of drawn Viking ships sailing in. Another picture showed the Viking Warlord pointing to crew unloading and pouring piles of treasure out onto the ground.

But the next showed a blurred shape entering the Fjord, and wrecking boats, though one escaped out of the fjord. Next was a picture of the Fjord with the whirlpool, the Grolstrom as it was called. Long black lines like clawed hands with eyes extended from the fjord's drawn waters inland, grabbing crewmembers on the picture.

Grolstrom wasn't the name of the Fjord, but the name of the phenomenon that dominated the waters. Of whatever IT was that was making it.

Walking around on the snow in the main area of the crevice, Irvin scratched his head in aggravation, while nearby Nayrington gave him a few scowls. They were both angry that they'd come here for nothing.

"You got something to say, spit it out." Irvin growled, while Nayrington took a step forwards in challenge as he remarked:

"Yes, you coaxing the cap'n with the Wizards who tailed you dragged us here and there's not a single coin, gem, or even a sliver of-"

Clink.

The noise of clinking metal pieces stopped their argument before it started, while Irvin suddenly dropped down onto the snow as Nayrington drew back his hoof. Brushing the snow away, Nayrington's hoof struck it when he stepped where snow had already been brushed away by searching footsteps.

A glint of gold and silver pieces was revealed as Irvin brushed away the snow, and he pulled out a handful of coins to marvel at. Stunned at this, Nayrington called out:

"The Treasure! We've been walkin' all over it! It's beneath the snow!"

Not 5 seconds after that, all of the 20 crew were digging up the snowdrift, revealing more and more of the treasure as their excitement grew.

Kneeling down, as he brushed aside more snow, Irvin felt like weeping for joy as he pulled as many clinking coins towards his arms:

"Beautiful… No poor living, forever…"

Nearby, Nayrington salivated at all the gold and silver, as he recalled what those 2 Gryphons had said to him in the pub, the deal he'd made with them. One which he knew none of the crew would object to, nor would the captain and first mate, as they all were walking away with the treasure.

Glancing out at the excavated snowdrifts, Captain Blythe admitted to himself that the treasure was just as magnificent to behold as he'd imagined. A small country worth of wealth, one that would maybe even require two trips to take all of, or maybe even three.

Yet nearby, Starswirl was glancing nervously back at the cave drawings, and towards the treasure being handled more and more, be it getting pocketed or simply moved about.

"Captain, maybe we should leave this here, until we have an idea of how to get out of the Fjord."

Thinking smartly, Blythe knew the wizard was right: "Aye, this treasure's worthless as it was to the Viking Lord if we cannot get it out."

"I just hope Siral is having better time than we are." Starswirl remarked, though he thought he heard something moving too consistently to be crew among the treasure all of a sudden.

Turning from the drawings, Starswirl saw something shifting a lot of gold and silver coins that had been partially dug, but before he could even yell it out, Blythe had lunged forwards in a flying jump, sword drawn, as the unknown being wrapped its length around one of the Shetland ponies digging amongst some gold, yanking him screaming across the snow and coin strewn ground towards one of the ice holes.

"CAP'N!"

Panic surged as Blythe came down upon the black tendril, his sword slicing through it to send it reeling back down the ice hole, the Shetland crew member scrambling backwards as a piercing screech rang from the ice hole.

Seeing this, Irvin staggered up, dropping a pile of coins he was in the midst of shoving into his pockets with the rest he'd already done, as Blythe's yell rang in the hall:

"Back from the holes! Make ready for battle!"

"Demons!?" Nayrington suddenly yelled, the Shetland pony readying the blade he had mounted just now to his arm by a brace.

Readying his own blue magic, Starswirl peered around the cavern, making some gauges of the ceiling ice.

A black blur suddenly surged from another ice hole, bigger than the last, as another black tendril launched out to suddenly seize a Gryphon who'd stood too close. The tendril was the tongue of something bigger, and worse.

The sharp toothed, fishlike head on a long narrow body leapt from the hole, the tongue dragging the Gryphon screaming to the hole, and its teeth. Right as the jaws clamped down the black eel rushed back down, the splash of water far below drowning out the sailor's screams as he vanished from sight.

Coins clinked loudly as the sailors yelled in unison, as 3 more of the Eel tongues came tearing out different ice holes like snakes, coming for them. Seeing an opportunity, Starswirl fired a blue spell from his cover, far from any ice hole himself, the blue spell smashing the ceiling above 2 of the ice holes each.

Ice and snow tumbled down from the roof, the screeches of the giant eel creatures filling the air as they were blocked off, even buried entirely under the ice and snow cascading down their dug holes to the underwater tunnels they used.

3 other holes remained, with Nayrington back to back with Irvin as they slashed blades at one advancing tongue, the Eel creature lashing in and out like a snake from its hole.

Off to the side, Little Max, the crow's nest Fox boy, gave a yell of panic as a tongue lashed from beneath some coins and snow to yank him towards the springing maw of one Eel. A blue spell hit the Eel from afar, the tongue releasing him as Starswirl advanced, firing spells as the Eels while also at the ice and snow overhangs above their holes.

2 more sailors were lost to the Eels before all but the last hole was blocked off. Turning to holler to the crew, Captain Blythe felt a sudden yank on his foot as something black and slimy wrapped around his ankle, dragging him through snow and treasure.

He'd been too close, but Starswirl's spell hit the Eel's head that had sprang from the hole before it could bite down on Blythe. The tongue did not relinquish him though as the Eel retreated, and Blythe roared in defiance, the Gryphon stabbing his blade into the snow just before the lip of the hole, and holding on with a single clawed hand, barely, as he half dangled over the edge of the cavernous hole. The Eel hissed unseen below him, blank black and grey shining eyes amidst toxic black and blue fishlike scales, as it held onto his leg with its tongue, tensing as it readied to spring up again.

In a heartbeat, the blue magic that had hit the roof of the ice cavern above did its work, as a series of ice blocks cracked and made ready to come tumbling down from above.

Acting in a heartbeat, as he sensed the creature's tongue holding on, tugging on his leg, he made his choice. He couldn't reach the tongue with his small hatchet and still hold onto his embedded sword with the other, but he could reach something to free himself.

Reaching down swiftly, right as the creature tensed to spring forward and engulf him in the hole, Captain Blythe took a breath as he swung his hatchet down towards his lower leg.

Hot pain engulfed him, blinding him, but he was free, and he felt the creature seem to spring back by the sudden lack of tugging. Swinging his hatchet up, he dug it in, and in a fit of adrenaline, the grizzled Gryphon captain all but leapt out of the hole, rolling as he heard ice boulders come tumbling down into the hole he'd just been trapped inside the mouth of.

A faint screech sounded as the last Eel was blocked off, though not without claiming something of a victim.

If anything, settling his suddenly white hot leg on the snow, and the cold metal of the treasure that engulfed the floor, was a relief.

Captain Blythe, his leg bleeding profusely from his self-amputation, was dragged to the shelter, where the frozen Gryphon Viking king lay on his throne. Taking the initiative, Irvin called out to those still alive:

"The crew of the ship may be in danger, somebody must go back and warn them to get inland fast, but avoid any holes like those by a long way's!"

1 Fox ran back, the crow's nest boy, Little Max, as he was the fastest among them aside from the Gryphons, though flying wasn't an option in the maze.

30 minutes later

Captain Blythe was gasping for breath, but alive, as Starswirl's rapid magic set to work on the Gryphon captain's leg stump, attaching a makeshift wooden peg leg forged from a piece of the Viking structure pillars sticking from the snowy halls around them.

The Captain's rear lion leg on the right side was gone just below the knee joint, and Starswirl had magically cauterised and healed it enough to bandage it rapidly. In this cold climate, infection was at a minimal risk.

Magic from Starswirl soothed Blythe's pain, enough that the Captain was conscious enough to do a head count.

They'd lost 7 crew to the Eel creatures, leaving only 13 including Irvin and Nayrington, and the crow's nest Fox boy, Little Max, who had run back through the 1-and-a-half-hour trek of labyrinth back to the ship half an hour ago. If he had run the whole way, he'd be almost there by now.

Sitting upright, as he winced through his phantom leg pains, Captain Blythe called aloud:

"Cap'n, you should head back with whoever does it, you aren't in the best shape to help us haul the treasure back."

"Nay. Leave this accursed treasure, we shall come back when we are better prepared for-."

"This treasure is too big to leave alone, now that we're here! We've come too far to give up now!" Irvin protested, the Fox gesturing to the gold literally all over the place. The Gryphon captain was in no mood for debates, as he stood up, steadying himself quickly on his new appendage by still having 3 limbs to stand on, needing to raise only 1 to make his pointed claw to Irvin:

"We are leaving! We weren't prepared. Ah'm normally one who won't back down from a fight but this time we should take your usual cue and make a retreat while we can, and take only small handfuls AT MOST."

Sparing a glance back to the writings on the wall, Starswirl had his doubts about taking ANY of the treasure at all.

Then, echoing in the crevice hall, a sword was drawn.

Irvin's purple eyes burned into Captain Blythe's, the Fox's hoarse voice clearly showing he was in too deep here:

"We aren't giving up this treasure! And you're not in any condition to say otherwise!"

"You dare mutiny against me!?" Blythe was outraged, as he pulled out his own sword, now standing on his new, aching peg leg and a good lion leg and eagle leg each as he held aloft the blade.

"Until you see sense, yes! If we are going to make a hasty retreat, we're going to take what we can for ourselves, even if we have to go between ship and here many times, so we DON'T have to come back to this Fjord." Irvin remarked loudly.

Around 3 of the crew murmured in agreement, eying the treasure they were standing upon, but 2 of the crew, a Pony and a Gryphon, stood away to side with Captain Blythe. But as Irvin noticed this, he heard Nayrington unsheathe his own blade in a forehoof, pointing out in a snide tone:

"I'm afraid neither of you will get your way. We will leave now with what we can carry, and as per an agreement I made in port a few days ago, you two shall be handed over to the New Gryphon navy, and we shall be allocated a part of this treasure when a full fleet force arrives to claim it for their empire."

As Nayrington spoke, 5 of the crew, having most of them himself, pulled out swords in support of him as he continued:

"Everyone, but you two 'officers', will get more than we would have under either of your plans in the long run, and full pardons to make life for us rich and without prices on our heads."

Pointing a blade as Nayrington, but not taking his eyes off the simply greed blinded Irvin, Blythe spat at the Shetland Pony: "Treacherous Nag! Cursed treasure is not worth the trouble."

"What is wrong with you?! The writings by the Viking Warlord himself say these creatures are using this treasure as bait for greedy ones such as you all! Listen to your captain, he can see sense!?" Starswirl exclaimed, forgetting that Irvin was supposed to exhibit generosity while Captain Blythe if anything was the one with his head on straight at the moment.

"He's lost a leg and blood, he's delirious!" One scrawny Pony crewmember, among the 5 sided with Nayrington, yelled, as the 3 sided with Irvin took up stances against those sided with Nayrington, whilst the 2 with Blythe took a few steps back.

Captain Blythe scowled, bellowing aloud as he charged, limping only slightly as he raised his blade: "Yer traitors, the lot of ye!"

Standing back, Starswirl saw the group clash, but given the numbers, Blythe and his 2 were very quickly overrun as Irvin and Nayrington's groups formed an ever so brief alliance, restraining the Captain and the 2 crew he had allied with him to the ground.

Leaping away as Blythe and the Gryphon and Fox were restrained, Irvin knew Nayrington would come for him next, and he offered a bargain as he saw the 3 sided with him getting into combat with 1 other crew each, while Nayrington walked towards him with another Fox in tow:

"Hold on a moment, if we arrange things, I can be captain, and you can have my rate, and we don't go to the New Gryph-."

Surging forwards, Nayrington yelled out as he quickly clashed with Irvin's sword, but before Irvin could counter, a tremor rocked the cavern to distract him. Nayrington swept Irvin's paws from under him with a kick, and knelt down on the Fox as a blue flash reminded him of a certain Wizard who hadn't interfered for some reason.

"Starswirl, you have a choi-…WHERE'D HE GO!?"

Another slight tremor rocked the cavern, only shaking loose some snow from high above the crevice opening slightly.

A few moments earlier

Standing as he stared at this pointless fight, Starswirl made ready to intervene as he saw that Nayrington's group were incapacitating the others, likely for greater bounties for their hopeful collection from the New Gryphon navy.

New Gryphon had been spending much on military as Equestria relations deteriorating into more resource and territory wars, or on and off small scale wars of prestige against varying Equestrian nobility territories. It made sense they'd have an interest in treasures with small countries' worth of wealth if they existed.

As he saw Irvin knocked down, Starswirl felt a tremor, coming from the direction of the exit.

In a blue flash, Starswirl focused on the ground above the crevice.

In an instant, he was up in the snow ridden, windy surface, blurred mountains far to the east, and the Fjord to the west.

In a few more blue flashes, he was teleporting to the Fjord.

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord inland ice labyrinth.

Hidden hall

Tied up, Irvin struggled as Blythe scowled at him from across the hall. Nearby, Blythe's two loyal crew, the Gryphon and Fox, were also tied up. Irvin's 'loyal' 3 had sided with Nayrington, meaning the Shetland pony now had 8 working to load up small treasure chests that could be carried between two crew each.

Overseeing it, Nayrington made a passing remark as he stood near Irvin:

"It's the most profitable way, I'm sure you'll understand."

"I wish those monsters had snagged you." Irvin remarked, to which Nayrington replied offhoofedly: "As I wish upon you in turn."

"Ye can't get far without getting' past the whirlpool, and any creatures out in the bay."

"The other Wizard is sure to have solved the whirlpool problem in the space of a day, and those creatures aren't too much a danger to us once aboard the ship, or in the shallows where we are moored."

Straining with his ropes, Irvin ignored Nayrington as he walked by, sifting through some snow for some of the coins to pocket himself. The crew were almost finished loading the chests, as the 8 assorted foxes, Gryphons and Horses began to carry them to the exit, but not before Nayrington ordered the 2 last ones to give their chest to one of the Shetland pony pair who had only one chest. The Gryphon and Pony pair understood Nayrington's desires as they picke dup the 2 crew loyal to Blythe:

"Lock them in the brig, I'll bring Blythe and Irvin myself."

The loyal Gryphon and Fox were escorted away, still restrained, leaving only Nayrington with Irvin and Captain Blythe, the latter scowling heavily at both of them. Walking over, as another tremor was felt, Nayrington pulled the two up, untying them from the post but not unbinding them.

As Blythe was pulled up, he noticed the cut bindings that Irvin kept around his wrists, his lockpick blade vanishing into his compass in his back pocket. The Fox faked being restrained still, but to spite Nayrington, Captain Blythe said nothing.

Irvin followed, dragged by a rope Nayrington held around his forehoof, while Blythe was pushed forwards at sword point, into the exit.

"You two are so short sighted, I seek to maximize profit out of this all."

"And be indebted to a higher authority, even if New Gryphon pays you well for the treasure and us." Blythe remarked, his disdain for higher authority evident. Irvin meanwhile, glanced backwards at the treasure floor, deciding to act now:

"I'm willing to let your treachery go, but the Cap'n may not. I have some loot to pick up while you enjoy."

Irvin's paws sprang apart, the ropes flying as they'd already been cut, while Irvin shoved Nayrington out of the way to then swing his sword downwards, slashing open the ropes as Blythe, acting on knowing Irvin's idea, span around to reveal his forelimbs.

The ropes fell, but before Blythe had even drawn his sword, Irvin was scrambling back to the treasure hall, while Nayrington made to gallop after him. But a livid Gryphon stood behind him, sword and hatchet clasped in clawed forepaws as he spread his wings to help him stay upright more, ready to flail any weapon he could.

"Irvin is greedy upstart, but ye are a dead mutineer!"

Charging forwards, Captain Blythe's wingbeats helped him steady upright on his bad rear leg, while Nayrington clashed swords and blocked or ducked hatchet swings, the latter weapon still stained from the captain's own desperate amputation of his leg.

Further back in the cavern, as the clangs of swords and metal coins flying during the fight echoed, Irvin had crouched down and began filling any pocket he could with gold, silver and jewels.

He was never going to be poor or hungry in life, and though he had not been truly poor or hungry for years, he had no desire to pass up this chance to be rich forever.

And Blythe was more concerned with decapitating the greater traitor than he himself at the moment.

22nd November 221 BNM

Late Morning

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord shores

Scurvy Blythe mooring site

The tremors had started very suddenly, as Siral was awoken by the sound of the earth shaking, despite the sea moored ship not feeling it.

On shore though, crew scrambled aboard as they saw a pair of fishing crew snatched from their perch by what looked like monstrous black eels, getting ready weapons. Siral formed a protective shield, though he merely saw the silhouettes of the eel creatures swimming offshore.

The Fox boy, Little Max, had come running out of breath to them, crying of black fish snake beasts. But as he saw them hiding on the boat, the boy was quickly brought aboard the decks where it was safer. The Eels weren't quite tall enough to reach the top decks, and the ship had to be defended.

A blue flash from a hilltop nearby saw Siral recognise Starswirl incoming, as the Grey Wizard bellowed:

"The Grolstrom! It's growing, get ashore, beach the ship!"

Turning around, Siral noticed at long last the source of the tremors.

The whirlpool, the maelstrom, or Grolstrom as it was known, had grown in size, the white water raging and actually dipping slightly in the centre of the Fjord, the confining ice channel to the west of the Fjord's mouth to the sea now much stronger in its current.

Blue and Grey magic engulfed the ship, forcibly dragging it ashore enough to actually beach it, out of fear of the creatures of the force of nature.

The creatures that made their home here, the eel creatures, were merely the much smaller males, or juveniles.

In the bay, deep inside the Blue Hole that existed there, were many small channels that had been dug underwater by the same creatures, many different tunnels. A colony of what could only be described as a type of bizarre mixture of sea serpent and gigantic octopus.

And as one swam by near the boat, Starswirl got a good look at it, as its serpentine, eel like upper body had long trailing tentacles behind it. But out in the bay, was the true worrying sign.

Each colony had a spawning member.

The maelstrom, the Grolstrom, grew in side, and in the center, barely visible, was a series of writhing larger tentacles, and a set of faintly visible teeth protruding at the centre of the dip in the swirling ocean.

"Gods have mercy on us…" One sailor murmured under his breath as others prayed or backed away in horror at the sight, blocking their exit from the bay.

Now it all clicked, as Starswirl remarked aloud: "They're like dragons, they use greed to grow. But they don't feel greed for materials, they use it as bait for prey to feed on."

Siral clenched the railing as he asked: "Are the others coming yet?"

Starswirl said nothing, as he turned back to look towards the labyrinth.

Inside, the 8 and the 2 prisoners with the 4 chests of treasure scampered back, while further inside, unknown to anyone, Captain Blythe and Nayrington did battle, while Irvin scrambled to gather what he could of this immeasurable wealth while they fought.

Avarice was the lure of this Fjord and its creatures, and they'd fallen for it hard.

At this stage, knowing that he had to see the exemplary being show generosity, Starswirl thought Siral had a point that this entire venture was a waste of time. He didn't see how they'd get of here altogether without him teleporting them all, but what would that accomplish? The desire for wealth, and lack of letting go of greed by everyone, would still be here.

All Starswirl knew he and Siral could do was try and keep the crew here safe, in case the creatures made any moves on the beached ship, and try and find a way through.

Meanwhile, greed consumed those still fighting in the cavern, or those coming back with loot the creatures were all too aware had been taken. They had marked every coin as bait, and like a dragon's hoard, they knew when it moved.

The Ancient Grecians had encountered a creature like the 'mother' out in the Fjord in straits they sailed once, the Charybdis they called it. This, the Grolstrom, had them trapped better than its legendary, smaller race member, had done, just as it did the infamous Viking Warlord nearly 300 years ago.

A trap it implemented as well now as it had always done. The Warlord's words had been right, as this colony of Leviathans had cornered him and his crew for the same reason, only one ship making it out to tell the tale before this maelstrom trap was fully set up.

Beware the Grolstrom, for greed was their lure, for their own greed of flesh.

Author's Note

Irvin has come too far to give up this all when the wizards presented an opportunity for one big haul to make him rich forever, and Nayrington's deal with the new Gryphons strikes with many crew for it making them rich and unwanted men.

Captain Blythe meanwhile loses and limb but retains his senses amidst this all, while Starswirl leaves as the bigger picture of the Fjord rears its ugly maw beneath the waters, a female Leviathan, along with its smaller, Eel like spawn and males.

GENROSITY VI, Reflection, Siral Departs

22nd November 221 BNM

Late Morning/Midday

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord, North ice cliffs, waters

Shivering as he clutched the sea ice, Irvin held his sword out, ignoring the vague call of Starswirl and Blythe high above, the wizard focusing the fox's form as he readied a spell.

The black creatures swam near him, but none yet approached as they circled, and even went away. Shivering from cold and fear, Irvin turned to begin climbing up the ice cliff, his claws digging in.

A splash sounded behind him, as one creature surged past him, and he turned to gaze in anticipation.

The mouth was shut, but the black eye stared at him as the creature passed by, before the head disappeared.

But the smaller creatures, like the larger 'mother' that formed the bay's maelstrom, had many tendrils as part of their tail, a horrific hybrid of eels, newts and squid. As the creature passed, one tentacle lashed out underwater, and found Irvin's foot.

A surge of panic caught in Irvin's heart as he was yanked away from the ice cliffs, dragged out into the bay, the speed he was dragged at preventing him from swinging his sword around to hack off the tentacle latched around his ankle. But after about 10 seconds, a most mysterious thing occurred.

The tentacle released him, and even a few moments after, none of the marauding creatures came within 50 feet of him, any movements slow and leisurely as they also dove to the wreckage of the now sunken Scurvy Blythe, the main wreck now sinking to the depths of the massive Blue Hole that the Grolstrom Leviathan 'mother' had made her home.

Now underwater, again, Irvin saw the creature in all its grandeur, horrific and captivating, due to how clear the icy water was. He saw her mighty mouth shutting, like a bulb flower's petals sealing shut, and the fattened body sitting like a tree in the blue hole's depths, her mighty tentacles too numerous to count from here slowing in their usual motions to help create the currents to drag anything in the water to her.

A reverberating growl sounded in the water, from Grolstrom herself, like the groaning of a ship's hull but magnified a thousand fold. And yet, Irvin was unharmed.

Not taking this blessing lightly, Irvin began to frantically swim away and upwards.

As he broke the surface, he saw he was a hundred metres from the ice cliffs, and thankfully hadn't been very deep underwater. A quick gaze behind him made him notice the entire Fjord had settled somewhat.

The shallow suction well of the massive whirlpool was gone, as the Grolstrom's current was now closer to what it was when they arrived, the white water only there in the centre of the bay. It was slightly less in fact, meaning that although he was growing tired, he was actually very slowly getting away from the current's stronger pull in the kilometre-wide bay of water.

As he swam though, Irvin felt warmer all of a sudden, and tingling. He was coated in blue light as he was suddenly dragged very quickly through the water, and even upwards into the air itself.

Up ahead, as he shivered while being pulled through the cold air with his wet fur, Irvin saw Starswirl focusing, the Unicorn levitating him up the 70 metre cliff and 100 metre water span as quickly as he could.

Dropping onto the ice, a good enough distance from the ledge, Starswirl's blue magic was setting to work warming and drying the Fox and his clothing from head to tail.

As Starswirl kept his blue magic warming the Fox, Blythe was sat down on his hind legs, easing weight off his peg leg of only a few hours. The Gryphon stared at the Fox, remarking all he could at what he'd seen, be it Irvin's self-sacrifice, his strange release from being eaten, and being rescued by Starswirl:

"Yer a lucky bastard, ye know that don't ye?"

Slumping forwards, rolling over onto his back as Starswirl's magic finished drying his clothes and fur, the shock made Irvin grow tired all of a sudden, as the Fox wheezed out, his purple eyes staring blankly to the slightly cloudy, bright skies above:

"I'll just, let me lie here for a bit…"

Walking past Irvin, who was lying there as Starswirl's warming spell faded slightly, the Grey Unicorn stared out over the edge of the ice cliff 20 feet away, looking out to the bay. As if wondering the same, Blythe remarked aloud:

"They took the others, and me blasted ship! Why not you, or me for that matter?"

Starswirl had his own theory, as he stared down at the now calmer fjord waters, and the no longer present dark shapes of the smaller creatures, just the current caused by the large one turning the water white in the Fjord's centre.

"They sense greed for prey, and you weren't as keen on the treasure Captain. Even with you fighting them off, they just weren't as lured to you. As for Irvin, at first, he was just sneaky about it, he wasn't as proud or certain of getting the treasure as those on the ship. Their confidence in their greed must have been a dinner bell for the creatures over you two."

"They took me two loyal crew, though ah guess trying to help the others made them get picked up too." Blythe remarked bitterly, as he spat onto the ice nearby. As he wheezed on the ground, Irvin remarked:

"One snagged me in the water, but let me go after a bit. But the big one, it could'a swallowed the ship whole…"

"Maybe the elation you felt from giving up your greed to save a friend made you seem like a non-prey to them." Starswirl suggested, only knowing the deeper ramifications of that statement himself.

"Me ship…" Blythe lamented slightly, the Gryphon growling under his breath. He'd worked hard, lived on that ship for many years, over a decade even. And now it was sunk, and his crew were gone too.

Given they'd mutinied against him for the most part though, he wasn't too mournful of them at all. Speaking of which…

Turning to Irvin, Blythe asked with a grunt as Starswirl sensed the tension, turning to face them now from nearby:

"Irvin. Ye mutineed, but not in the same as the others. Mutiny still it may be, but why did you do it?"

Gaining some calm from his lying position, Irvin breathed as he felt his heart rate slow:

"I wanted the treasure, we'd have been rich forever. You were not seeming sane, I thought losing your leg made you a little nutty, and I wanted to take charge so a cool head would lead. As soon as we'd have been out the bay with the treasure, and you'd seemed to calm, I'd have handed captainship back to you."

"Ah find that hard tah' believe."

"You lead better than I do, and you're the only one I fully trusted with anything."

Blythe knew this, as Irvin had been among the first to join Blythe's crew. Yet Blythe had to ask:

"So why jump to save me?"

"I suggested this place when we got the Wizards. If it weren't for me, we'd still have the ship, a crew. And I felt you'd lost enough today as it was with your leg, and the mutiny to hand us over for ransom to New Gryphon. At least you'd live, even if I lose what little treasure I could have gained by leaving you behind."

Blythe couldn't help but give a grateful smile for this, but nearby it was Starswirl who contemplated this, disappointed in himself for doubting Irvin. Though fate hadn't shown a gradual turn, or seeds of what would come. Irvin's act had been entirely on a spur of the moment decision in wake of great misfortune to others and himself, where he chose to help another rather than himself, to the cost of his life had Starswirl not intervened to fish him from the frigid waters.

The Fox and Gryphon Captain sat on the ice cliff top, but there was another matter that Starswirl hadn't considered yet, as a voice came with a set of hoofsteps from nearby.

"Unexpected, wasn't it?"

Turning to the voice, Starswirl saw Siral walking over, the scarred, black furred Unicorn's grey cloak billowing in the clifftop winds. With a slight smile, Starswirl remarked as Siral came to stand beside Starswirl at the clifftop edge, a bit of distance from the Fox and Gryphon pair.

Starswirl's smile faded slightly as he recalled the outraged protest Siral had expressed against this entire endeavour before leaving the ship. This endeavour, and the greater one he was on with Starswirl.

Siral had seen the no-win situation for what it was, while Starswirl had tried to help the crew get away with the treasure in hope of not seeing senseless death. Though in truth neither wizard saw the scale of the threat Grolstrom presented, so Starswirl's help was perhaps the only reason the ship had been close enough for Blythe and Irvin to escape, and Irvin to show his spurred act of self-sacrifice, in the first place.

But Siral's words about the greater quest had rung too close to home for Starswirl to ignore:

POINTLESS QUESTS WITH NO GAIN TO BE HAD!

Stood beside each other, Siral sensed this in Starswirl, before the Grey wizard asked the troubled black one:

"What you said before you left the ship, what was it that made you say that?"

Quiet as always, Siral remarked: "May we continue this in a less hazardous setting? We may need to help those two, including the exemplary being we honestly both doubted more than the others before him."

"True that." Starswirl agreed, though he would be sure to bring this up again.

As the Wizards finished talking, Irvin turned to Blythe, who was sat there thinking to himself. Irvin asked carefully:

"I know this is maybe a little callous right now, but are you sure you didn't snag any coins yourself? Not greed talking here, but we'll need supplies wherever we head next."

Looking at the fox, still lying on the ice resting, Blythe shook his head, remarking:

"Nay, skint broke."

"And if I had any treasure in pocket I'd have been eaten." Irvin remarked, as he casually dug into his pocket, finding nothing. He'd cautiously stuffed his money bag coins in with the treasure, now hundreds of feet underwater.

As if overhearing this, Starswirl had remarked as Siral stood back slightly:

"We'll transport you back to Raykjevick. Can you make your way there?"

"Aye, ah can make arrangements with Lady Athalie, employment maybe fer us." Blythe remarked, while Irvin nodded in agreement, remarking aloud:

"And ships from all over come and go, plenty of work to find."

Behind Starswirl, Siral's head turned slightly at this statement by the fox, but he kept quiet as Starswirl gave a nod, before he turned to Siral, knowing what they could do.

A blue and grey mixed flash engulfed both the Fox and Gryphon, while the two wizards vanished with them, in a series of teleport jumps across to the south of Glaceland's west coast.

In the Fjord's depths, as if all was the same, the Grolstrom simmered, her gullet and that of her underlings filled.

Underwater, a few of the smaller creatures swam into the wreck, sensing treasure, as they snatched up the chests to swim them into the underwater chambers, breaking them open to then take the piles of treasure in their mouths.

Once the chamber holes were dug again, they'd deposit the treasure back in place, their lure for any sailors lucky enough to get through the channel.

But this was a first. This was the first time some had actually survived the journey. Living knowledge of the site may well change things, though the beasts didn't know this yet.

24th November 221 BNM

Late Morning [dawn]

Glaceland, Raykjevick city

Lady Athalie's Lodge and Tavern

They'd arrived on the late afternoon of the 22nd, and had stayed in the city for 2 days now.

Captain Blythe and Irvin had got jobs at the Tavern, and though Lady Athalie had not been too pleased they hadn't recovered any treasure to repay her for the damages their crew's fight before leaving for Grolstrom had done, she couldn't berate them after what she'd heard happened.

A quick talk in her office about something Starswirl and Siral didn't know had simmered her temper with them returning empty handed surprisingly quickly. Why, they would never know.

Starswirl knew Siral was still not down, the black Unicorn had been distant, and they had talked briefly. Siral was doubting the entire point of this whole endeavour to do with the Prophecy, namely if it was useful they be on it while Equestria and others relating to it as a nation fell more and more into discontent and less peaceful times, an impending power struggle between Equestria and New Gryphon brewing, amidst the already growing power struggle of Alicorn led groups within Equestria itself.

Last night, after a long talk, Siral had left when Starswirl had asked whether he was doubting this quest, or his own role in it. That seemed to strike a nerve, and the black wizard had left for a walk to clear his head in town, and then returned to his rented room without a word to Starswirl yet said.

Sat at the bar, as Irvin now actually was working behind it to earn a living under Lady Athalie, while Captain Bryce had become a sort of bodyguard for her, Irvin handed Starswirl his usual morning drink and bread, before he gave a sigh, remarking honestly:

"I never got to say upfront, thank you, for saving my life from the water. I'd likely have died from the cold or drowned, sucked down maybe, even if not eaten."

"You earned it after you helped your captain, after you overcame the treasure's pull on you."

Looking away slightly, Irvin gave a small chuckle as he remarked: "I'd like to give you something as a way of saying thanks, but I'm short on anything as is. I owe as much."

Starswirl seemed surprised by this, considering Irvin's attitude to his possessions, and he remarked:

"I don't think I could take something you need."

Pausing for a moment, Irvin remarked: "Well, from what I overheard, you and Siral travel a lot, and I also heard you're leaving later today too."

"What haven't you snooped in on us to hear?" Starswirl asked bluntly. Irvin disregarded this, as he dug into his pockets to pull out an item:

"We won't be travelling for a while me and Blythe, no ship. Plus, magic or not, you always could use a good compass in case any magic fails or something."

Pulling out the large, silver coated compass, Starswirl was puzzled as Irvin opened up the thick backside, pulling out a set of thin lock picks. The Fox cracked a smile, his purple eyes glinting as he remarked:

"But I'll keep what could come in handy for me later on if you don't mind."

Sliding the compass forwards, Irvin saw Starswirl take it in his blue magic grip, slipping it as he also shrunk it, into the very same pouch that Irvin had stolen mid run when they first met just over 2 weeks ago now.

The Grey Wizard seemed to mumble something under his breath, though if Irvin's ears didn't deceive him, it was likely something about 'five down, one left'.

Raising his mug of light ale to Irvin, Starswirl made a gesture to Irvin as he saw the Fox bend down to begin cleaning some glasses:

"If you want my advice Irvin, try not to use those lock picks on anything in this town. A safe haven is a good thing to have."

"Until we get a ship to move about in as our safe haven yes. Besides, Athalie would string me up if I caused trouble in her town."

The Fox's remark wasn't at all joking, though Starswirl knew this town wouldn't be his and Siral's domain for much longer.

Early Afternoon

Glaceland, Raykjevick city

Lady Athalie's Lodge and Tavern

Athalie's office quarters

They had left, fully packed with what they did carry with them. Siral had muttered enough polite farewells to Irvin and Captain Blythe, who saw off the two Wizards they'd become involved with, to their financial loss ultimately but not necessarily total as they secretly knew.

No long goodbyes, as it was straight to the point. The Wizards had places to be, and could hire boats to get there if need be.

But as the Wizards had left, it was 30 minutes later that Lady Athalie had called them into her office for a more thorough meeting about their exploits.

The diagram Irvin had drawn was crude, but simple to understand. The treasure hall and floor of wealth, the crevice it was in, the opening to the ground above, and the beast entry holes around the hall, along with a few crudely drawn marks showing snow collapsing to plug them.

Staring at the diagram, Lady Athalie remarked to the two:

"Well, it looks like surviving it meant you may have found a way to get it more easily. Only reason nobody found the crevice to enter from with enough length of rope was that nobody survived the only known way in and out by the water."

"Aye. If we can muster up ways to block the creature holes safely, like the wizards did or better, and get treasure up to the crevice, travellin' by land will save a lot of risk." Blythe remarked, pointing specifically to the creature holes.

Adding to it, Irvin remarked: "I'd say we wait until spring or summer though, when the snow and ice is less. And that we keep quiet about this, no one else will know where it is, or that a way in by land even exists, except for us."

Giving a smile at the two surviving, and highest ranking members of the Scurvy Blythe, Lady Athalie's Gryphon beak cracked a smile as she looked at the two, though Blythe slightly more for other reasons:

"Well gentlemen, we and those we hire may be rich beyond measure yet."

"We? Ye'd come with us to claim it?"

"No, but you owe me for giving you jobs, and for the wreck your crew did fighting the other in my tavern below." Athalie reminded them. Giving a sigh, Blythe remarked:

"Aye lass."

"Welp." Irvin coughed under his throat, not letting his Captain, who now was subservient to lady Athalie until their ploy in spring or summer it seemed, hear his thoughts on his submissiveness.

A few long months he could wait until great wealth was his. He'd waited long already; a bit more wouldn't hurt.

He had no regrets.

Meanwhile

Glaceland, Raykjevick city

Docks

Starswirl had said they'd leave for the nearby mountains, though finding a secluded place in Glaceland wasn't exactly a challenge anyway.

Yet before they left, Siral stopped them in town, near the docks. As he took a breath, what Starswirl worried was finally said.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't keep accompanying you."

Starswirl stood by as Siral was staring at a ship nearby, which was moored at docks, though it was being loaded for a departure later today it seemed. And a particular Earth Pony officer on the crew seemed to recognise the Black Unicorn by his grey cloak, giving a slight nod towards him.

Turning to Starswirl, Siral remarked: "That ship is leaving for Equestria in 3 hours. I'll be on it."

"But, what about the prophecy, we have only one more before we have to then be ready for the 7 beings of threat to Equestria and the world, you can't leave now!"

Siral shook his head, speaking fairly with Starswirl:

"I can't stand by while we gallivant across the world and Equestria, and nations affected by them, plunges further from the more peaceful state we left it in nearly 6 centuries ago now. We haven't been back to Equestria in nearly 600 years Starswirl, 600 YEARS. One of us has to go back, and fulfil the pledge for greater good we took as Wizards."

And as Siral turned, he finished with a stern tone: "And like you urged me before I followed out of morbid curiosity, against your wishes, I shouldn't have come on this journey, so I'll go back for us both."

As he put a hoof to the scars on his face, and knowing of the ones crisscrossing his entire body like a mosaic's lines, Siral remarked: "And experiences have shown there's things that we cannot both ignore, from Equestria, and possibly against it in New Gryphon's case."

Starswirl was silent. He wanted to tell Siral that he was wrong, that Stasrwirl couldn't have done this without him, that he was wrong to think he shouldn't have come.

But he had a very good point.

And yet, Starswirl tried his best:

"We're partners Siral, friends! I'd do anything for you and you the same, we've helped each other and accomplished and seen so much. You can't just give that all up now!"

"You were the one the Prophecy mentioned, not me. I should not be on this quest." Siral remarked. Shaking his head, Starswirl remarked:

"I know Geldrath tortured you, that Alicorn was not normal, if this is about him-."

"Geldrath is merely one way in which my eyes were opened to a mistake we both made. We've been gone from Equestria, we haven't been keeping track of the very country the Prophecy states these 7 beings of harm will arise from, and by what we've heard, New Gryphon is on a long road to warfare down the line, and the Alicorns are growing increasingly powerful, influential, and ambitious to the point of even sadistic means in Geldrath's case. I wasn't predestined to finish this journey as you were, not with you all the time."

Turning away, Siral remarked: "This isn't goodbye forever. I just, I can't stand by anymore while Equestria is falling into disharmony, turmoil, from inside and outside sources. I'm going to return there, see what I can learn, what I can maybe do. At least get a better idea of what sort of things could cause turmoil from 7 beings down the line."

Siral's reasons were compelling, thought out, and driven by logic, yet fuelled by his own bad experiences. Despite all his pleadings at a sentimental level, Starswirl knew duty had to come before it.

With a stiff nod, Starswirl laid a hoof on Siral's shoulder, remarking: "I understand. But, I just can't believe this is us parting."

"You know I can track when you time jump, and how long until you come out. Once I have what I need to know, however long it takes, I'll jump myself."

At this, Starswirl gave a reasoned joke: "See who finds whom first then."

Cracking the smallest of smiles, Siral remarked: "You more likely, I won't know where fate will point you for case number 6, only WHEN you come out."

Putting down his hoof, Starswirl stood quiet for a moment, before he gave a slight cough, remarking: "So, this is goodbye?"

"For now. We'll meet again." Siral's answer was vague, but as accurate as could be.

Walking forwards, Starswirl wrapped Siral in a one forearmed hug, the Black Unicorn reciprocating himself, before they both pulled back. As Starswirl looked at Siral, he took in the slightly younger, albeit middle aged looking Black Unicorn for the last time.

A Black fur body with a white mane, and eyes as grey as rainclouds. The mosaic like scars across his entire body were hidden from view by his grey travelling cloak, except for Siral's head and face, his hood rolled backwards, uncaring of the odd look of fear or interest at his slightly disfigured looks. Looks could be easily masked if needed be.

Starswirl's blue eyes, Grey fur and lighter grey mane and beard stood in contrast, but he was content to let his friend go from here.

"It was good to have you with me, all this time. It would have been lonely otherwise."

"One more reason I had to leave, just as the prophecy warned, less chance of those close to your heart becoming a threat. Like Geldrath told me, and you didn't."

Siral's last words stopped Starswirl in his tracks, the Grey Wizard turning to see Siral already wandering over to the ship bound for Equestria in 3 hours, the Earth Pony captain seeming to take up Siral's offer on helping load cargo before departure.

Staring at the Black Unicorn vanishing into a few storage buildings nearby, Starswirl looked down slightly, lamenting a lost friend, and the secret he had kept from about one line in the Prophecy.

He hadn't trusted Siral completely, as Siral had him. Duty had come first, and Siral had volunteered to help him by both coming with him, and now leaving to deal with trouble at home.

Yet a small part of Starswirl wondered if he himself had driven Siral away by focusing too much on the Prophecy, ignoring much else in the world until gathering the 6 exemplars was done.

All of a sudden, the 5 trinkets in his small pouch he'd gathered from Mashri, Hinai, Frello, Nahia and Irvin weighed heavier, despite him now travelling much lighter in company.

Now those 5 trinkets from them would remind him of times when he had Siral on side.

Snorting, Starswirl kept the one hope in his mind that Siral would improve with his conscience and worries sated, while Starswirl would focus on the final of the 6 before returning himself.

Donning his blue pointed hat, acquired all the way back in Pahrii centuries ago, and tightening his blue travelling cloak, Starswirl decided to walk out of town to clear his head slightly, gain some full composure at parting with his one friend in all these journies.

4 hours later

Late Afternoon/Dusk

5 miles west of Glaceland, Muttlantic Ocean

Equestrian merchant ship

Stood aboard the deck of the ship, as sailors finished tying down the ropes for a smooth nighttime sail, Siral's usual seasickness was not there as he stared back east, the smallest part of his mind knowing he'd miss Starswirl, he'd miss the travels.

But he had greater things to deal with.

Duty had to come first. It was why Starswirl had lied to him about the Prophecy's omitted line all the time, even to the end.

Siral understood, and didn't make a big scene of it, but just let Starswirl know. When they regrouped, they would both be on better terms with their duties more aligned now, on the threats to come.

But Siral would be the one to know the state of things as they are, and were developing in Equestria and nearby.

And whenever he and Starswirl next met, things would be much different, that was guaranteed.

Whenever that was, whenever he came out of the time jump.

He'd drunk the potion, and he'd know when Starswirl time jumped, and what date he'd come out. Once Siral had enough of analysing and trying to alter the course of things in the present, he'd leap forwards too, and work from there.

The only thing was that where Starswirl was drawn was unknown, so Siral would be sure to do what he could to find Starswirl as soon as he was out.

For now, the first stars in the night sky beckoned above the rigging, as the long sail west to Gronnland, then onto Equestria's north eastern shore, was left to be done before anything else.

Ahead lay many years for Siral before he would join the time Starswirl jumped to.

Those years would change him greatly in ways he himself hadn't forseen.

1 hour later

Glaceland, north western hills

Hidden cave

Finding the secluded cave, knowing this may well be the last time jump, Starswirl readied himself.

Once he found the 6th, he would not time jump, but return to Equestria. Like Siral, he would return to his duty place as soon as was possible, once the lessons, and 'magic' from their examples set were all acquired.

He focused on the time jump potion and spell, knowing Siral would be aware of this and join him in his time, likely in Equestria, when he was ready.

The blue light consumed Starswirl for the 6th time in his life, as he was thrust forwards in time yet again, to travel to where his prophecy influenced mind directed him when he re-emerged.

What would come from his next venture would be wildly different from what he had ever expected when he started out this journey, and the lack of partner on this leg was merely a small part of that.

As he travelled through time, world events unfolded that had Starswirl known would be occurring around his time of emergence, would have stayed behind with Siral to try and intervene and dissuade.

Author's Note

The end of the GENEROSITY arc, as well as Starswirl and Siral as partners in travel.

It was inevitable that Siral's conscience about affairs back in Equestria reached a juncture with all they were learning, Starswirl omitting the warning of anyone close to him on the journey [Siral], and a personal experience with a turned Alicorn in the HONESTY arc.

As for Irvin and Blythe, the treasure of Grolstrom is within easy reach now that they've found an easier way in no one lived to tell of. A way where the creatures won't be able to touch them or the crew they bring once planned.

KINDNESS I, Of War, Daimyo and Ronin

27th June 112 BNM

Far East, Salaman Islands

Salaman Empire

The Salaman Empire was home to the amphibious Giant Salamander population, as they constructed cities with many aquaducts and streams integrated to make life easy for them. Pandina culture mixed heavily in this golden age, readily so, as the Salaman had migrated from Pandina in a time before history was written.

6 feet long, with often moist black bodies, wide heads with small eyes, and arms and legs that could tuck in to be quite short, or extend enough for dexterity and even stand 4-foot upright walking on land when used with their tails bent in a specific way.

Giant Salamanders could reside out of water for longer during the rainy seasons, but would often become less active in the winter months.

To those who saw them become involved in acts that dismembered or wounded them, the truly astonishing feats of the Salamders was revealed. They could regrow entire limbs or chunks of flesh, if not lethal wounds in the vital organs in the torso, back entirely within a few months at most. A common joke was that a living Salamander was only ever short of a limb or tail if it was still growing back.

Even parts of their brains could be regrown, though there was often a noticeable loss of memory that was never recovered if so. But skills could be relearned so long as the Salamander hadn't died from the wound.

The Salaman Empire was in a golden age of peace, from outside threat that is. The Haien Royal Family ruled the nation fairly and justly, but they were public figures, the ones who took a more philosophical, hands off approach.

With the right to govern granted to them by the royal family, the TRUE power of the Salaman Empire rested with the Shogun warlord, and the lesser warlords under the Shogun, the Daimo, most of them members of the Fijuwara clan. Wars against enemies of their allies in Pandina's north eastern regions had made the title of Shogun and Daimyo legendary in their exploits, and the security of the realm, maintaining stability, was in their hands, and in the hands of the Samurai who served them.

The Emperor was the guiding hand, while the Shogun was the forceful hand, the Daimyo his fingers. In this golden age where there was peace on the outside, the code of rule began to turn in on itself.

It never escalated far, but the Daimyo were already known to wage micro wars between their own private forces. In later centuries, as their power grew, the Daimyo, led by their Shogun, would eventually take over Salaman entirely, placing the strongest Shogun as the emperor.

But as of now, there was relative peace. But in peace, there is always the desire for glory, and philosophies held by some differing views on the subject of battle, honour, and those that lived by the warrior's code meant conflicts were not infrequent.

As the years progressed, Daimyo provinces grew in size, while others shrank or were swallowed by infighting by the nobility. The Peasantry were usually unharmed, as it merely meant a different leadership personnel and not much more. In time, as they grew too big, the larger provinces would split, and the cycle would start again.

The cycle of division and unity was done by many ways, peacefully, or bloody. But there was never a cycle devoid of bloodshed.

After all, the various Samurai clanss held onto the mixed philosophies of Pandhism and Tigaoism, a mixture of the concept of reincarnation and rebirth, and of the greater good.

Death was an accepted part of life, particularly for the warrior guild.

What it meant was some acts were justified more than some who received it could live with, even if they were part of their Daimyo's militia, the Samurai.

Those who abandoned the cause of the Samurai, of the life of Bushido, and remained masterless, refusing to commit seppuku, an honourable suicide, became lesser as warriors, shamed and vagrants in the eyes of anyone who ranked as Samurai or higher. They became a wanderer, a masterless warrior.

Wanderers, who deviated from their path sworn in life for whatever reason. Many would abandon the warrior way entirely; others would re-join other samurai clans after proving themselves worthy.

Some however, chose to remain masterless. Some let what events made them masterless define their life, and what they chose to do in wake of becoming one.

Little did a certain Grey Wizard Unicorn arriving in Salaman, summoned by a prophecy imbued in his mind, that the destiny of one lone Salamander and his own would be intertwined in ways that neither could foresee.

A lone samurai who had ventured down an extreme path of Tigaoism's philosophy of reciprocity, of returning the favour greater than he had received, by returning pain, suffering, and cruelty greater than he himself had been dealt, to any who had done it, in whatever way he could. Cruelty from his enemies, and even from those he had served.

The term coined for him would become a term for any samurai who fell from his path of honour, serving themselves or serving the master in ways the master wouldn't want.

Ronin.

27th June 112 BNM

Early Afternoon

Salaman Empire, Main island's North-Western coast

Mutsae town, Docks

It had been over a month, 4 weeks, since he had emerged from his timejump in the cave all the way in Glaceland, now over 5000 miles away. For 2 weeks he travelled, beckoned east yet again, further than ever before, teleporting over land and taking boats on the stretches of water where he could not teleport far enough to avoid plunging into the ocean.

His teleporting had improved as he used it, and now he could manage 30 mile bursts in one teleport. Some water crossings were still too far for that, which had been the slower parts of his journey. But now he had arrived, the nation where the prophecy burned into his mind beckoned him to for the 6th, and final exemplary being.

And yet, he had been in the Salaman Islands for 2 weeks now, with no sign of whomever it was. He'd travelled from Kuysuh in the south, ventured to the smaller Shikoku island state, and to the north of the main island of Hunsho, but something in his mind urged him that whomever it was wouldn't be found on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, so he didn't bother venturing there.

So he returned to the south of the Hunsho, the largest island, letting the vague prophetic dreams he had guide him each day.

Sometimes the vagueness was irritating, downright insulting at times given other events occurring while he was stuck on this duty set so long ago.

But he had seen something else, as well as rumors of it when he'd hung around Glaceland and the Eoropean kingdoms before heading east.

War involving Equestria and the New Gryphon empire.

Staring at the Equestrian merchant ship moored nearby, Starswirl still couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe what he'd found out as he'd been summoned across the world by the prophecy burned into his mind.

Equestria was at war with the New Gryphon Empire to its north borders, for 8 years now, with no end in sight.

Granted it was a series of wars squabbling over territory between their borders, mineral rich mountains and fertile lands less populated, but the fact that war had come to be the solution.

And here he was, summoned by duty to the other side of the western ocean from Equestria to find the last of the 6 exemplars.

The only consolation was that maybe, MAYBE, Siral was still doing what he could. Maybe if he had timejumped, he'd have stayed in Equestria when he emerged. Knowing how Siral was concerned, it was the most likely outcome.

For this reason, Starswirl paid no heed to any hope of Siral coming to find him all the way out here, IF he even knew he was in Salaman of all places.

He just couldn't help but see the sight of the Equestrian trade ship in port, and think of events he wished to address as soon as this 6th one had been found and set the example.

When this was over, Starswirl decided to forge his own destiny in the short term. He had to, he'd ignored events for too long.

Mid Afternoon

Mutsae town, Daimyo's palace

Entry plaza

Stood beside the main pathway, amidst a group of Salamanders and a few dogs, the procession was clearly ceremonial, heralding a foreign official's arrival.

The Equestrian merchant ship had also been a transport for a Unicorn dignitary, and by what he heard, one who had ties directly to the royal family in Equestria. Starswirl couldn't help but notice the royal crest was different from the one worn by the royal family at the time when he had last been in Equestria to see it, over 600 years ago.

But what was very slightly strange was a second emblem that the translator Unicorn wore. A silver lightning bolt slightly curving like an S, emblazoned a black circular mark.

He hadn't seen an insignia like that in his life.

The metal armour on the Pegasi, Earth ponies and Unicorn ambassador glinted in the sunlit sky, as the Equestrian procession of 6 soldiers, the ambassador and translator Unicorns, entered through the Torii gate that marked the entry to the palace.

The Salamanders, decked in full samurai armour on either side of the gate, stood steadfast and to attention as the visitors to their master passed by.

Starswirl kept out of sight of them, he felt that following them was not his path. Besides, the reason they were here proved a suspicion he had looking at the town.

Mutsae was clearly the capital of a province in good financial state, hence why the Equestrians came here among other towns and cities in Salaman to trade, for what Starswirl did not know.

As the Wizard turned away, the crowds watching the procession began to disperse. Thinking to himself, Starswirl knew the prophecy warned of a cruel person, who would come to exhibit kindness.

Cruelty was found in places of hardship, caused by or causing it. He had to move on to other places for his sought individual.

The Wizard, his blue cloak hiding his Unicorn coat and horn, began his journey to the edge of town. He knew an inn where he could stay the night.

Around him, the many water channels continued to flow as usual, along with the stone paving of the town's roadways, the city build for amphibious and land dwellers alike, as with many port cities in Salaman.

But for now, Starswirl readied for yet another day in 2 weeks of not finding his target.

Evening

Mutsae town, Daimyo's palace

Dining room

The trade agreement had gone smoothly, and the Daimyo had invited the 2 Unicorns, the ambassador and his translator/aide, to dinner with his family to honour the arrangement's success.

The rice and vegetable option was enough for the ponies, while the Salamanders indulged in sushi with the meal.

Daimyo Hisao, a regal robed, middle aged male Salamander, turned with a polite tone to the Unicorn ambassador, a pale grey furred, black maned stallion wearing regal dinner wear himself.

The translator kept her cloak on, the cloak of a royal court magician, and her younger, marble white fur and blue/grey mane was kept in a bun for practicality. The Unicorn mare, Teal Quirt, still wore the emblem of her teacher and magical guild, along with the royal family's crest, proudly upon her cloak, the grey lightning bolt atop the black circle, shaped like an S.

She had gained notoriety as Savant Guild's best pupil since his sudden re-emergence into Equestria 109 years ago, and his disappearance 49 years ago, in which time he'd participated in many political disputes within Equestria, and had even taken part in some discussions, to little avail, between Equestria and New Gryphon.

Siral the Savant had left a legacy within the 60 years he'd mysteriously returned, more than he'd left Equestria with over 600 years ago as of present for certain.

Supposedly a self-imposed exile, others said he had retired, as even Wizards could die of age.

But that was history, as she listened intently to the smalltalk of the agreement.

Amidst the Equestrian-New Gryphon war, now 8 years in, there was need for new weapons on both sides, and the New Gryphons worked hard to disrupt trade routes across the Muttlantic to Eorope, meaning they had the advantage there.

Opening trade across the Mustific meant an uninterrupted trade route by the enemy, and economic gain for the Salaman empire.

Magic from Equestria could be passed on in trade, in teachings or even tools, while Salaman offered what weaponry it had devised in its centuries of warrior code and culture to Equestria, to be used how it could by Pegasi and Earth ponies, and mercenaries they hired, and made even better in the hooves of the Unicorns and even Alicorn superiors.

As his wife and young son eat their meals quietly, Daimyo Hisao remarked idly to the Unicorn ambassador, Ash Clincher: "I have heard of your Alicorn leaders with great regard."

"Yes, they are a sight to behold, much like your Emperor from what I gather. Though they allow the commoners to lay eyes upon them as one difference." Ash Clincher remarked, his white magic lifting the chopsticks of rice to his mouth as Hisao replied offhandedly.

"That difference shows how respected they are, or that your people maybe don't respect them as much as their might should give them reason to be."

Quietly eating her meal, the Unicorn Mare aide, Teal Quirt, kept quiet, as she couldn't help but recall one unique thing about the Savant, her magical teacher's own teacher.

Siral had expressed his dislike of Alicorns, though he never fully elaborated why, besides having a bad history with them and not seeing the best of futures from them.

All the while though, the town began to fall to night.

Meanwhile

Evening

Mutsae town, Town docks

The first sounds had been a faint splash, as something had leapt from the water onto the deck, a blade's wet slash as it cut through the torso of a guard echoing in the night. 2 other guards charged, lower level samurai guards, towards the attacker.

The mysterious Salamander, decked in flowing robes and dark brown and red trimmed armour on the torso, and a mask like a blank faced statue covering his round, flat head.

A few yells came before they were upon the attacker, to guarantee a response from elsewhere later on. The guards charged, their swords ringing as they swung. But even with the attacker not looking at them, he ducked and swung out his tail, sweeping one samurai off his feet, while he had grabbed the other by the neck mid charge and hurled him in the same direction. The guard's head slammed into the railing, knocking him out, while the attacker walked up briskly to the now scrambling up guard.

The slightly curved blade swung out, but a similar one met it from the attacker, still stained with the first guard's blood from the water ambush. A leather booted foot kicked the guard's ankle, and the attacker's sword forced the katana out of the way, before it came stabbing down into the guard's chest, silencing him.

Nearby, turning to look around, the attacker, his face still hidden from view, scanned the ship with his venomous green eyes. He saw an oil lamp nearby, just as expected.

Not paying any heed to the 3rd guard, only unconscious, the attacker sheathed his sword while pulling out his bow and arrow, and grabbing the lantern from the railing.

A few distant shouts came from the docks as someone spotted him on the deck as he smashed open the lantern, dipping his arrows in the oil and then beginning to set fire to them as he fired them off.

He targeted the ships of the Daimyo's ownership, ignoring small fishing boats.

But he made sure to fire at least 3 arrows at the Equestrian merchant ship to ruin it. That was something that would benefit the Daimyo in the long run, something the Ronin refused to let happen in any way if he drew breath. The Daimyos of this province had to pay much more before he was done.

A few twangs of arrows from long range volleys reached his senses, as he sidestepped to avoid one hitting a railing too close for anyone but him.

The Ronin turned to loose arrows in the direction of the swarming guards, even setting lamp oil and fire to them before he loosed them to make them burn and penetrate at the same time if they landed.

But one or two arrows missed, and hit some of the houses, as the thatched rooves began to catch fire. That was what set off panic in the streets.

Running out of arrows, but seeing his handiwork, Chack turned back to the railing, making sure to hurl the oil and flame ridden lamp on the deck of the ship before he jumped off into the water nearby.

Swimming away under the dark waters, out of sight, he ignored the glow as the ship he'd fired from and set fire to went up in flames, killing the 3rd samurai guard aboard it too that he'd knocked unconscious.

He'd done what damage he wanted.

Evening

Mutsae town, Daimyo's palace

Dining room

A Salamander messenger came rushing into the dinner room, quickly bowing respectfully to the Daimyo and his family as he spoke quickly in the native tongue:

"Daimyo-Sama! Rōnin! Kare wa, minato de fune ni hi o settei shite imasu!"

Eyes widening, Daimyo Hisao surged up from where he saw, his slightly moist skin glistening from his robe sleeve as the Salamander's eyes widened as he barked back in a tongue too quick to even be understood, but the message was clearly understood by the messenger, who darted from the room to the main barracks with a very quick, respectful bow beforehand.

He would quickly explain to the Equestrian guests why their ship had been burned and sunk, and the scrolls of knowledge they brought lost. There was a Ronin out there with an unknown agenda against the provinces, his appearance and identity unknown by the disguise he wore, a remnant of a defeated previous Daimyo in this province who had refused to cooperate with the takeover, even when everyone else in his samurai guild had either committed seppuku out of loyalty, or had realigned with him.

But rumors spread that this Ronin had been made one before the takeover even, becoming disgraced in the period of time when there had been conflict between Daimyo Hisao and the previous one in this region 20 years ago, Daimyo Masahio.

A relic of a small war already lost, and he was a rebel, nothing more.

But he was a very capable force, even for a Samurai. Hisao had his secret fears that this Ronin would slip away yet again.

Next Day

Mid Morning

28th June, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island's North-Western coast

Mutsae town outskirts, northern hill path

The fire in the docks had been disruptive to his sleep, but Starswirl's help hadn't been needed. Though the 6 guards killed, 3 by sword and others by arrow, had been among the 11 dead. An air of slight grief and fear had gripped the town, but they'd recover.

The attacker was nowhere to be seen though.

Still, Starswirl had places to go.

Walking past the rather deep stream, where the last of the town's rice paddy fields ended, Starswirl saw the path winding before him, heading south west. He truly was winging it now, following his heart. The last time an attack had occurred in a town he stayed in, it had been when he and Siral had met an exemplar being, the Eastern Dragoness Hinai in Pandina, or when Irvin the Fox had pickpocketed Starswirl amidst a pirate raid in the Shetland Kingdom.

That was not the case here, as Starswirl faced yet another day, an entire month after coming out of his time jump, and 2 weeks after arriving in Salaman, without the one of cruelty to show kindness he was looking for.

With a slight sigh, Starswirl couldn't help but think over how he was wasting time on this quest, and that how much more quickly time seemed to go in finding the beings when Siral was at his side.

The Grey Wizard walked on, mumbling under his breath as his hooves rustled on the stone gravel pathway, the river running alongside:

"I sincerely hope Siral is having better luck wherever he is, if he has emerged as promised."

Given the New Gryphon war in equestrian right now though, Starswirl wondered if he and Siral could compare shortcomings on their recent ventures if they met again. Little did Starswirl know of two beings of concern to him being in places he didn't think of.

Elsewhere, his friend was out there, as Siral was doing what he thought was for the best, for Equestria and the world, though he had a loose end or two to address.

But more crucially would be a feeling Starswirl began to have later on.

Early Afternoon

Hill/river pathway

It had been for a while now, and yet as he came close to the river each time on his path, he got this distinct impression that somebody was following him. And yet nobody was walking up the path at all, nor was there a boat on the deep river either.

Starswirl's magic had sensed somebody following him from a distance, with potentially ill intent, and so he was on guard now.

Swimming, hidden beneath the river, his armour worn inside out to show dark grey colour to match his dark amphibious hide, the Ronin swam upstream underwater, eyes able to see the Wizard Unicorn further ahead while he could not see him.

Chack's green eyes narrowed behind his bank mask, as he saw an opportunity to hurt the leadership's power by slaying this Equestrian, foolish enough to take a wander outside of town alone.

He swam upriver unseen by anyone, as Starswirl continued his trek towards a village marked nearby, where this river ran from. Chack knew that was where he was headed, and began to swim upriver, to get ahead.

Up on the bridge, Starswirl could have sworn he saw the very faintest flicker of a green hue take over his mind, but unlike first sightings of the other exemplar beings, this one hadn't lasted full tilt, but seemed to give out after a blink. Almost as if only a brief glimpse had been made.

Stopping, Starswirl searched around the nearby forests, plains and river with his eyes, but saw no living creature of note.

He could have sworn he felt something following him, and now his mind was playing deceit upon him.

This leg of his journey without Siral had been going less smoothly from the start, and Starswirl wondered more and more that Siral had been right to go back to Equestria and try and solve problems.

Given the war unfolding there now, he wondered if he should have gone back too.

The Unicorn continued up the road, while his hunter, Chack the Ronin, swam unseen up the river, breathing underwater the whole way. Chack had one goal, to kill the Equestrians he'd seen in town.

Daimyo Hisao had been allying with Equstrians to gain economic and political influence, and Chack had a desire to undermine his influence by any means, harming innocents or not. It was only fair after what was done to his bretheren, both in harming them and turning those that remained from the true path in order to serve their new master.

After all, Tigaoism said to do unto others more than as they did unto you, for better or worse. He had been greatly wronged by them, and so he would do much worse in kind.

Slaying this Unicorn who clearly had come with them was merely another way of cutting the new Daimyo's influence. Simple as that.

Chack swam upriver, while Starswirl walked to the distant river mountain village of the same. He'd ambushed others, pony or not, in a similar way, in different places. He knew the land, this Unicorn did not.

He wouldn't be given the chance to.

Author's Note

This is the first time an exemplar being actively is hunting one of the Wizards for a long period of time, whereas at most they were random, brief pursuits or encounters.

Based on Taoism's principle of Reciprocity, Chack has a great deal of payback to give yet to Daimyo Hisao and anyone who serves him, or even the innocents who live and in any way help to give him power. To in any way associate with Daimyo makes them a target in Chack's eyes.

KINDNESS II, Bushido: Code of Cruelty

Mid-Morning

29th June, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, Hill region

Provincial border, Daiha town.

Having stayed overnight, Starswirl now wandered the streets of a large village nestled between two steep hills, more like a canyon. The waterfall at the town's west end that then ran as a river through the middle of town was its landmark, the town criss-crossed with a few footbridges, wooden or stone arched, across the 50-foot-wide, deep, slower moving river that ran down the middle of the town, which slowly sloped up the hill rises in the form of many black, brown and dark grey wooden and sloped roof structures, some structures rising higher than others, the smallest being shacks nestled on riverside stone walkways only a foot above the waterline.

Being on the border of two provinces, this peaceful town was always on the alert.

The Grey Unicorn made sure his blue cloak remained fastened, as he also kept his hat in place atop his head. He received the odd look here and there, like any foreigner would in a mostly salamander populated town.

Higher up in one of the temples, Starswirl saw a few Samurai watching him from on high. They were the local police of sorts, maintaining order in this town, both from the inside and against attack by rivals in the province they were bordering yet didn't serve.

Still, the looks he was getting were unnerving, but he continued on.

Up above, watching like hawks, the Samurai guards spoke to one another, their beady Salamander eyes watching the grey wizard as he strode slowly across one of the river foot bridges, seemingly taking in the sights of town in daylight after arriving last night in the darkness.

"Yunikōn wa, watashitachi no keikai-yōdesu." [The Unicorn seems wary of us.]

The slightly younger Samurai spoke to the elder, a female of slightly older age than he. While female Samurai were not allowed to go out on attack missions, they were common in defending territory already acquired and held, given the role of Salaman women in maintaining, and defending the home, extending to Bushido's ways.

"Kare wa gaikoku no ōzoku no hōmon-sha no 1dattara, kare wa anzenda to kanjirudarou. Watashitachiha Rasuku daimyō ga dōmeikuni to shite motte iru mono to seigō 1 o motte iru to omoimasu." [If he were one of the foreign royalty's visitors, he'd feel safe. I think we have one aligned with the ones the Rasuku Daimyo have as allies.]

At his superior's words, the younger Samurai gave a nod to her, as he watched the wizard while she turned to give a quick hand signal.

Lady Yume led the town's defence and order of this town, and her word was law here.

Across the way, on the other side of the river, another samurai warrior saw her hand signal, and began to make his way down the streets.

Submerged in the river, the Ronin watched his prey with caution, hiding under a small alcove in the river to keep an eye on the wizard as he finished crossing the bridge to walk along the upper pathway.

Yet as he keenly watched this Wizard Unicorn, he noticed something odd.

As he peeked out of the water, he noticed some of the samurai marauding the Wizard, in a way they would never do to anyone associated with honoured guests of their Province's Daimyo, Hisao, in this case those associated with the Equestrian royal family.

If they were marauding him, he was under suspicion.

Chack thought to himself that it might be better to wait and see before anything else, but he made sure to swim undetected, following the Wizard unseen in the waters below him.

Starswirl stopped as he saw one samurai, the young male Salamander wearing robes of blue and pink décor, stride out methodically into his path 30 feet in front of him, staring him in the face with scrutiny.

"Dare ga daimyō Hisao ga ni yotte hōmon sa rete iru ōshitsu no taishidearu, to anata wa kare o shitte imasu ka?" [Who is the royal Ambassador that Daimyo Hisao is being visited by, and do you know him?]

Pausing, Starswirl didn't understand the dialect entirely, as he kept quiet for a moment. The Samurai asked again, this time more sternly. Reading the Samurai's mind for a translation as subtly as he could muster, Starswirl worded his response in the native tongue as best he could.

"Bajutsu taishi…no namae wa…asshukurinchādearu-san, to watashi wa…kare ni jibun…jishin o shirimasen." [The Equestrian ambassador's name is Ash Clincher and I do not know him myself.]

Hearing this answer, the Salamander gave a curt nod to someone coming up behind Starswirl, as the Wizard turned to see a pair of other Samurai coming towards him, another young male and an elder female, all decked in the same colours of blue and pink robes.

It was the female Salamander who spoke, Mistress Yume, this time in the universal tongue. What Starswirl would quickly find was that, like in many cultures, a local dialect was used for more selective speaking, as it helped with secrecy.

But for visiting dignitaries to Salaman, to adhere to strict security, they were expected to understand the local dialect. Starswirl could fake that with his mind reading helping him learn or mimic.

But the female Samurai regarded him coldly as she spoke to him:

"Daimyo Hisao ordered that any Equestrians who do not know the ambassador he speaks with are to be treated as enemies of the province. So who are you allied with? Daimyo Matsuho's Equestrian allies?"

"What? I don't know what you are speaking of." Starswirl remarked loudly, as he felt tension all of a sudden in the air.

The Grey Wizard saw a few handful of other samurai in the town also watching from afar, along with the more basic archers and simple guards in the town. A town rife with paranoia and fighting by being on the border of Daimyo Matsuho's province, a rival power to Daimyo Hisao's rule, despite them both serving the Shogun of Salaman.

By the Shogun's rules, competition was encouraged, so that those that lived in the time of greater crisis were as formidable as possible.

Chack could wreak great havoc here against a town under Hisao's command if a Wizard was also defending himself at the same time.

The salamander swam slowly to the edge of the water, gearing himself under its murky depths for a jump as he gave a last sense of the air, his touch and vibration detection of the air itself compensating for his lesser vision, like all Salamanders.

Crouching in the shallows, he flew from the water, his sword in hand flying outwards in a sweeping arc as he came down onto the pathway.

The Salamander behind him, the first to confront him, had begun to reach for his sword, right after which Starswirl readied his horn to fire a non-lethal spell.

A sound of clicking metal behind him showed other samurai readying weapons as he turned, most wielding swords but others wielding spear blades, the female Samurai 'leader' one such. But it was a strange splash of something leaping from the water that signalled the start.

A warrior's cry sounded as the sound of slicing flesh filled Starswirl's ears, as he whipped around to see a soaking wet samurai spinning to finish slicing the first samurai down the back, deep into the spine. This one wore leather and metallic armour, clearly more ready for battle than most of the samurai in this town, and especially the peasants and artisans and merchants the samurai presided over.

As the blank mask stared at Starswirl, a grey helmet atop a series of armoured red and brown robes with leather covered feet and tail, he felt it. The flare of prophetic recognition, just like the 5 before.

A flash of green in his mind, as the supposed exemplar of kindness to be had emerged. In reality, he had been stalking Starswirl, thinking he was aligned with Hisao for the same reasons, but now saw otherwise like these locals.

But already, it was clear he lived up to his name of a cruel one. But in the world of Bushido, the samurai code, cruelty was commonplace.

Shouts arose that snapped Starswirl from his brief trance, as he saw the Ronin spring into action:

"THE RONIN!"

Recognising the figure by descriptions, the guards all over the town sprang to action, though as the Ronin leapt upwards, taking on a first guard, Starswirl saw a few samurai approaching him, as the rest prioritised the Ronin, Chack.

Swords were drawn, but it was the female Samurai leader who approached with the look of seemingly arrogant challenge:

"Daimyo Hisao-san shall be pleased when we deliver your head to him."

"You're outmatched, don't even try to-!" Starswirl cut himself off as he heard an arrow whistle past his head, as he then raised a blue hued bubble shield against the archers on the other side of the river.

Ahead of him, the Samurai mistress swung out her weapon, a chain mace Manriki-kusari, the fist sized weight end whistling through the air to smash into Starswirl neck. But the mace end deflected off his shield with a rippling hum, while Starswirl wasted no time in surging the field outwards to send the ones ahead of him flying back.

While her male counterpart fell into the river, the mistress dug her other weapon, a Gunsen blade fan, into the paving to stop herself. But ahead, the Wizard vanished in a blue flash, teleporting out.

Seething, the Samurai mistress heard commotion up in the streets nearby, as screams of villagers came with the sounds of clashing blades

A narrow line of red stained the ground as Chack stormed past the Samurai he'd decapitated, his sword sending a faint few trails of blood like paint flicked from a wet brush.

The masked Salamander's brown and red armour, atop his white robes, now had many blood stains upon it. But up ahead, the other Samurai charged him, a larger Salamander likely twice his weight charging him.

Swinging out his sword, Chack visibly was shocked beneath his mask as he saw a set of metal knuckle blades catch his blade, the Salamander's fist locking with his blade. Tekko-Kagi, the claws of death as they were known.

The large Salamander drove Chack's sword down, swinging out his other fist. Ducking, knowing he'd trained against this and most other weapons, Chack let one hand go from his sword as he let the larger male's fist pass his head, and in a heartbeat, he drove his fist, armed with blunt knuckle pads, into the larger male's exposed armpit.

A crack sounded, as he'd dislocated and hit a pressure point in the same blow, sending the larger Salamander reeling back in agony and shock, releasing the katana from his lock in his claw tool.

Around him, as he pulled his sword backwards, he heard enemies approaching. But before anything else, he swiftly kicked out, driving his foot into the chin of the larger samurai brute, disorienting him. But the brute countered quickly, swinging madly out with his claws again.

Right as he saw the claws coming for him, Chack heard, and felt, the air around him. He felt the rush of the claw wearing fist in the air in front, the sensed samurai approaching him from the side, and the archer lined up on him behind.

He sensed the arrow flying towards him from that archer too.

Ducking, Chack didn't even need to see it to smile in success, as the larger salamander hollered as the arrow pierced his upper thigh, the shot meant for Chack's helmet rear, the weak point, imbedding in his leg instead.

Not hesitating, the Ronin slashed his sword in an upwards arc, and blade cut the Salamander's head open from the chin upwards as he'd been staggered mid charge.

A cowering villager screamed as the notably larger samurai was felled of his head, the Ronin charging forwards into combat with another Samurai who defended their village while the archer on a rooftop struggled to get a good shot lined up.

Chack stepped fast, getting around the Samurai while parrying the strikes the younger male Salamander sent his way.

Another whistle as an arrow flew, which Chack heard over the parry of another katana, and his race's greater sense of touch allowed to 'feel' in the air, or water, like a puff of air, where it came from, how fast, and how to avoid it.

As he ducked, Chack backstepped, letting the young male grow overconfident, the sword strikes growing increasingly reckless and more powerful.

Finally, one strike he let stagger him slightly, as Chack span away. But as the young samurai smiled, Chack span in the same direction, his blade spinning with him outwards.

Jumping as he span, Chack's armoured boots came into play, as he kicked the samurai's katana out of the way by the blade midpoint before slashing his own outwards.

The samurai's arm flew off, katana in hand, but as he yelled, the archer let loose an arrow.

Stopping his spin, Chack heard a clicking and a small bit of wood snapping as he stepped, and he saw an arrow had stuck into his boot sole as he span around.

Nearby though, the samurai proved he still had some fight, even with one arm gone. Salamanders had the inate ability to regenerate entire limbs, and everything but the most crucial body parts, given enough time, at the expense of skin toughness like reptiles or even mammal hides. That meant they had a greater tolerance for pain than many, and were less prone to blood loss.

Gasping, the samurai whipped out a Kunai, a last ditch weapon, and with his one arm, hurled it at Chack.

Sensing it, Chack caught it off to the side of his head as he sidestepped, leaving the samurai stunned for words. But as the Kunai came hurtling back, he berated his loss of composure.

Charging forwards as his thrown Kunai pierced the Samurai's brain, Chack seized the young salamander's body and used it as a former living shield against the archer, running to a nearby alleyway out of the line of sight.

Cursing, the archer went running after the Ronin across a few rooftops, searching down alleys with his bow at the ready.

As he ran over a sloping rooftop, right as he leapt across the alley before the one the Ronin had gone into 10 seconds ago, something sharp went right up his robes, as the Ronin had waited beneath in the alley and thrown the Kunai up in anticipation, right between his legs and up into his personals.

Howling, the Samurai fell, torso catching the roof ledge and tumbling down into the alley, where Chack's blade was quick to meet his neck before he even stopped rolling.

Starswirl ran through the upper rooftops, not wanting to fight any of these warriors. His shield was up, but he'd also put up a temporary invisibility field, he didn't want to risk any confrontation, not until he'd found that Ronin.

Down below, in a plaza, he saw a small fight taking place as that Ronin had sprang out into the pathway leading out into the hills further up from the village, dashing up the steps with 2 samurai in pursuit of him, and the odd arrow flying his way.

But up ahead, there were 3 other Samurai waiting, a trap had been sprung.

And yet the Ronin, if anything, charged towards them even faster.

A flurry of blades, and 1 of the Samurai lost his head within 4 seconds, while in another 8 the second lost an arm and his head in a single swipe, the Ronin knowing where to strike even if they were wearing armour.

The third put up more of a fight, as he had continued to parry and backstep in time with Chack's attacks. Yet the Ronin was simply more skilled, no other way around it.

A swift kick to the 3rd Samurai sent him flying down the steps, as Chack saw the samurai mistress heading up the steps towards him, a pair of archers behind her.

The remaining samurai warrior, not including those remaining in the town to restore order, retreated to his mistress's side. Mistress Yume had proven herself a leader and trainee of many samurai, leading this village, and teaching across Daimyo Hisao's province. She knew many weapons and skills, but her main tools were unusual.

Standing at the ready, further up the steps, the waterfall running nearby, Chack saw Mistress Yume gesture for the others to stand back.

She wielded her twin Gunsen battle fans, her own specially crafted of harder metals so they could be folded and used as clubs, and also be unfolded and used as blade edged weapons as she span and wielded them.

"Watashitachi no Daimjo wa yorokonde teki yunikōn no ue ni anata no tame ni kaiketsu shimasu." [Our Daimjo will happily settle for you over an enemy Unicorn.]

"Hisao wa Daimjo sa rete imasen!" [Hisao is not Daimjo!]

Chack's angry reply from beneath his masked face sparked the beginning, as the 2 archers and other samurai stepped back while Mistress Yume stepped forwards, giving her twin Gunsen fans a slash on the ground to show force as she surged towards him. They were as sharp as his sword, if not more so.

A flurry of the multi-coloured circular shaped fan blades came at Chack, who repeatedly backpeddled and parried them, his blade slipping off them easily due to their shape, giving Lady Yume many times to get too close to cutting him where his armour was thin.

No time was wasted, as Lady Yume grabbed an overhead swing by Chack's sword in both fans, forcing the blade down as she then kicked with one foot, disarming the sword from his hands, before she swung out with her blade fan.

Ducking backwards, Chack winced as the fan blade sliced his armour and slightly slashed his chest, not a deep wound luckily. As Lady Yume then hurled one of her fans at his head like a giant throwing star, Chack felt the edge graze his hand as he barely sideducked to avoid it. As she charged him, her other fan swinging, Chack braced himself as he kicked out.

The fan blade's edge came through his leather boot soles slightly, and his foot felt slightly cut, but he'd had worse and survived in the past. The boot had locked the fan in place, and before Mistress Yume knew what occurred, Chack swung his leg around in a roundhouse kick in a full spin, pulling her remaining fan away from her, and coming round again.

Her own fan sliced open her cheek, as she reeled back in pain and bleeding while Chack quickly wrenched the fan off his boot. Nearby, the archers lined up shots, but Chack wasn't having any more fighting full stop.

Diving forwards, Chack tripped Mistress Yume onto her back as he charged, hurling her own fan from his hand into the face of one of the archers 30 feet away before he could even finish the shot, the arrow flying wildly into the nearby waterfall, while he ducked to avoid an arrow fired by the further away archer.

Yanking up his sword, Chack dragged his sword blade first across the ground, severing Mistress Yume's arm, a non-lethal blow.

Turning around as he heard her screech in anger and agony, Chack gave a smile as he readied his blade against the archer and Samurai nearby. Down in town, he noticed more samurai coming, and he felt a tingling of battle fill him.

Right before he readied to charge into battle though, he was surrounded by blue light. The tingling wasn't normal this time.

Later that same day

When the Ronin had disappeared in a flash of blue light, a few keen eyed villagers recovering from the shocking attack had seen a similar blue flash atop one of the towers near the battle.

As fate would later show, Mistress Yume was wounded, but not dead, though she bore a great shame from her lost arm, defeated but not having an honourable death, failing to defend the village yet not suffering the same fate as her warrior underlings who had been killed by the same opponent.

As a loser in a fight against an attacker who threatened what she sought to defend, and in such a dishonourable way of her enemy leaving her wounded, she fulfilled the way of Bushido later that day, and took her life by the sword.

But before she committed Seppuku, she herself detailed the message of the attack to the Daimyo, one of many attacks over the past few years, nearly 20 now, committed by this Ronin. And this time within 2 days of an attack on the province capital.

Still, with constant threat of inter province warfare, a single Ronin killing Samurai, and any bystanders who happened to get in the way if need be, was a relatively lesser danger to the collective province.

Needless to say though that arrest and kill warrants were dispatched for the mysterious Grey Unicorn, and the Ronin once again raised in bounty.

Daimjo Hisao was allied with the Equestrian royalty, and this Unicorn was not identified as one associated with them. Likely one of the 'freelance' nobility who had their own agendas in Equestria, despite also serving as duty bound allies to the royal family against the New Gryphon war enemies over rich territory between their lands.

In the loosest of terms, the Equestrian royal government had ordered penalty for harming any visitors to other countries 'directly' associated with the royal family and their associations, but not other nobility's 'private' armies as they were called.

Those who bore the Equestrian royal crest were safe, those who did not were treated as hostile. And in other provinces in Salaman, other Equestrian nobility fulfilled the role of trade and ally, whilst the other nobility were treated as enemies, and the royal family's associates treated as neither enemies, nor allies.

By trade allying with the Equestrian royal family, Daimjo Hisao's warriors were to treat any Equestrians not sporting the 'ambassadorial' crest agreed upon as hostile to his province.

All the while though, danger lurked all the time in the neighbouring provinces, as local warfare brewed as always.

Early Afternoon

2 hours after Daiha town skirmish

29th June, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, 20 miles south east of Daiha town

Mountain paths

"And I told you already, you need not have interfered! AND STOP FOLLOWING ME!"

"You know passage to a safe haven, and do you even know what gratitude is?"

"You dragged me from a fight I could win, why should I thank you for that!?"

Starswirl would have blown a nerve had it been anypony else besides this exemplary being. But this Salamander walked ahead of him was treating him like a nuisance.

When Starswirl had summoned them away to a nearby hillside he knew existed, Chack had, wisely, only used harsh words to protest. While Starswirl had tried to explain he was helping him, Chack thought of him as an inconvenience against his successful hunt.

The only reason Chack hadn't attacked him was because of the body count he'd racked up, and that he knew Starswirl was not aligned with Daimjo Hisao, surprisingly.

The knowledge of them both being hunted by the Daimjo's soldiers, most likely, meant they had to go into hiding. This didn't seem to bother Chack much, as he'd been the one to suggest it.

Apparently he had a cycle of kill, travel, hide and recover, rinse and repeat, all across this province. His hiding spot region was where he'd been heading, and Starswirl had been following, despite Chack's protests.

Still, Chack had resigned himself. He had an enemy of Hisao at least, and not an ally. If Starswirl had been an ally, Chack would have already attacked by now.

Up ahead though, the mountain path beckoned, winding up to what looked like smoking mountain peaks and a plateau.

Here though, there was the reason why this passage was known only to Chack. Only he'd been wandering enough to find it, and climb it.

Turning to Starswirl, Chack gave a last unimpressed look from beneath his mask and armour. He'd yet to show Starswirl his face, as he then spoke to the Wizard:

"If you wish my advisement, Wizard, then like I do you should remain hidden for a month. Though if you so desire to go back your magic seems to grant you a fast way of doing so."

"Here is where we part ways, or go on together to one of my better hiding spots, one of many in case you have plans to sell me out."

"I'm surprised you're helping me out, after that horrendous display I saw you commit. I thought you'd sooner cut me down."

"I know Unicorns, especially ones who are like you in power by tales I hear. Not a fight I could win. But Hisao views you as an enemy, which means we have a common state of being."

"Not by choice. I have many questions about this time, things to find out about the world, why I'd be targeted. I once served the Equestrian royal family, a long, long time ago. A lot has changed for me."

"Before you say more, I suggest a change of location. Once there, we can converse if you so desire, though it has been a while since I've had a companion."

As Chack began to slightly walk ahead, Starswirl quipped with mild disapproval: "What, did you disagree with them and cut them down?"

"Don't be so quick to judge others Wizard, especially when you and I don't know each other's names, and you not even my face."

Pausing, seeing that the Ronin's blank mask seemed to gesture up the path, or back the way they came, Starswirl mentally resigned himself. He needed to find save haven before he could begin his forays to try and gain a semblance of the state of the world, let alone this province, and this Ronin was offering it due to him not being an ally of the province leader.

"Starswirl, the Bearded."

Sensing the name given signalled the Wizard was coming with him, Chack gestured to the path, while remarking:

"Chack."

Pausing, Starswirl asked upfront: "Are you removing the mask then?"

"You'll earn that once we reach the hiding spot. As I said, we'll have plenty of time there to exchange. Like why wizards wear such strange attire on their heads for example."

As the masked Ronin laughed to himself, Starswirl grumbled as he followed, muttering under his breath why everyone was so enamoured by his hat he'd picked in in Pahrii centuries ago.

But needless to say, the month or more in hiding, laying low until the 'heat' died down, meant he could at least get to know Chack. He certainly lived up to the cruel aspect the prophecy warned of.

Though given the behaviour of the Bushido code, Chack wasn't that much crueller than those who still served a master as Samurai.

Despite the bloody start, Starswirl looked forwards to a month of peace perhaps, if Chack's words were right. It would make a change from the more chaotic exemplar beings of the past 2 times.

The Wizard and Ronin continued up the mountain trail, towards the smoking plateau that Chack had one of his many hiding locations in, with everything one basically needed to live.

Author's Note

A stint of chaos, and now they have to lay low in the mountains. Unlike with the Magic arc though, it is something they did, not something an attacker did.

Needless to say this isn't new to Chack, as he has seasons of kills and hiding out under his belt in his spree of killing and maiming to harm Daimyo Hisao's provincial rule, for his own reasons he'll reveal next chapter.

And truth be told, despite him being a cruel one who will become kind, the Bushido were not exactly the kindest of adherents to begin with. He's not exactly a truly 'far-fallen' warrior, just disillusioned and with his own agenda, to be revealed in the next chapter as stated already.

In that next chapter too, Starswirl will have travelled incognito with his rapid teleport travel, finding out exactly why the provinces ally with different Equestrian families as part of a greater problem.

Suffice to say, what goes on in Salaman becomes somewhat of a foresight for events to come in Equestria.

KINDNESS III, Peace in Solitude

25th July, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, Mountain slopes

Abandoned Tigaoist shrine

The mountaintop was known as the 'fume hills', namely for the volcanic vents that gave it the vague odour of rotting eggs the whole time. After a while, one got used to it, not overpowering as it was, unless you were dumb enough to wander right up to one of the vents in the hill slopes.

But this place of geologic heat held other useful features, such as a hot spring, rumoured for its healing properties for a while.

Over centuries though, when easier to access hot springs were found with similar features, the shrine that had been constructed here was abandoned. But during Chack's days as a Samurai warrior under the previous Daimyo, before Hisao, he'd heard of many of these abandoned shrines like these, in hard to reach locations. They made perfect hiding spots until the heat from his honour fuelled vengeance sprees had died down, and he could go forth again.

Begrudgingly, Starswirl decided it would be best he remain here as a home base, getting to know Chack.

In the grand scheme of things, seeing how Chack could be the exemplar of kindness was actually not his first priority.

His teleporting had allowed him rapid access in and out of any nearby towns, under disguise as a Salamander, to find out more about the state of the world right now.

So far his findings had been less than pleasing.

In the 109 years he'd been gone, the New Gryphon and Equestrian instability Siral had urged Starswirl to go on while he checked it out had grown, and now they were 8 years into a full blown war over resource rich territory between their borders within the north western continents mountain ranges.

Worse yet, while the Gryphons were largely united under their single ruler, they were slightly at the disadvantage. The Equestrians had more of an advantage, but were more prone to infighting, even amidst victory, as the Alicorns who led the nobility families each had their own subtle desires for greater power, to satiate their need for security, honour or just plain ego.

That rogue Alicorn in the Malabutu Valley so long ago, Geldrath, who waited to pounce when war weakened Equestria before they met him, had been right, twisted as he was. A power struggle between the Alicorns, and their ruled groups, nobility or bloodline royal family in one case, seemed inevitable.

But what was unusual was the partnerships struck, as there were two Equestrian groups who had ambassadors dispatched to Salaman, and they were initiating trade deals with 2 separate provinces, and 2 separate Daimyos, Hisao the local one.

Supplying and exchanging knowledge, magical and technology trades, and in some cases producing examples here in Salaman.

But it was the Equestrian interventions, indirectly, and why, that also had revealed Chack's life story when Starswirl asked about it.

20 years ago

132 BNM

The 2 ruling brothers had been rivals, the elder, patient one having leadership in the province as Daimyo, while his younger, ambitious brother, Hisao, settled the economic affairs.

Chack and others served loyally to their Daimyo, maintaining order in the province, watching for any competitive pushes from other provinces, as the Daimyos were often competing to outdo each other, despite them all being subservient to the Shogun, and Emperor.

Daimyo Jaien, older and more patient, was less willing to risk his province's borders with anything beyond basic, strong defence.

But Hisao's ties to abroad attracted a tempting offer, as he was the first to trade with one of the Alicorn families in Equestria, who if rumour had it, were gearing up for a big war against the New Gryphons.

And they needed a place to test tactics, weapons, where conflict would be easy to do, witness, and wouldn't impede on their territory.

And the desire to fight for honour, and to better their own prowess, made the Salamans in this province, and later the neighbouring Ru'saik province, trade with Alicorn 'factions'.

The neighboring Ru'saik province's Daimyo struck first, with new weapons, and captured a farming town on the province's border with ease, and was only with great cost that the local armies, led by Samurai that included Chack, reclaimed the town.

But at that point, Chack and his Daimyo had their falling out:

"We cannot let those weapons go! They spit fire like rain from the skies, turning villages and forest ablaze like a dozen dragons. If we sneak attack their stronghold where they keep those foreign made weapons we could prevent-."

"No, I will not risk more of our people, warriors or otherwise, on attacks beyond our borders. We must shore up defences."

"But if we don't strike now, press our advantage, they could return stronger than-."

"My decision is final Chack, you will do what is right for your master, and this province!"

Daimyo Jaien commanded Chack sternly, but offered leeway given how loyal a servant Chack had proven, and how capable a warrior too.

As Chack had bowed and left, he'd sought out those of like minds to his own.

They were weakened right not, and he had to ensure the enemies in Ru'saik were weakened too.

It was a sneak attack, a week long journey and they had crossed unseen into the Ru'saik province, reaching the fortress.

Equestrian made weapons of war had aided the samurai, great catapults that fired clusters of magical flaming arrows, and potion stocks that let an army march twice as far in one day for less effort than a normal march.

Sneaking up, Chack and a few of the best Samurai from Jaien's ranks who shared similar mind of attacking before retaliation, infiltrated the fortress.

The weapons were sabotaged, and potions smashed, but the costs, were severe, as the fortress went up in flames as one weapon was fired in a last bid to destroy the fortress by Chack himself.

He returned alone to his province, proud of his brethren for their deaths in the battle, almost lost, and the deaths of those equipped with those foreign weapons of such power and aide. He ensured the security of his province in the near future from the Ru'saik province's unusual attacks.

Daimyo Jaien however, saw differently. Chack disobeyed his master, and had cost him some of his finest warriors on this suicide mission.

"I did what I thought was right by this province, by you! They won't be a dange-."

"SILENCE! You disobeyed my command, and in that you have broken that most important oath of the Bushido code. The others kept their honour by death in battle, something you failed to do."

Handing the sword he'd snatched from Chack's trembling hands back, Daimjo Jaien fell quiet as his face fell, almost regretting what had to be done:

"If you wish to keep your honour, you know what must be done."

Seppuku, suicide in face of broken honour. Chack took the sword, staring at the blade he'd wielded in defence of his province.

He'd sworn to defend this province, its people, in service of his master. And now when he ensures their security, he must die despite proving he could endure battle?

It wasn't fair. He'd given his life in service already, and now it was to end in all other ways?

Looking at Daimyo Jaien, Chack strapped the sword to his belt, shaking his head as he said with some venom he didn't know was in his voice:

"I cannot serve you if I am dead. I will serve you, do honour by your name, even if it means I must disobey your command."

He was exiled within the day, labelled a Ronin, without a master. Yet before he departed, Daimyo Jaien bid him good fortune.

And so Chack departed, heading out on his own, a Samurai in all but name.

But times would very quickly change.

Daimyo Jaien's brother, Hisao struck rich so to speak, as the faction he aligned with was the strongest, with the most number of Unicorns with magic related tradable knowledge and techniques.

Such techniques, and the tools they created for 'test runs', would seal his overthrow of his brother.

The economic leader of the Mutsae province would become the new Daimyo when he authorised his own private militia to 'test' weapons the Equestrian royalty were developing under their own military branch in preparation for the future Gryphon War.

2 weeks after Chack left, exiled by way of Bushido against one who refused honourable suicide for disobedience, fire arrows like rain fell from the skies upon Daimyo Jaien's temple. Great catapult launched air bombs spread a dense fog, a Pegasus magic weapon to lay down a 'fog of war' to hide an incoming army.

The battle lasted from dawn until midday, by which time Daimyo Jaien lay dead on the steps of the burnt temple.

Hisao offered praise of the battle of the half number of Samurai who remained at the temple, and to those across the province, that their honour would remain intact if they served him, who would ensure Jaien's vision of an even better defended Mutsae region came true in ways his 'lack of vision abroad' had failed to comprehend, by not being as open to foreign trade and warfare means.

Only a handful chose Seppuku over serving their old Master's brother, and in the span of a week Daimyo Hisao had the basic provincial army, and 100 full-fledged samurai under his command.

Save for one.

A few days after the battle had taken place, Chack had come to the temple, finding Jaien and many other Samurai at the temple, dead in battle or post battle Seppuku, remaining where they laid.

He saw the new Daimyo had taken up the foreign warfare that held no honour by its means of combat or by its makers, using their conflict to test their 'toys' before they used them.

Chack would never serve Daimyo Hisao, nor would he forgive the utter dishonour the Samurai who betrayed the memory, and self-sufficient ideals of Jaien by siding with one who used the very weapons a neighboring province used to terrible effect, ones Chack and a dozen other brave Samurai had stormed the province to sabotage in that province that allowed Hisao the advantage he had at this point.

Chack would now fully embrace his label of Ronin. His master was dead, and he rejected his alternative, and the Samurai who served him, and the people who believed this Daimyo was better than their previous one, as harsh at times but much more fair and less taxing financially than Hisao.

Chack refused to conform, and chose exile, while selectively embarking on sprees of death and destruction to disrupt Hisao, now his mission in life.

He'd lost faith in the Mutsae province, his own HOME province. In his mind, it was now no different from the Ru'saik province that had attacked them first, which he'd sacrificed his honour and status in a near suicide mission to take out the foreign weapons of theirs that Hisao had used to help overthrow his brother.

Chack served himself now, served his master's legacy by undermining Hisao's rule, nobody else. He didn't see why he should serve anything else anymore.

Early Afternoon

25th July, 112 BNM

Abandoned Tigaoist shrine, Mountain Hot springs

The month in the mountains was, as always, peaceful for Chack. And he knew the 'heat' from his spree would have died down by the time he came down from the mountains by this stage, even if he departed tomorrow morning.

Nearby though, in the same hot spring pool, there was a sight he'd come to appreciate when he came here, locals who liked to indulge in the hot springs up here in the cold mountains.

A family group of Macaque Monkeys sat basking in the hot waters, some scrubbing their fur, others lightly shuffling about in the shallow parts, and one or two sitting out of the water on rocks nearby, cooling off before they went back in the hot water again.

Being a Salamander, Chack valued moisture, and here he could get clean water to drink, once cooled, and clean water to bathe in by it being heated. But right now, he merely was sitting on the edge with his lower legs and tail dipped in, his amphibious skin soaking the warm to hot moisture up, balanced by the cool mountain air.

He had his peace here, and he liked things simple, like the Macaque monkeys right now.

A sound of hoofsteps behind him made Chack turn his head to see Starswirl coming over, the small monkeys on the other side of the hot spring pool staring blankly before turning back to their own business.

Sat down beside Chack, Starswirl offered a small remark: "They never tire of that, do they?"

"No, and it is easy to see why from where I sit right now."

He nodded slightly in agreement, as Starswirl had bathed in the springs himself to try them within the month he'd used this place as a 'home base' to keep tabs on Chack. All the while though, Starswirl couldn't help but give a slight sigh as he admitted:

"Sitting up here, it still boggles the mind how much has changed since I left Equestria."

Thinking for a moment, Chack thought aloud as he said while lying down, legs and tail dipped in the spring waters:

"You admitted you are a time traveller, why I'm not sure, but it makes sense given how much you know. And yet, you seem floored by how much changes between when you are not moving through time."

At this, Starswirl had a thought, as he counted how much 'time' had actually passed for him, and Siral, before he jumped to this time.

"Actually, if I only counted the time when myself and Siral were actually wandering, exploring, meeting those we did, over 5 different time periods, we were only on that journey for about 11 months."

Shaking his head, Starswirl gave a mixed laugh of lament, and also amazement: "What an year this has been, including the month spent with you."

"Not too eventful for the most part, I have spent it mostly up here while you sometimes quickly venture by your magic to find answers on history." Chack rebutted, to which Starswirl jabbed a hoof in his direction suddenly, his tone incredulous:

"Not eventful? What was that chaos you sowed in Dahia village, not to mention initially hunting me as you admitted? And I need not mention your minor ruckus you caused in Mutsae town itself with the dock fires."

Chack offered no change in expression, as he dismissed without concern: "The past is the past, we met under bad circumstances and we've had time to understand each other enough to move past that. There is no need to hold onto grudges."

At this, Starswirl resisted the urge to scoff, as he remarked: "Rather hypocritical of you isn't it?"

Turning a slight glare at Starswirl, Chack's beady Salamander eyes narrowed as he gave a slight hiss: "My duty to my master's legacy, even if he disowned my service by disobeying him to serve him better, is not a grudge."

"You seem to have one against Hisao's local rule though."

"It is my duty to my master's memory that comes first, the grudge is secondary."

"Very well, as you say it." Starswirl gave a sigh, knowing Chack was stuck in this mindset for now. Besides, he had other concerns, that he had to think about.

Nearby, the Macaque monkeys groomed and bathed as usual, while the Wizard and Salamander simply watched the distant mountains across the vast valley below, the faintly smoking slopes a hundred metres away contrasting the hot springs, and abandoned temple they used as sleeping shelter, against the blue and semi clouded, sun lit sky.

1 hour later

Out of curiosity, Chack had once again probed about some of the stories Starswirl had to share. And truth be told, Starswirl found himself liking Chack in this state. Calm, and curious to learn about anything other than things within Salaman.

And it was nice to have someone to speak to who had a curious mind ever since Siral had left out of duty to Equestria, and feeling Starswirl didn't trust him completely enough to say the prophecy had warned of friends that were always beside him on the quest.

He told the tales of everything from his journey, where he went with Siral, what he saw, who he met especially and the examples they set.

-The Saddle Arabian Mare, Mashri, who's loyalty between discovered family she helped on a whim, and the Empire she ultimately chose to remain loyal to as she had in life, at her brother's disgust.

-The Eastern Dragoness, Hinai, who's reluctance to wield her great power, until the Sorceror Dragon Ghung Chian came to claim her power and life as he did her parents and eldest brother, and she unleashed her self-restrained powers at long last.

-The Faroench Stallion, Frello, who both braved his self-shame at his punishment ridden muteness for his early gypsy life and embraced his old talents to bring joy to the festival as an example to his normally more jubilant adoptive, lame legged son.

-The Bengal Tigress, Nahia, who when crippled by a hunter when defending her previous cubs later lost them to demon predators, and vowed to build a false reputation to make up for her lack of ability. She however confronted her fear and hidden grief, admitting the harsh self-truth she had tried to mask, while assisting Starswirl in rescuing Siral from a demon wielding Alicorn rogue.

-The Shetland Fox, Irvin, who upon seeing the loss greed had caused the crew by tearing them apart, Irvin chose to sacrifice himself and the treasure he sought, risking life and poverty to save Blythe, the one who hadn't succumbed to greed. The creatures spared him because they preyed on greedy souls, his greedless soul blinding them to him.

But it was at this point that Starswirl decided, that after losing Siral to omitting one part of the prophecy that concerned him, he was to be completely honest.

The ONLY part Starswirl would not tell Chack just yet would be that HE was supposed to be the exemplar of Kindness, the one starting as a cruel one.

"I think you will find it difficult to locate a truly kind one among this province, that much I can tell you. Anyone cruel, you are spoilt for choice." Chack remarked, still marvelling at the prophecy, the tales, and the rather disappointing tale of Siral leaving due to Starswirl not completely, but understandably, trusting him with part of the prophecy he seemed to be the mentioned risk of, one close to the heart who would become a great enemy.

"Yes, I noticed. But if anything how much has changed in history is more disturbing. I would wager if I met with Siral again he'd be very bitter with how things turned out, despite what I expect was his best efforts."

"If he returned to try and prevent warfare building in your home nation, he is one Equestrian I would be happy to meet. Needless to say I wish your war hadn't come, nor had it been my nation that became a place to test their weapons before they used them themselves. We may be proud of our warrior heritage, but not if its tainted by conflicts we have no stake in, or by what will be used in them."

Chack's remark made Starswirl think.

When this was over, if Chack proved himself as the others had, doubtful or not, what was his best course of action?

Given the situation, Starswirl wished to head back to Equestria as soon as possible. That much was certain, especially with a full-fledged war having gone on for 8 years now, on and off in conflict it may be.

"I guess we have something in common. The territory we once served has devolved into something uglier in our imposed absence by our duties. You by prophecy, me by serving a legacy in a better time, my own in turn triggered by what happened in your nation on an added note."

"I just hope what I learn from the eventual example of 'Kindness' is what ideal is needed to shake Equestria from this stupor of damaging warfare. Siral had the other 5 to share, as I'm sure he did, and it didn't seem to work."

"Ideals cannot stop a war once it starts." Chack replied, pulling his legs from the hot springs, drying them off nearby on a part of his robe leggings he pulled over to himself nearby. Looking down, Starswirl gave a small hope:

"No, but maybe they can stop another one happening once this one ends."

"That is more likely. All wars end at some point." Chack nodded, as he walked away, back towards the shrine structure, wanting to sharpen his sword.

Starswirl grumbled, as he exhibited the noticeable pessisism he'd been getting plagued with more and more since Siral had left the journey:

"Clearly periods of Peace end too."

How right he would be proven, in less time than he thought, and in a place closer than either he or Chack realized.

2 days later

Night/before Dawn

27th July, 112 BNM

Salaman Islands, Mutsae Province

Mutsae Town, harbour bay.

The silent sailing junk ships quietly passed by the sleeping town, the buildings visible by the candle lights and lanterns lighting its docks.

On the ships, the Ru'saik Province ship crews readied the weapons mounted on the ship bows, readying the release triggers.

On the silent commands from the ships' captains, the catapults fired their ball shaped projectiles towards the town, and as they burst mid trajectory, a series of faint red streaks flew through the sky, as if someone was dragging thin lines of red thread through the sky.

The guards on the docks saw the red lights descending quickly, and the first of the flaming arrows, enhanced by Equestrian recipe brewed flame spell potions, pierced the guard's helmet with ease any other arrow couldn't.

Others fell on the wooden docks, houses, others simmered on the pavement with a clatter while the rest hit the water channels and harmlessly sank.

Within a few minutes the city was in flames, the bombardment would continue for many minutes.

Rushing to his small palace's windows, Daimyo Hisao saw the faint silhouettes of the sailing junks out in the dark harbour, itself lit up by the fires spreading in Mutsae town. Seething, he recognized the insignia of the Ru'saik armies.

Daimyo Yamahai had made deals with an Equestrian, Alicorn led nobility 'clan', a non-royalty one, but one that while not as flat out wealthy as the royals he himself was allied with, excelled in weapons over other means of trade.

These were improved compared to the ones the previous Daimyo of the Ru'saik province had used to raid a small border town fortress 20 years ago, shortly after which marked Hisao's rise to power over his brother.

Seething, Daimyo Hisao resisted the urge to bellow out into the night at the sight of the ships beginning to turn, the town ablaze by their assault.

In a nearby room, the 2 Equestrian Unicorn visitors, ambassador stallion Ash Clincher and royal court magician mare Teal Quirt, stared out at this assaulting ship squadron turning to fall back after a successful mass, surprise attack.

Teal Quirt in particular regarded the Ru'saik ships with disdain, as she knew those weapons were of the design of the Trumane Alicorn led Nationalist clan in Equestria, testing their new weapons with those who would happily wield them.

It only reminded her of the tenuous alliance between the 3 Alliances, of Royalist, Nationalist and Seperatist, all Alicorn led to varying degrees, that there was back in Equestria.

Every day she saw more and more evidence to show her Savant Guild's founder, Siral the Savant, had been right in his warnings of Alicorn pride and competition breeding conflict and disregard for life lesser than their own. Despite disappearing 49 years ago, his ideas about Alicorns seemed all too accurate at an increasing rate.

All the while, the fires raged across Mutsae city, lighting the city before dawn had even broken.

News of this attack would reach many, included 2 in the mountains, dragging them back into the fray, and leading to a series of events that would change more than just a certain Salamander forever.

Author's Note

A more informative chapter about Salaman, Chack's history, and the state of the world with Equestria and new Gryphon. If you want a real life example, see the Spanish Civil War.

The Nazis lent support to a specific faction, and equipment, which gave an opportunity for 'field tests' before they used it themselves.

In Equestria's case, even while the New gryphon war is being waged, weapons are still sent overseas due to Salamans wanting them, or being willing to test new weapons. Tests serve the current war, and the civil war that will come later on.

In Equestria too, there are 3 factions that will form the 3 sided Civil War, all with Alicorns as their leadership, and a total of a few dozen, nearly a hundred at its peak, Alicorns in Equestria, of varying political standing, though all above anyone else in Equestria.

The Royalists [Led by the Royal bloodline, the House of Radiante, whom 2 certain sisters are yet to be born into], the Nationalists [Led by the Trumanes and other lesser Alicorn families, who want an Alicorn Council, not a royal family, leading Equestria], and the Seperatists [Led by the Thareins and other lesser Alicorn families, who want to divide Equestria into Alicorn led smaller states independent of one another].

All the while, this entire arc is a foretaste of what infighting will do to Equestria, the onset of Starswirl's more bitter mindset and pessimism at times.

The Unicorn student, Teal Quirt, a Royal Court Magician Unicorn mare, will have a big role to play in the Equestrian Civil War, and be 'affected' by the events in this KINDNESS arc. Both she, and Chack as well, will have bigger roles than expected, Chack in ways nobody in the story could anticipate.

KINDNESS IV, Chack's Rampage

Early Morning

29th July, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, Mountain slopes

Abandoned Tigaoist shrine

They'd packed for the journey last night, though the news of Mutsae town's attack had reached them yesterday when Starswirl returned from his travels. No news of any pressed attacks from the Ru'saik province, and Chack insisted on walking.

He wished to get to Mutsae town, knowing he had plenty of time before he felt he wasn't needed or should go.

But when Chack had said this, Starswirl had not heard exactly what he planned to do. He'd probed Chack's mind, and found a surprisingly resilient mind, but on the surface there was the burned idea of Daimyo Hisao, and his rule being weak at the moment.

Starswirl resigned to go with the Ronin, wanting to get to the town himself to study the situation, and perhaps convince Hisao he was not aligned with those Equestrians the Ru'saik province had as a trade partner.

Still, he couldn't shake the idea that he and Chack had diverging objectives regarding Daimyo Hisao, and anyone close to him that were loyal to him.

The events to come would at long last put Starswirl on the path to return to Equestria, and yet also cast doubt on the very ideals he had spent a year of his life over centuries learning of from others, and how useful they would be in the world as it was.

Walking with all their gear or possessions packed, they left the mountain which Chack had not once ventured from, the beckoning path to the north winding down miles before them.

Before long, the shrine vanished from view over a ridge, and yet the whole time Starswirl couldn't shake a vibe he was getting.

Turning to Chack, who was wearing his full blood red and brown coloured samurai armour, the Grey Unicorn magically kept his hat in place as a gust picked up on the slopes, asking the Salamander:

"What might we expect in Mutsae after an attack like we heard?"

"Reconstruction, fearful citizens, and by the sounds of it, many of the army in the province gone to retaliate against the Ru'saik province, the ones with the weapons and fleet that did it."

"Like you did 20 years ago with your band under your old master, Daimyo Jaien?"

"Yes. I expect they'll have actually been ordered to do this. Hisao lacked Jaien's, 'restraint'."

The tone with which Chack spoke of the current Daimyo, Hisao, reminded Starswirl all too well the tense state this Salamander might be in when they visit the town.

But Starswirl had questions that needed answering, and Hisao's ties directly to the Equestrian Royalist faction, despite all the factions united in the war against the New Gryphon empire, presented an opportunity.

The rest of the journey would prove uneventful, as they stuck to the country roads, with Chack occasionally diving into rivers and lakes to rehydrate his amphibious body along the way, or swim in a river if it was going towards Mutsae town's general direction.

But within 2 days, they came to the hill ridge, and saw Mutsae town's state, half it burned to scorched black skeletons and corpses of buildings, the main palace somewhat harmed itself, and the docks in utter ruin.

Late-Morning

31st July, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, Mutsae province

Mutsae town, inner town

Eyes turned to them as they entered the town, but rebuilding efforts by those out and about distracted most attention from them.

Starswirl stared around at the many blackened and semi skeletal buildings, while those that remained now housed more than they normally would. Scaffolding and construction work surrounded a taller shrine tower, while amidst the rubble of some completely collapsed buildings families, even children Salamanders, sifted through the rubble.

Amidst the rubble of a larger market shop, her magic helping lift some larger burnt wooden beams clear, Starswirl was surprised to see a Unicorn Mare there, the same one who had been wearing that strange letter S crest made of lightning symbols on her cloak.

The White furred Mare turned, her blue/grey mane somewhat ash coated from working in these shop ruins for a few hours now. Teal Quirt, the royal court magician escorting the Royalist Ambassador Ash Clincher, whom himself was in the palace right now.

But as she saw the Grey Unicorn wander up the street, flanked by the Red and brown armoured Salamander, an intimidating looking Samurai, they both reminded her of someone each.

The Salamander resembled descriptions of the infamous Ronin. The Unicorn however, she thought the blue cloak, the pointed hat, and the grey and white bearded body were-.

"It can't be…"

Teal Quirt gaped at the Wizard as they passed further down the street, but she quickly noticed too the eyes of a guard further up the road spot them, eyes bugging slightly at the sight of them, or more specifically, the Ronin.

Teal Quirt followed, knowing she might want to be there at Ambassador Ash Clinch's behest.

Salaman Empire, Main island, Mutsae province

Mutsae town, Daimyo Hisao's palace

Main Hall

The pair had entered the palace, under guard, but cooperated enough to not be instantly detained.

Hisao was quick to summon them, wanting to know why two wanted criminals were here.

Making his skill with words known, Starswirl was the one who did all the talking:

"And why exactly should I believe you are truly this, Starswirl?" Hisao remarked. Sat upon his small throne, the elder brown coloured salamander looked over at the 2 Equestrian visitors, among whom Ash Clinch was first to speak, the Royalist ambassador gesturing to Teal Quirt as he began:

"Teal Quirt here recognises Starswirl, she studied at another Wizard's academy, one who travelled with Starswirl on his many journeys and knew him well, Siral the Savant. Records of Starswirl were available, and she strongly backs up that it is him."

As Teal Quirt began to speak, Starswirl absorbed this knowledge with some pride. Siral had started a magical academy during the apparently lengthy 60 years he had remained in time after Starswirl jumped to this era, a good use of time. Too bad he couldn't' do more than he'd inevitably tried to do about stopping the New Gryphon War in its long buildup, and Alicorn power competitiveness.

"The visage and knowledge is too close to be coincidence. It is him, and trust me when I say his ties to historical royal family lines means he is not aligned with the Equestrian families who are backers of the Ru'saik province."

Looking at Starswirl, Daimyo Hisao gave a nod of apology, as he remarked calmly:

"I must offer my apologies then. Unknown Equestrians, especially Unicorns who have potential for great power, that aren't known royalists are known as dangers."

"Yes, well an incident in a river village about that is how I met Chack here." Starswirl said, his tone amicable to show he accepted the apology at least. And he wanted to get Chack's name more cleared now, and knew exactly how.

Hisao's eyes narrowed, as he coldly remarked: "And why should I not detain this marauder right now for the dozens to over a hundred he's killed over the past 20 years I've ruled this land?"

"Chack has had a change of heart since he heard of the attack here today, by the Ru'saik. When he served your brother, and the Ru'saik attacked back then with Equestrian weapons as well, he took the initiative with others to raid their base and sabotage them. He's come to offer his knowledge and experience with dealing with, ahem, 'foreign weaponry'. He says his skills were best served back then in that role."

Hisao regarded the masked Samurai, this Ronin, in the blood red and brown armour behind Starswirl. The Salamander's face was hidden, and even Teal Quirt and Ash Clinch stared with some wariness around him.

And yet, Chack's head slowly turned to Starswirl, giving a swift nod as he remarked:

"The conflicts of Equestria mean they use our nation's rivalries between provinces as testing grounds for weapons, machinery or potions. They escalate the conflict here, and so a response in kind is necessary."

Hisao regarded this Ronin with a hardened look, but one of irritated agreement. The elder Salamander asked Chack: "And would you do the same again, for your master and province?"

Chack replied swiftly, his mask barely muffling his voice: "I would do the same again, going straight to the source of conflict, and removing its head, for my true master. Yes, I would."

Cautious, but seeing this was good, Hisao asked Ash Clinch for a second opinion:

"Would this affect anything in Equestria, stability in any way?"

Shaking his head, the Unicorn ambassador remarked bluntly: "Just like the Royalists, the Nationalist groups loan testing assets to these provinces, so that we can busy applying what is proven and tested at home against the New Gryphons."

"And how is the war going remind everyone?" Hisao asked.

"Slow, a war of attrition. New Gryphon will break before Equestria does, and Equestria isn't exerting as much war effort as they are either." Ash Clinch seemed to point this out with some haughtiness, which was picked up by everyone else, Hisao included.

Starswirl sensed the arrogance behind those who knew the political situation of the war, which made him question all the more what would happen once it ended, and the spoils were made available.

Turning to the Wizard and Ronin, Hisao offered these words: "Very well. You have the blessing of my house. Go as you have sworn to."

Before Starswirl could bow, Ambassador Ash Clincher politely interrupted: "If I may Daimyo, I wish a word in private with Starswirl. I heard how he is considering a long awaited return to Equestria, and I wish for him to be able to ask anything of me about events back home since he left, particularly recent ones he may not be as versed in."

Nodding, Hisao gestured to a servant to escort Starswirl and the Ambassador back to one of the guest houses, for a more private setting. Within a minute, the Wizard and ambassador were gone. Turning to Chack, Hisao ordered another samurai to escort him to the gates.

"I'll inform Starswirl of the tavern my warrior shall escort you to."

Chack left without a word, flanked in his red and brown armour by one of Hisao's samurai guards.

With a bow to Daimyo Hisao, Teal Quirt gave a respectful smile:

"I shall return to my responsibilities; your town could still use my skills in removing rubble."

"Such gracious help is appreciated." Hisao gave a courteous nod, while a servant came over with daily reports on the day to day running of the town, mostly rebuilding and medical requirements.

Teal Quirt was gone quickly, the Unicorn exiting the palace hall into the deck hallways outside by the stone gardens. Up ahead, she saw Chack and his guard following him go around the corner to the main gate, her own direction.

Mutsae town, Daimyo Hisao's palace

Main Gate

Something was off.

Teal Quirt had exited the main gate, yet now ahead of her in town she saw no trace of the Ronin or the guard escorting him, and they hadn't gone any other way for sure.

Wanting to see if she was being overcautious, the white furred, blue/grey maned Unicorn mare waited by the main gate, wanting to see if she'd simply missed Chack somehow.

Mutsae town, Daimyo Hisao's palace

Main Hall

Walking along the hallway, quiet as he could muster, Chack knew he'd have to be quick. Only 1 guard, the one who'd been escorting him, was out cold by a blow to the head and being stuffed under a wooden rock garden walkway.

His sword sheathed, and all but one weapon inside, Chack readied the weapon he relied upon for a guaranteed kill.

Chack tied the small paper message to the arrow, and nocked it onto the bowstring.

He saw a shadow of a guard passing up ahead, but he knew the palace was understaffed due to help in the rebuilding efforts.

And Starswirl and that Ambassador, and the other Unicorn, were elsewhere.

No posturing, no confronting Hisao, what had been said was said. Chack served his true master, and in this he would finally have revenge for the brother of Hisao. Hisao ruled only by taking advantage of Daimyo Jaien when he held back against a threat, which Chack had neutralised in an unsanctioned raid into the Ru'saik province 20 years prior where only he survived somewhat shortly beforehand, letting Hisao spring his advantage.

He would finally complete his service by redeeming his master's death, after which he had other plans.

Moving fast, now that Chack saw his opportunity, he went in. A cloud passed by overhead, blocking the sun and dulling all shadows one would see from the inside of the hall, through the paper screen walls.

He rammed through the paper screen door, and sure enough he saw, amidst the handful of samurai taken by surprise, and the 2 servants, Daimyo Hisao staring at him in shock, as Chack's bow suddenly rose and drew back, letting the arrow fly before Hisao even had time to yell the order to attack.

The arrow buried itself in Hisao's lower neck and upper torso robes, and his body, the shaft and the note tied to it sticking up as he fell backwards. The arrow tip had been poisoned to ensure death, and the small ribbon like note read the simple word symbols:

For my master, Jaien.

By the time the guards had reacted, Chack was out the door of the main hall, casting aside the bow and drawing his sword as the palace's understaffed security responded to the murder of Daimyo Hisao.

Chack only hoped some of them realised that Hisao wasn't much to be admired, and leave him as they had Jaien if they were old enough, like he was.

Charging down the hallway, Chack dropped to his knees to duck under a sword swung from a Samurai that had been charging him, while he swung out his own to slice the guard's ankle and sever the foot off.

Leaping to his feet, Chack grabbed the dropped sword from the now 1 footed Samurai, wielding both swords now as the collective 9 samurai pursuing him into the palace's stone garden came after him.

A pair more came out in front, and Chack saw he was surrounded in the stone garden by the 11 Samurai. And atop, he saw 2 archers stood atop the roof.

Turning around and around to point his dual swords at each of the 11 samurai in the rock garden with him, Chack gave a remark as he dragged the blades across the ground in a preparing spin, gesturing with his masked head to the dark red and brown armour he wore:

"This was once less red in colour."

Stones kicked up from the rock garden as he charged, while the arrow from an archer on the roof missed his leather boot. Swords clashed in the centre of the palace as Chack engaged each one at a time, flowing to keep the fight moving, and away from open air to avoid the archers.

It was only 10 seconds before the first blood splatter appeared on a hallway sheet doorway near the garden, and a body was sent tumbling through to tear a hole in the wall.

Swords flew, with most strikes missing by dodges and footwork, with only a few blocks or clashes of blades, while some shurikans were hurled to rip through the walls or imbed into support beams in the halls and hallways, while the odd fist of kick flew out.

Ducking down, Chack sliced open the stomach of one less armoured Samurai Salamander, while he then spun to barrel through another screen wall at force, his armour helping minimise any impact.

A blade scratched his back armour, the tough plating stopping the blade going deeper beyond just skin on his back, and jamming it mid slice, forcing the samurai to pull the blade out in a jerking move. Chack swung round, one of his swords sending the same Salamander's sword hands on both arms flying off, before his other blade came around to take his head off.

Backstepping as another samurai charged, Chack saw the sword swing down before him, and swung one of his own down to lock it on the wood and sheet floor of the hallway, before he brought his other sword flying up into the Salamander's chin, splitting the head open from the chin upwards.

Not even stopping, he brought the blade to spin around, some flecks of blood going onto the ceiling and walls as he kept the blade moving to be ready for the next attacker.

As the 7 approached him from in front, Chack kept his 2 blades, his own and the stolen one, moving. Yet he focused, calming his mind.

In the mountains, as per teachings of his old Daimyo Jaien, he was told to be attuned to all his senses, especially his hearing, where if good enough he could fight a foe he couldn't even see.

Living in the quiet mountains, he'd trained to be attuned to even the slightest of noises, even amidst chaos.

He heard the faint crack of wooden flooring far behind him, as another Salamander landed, and a bowstring was quickly drawn back, before a twang came with a very faint whistle.

Ducking sideways, Chack felt the slightly hot air of the passing arrow tickle his amphibious moist cheek, before he turned and hurled the sword he'd stolen from the first guard at the archer who'd jumped down.

The scream rang out as the katana plunged into his gut, but the archer saw the red and brown clad Salamander charge him, the leathery boot kicking him unconscious before snatching up his bow and any arrows he could quickly snatch.

Spinning around, Chack latched an arrow and fired off one into the head of one of the 7 charging samurai, before he began to run down the hallway, towards an open courtyard by the palace walls.

The others charged, and Chack swinging his sword at them, forcing back the closest one as the others pressed forwards, while Chack backed up, knowing he had not long before reinforcements-

CLINK!

Unbelievably, an arrow came screaming forwards, from the archer now stood atop the roof overlooking the courtyard, and the others stopped as they saw it stick to the helmet by its point.

But even more unbelievably, they noticed the shaft, despite hitting what looked like an eye visor hole, had not penetrated. The 'mask' was in fact not a thin layer of metal, but slightly thicker and stronger, and with a leathery outer layer painted the same brown colour that made the arrow's pointed tip actually stick.

Chack was quite literally fighting almost blind, the miniscule holes in his mask granting him limited visibility, none of them big enough for an arrow to get through at all, more like a vegetable grater hole set than a visor if anything.

The arrow had not actually penetrated through, as Chack quickly snapped his gaze upwards and whipped the arrow from his mask. He still held the bow he'd snagged from the unconscious and dying sword pierced archer, and before the archer could even respond he nocked the arrow to it from the right and fired.

The archer screamed as the arrow imbedded into his bow arm's shoulder, sending him reeling and falling onto the rooftop, while Chack discarded the bow and readied his sword, yelling hoarsely as he charged the 7 remaining Samurai warriors.

Fairly soon after the fighting began, one of the servants rang a gong overhead, as the archers followed the fighting from on the roof, unable to get a clear shot yet.

From the gates, Teal Quirt heard the gong, and then also heard the faint sound of swords when she rushed around the palace walls, while the guards stayed at their posts, and others checked everywhere in the palace.

As she rushed, she saw a red and brown shape quickly clamber over the wall and come leaping down to land and roll on the pavement behind her, clearly running in the same direction she'd been heading, towards the docks.

Chack, the Ronin, in full armour, with many blood stains and a few scratch marks on his armour.

Turning, Teal readied a spell to fire, as she let loose a repulsion spell in Chack's direction. He ducked under it, and she then decided as he got within 20 feet to stop him entirely, engulfing him in a freezing spell.

But as he felt his body stiffen, Chack quickly seized a shurikan from his belt, and hurled it, the throwing star imbedding into Teal's right forehoof, causing great pain to the Unicorn mare.

Her concentration broke momentarily, and Chack closed the gap. Regaining her focus, Teal backstepped repeatedly, using her magic to deflect Chack's sword strikes as if her magic was a sword itself. Again and again they clashed, until Chack was shoved by Teal's magic into a vegetable cart.

Stumbling over, Chack span around as he staggered to his knees, but very quickly scraped his sword around on the dust covered road, and sent a wave of dust flying straight into Teal's face with his blade.

Recoiling, the dust enraging her eyes with the discomfort, Teal's magic was gone for now. Keeping his sword going, Chack span once more with his sword out, barking loudly to her:

"You help him by trying to stop me!"

His blade rang out, and as she had staggered, Teal had reeled backwards on her hooves. It ended up saving her life.

Teal Quirt screamed aloud as something sliced through her horn near the base, as while she was blinded for a moment Chack had taken his swing to remove her horn from her head.

Some blue magic sparked, along with a very slight bleeding, from the sliced stump that remained as she reeled backwards in pain, while she heard the Ronin making his getaway.

As she lay on the road in agony, Chack dove into the water, well ahead of any of the guards. A few stray arrows came from the dock guard posts, but they were literally shots in the dark given how deep the harbour waters were, and how long Salamanders could stay underwater.

1 hour later

It had been over by the time the emergency was known, and by the time they'd reached the first dead body.

Staring at the carnage that had been wreaked, Starswirl shook his head at the idea that Chack had done this, when they'd come in peace.

And yet, amidst it all, even as the Royal Court Magician, Teal Quirts, was treated for her sliced off horn, her loss in engaging Chack and inciting him, it was Ambassador Ash Clincher's remark that threw Starswirl's next goals into utter disarray.

Stood in the hallway, away from the bloodstains lightly flecking some of the screen walls, Starswirl heard Ash Clincher remark to himself:

"A shame, so much gone to waste. Now the Nationalists have more links to test their might."

At this, Starswirl had to protest:

"That is your concern?"

"It is what I was sent here for, and now our interest in this region is gone. It is not ideal, but this is how things are, how things work. Times have changed greatly since you departed so long ago, if legends are true."

"For the worst, as it seems, on all sides." Starswirl remarked with utter disgust. At Hisao for his role 20 years ago in exploiting a war situation for power, for Chack for exploiting this situation for his vengeance for his old master's final honour, and for the utter lack of compassion for those killed in this cycle of cruelty that Chack had been a product of, and Hisao had started because of a desire for power in wake of an exterior conflict brewing in the region of-..

At that moment, something clicked in Starswirl. And he knew, he realised the harsh truth.

What he was seeing here, was reflective, nay, a foresight into Equestria. If the events of 20 years prior, of the initial conflict and seizure of power echoed the current New Gryphon War in Equestria, then what of the internal conflict of those who also wished power, and those who had a vengeance against those in power?

He would get no lesson in kindness from this era, no sudden prophetic triggered flash signalling his exemplary being showcasing true kindness. Instead, what he got, while not as idealistic and fulfilling, was something he'd ignored too long, that he'd let prophecies and foretold fates distract him from, that Siral had wised up to him faster than he had.

It was time to return to Equestria, and actually do something, whatever he could. Enough gallivanting across the world in pursuit of idealistic examples, it was time to face the world, Equestria, in the ugly state it was slowly devolving into. And even if it took years, as Siral's lack of success in 60 years after Starswirl had left for this era showed, he would do it. He had to.

He'd put it off for too long.

With a sigh, Starswirl turned to Ambassador Ash Clincher, remarking to the Unicorn:

"Teal Quirt, ensure she is well treated, as a pupil of Siral's legacy school should be. And if you arrive before I do, tell the Royal family that Starswirl the Bearded shall be returning to Equestria, permanently."

Starswirl left without another word, leaving Ash Clincher to absorb this information, be it good news or inconsequential. Too many events were already in motion.

Late-Evening/sunset

31st July, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, Mutsae province

10 miles from Mutsae town, hidden cove

The bay was calm water, meaning he'd been able to swim easily enough.

Sat inside the secluded cove, Chack washed off the blood stains, the new ones at least. He had plenty of old ones painting his brown armour a red colour in many places, and yet today, he thought he would feel better.
He had finally redeemed his master for being betrayed by his brother in a time of tactical weakness, as Hisao gained power in wake of the Ru'saik province being temporarily defeated by Chack and his samurai rogue raid 20 years ago.

And yet, he felt nothing. No remorse for those he killed after killing Hisao. No fulfilment, just, nothing. Nothing was different.

His helmet off, Chack rubbed a moist hand over his wide head, the small green eyes squinting at the setting sun in the large bay and its many small, towering islands like shark teeth on the horizon.

A blue flash from the inside of the cove signalled a familiar Unicorn finding him, as Chack was sure he would at last.

But the sudden blue magic seizing his throat, and restraining him, surprised him slightly.

Starswirl's utterly livid expression burned into him, as the Wizard confronted the Samurai, hovering the Salamander's body backwards into the small rock face at the beach's edge:

"Words can't describe what I should be doing to you right now."

Chack did nothing, as he sensed a 'but' in that sentence. And sure enough, as Starswirl calmed himself, barely, the Wizard's blue magical grip released Chack, the Salamander rubbing his neck as Starswirl said with a voice that could cut rock:

"You are lucky that what you have truly proven yourself as is something I've disregarded for too long. I've been idealistic in my pursuits, but you have none at all it seems."

"I served my master, I went straight for the root of the betrayal of him, Hisao. The others were trying to stop my escape, I cannot serve my master's legacy in death."

At this, Starswirl was utterly quiet, as he remarked with a pained tone, as if accepting a painful reality of the entire scenario he foresaw many years ahead of him:

"You're life altered because Equestria intervened here, using the excuse of testing its means of war by letting them be used in conflicts here, exacerbating their consequences."

"If you can't prove yourself as an exemplar of kindness, then perhaps your skills may be better applied when, if all ideals fail, I require a way of getting straight to the root of issues in Equestria, which were the roots of issues here."

At this remark by Starswirl, Chack realised the final secret he'd been keeping from him, and one reason why exactly Starswirl was so angry at him.

And yet, he still didn't feel much, except perhaps intrigue. Equestria was after all, the catalyst of many issues in Salaman, and without the weapons he may not have needed to disobey his master in that raid, and Hisao may not have tried for power amidst relief in a fierce, short war.

He could best serve his master's legacy by 'helping' right at the source of the problems he'd been a victim of.

All the while though, Starswirl decided he'd finally had enough of prophecies, of idealism, of trying to bring lessons back to humble Equestria. Clearly they needed to be drawn out of warfare and glory, and callously encouraging violence to suit their needs in other nations.

Turning to Chack, Starswirl replied calmly: "We have much to discuss, before we go on. There is nothing here for me to seek any longer, and unless you seek something here still, I shall be leaving you behind."

Seeing the Wizard before him, Chack calmly walked over to a nearby rock, where Starswirl had also noticed a place to sit on his hunches, taking off his hat to run a hoof through his grey mane and beard.

Sitting down, the Wizard and Salamander sat in silence, both at fault for a great many things, yet both seeing opportunity.

For one, this was nowhere near how he anticipated this part of his journey ending before a 'triumphant' return.

Nightfall

31st July, 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, Mutsae province

Mutsae town, main palace

Teal Quirt's horn was bandaged, and with one of the Samurai inheriting the position of Daimyo, stability was returning to the town, not that with the recent raid by the ships it had recovered anyway.

And yet, as many slept, a presence slipped unseen into the room she recovered in. A presence that matched Starswirl in physical age, despite being born 60 years after the grey wizard.

In the dark of her room, as she slept, the white Unicorn mare with blue/grey mane tossed with another wince of pain from her sliced horn, while an unseen black mist curled around her bed, materialising into a solid form.

The Black Unicorn with the white mane wore a grey cloak on his flanks, with a letter S made of lightning arcs on the side. He was the founder of the Savant academy of magic.

Staying in Equestria for 60 years before going on to come out at the same time as Starswirl in this era had done wonders for Siral. His experimentation was welcomed in this warlike Equestrian linked world, though he didn't enjoy it for those who led it, or why.

Still, he'd been right to keep a watch over this student of his academy's, who had come with the Ambassador as a guard and translator. He'd sensed by following Starswirl that the next exemplar was in Salaman, as he would also be.

And yet now, the exemplar had failed spectacularly in exhibiting kindness, yet did something Siral would applaud him for. Opening Starswirl's eyes to the truth of the world as it stood.

Siral had left 49 years ago upon seeing war was inevitable, and that the Alicorns were good at playing the 'long game'. Now 8 years in an attrition war, Equestria was not the peaceful land they'd left nearly 700 years ago.

Still, as he watched over the Unicorn mare, a victim of the cruelty of one of Starswirl's 'exemplary' beings, Siral decided this mare may be worth keeping an eye on. Starswirl was going to be welcomed back, and with her horn damaged, she'd never be as strong again, and her dreams of ascending to Alicorn status like so many Unicorns were now dashed.

How appropriate that he foresaw one supposedly virtuous being may well have set another on a path to cruelty.

After all, Envy was one of the main sources of cruelty, and it all began with a single instance of cruel fate to them.

Perhaps those 7 beings to come were not a danger, but a blessing. If nurtured correctly, this Mare, and others wronged by fate like her, could very well prove to be the instruments of change he'd been searching for to solve the issue of what he called 'Alicorn arrogance'.

Author's Note

The Kindness arc does not 'end' with an example set and move on, this segways directly into Starswirl's return, as he sees too many parallels with the situation in Equestria foretold by the oracles/unfolding with the Gryphon war and eventual Civil War.

Chack's cruelty, and the world that he was merely made by, while it may have permanently cast doubt over Starswirl's prophecy, he won't discard Chack. After all, there is a place for peaceful means, but Chack has a desire to see peace in Equestria to restore peace to Salaman, as Equestria 'eggs on' conflicts in Salaman.

But he WILL fulfill his destined kindness further down the line. I'm talking YEARS down the line.
And meanwhile, the first of who will eventually become one of the 7 beings to be inspirations for the 7 sins has been revealed, and sent down the path towards a cruel being of Envy. Teal Quirt [her name will change later], and Siral has been viewing those prophesied 7 as a potential save for Equestria, not a danger.

The path back to Equestria was never going to be smooth, but this act of cruelty serves as the final wake up call to Starswirl.

Next chapter will have the return of Starswirl to Equestria, with Chack in tow [who will remain undercover somewhat in Equestria].

Now we are getting into the MEAT of this big story, as I will breeze past the New gryphon war to get right into business, the Equestrian Civil War.

Before that though, two royal sisters will meet Starswirl.

KINDNESS V, The Wizard Returns

Midday

5th August 112 BNM

Salaman Empire, Main island, North Eastern tip

Coastal waters

The mountains of the Salaman Empire were shrinking on the horizon, as their long journey ahead beckoned. As Starswirl said, he could not teleport them too far without risking something going wrong, so any journeys over large bodies of water greater than 10 miles were to be done by boat.

They had a simple goal. They were to cross the sea of Salaman, arriving on the Caninberia/Pandina disputed region on the 7th August, and from there, they would teleport by land rapidly to the north east, all the way to the Maring Straits. Another boat-ride across the summer, and less icy straits, and they would reach the Crystal Empire, Equestria's northern, and a Royalist aligned territory.

For now, they had the voyage to the mainland continent to compose their thoughts.

The sailing junk ship they were on was a passenger and freight ship bound for trade on the continent,and took passengers willingly. As Starswirl had remarked to Chack, it was a good thing he was only wanted in the Ru'saik and Mutsae provinces, and not the northern province they bought boat passage on.

As a few of the larger waves rocked the ship, the wind fluttering in the more segmented sails overhead on the masts, Chack kept staring back towards the Salaman mountains, leaning against the ship's railing during this calmer period of the travel.

While sailors milled about on the ship during this downtime, nearby Starswirl was staring out to the bow, seemingly waiting for the continent to appear on the horizon, impatient to finally be on their way at a rapid pace back to Equestria, a homecoming for him.

Sucking slightly, spitting some saliva overboard from the salty air getting to his mouth, Chack leant back against the railing, remarking loudly to the Wizard:

"Keep staring out there, but I doubt you're magical enough to bring the land any closer."

Turning to cast a glare of chagrin at the Salamander, Starswirl countered: "You seem enamoured by staring at your home country yourself."

Softening his gaze, Chack merely remarked: "I'm leaving my home country of 40 years, forgive my sentimentality at this moment."

"I've been gone for nearly 700 years." Starswirl countered. To this, Chack remarked with a quizzical, almost pedantic level of scrutiny: "But you say you time jumped a lot. How much actual time, for you, has passed?"

Thinking for a moment, Starswirl remarked with some vexation: "A year."

"And yet you seem distressed?"

"It is not how long I have been away in my perception, but what has happened since I left, in real time, that worries me. I only hope it is not too much worse than I've heard already. Goodness knows Siral probably tried his best in 60 years of staying on while I came to this time, not that it seemed to do much good."

"You think he's still around?" Chack asked.

"Likely. Wizards can fight off ageing, we knew tricks for it, not in built longevity like Alicorns have it seems. And he said he'd be out shortly after I emerged in this time, he'd just jump to these times years afterwards as it turned out."

"And yet he didn't try to find you?" Chack asked, going by what Starswirl had told him of Siral during their month long laying low in the Salaman mountains. With a shrug, Starswirl gave the honest remark:

"Given the state of Equestria he likely encountered, and that it is also where he'd 'hibernate', I'd be disappointed if he had left it to find me. He's likely trying to fix issues like I will once I return."

"If it is what I have heard, that may be a hopeless cause. Leadership pride, infighting brewing if this current war ends. It is uncannily alike Salaman's history." Chack pointed out, idly rubbing the wooden railing with a fin/hand.

Starswirl grumbled an incomprehensible reply, but it was clearly one of begrudging agreement. Cruel and a failure as an exemplary being of kindness as he was, Chack was observant. Perhaps that was why he was cruel still, he was merely a product of his world.

And the Equestria he was heading to with Starswirl, to lend his services how he could didn't exactly promise much better if history proceeded as they were predicting.

Midday

15th August, 112 BNM

Equestria, Crystal Empire, North Western wastes

Maring Straits coast

The small port town had been their stop, where Starswirl had picked up a map of the Crystal Empire. Land teleporting was faster anyway.

Trudging through the snow, the cold breeze across the grey rocky tundra hills beckoning before them bit into their bodies. Starswirl pulled his cloak tighter around himself, his hat stowed in exchange for his hood.

Nearby though, Chack had donned his full red and brown armour, if anything because it helped him keep somewhat warmer. Somewhat.

"I already hate your country and I have been here less than a day."

Dismissing Chack's complaint beneath his masked armour, Starswirl remarked:

"We'll stop in the Empire, it would be best to stay somewhere until that ambassador from Salaman, who was there amidst your little assault on the Daimyo, returns. I don't want my return to be too much of a surprise when it occurs."

"And heading to a Royalist aligned province is wise to avoid being known?" Chack asked, keeping his arms around his sides to fight off the cold air. Looking on the map, Starswirl remarked:

"Their current local King will welcome us. Besides, the Royalists and the other 2 factions merely butt heads over matters of pride and spoils, they aren't fighting. And even more thankfully, the Crystal Empire is far from any actual battlezones, and will be given the wastelands around it."

"Can we perhaps hurry there then? You have fur, I do not." Chack reasoned, teeth beginning to chatter slightly. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, the Grey wizard agreed.

Besides, he was keen to return to full-fledged pony civilisation anyway. The actual royal family he intended to get in contact with in the centre of Equestria itself could wait a few more weeks.

Besides, the fact that he was standing upon Equestrian ground for the first time in nearly 700 years was alleviating on its own.

And while Chack was a reminder of how the lesson of kindness was incomplete, with no sign of it in the near future of coming from him, it was good to have him as an ally. If anything, Starwirl was learning one value of having a companion that he wouldn't fully realise until much later, when he used all he'd learned to forge his greatest achievements.

Chack gave him company, and staved off loneliness. In this unfamiliar, changed Equestria, and maybe even changed Siral if he found him, someone he knew was vital for his sanity.

The Grey Wizard and red/brown armoured salamander vanished in a blue flash, heading south east, towards the Crystal Empire's city.

Mid-Morning

17th August, 112 BNM

Equestria, Crystal Empire, Capital city

Royal Palace, guest quarters

A mining town, barely a city, that was established 50 years ago upon the discovery of a network of valuable crystals in the nearby mountains. The harsh tundra and winter did little to stem the cultivation and settlement here, made easier by the hard working Earth ponies, weather restraining pegasi and magical Unicorns in the Crystal province, now known unofficially as the crystal empire after its first officially royal titled ruler took power 40 years ago.

The day before, they had been welcomed into the Crystal Empire by that ruler, the 'King' of the Crystal Empire.

As Starswirl would find out, there was more than just a handful of high ranking ponies in Equestria who held claim to royal titles. Some for the sake of not causing jealousy among the same province by having siblings both be king/queen or prince/princess, and so on. Others were labels by pride or vanity, as history would show.

But as Chack would later remark with some joking, and to which Starswirl would agree, Equestia had a very liberal use of royal labels compared to pretty much any other nation.

King Pietas, known as the King of Compassion, was a light grey furred, sandy red maned Unicorn of surprisingly lanky stature, had greeted the famous wizard in the royal chamber, honoured to meet such a distinguished traveller. Chack's presence went little heeded, as was preferred by the Salamander anyway, his place with Starswirl merely said as a useful ally in the recent past.

He was more than happy to let them stay here, before travel down to Equestria's main areas. As was expected, compared to other provinces closer to the 'heart' of Equestria, and its New Gryphon Empire borders, life was calmer on the Crystal Empire's front.

Out in front of the palace, the small city beckoned with thatched roofs and stone masonry.

It would be many decades before crystalline structures began to emerge, along with the succession of King Pietas's only child before his wife died in childbirth, the future Queen Amore. And then, her later aide, and interim King in her absence, and ultimately usurper, King Sombra.

But that was many years off still.

Looking out over a balcony, overlooking the crystal empire from the guest quarters, Starswirl couldn't help but notice King Pietas in the royal gardens, flanked by some shadowing guards on one of his walks along the pathways. On his back, the young 6-year-old princess, his only child, seemed to cuddle the King from riding on his back.

The young Unicorn filly, somewhat beige and white in fur colour, with a red/dark pink mane flowing from her small head as she made father daughter talk with King Pietas.

In truth, unknown to Starswirl, he did these walks because his wife had liked to do them with him when she lived, right up to the last week before giving birth, and dying due to post birth complications, magical medicine not being perfect at the time. His wife had been on a walk like this one when her first birth pains with little Amore had begun.

Walking with his daughter, what remained and was left to him by his wife, eased King Pietas's mind each other day of his rule, even in this quieter part of Equestria.

Heading back into the guest room, he found Chack on the guest couch, reading a small history book out of vague interest, the Salamander not oblivious to Starswirl's pacing.

"Something unnerving you?"

"This town and province didn't exist when I left. It is still, a shock, to see how much has changed."

"700 years will do that." Chack reminded the wizard, as if lightly scolding the elder grey Unicorn for not knowing this clearly obvious fact.

At this point though, Starswirl decided to take a note from Chack's book, to just take everything he found, that he had to adapt to as he reintegrated back into Equestria as it was, in two ways.

With a pinch of salt, and in his stride.

Meanwhile

Elsewhere in the crystal empire, the local orphanage director, an elder mare, had found the young foal dumped on her doorstep, with only a label to please take care of the child. A dark grey furred, black maned Unicorn foal with innocent blue eyes, Sombra.

How much he would change within a century, rising to be the future Queen Amore's aide, working to defend the Empire while Queen Amore handled foreign affairs, taking the name of King at her behest in her absence, and ultimately succumbing to his experiments and usurping Amore entirely.

For now though, the director took the foal inside, wanting to give him a warm home like so many others.

In his childhood years, Sombra would make only one friend, Radiant Hope, a purple/blue Unicorn mare with a white mane, who would witness her friend's rise and fall with her own eyes.

But that would not be for many years to come, as for now, the innocent foal who would become a tyrant slept in the warm orphanage, instead of the cold streets in a basket.

12th September, 112 BNM

Equestria, Midland Mountain range

Capital city of Canterlot

The capital city had been built on the slopes of the mountains in the middle of Equestria, lofty for pegasi to access, with a sizeable crystal mine with magical properties for Unicorns to access, and reasonable enough access by path and road for Earth ponies. It did not excel at any particular compared to other cities in Equestria, but made up for it by being along a well-travelled route, and being one of the most tactically safe cities in Equestria if ever attacked. High ground, with wall and garrisons from land, air and magic means, the works.

Small wonder the royal family kept one of the castles here.

The buildings were carved from the mountain's stone, with many levels and extensions giving it a platform and ramp layout, the city resembling a sort of miniature staircase on the mountain side almost.

The heart of Equestria.

The city would grow bigger over a millennium in the future, but as of now, the city, and its castle, were somewhat smaller, not as many towers as would later in history be, but still regal, and imposing in the white colours and purple and yellow décor of roofs, statues and ornaments adorning the mountain slope city.

Giving a respectful bow, with Chack doing the same, helmet off, Starswirl laid his eyes upon the Alicorns whom he would most associate with, even if he would come to know a few more, ally, or later enemy. Some involved with the royal family, others with other Alicorn families that would not be so cooperative later in history.

King Nova, stocky and tall, with a dark blue coat of fur and wings, and slightly glowing light green and white colours in his mane, sat upon his throne, nodding towards Starswirl with his well-known calm demeanour shining through his small, but thoughtful smile.

To Starswirl, he would become known as an honourable Alicorn, though he had moments of pride and vanity, especially when Equestria's security was at stake.

Beside him, Queen Aurora sat there, more reclined on her hunches in her throne, her white furred appearance a compliment to her husband's darker colours, while her shimmering black and light pink mane contrasted her own fur noticeably.

Beside Starswirl, Chack was quick to let his eyes wander, seeing Queen Aurora's slightly tired visage. Why exactly that was quickly became clear by the sight of the slightly swollen lower belly, her firstborn child growing within her white furred Alicorn body.

As Chack kept his eyes low out of respect for a foreign ruler, Starswirl pondered as he stood up.

Here was where much of his days would be based. Chack would have his future, and help Starswirl in subtler ways.

Starswirl wished to remain here, become integrated, and perhaps take up tutelgage of underlings like he'd done back in his Wizard days, before this whole prophecy mess.

Given the esteem they seemed to hold him in, he was sure the first child of the royal family would be among those he could tutor, and any siblings to follow.

Princess Celestia would be born 4 months later, in what was to be later in history called January of 111 BNM, by the time Starswirl was well integrated to life as a Canterlot magician, albeit more on his own terms. Chack would be a freelancer, a traveller in Equestria, keeping a low profile, but a contact of Starswirl's.

And 5 years later, in what was to be May of 106 BNM, the 2nd child would be born, Princess Luna. By which time, a semblance of normality, even with the New Gryphon War ongoing until what would become 98 BNM

14th September, 112 BNM

Equestria's north eastern borders, New Gryphon frontier

'Disputed territories'

The generals watched from the mountain top as the Gryphon army flew in reinforcements, airbourne cavalry charges coupled with aerial archery volleys raiing down. Despite the close odds though, the Equestrians were somewhat in the advantage.

Magically aided earth pony operated catapults, Earth pony and Pegasi infantry and armoured cavalry charges, Unicorn magical attack volleys and firing lines, and whirlwinds whipped up by the pegasi forces rained upon the Gryphons.

The Gryphons had the numbers, 3 to 2 in their favour, but the Equestrians as a collective army were a force to be reckoned with.

Like so many New Gryphon war skirmishes and battles in the past 8 years, and in the 14 years to come, Equestria would slowly grind New Gryphon out of the territories between them, and the spoils, of fertile land and mineral rich mountain ranges, would be theirs.

But with the spoils came the inevitable squabbling, only made more inevitable with the egos and senses of pride and entitlement the Alicorn leaders across Equestria had been displaying for many decades, centuries if one looked carefully enough.

War and Peace were never permanent.

North-Mid Equestria, mountain range

Mountain fortress [to later become Siral's fortress]

Toiling to build the next tower, many worker ponies hefted the stone into place with grunts of exhaustion, be they physical or magical lifting.

The fortress here was a last resort, one of many places, and was nearly finished. With the wealth coming from some iron mines in the south, the Trumane Alicorn family who made up the leadership of the proclaimed 'Nationalist' Equestrian faction, had offered to build this fortress on behalf of the security of all of Equestria, one of a dozen being built around Equestria, not just by the Nationalists, but some by the Seperatist proclaimed ones and the Royalists. Only the New Gryphon war kept their alliance strong between them at the moment.

Overseeing the construction of what would become his fortress, the Black Wizard gave a snort of satisfaction. It would suffice, and could easily be made bigger or better equipped to suit his needs, once the basic 'cover' was built. He had plans he'd rather not those he aligned with necessarily fully known about just yet.

Beside him, the grey Unicorn mare with the blue/grey mane, Teal Quirt, regarded the fortress impassively, her bandaged head hiding her broken horn stump.

She had been told that with a damaged horn, once it grew back, she'd never be the same again, and that she had given them great service, but had best to 'retire' now.

The Royalists magicians had cast her away, for something that minion of Starswirl's, as Siral had informed her, had done. And she wished not to serve the nationalists or seperatists either.

She had her own desires now, and only Siral offered a similar mindset. He had grand plans to change Equestria, the world, for the better.

Let their silly war for spoils against the Gryphons go on, Siral was thinking. It merely means all the more to incite the inevitable infighting as foreseen by the oracles, and foreseeable by anyone versed in warfare and political histories.

And with Teal Quirt, Siral knew he had someone he could tutor in his ways.

As she spoke to the black wizard, in the grey robes, the Unicorn mare asked bluntly:

"Once this is finished, shall we find your friend?"

"No. Let him play with the ones who are part of the problem. We'll remain elusive, for now, until the time is right."

"And when will that be?" Teal remarked. She wished she could use her magic better, or in the least find the so called 'great Starswirl' and throttle him for one of his so called exemplary beings ruining her life.

Siral gave a small sigh, before he remarked: "When enough conflict is afoot, sown by their ego and pride, or by us if necessary. All we must do is wait."

For Siral, one matter remained a priority: Keeping track of exactly how many Alicorns, born or ascended from more normal ponies, that there were.

He needed to know how many he may have to deal with when the time came, and what sort of ways, or living beings and weapons, he needed.

And Teal Quirt gave him a basis for the first of what he foresaw as his greatest creations, instruments of his will to come, once a great deal other 'experiments' were done. And thankfully, the penchant for warfare I Equestria right now would give the Savant impunity and secrecy in his work, as long as he gave out thing usable by the rulers for their campaigns.

A supplier for their warlike and prideful ways would turn on them in time.

Author's Note

This marks the end of the arcs, though the kindness exemplar, Chack, will fulfil his role later on.

The next chapter will see a big time jump forwards, to after the New Gryphon War is over, and the 2 Princesses have already grown significantly. By the time the war ends in 98 BNM, Celestia is 13 and Luna is 8, but the next chapter shall be further along in their lives than that.

In the crystal empire, I briefly covered the history, loosely implementing some features from the Fiendship is Magic comics for Sombra's origins, though I made him eventually become an aide to Queen/Princess Amore of the empire, as I have him experimenting with the crystals as far back as 57 years before the empire falls, in which time he usurps her [I can briefly cover that later].

See the MLP wiki for details on how the story I made loosely adapts it/how it differs, but I also used the lone friend of Sombra, radiant hope, as in the same orphanage/age group.

Meanwhile, Siral serves [loosely] what will become the Nationalists, who want an Alicorn council, not an Alicorn royal family. And Teal Quirt has left, as she was deemed 'damaged' as a magician by the royal courts, and she hated that they let in Starswrl after his 'exemplar' took her horn in a bid of random violence. That will come into play later when she is 'altered' by Siral.

Royalist: Traditionalist, support the royal family and any supporting council. Starswirl on their side with Chack as a subtle contact able to get into enemy territory by his means.

Nationalist: Want a council/parliament of Alicorns, no royal lineage. Ensures no Alicorn is above any other, but still above other 3 pony groups. Siral loosely serves them, with Teal Quirt as subtle agent similar to Chack for now [later becomes mutated being to inspire sin of Envy]

Separatist: Want to divide Equestria up as before unification nearly 1000 years before, as separate nations that trade and collaborate, but aren't subject to the same laws, most right wing/racially tense group. [They'll be quickest to be 'taken out' of the fight, due to lesser number of Alicorns/Unicorns/wealth]

25 Years Later, Equestrian Civil War

[-25 years later-]

Midday

24th January, 86 BNM

Equestria, Midland Mountain range

Capital city of Canterlot

Magical Academy

"And in case anypony was thinking of asking me for supervision with your projects, hoping to have me as company over the weekend, don't. I am your temporary instructor, not your wet nurse, and I expect you all to be perfectly capable of doing it yourself, and most importantly, I have my own research and leisure time I would rather not have taken away from me. Any questions?"

Of the Unicorn Mares and Stallions sat in the lecture classroom, most of them raised their hooves in the air. At the front of the lecture hall, Starswirl resisted the urge to groan, as he pointed at one pale green Unicorn 2 rows back:

"You first young lady."

"Is it true you beat those 3 sirens who were hypnotising many in Canterlot 10 years ago?"

Pausing, Starswirl had some misgivings about that event, his greatest failure.

Well, when he said failure, more embarrassment that he hadn't been able to best them, and so 'cheated' slightly.

…Meanwhile, on the other side of a magically dormant mirror in the Crystal Empire's vaults, currently ruled by Princess Amore…

Thousands of light years away, approximately 35 millennia in the future

24th January, 921 AD (world's dating system)

Late Evening [local time]

North American Midlands

Hunched around the fire they'd built for the night, the 3 Sirens fought off the bitter cold in their small cave they'd found.

10 years they'd been here, all because a certain Wizard hadn't been able to beat them with raw magic or musically outperforming them, himself or finding out of Canterlot talent [who could?], instead he found a 3rd, rather cheap move.

One magic portal, sucking them in, and now they were wherever they were, a world without magic.

And no settlements it seemed, besides the odd wandering tribe of darker, almost red skinned hairless ape creatures that called themselves 'men and women'. Some even wore silly feather headpieces.

Still, they were these 'humans now', when they changed to them with their pendants, and irritatingly, Siren longevity meant they would likely be in this world a while.

One yellow, one blue, one purple. Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze.

In their human forms, as she shivered in the cold biting through the cave, Adagio grumpily remarked amidst the quiet:

"…Anyone considering hibernating until we sense any magic to use?"

"Maybe until that mirror portal opens again?" Sonata offered herself. Aria, warming her hands, bitingly remarked:

"We'd have to wait until somepony else comes through, someone who uses magic."

"I'm sure somepony will, eventually. Anything beats waiting who knows how many seasons awake." Adagio reasoned, as another cold breeze bite through their bodies, even with the fur pelt clothing they'd forged to keep them warm, human or siren bodied by their magic pendants. Their magic was limited, so hibernation was perhaps wise.

Later that year they would hibernate, awoken over a thousand years later when a Unicorn, Sunset Shimmer, came through. They could quickly adapt to the new settlement and modern world they'd find given time, just as Sunset would.

Anything beat this.

"Buck Starswirl… Buck him." Adagio cursed under her breath, as Sonata fed the fire again, and Aria nodded in agreement to the insult.

Back to classroom

"Yes, now any questions besides that minor incident?"

Starswirl nearly grimaced as he still saw hooves raised. By the spirits he hated curious first year academy students if only for them being too curious about things that weren't truly important, like gossip or the personal lives of others, his own among them.

No wonder the Wizard Meadowbrook, despite being somewhat Seperatist faction affiliated, had sent him a humorous letter of condolence. Perhaps he should take the path Meadowbrook was taking, and sticking to research and forging useful artefacts, like the set of 8 he was currently working on perfecting over the next 10 years.

Spirits knows Siral would say the same if Starswirl had found him, and yet 25 years of being back gave absolutely no sign of Siral whatsoever.

Still, the students from the magical learning guild he established in the 60 years he stayed on before presumably jumping to the last point Starswirl did were skilled. Not even they knew of Siral's whereabouts, the very school he set up.

Honestly, with the entire situation in Equestria, with civil war and infighting for glory, power and sharing the spoils of the territory gained from the New Gryphon war, he understood if Siral gave up. He had enough bad experiences with Alicorns even before coming back to Equestria, though in this Starswirl expected him to side with the Seperatists if he were to pick one.

Though if Siral had remained, if they met again, given Siral had stayed on for 60 years while Starswirl jumped forwards, they'd be the same age. That would cast some odd context upon their meeting to say the least.

Early Afternoon

Equestria, Midland Mountain range

Capital city of Canterlot

Royal Palace

King Nova sagged in his throne slightly as the other noble families who represented the Nationalists and Seperatists left the council chamber.

It had been a fool's hope, trying to get a more peaceful talk over despite all the arms buildup, squabbling, and even in some cases outright hostility considering many things.

The Separatists wanted Equestria as separate states that traded, but governed themselves, with NO alicorns at all, with pegasi, earth ponies and Unicorns having their own nations. In short, a regression to Equestria pre-unification 800 years prior.

The Nationalists wanted Equestria to have no royal family, but have a number of different families that were equals by decree, a sort of permanent hereditary council of Alicorn families, each ruling a sub state but as a collective still one nation.

Meanwhile the Royalists, his own, wished to keep the royal family, which just happened to now be Alicorn dominated, and united as one nation.

A simple round table discussion, to find any common ground at all, between the Alicorns and Ponies of the Royalists, the Alicorns of the Nationalists, and the Ponies of the Separatists, turned into, for lack of a politer description, a complete clusterfuck.

It got so bad that drinks were thrown at each other shortly before the family representatives left, and the servants were already having to get mops ready to clean the hall up.

The dark blue furred, white and light green maned Alicorn king groaned as beside him, Queen Aurora couldn't help but remark with some rare bitterness:

"That went well."

Turning to his white furred, and black and light pink maned Alicorn queen, Nova gave a sarcastic reply laced with truth:

"Oh it was, they only threw drinks, no spells or weapons."

"What events to come because we couldn't make peace, might herald such things being hurled at each other." Aurora remarked, the Alicorn queen standing up to leave the hall, while Nova stood up to go with her.

"Why must they be so pig headed? Lives are at stake if this war goes ahead."

"Not everypony is as caring about the masses as you. And if I recall, you were somewhat staunch in your position near the end of those debates, like others were."

"You could have helped." Nova probed, to which Aurora shook her head, remarking with a mixture of lament, and dark humor:

"There is no point in wasting words on a hopeless case."

"I wish you were wrong on this count." King Nova remarked, as he followed his queen to the main throne room.

In the main throne room, their chief of serving staff greeted them, Haymund Blacksaddler, decked in his black servant chief attire, the Black maned and furred Unicorn bowing as he greeted them, noticing their slightly displeased looks:

"Good afternoon your majesties. I, ahem, I presume the meeting went as well as expected?"

King Nova merely grunted, while Queen Aurora added politely: "Yes, you could say that."

"Very well, but I do have some good news."

"That would make a change for today." King Nova said, as he turned to face their chief servant with his queen beside him. As they stood by the throne, Blacksaddler unfurled the scroll with his magic, remarking as he levitated it to their grasp:

"Your daughters had success in the Crystal Empire, they recovered the Crystal Heart from the Dragon that stole it from Princess Amore and the empire, with enough pony and Gryphon help."

"Gryphons?" Queen Aurora asked, surprised.

"Yes my queen, apparently they care enough about their more northern trading partner in Equestria helping them after the war 10 years ago that they actually lent help to those who beat them in that war, even if the Empire was less involved."

As King Nova unfurled the scroll, he read the contents with some pride in his daughters.

When that dragon had stolen the newly found crystal heart, Princess Amore, a Unicorn 5 years the elder of Princesses, asked for help, claiming that the help of 2 Alicorns would be greatly useful. Feeling they were ready, King Nova sent them off, with Starswirl giving a recommendation as their personal magic instructor in their years, despite Luna having only finished with Starswirl 2 years ago, and Celestia 7 years ago.

Despite reasoning with the dragon to return the heart to the crystal ponies who needed it to endure the northern tundra conditions, and for Princess Amore to not exhaust her magic in the heart's absence, the dragon didn't relent. When he revealed he didn't care about the ponies, and only took the heart despite not liking it much, simply because everything in that mountain chain was claimed as his hoard, did Celestia lose her patience.

Celestia's anger was enough to apparently send the greedy dragon cowering far back into the cave systems, and let the Crystal Heart be returned, and Princess Amore to host the first ever Crystal Faire in the Crystal Empire.

Among the festivities, Princess Amore introduced an up and coming Councillor to her, Sombra, and his childhood friend Radiant Heart, an associate of his. All in all, Celestia, and Luna in tow, had claimed great success in stabilizing the northernmost region of Equestria.

A far cry from today, though perhaps the lack of an already established Alicorn pig-headed ruling family helped.

Still, they were proud of their daughters, and upon seeing their return date, Queen Aurora gave the positive remark:

"Celestia shall be back for her 25th birthday. It only seems yesterday she was a newborn at my flank."

"Well, we can celebrate the success of our daughters, and Celestia's birthday to boot."

King Nova truly was proud of his daughters, and maybe a tad jealous, given they'd done what he'd failed to do today. Even so, one region made peaceful wasn't much leeway over pretty much all the others barreling towards civil war.

The arms were already being built, bought and stocked as it was.

26th January, 86 BNM

Early Evening

Equestria, Midland Mountain range

Capital city of Canterlot

Royal Palace, ballroom

The 25th birthday of Princess Celestia indeed was a celebration worth having, though the shared success of the sisters in the crystal empire, bringing peace to at least on part of Equestria, especially a Royalist aligned one, was appreciated.

In wake of the breakdown in relations with those of more Nationalist and Separatist nobility though, the party was a less crowded affair than previous royal birthdays. Probably for the best, to avoid any more scenes being made.

Slightly shorter than her parents, Princess Celestia, a white Alicorn mare, her shining light pink mane flowing as pristine as ever, dressed in a gorgeous yellow dress of the time, politely finished speaking with the Duke and Duchess of Mareton, as she peeled off towards the front of the ballroom.

The nobility milled about, enjoying the festivity on behalf of her birthday, but also of having at least one region in Equestria actually more politically calm than it was a few days ago. Any celebration was welcome in this political climate.

Her eyes gazing around the party, Celestia spotted a familiar pointed blue hat among the crowds of mostly Unicorns, about 24 Alicorns of varying size and shape [all the biggest in the room though], and a few Earth ponies and Pegasi. And she could have sworn she saw what appeared to be a Salamander in dark red and brown attire somewhere, but she'd lost sight of it.

Somepony suddenly bumped into her as she gazed about, and she saw the dusty brown Alicorn in the romper suit burst into an embarrassed fluster as his drink spilt a few drops onto his chest shirt, the delicacy drink of chocolate in milk leaving some faint brown marks on his shirt:

"Oh my goodness, uh, Princess Celestia, forgive me, I only just turned when I, I am so sor-."

"It's perfectly alright, I was distracted as well. Here, let me help with that."

As her yellow magic faintly set to work, the small chocolate milk stains on the Alicorn stallion's suit shirt vanished. Calming slightly, she saw him in more detail now. He was a reasonably handsome looking Alicorn stallion, perhaps her age [give or take a few years], and he had slightly blue feathers on his wings and a black mane atop his dusty brown furred body, and quite lucid looking red eye colouration amidst the whites of them.

As he gave a nervous smile, he mumbled a shy word of thanks, while she asked: "I think I've seen you somewhere before, but we haven't met. What is your name?"

"Gaudium, Gaudium Valhoof. And, uhm, yes, I come with my parents to many events. Kind of dull sometimes, but I can enjoy them enough." Gaudium nervously pawed the ground with a hoof before the Princess, despite his best self-control. The drink incident had ruined his composure.

Celestia gave a slight giggle, agreeing with the late teenage/early adult Alicorn stallion: "Yes, some of these parties can be dull. Even more so with less attending."

"Yeah, well, my family still likes yours, and how things are and have been for a while in Equestria. And, you seem to be a future we can get behind too."

Smiling at the stallion, Celestia looked away, giving a slight sigh as she remarked:

"It was wonderful running into you Gaudium, but I have to find somepony I actually need to speak to myself."

"Oh, I understand. And, again, sorry about bumping into you."

"And again, we'd have not spoken if we hadn't. Until I next see you Gaudium." Celestia gave a slight bow of her head, while Gaudium bowed even lower, before Celestia set off towards the blue wizard hat visible in a corner of the semi crowded ballroom.

As the music played in the ambiance, Gaudium fought off the blush, knowing that Celestia was just being polite. He just wished he wasn't a slightly clumsy, easily flustered stallion, even as an Alicorn.

Then again, compared to Celestia, he was sure anypony, Alicorn or lesser his age, would feel shadowed by her, or her sister to a lesser extent.

Gaudium would be proud to even measure up to the potential greatness the two sisters seemed to have.

The dusty brown Alicorn stallion wandered off, to find his parents. The Lord and Lady of Trottingham would like to hear that their son was on good, personal terms with the eldest royal princess.

Up near the front, as the party continued on, Luna sat beside her father King Nova, as she watched her sister mill about towards Starswirl in a corner.

"Go on, I'm sure he'll wish to speak to you about the same matter as your sister."

"Will he? Celestia seemed to do more then, and it is her birthday tonight too."

"You aided in the saving the Crystal Heart as much as she did, don't doubt your worth Luna, it is not good to do so. And your sister is older, you shall be at her level soon enough, and you two shall peak in your greatness as equals. Waiting 5 years for your own after your sister's is simply her being older. You shall gain a year on her in a few months, and 4 is less than 5."

Luna gave a small smile at her father's rather blunt, perhaps corny humor, as she let him nuzzle her gently before she stood from the table to walk over towards where Starswirl was speaking to Celestia of the Crystal Empire situation in detail.

Nearby, Queen Aurora waltzed over, noting with a small peck on Nova's cheek at his reassurance of the younger sister without a word. But she did remark:

"While you consoled our younger daughter, I noticed Celestia making some talk with the Trottingham Alicorn Lord and Lady's son, Gaudium."

"Him? Somewhat uncouth, but rife with potential as a magic wielder, and good at heart, shy if any flaws are to be said." King Nova remarked. Intrigued, Aurora sat down beside her husband, remarking:

"Why so knowledgeable of him?"

"I must be of stallions within my daughters' ages. Firstly, to see whom to drive away, and others to give a chance to."

With a slight laugh, Aurora asked innocently: "And how does Gaudium fare?"

"Before the nationalist and separatist families left our loyal circle, he was less likely, but reasonable. He's jumped up in approval by his family's loyalty still, something harder to find in recent years it seems."

As King Nova remarked, Queen Aurora sat down beside him, letting the ambiance of the party engulf her and her husband.

"You'll be starting in a few weeks, more advanced magic. I feel you are ready. It is not like your parents will want you to go into combat, but you'll be more than ready afterwards if the time calls for it."

"Yes Master Starswirl." Celestia and Luna said in conjunction. As they both bowed to him, and the Wizard in return, he offered these few words of praise:

"And, good work in the Crystal Empire. Negotiating with a dragon is not easy, and shouting at one is risky in itself."

Celestia turned a slight shade of red at this, while Luna suppressed a slight giggle. She may not have delivered the final blow to gain that resolution, but seeing Celestia downtalk a giant black and yellow striped dragon was a spectacle to behold.

Within a few more moments, the two sisters left to mingle in the party some more.

Later, Starswirl walked to a more secluded corner of the party room, where he found a familiar Salamander hiding in the shadows. Invited at Starswirl's request, but keeping a low profile.

"Done talking with your students?"

"They're worth their salt, or they will be when I'm done with them. Besides, you know I called you here to know your answer in person, and to catch up."

"The answer is yes, otherwise I'd have not attended. I can go undercover in separatist and nationalist territory; they're looking for forgers of weapons for non-magic user forces they're getting ready. I learnt forging in my days under my Bushido life, with or without a master. I can get by, maybe make a good deal of money while I do it too."

"Whatever gets you knowledge of the goings on, where I won't be able to get as good a set of eyes. They can search for magic users more easily than a non-magic wielder; it is like a giant clue for some trained Unicorns and Alicorns if I tried to infiltrate or others did."

Nodding, Chack gazed around the ballroom, then back to Starswirl, asking more casually:

"So, just curious, and I am not sure why I didn't hear about it before now, about some incident with you 10 years back with some big music event her in Canterlo-."

"I'd rather not speak of it, it wasn't my best moment."

"Can't play a tune to save your life by what I heard." Chack said, seeing an opportunity for a bit of teasing on Starswirl's part.

If Chack was going to be going undercover in territory on behalf of Starswirl, he'd enjoy some last japes at the wizard's expense, though in good taste for a friend and 'pen-pal' as he wandered Equestria for the past 25 years, exploring.

A stint as a civil war weapon forger may prove peaceful, and profitable.

28th January, 86 BNM

Equestria, Northern tundra, mountain range

Cavern system

Word had spread of the dragon being warded off, and the crystal heart reclaimed. In all honesty though, the news fell on preoccupied ears, as focus was upon the sides preparing for war, too many disagreements and disputes to talk it out any longer.

Not all ears were deaf though.

In the cavern, a Black Unicorn had travelled in secret, unseen, one who had long disguised himself in many ways over the last 25 years since his return to Equestria after a 49-year absence.

The Black Wizard, the Savant.

He had made his presence known at the mouth of the cave, and the rumbling voice deeper inside her ordered him to come further inside. Soon enough, in a place where the darker cavern blotted out much of the light, the Black Wizard stood upon a small rise in the stone flooring.

Ahead, he didn't flinch as the large dragon's scaly black and yellow tinged snout and glinting golden eyes were illuminated by a puff of small flames from his large mouth, big enough to swallow Siral whole.

Siral's grey magic lit up the cavern slightly, revealing the dragon in his 200-foot glory, huddled in the far reaches after being outright humiliated and cowed by those Alicorn princesses into his surrender of the crystal heart.

But it was the dragon's apparent swiftness at attacking the crystal empire, and now seeming dislike for Alicorns, that had dragon Siral here today, and made his offer.

"And what do I gain from this?"

"The eventually downfall of all Alicorns, beyond just those that humiliated you."

"There is more to offer, is there not?"

"The spoils of success, if you cooperate with my planning, will be great enough that no cave you find could house it all if you stacked it to the roof."

The black and gold striped dragon, barely lit by Siral's grey horn light, rumbled in the darkness:

"Many presume dragons as merely greedy, instinctive beasts. But, we possess a keen sense of knowing when deceit is afoot in those we speak to."

Leaning his large head down towards Siral, the dragon's breath washed over the Unicorn, who hid his mild disgust entirely, the dragon gave a slight pause as he said with some genuine intrigue:

"What exactly, do you have in mind?"

"A long term plan, perhaps 2 decades, no more than 3. You would be merely one of a handful or more of most powerful beings, crafted to utter perfection and greater than you could have ever been normally. I already have some who will be as high ranked as you, but different in role and skill, and more after you if you join my cause."

The dragon pulled his head back, asking curiously in his rumbling voice: "There is something about you, but I must know. What is it I sense, the common idea we share, that makes me trust you more than I would normally a mere pony. What ideal do you and I share, if you were to deduce it?"

"We both have a dislike for the Alicorns."

A very slight smile adorned the large dragon's snout, as he rumbled his name:

"Golmov. And who might the kindred spirit be that I have just struck a deal with?"

As he gave a small smile of success, Siral's grey eyes shone slightly with his grey magic, the Black Unicorn stood before the much larger dragon in the cave revelling in yet another being to mould to his desires for powerful servants falling into place:

"Siral, the Savant."

Golmov would join others he was slowly accumulating at his fortress in the northern midland mountain range of Equestria, his fortress disguised as an Equestrian border outpost against possible New Gryphon attack if a second [unlikely] war broke out.

One of 4 beings he now had under his sway, now counting Golmov, and already counting Teal Quirt [a cripple horned Unicorn mare], a Pegasus mare [shamed for her 'lustful' manipulating of some delegates in her family and bringing shame, despite persuading them to become more allied], and a noticeably fat, gentle but disenfranchised Minotaur male [a migrant who disliked the local Equestrians greatly, after they took the land, and food, he'd worked hard to grow in abundance and, in a fit of justifiable 'gluttony', didn't want to give up because of that for the 'war' effort against the Gryphons].

And Siral had plans for more. Golmov made 4 in his roster, and all of them would be improved by his eventual experiments, healed, made better than ever before.

And the Civil War about to unfold would provide the perfect distraction while he progressed his plans unhindered in his fortress, under the façade as a Unicorn keeping a watch against any unlikely northern invader.

Author's Note

The civil war's first part, of more standard warfare, shall be glossed over, as its not worth covering gain less back and forth skirmishes and conflicts that don't really change much in terms of territory or the characters. We're skipping right to the start of the interim years of 79-72 BNM, a sort of ceasefire a few years after costly fighting on all sides lasting for 7 years, where tensions decrease in hopes of a truce, and when the true intrigue starts to surface with the wizards, royalty and with these 'beings'. This culminates in the start of the heated 2nd stage, and by heated, I mean it winds up destabilising the day and night by the end of it and with the Alicorn population nearly wiped out/depowered.

Kudos to anyone who realizes who Gaudium is foreshadowing/who he eventually becomes. Not that he'll remember any of this ever again in his life.

The dragon, Golmov, who becomes the greed being a la Siral, is based off the one from the IDW comics that stole the crystal heart. He'd develop a dislike of Alicorns for humiliating him and taking what he viewed as his.

12 years later: A Savant and his servants.

[-12 years later-]

Midday

24th May, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Even after 5 years of relative peace, the fortress had still grown.

The fortress had grown, especially in wake of the Civl War's 7-year span of time. The Unicorn, an elder, grizzled black one who often wore robes to remain anonymous, urged the Nationalists and Separatists, and the Royalists, that any fortresses should remain rather neutral in these conflicts, in case the New Gryphon Empire got ideas to take back the land won in the war against them a decade before the Civil War started.

It was the one thing the 3 sides agreed upon, though the Gryphon attack never came, while the fortresses grew in size and strength. The Black Unicorn's own Citadel grew larger than the others, and improvements were always being made to it.

Above, and below its ground.

Towering grey stone and black obsidian made up its exterior, carved by magic and hoof, hoisted by Pegasi, earth and Unicorn alike into place. Foundations stretching many stories underground on the slopes of the steep valley slope upon which it rested.

Amidst the valley, overlooking a large lake, the fortress rose above its shores, a stone bridge running along the lake's edge where the fortress was, like a long porch of sorts between the fortress and the lake. The large, imposing structure formed to the mountain, sloping upwards in its many turrets and battlements, the highest point actually being a small tower outpost at the top of the valley mountain slope, connected by a stairwell.

The tallest rising part of the actual fortress was still a sight to behold, like a large spear tip penetrating the sky, 100 metres into the sky, thrusting out of the valley slope to almost come halfway up the height of the valley's steep face that it hugged. Beneath it lay many buildings, less occupied than it could possibly be, as the threat from the North was minimal right now in this time of peace.

The Civil War was over, for now. 7 years of fighting had drained the three sides, and a period of inactivity brewed, tenuous ideals of an agreement, though neither side seemed willing to budge after the damage already done, the number of dead spread relatively evenly on all 3 sides, totalling at around 40,000, maybe 50,000 dead, 10,000 of whom were noncombatants.

In spite of all this, the Fortress, and others along Equestria's north, excluding the Crystal Empire, continued to grow, just in case the New Gryphons got daring. This was merely the biggest, and most aided in its growth by magic, though given it being the closest to the territory won in the New Gryphon war, it was welcomed to be there and growing.

Yet this fortress also held a great many secrets, with its occupants, and those its master held in contact, be it active, or ones he was slowly gaining under his hoof.

Even if Siral had to ruin a few lives in the process to get them.

4 years into the Civil War, 8 years ago

Separatist provinces

8th February, 82 BNM

He met the boy, a young 9-year-old Earth Pony foal, as he travelled the road, right as he'd been looking for somebody who was wandering around on their own.

The Black and white maned Alicorn had seen the boy climbing some trees, rather well for a young Earth Pony, and decided to intervene. The faintest of magic, and the branch snapped under the boy's weight.

The boy's crying over a few scraped knees attracted the attention of the wandering Alicorn, who in a bid of sympathy came over and magically healed the bumps and scrapes the boy had, the young black and brown furred Earth Pony foal marvelling at this pony. Big, tall, and with horns and wings.

The kindly Alicorn gave him a last flash of a spell, urging the boy to be on his way before his parents got worried.

As the boy, Grey Gaithoof wandered off back to his village, the disguised Siral teleported away before he could be found.

The paranoid villagers, wary of anypony not an Earth Pony, searched the woods, but didn't find the boy's 'helper'. The boy was lightly reprimanded for talking with the oppressors they wanted no part of, hence their political sympathies.

But when the boy started falling slightly ill, they were quick to try and help him. He healed, but days later began losing his fur.

Weeks passed, and the boy became balder, and balder, his grey skin beneath his deteriorating black and brown coat exposing. As he didn't seem to be ill, whispers began to spread of a curse.

The boy began to have lashes of sudden anger, blind panic and even spasms at times. It didn't take long for word to spread of a curse by the Alicorn.

By the time the boy was finally exiled, he had been growing agitated by the constant teasing, fearful looks, and outright hate he was receiving. His own parents, devout to their staunch stand against any non-Earth pony races, had a choice to make: Remove their son for the village's sake, lest his 'curse' spread, or exile themselves with him.

For the 'greater good', they lightly drugged the boy in his sleep, and by the next morning, he found himself abandoned in the nearby wild forests, not as big as the infamous Everfree Forest, but somewhat untamed as well, and a hovel for many rumoured beasts.

Grey Gaithoof wandered, cold, alone, growing more and more bitter each day. Eventually, he felt his patience snap, and he didn't try to resist one of his flashes of anger that had made him seem as if cursed by a demon, or 'Alicorn' as his village would call the one they thought had infected him.

And in truth, he believed it himself. An Alicorn did this, an Alicorn ruined his life, because he could.

After a blind angry spell, Grey Gaithoof awoke amidst a forest clearing. Dented trees were everywhere around him, the forest was quiet, and on the ground was the sight of an utterly destroyed rabbit hole he'd attacked in a blind fury. The dead rabbits lay half buried in the dirt.

And on the young foal's flank, as his muscles from his anger flash seemed to ripple in response [they had also grown significantly for his age since he was 'cursed'], there lay his mark.

A jagged blade cleaving a heart in two, a mark of his utter hate that made him strong.

79 BNM

3 years passed, and by the time the Civil War was coming to a tenuous peace, Grey Gaithoof had grown to a rather muscular, adolescent foal, feral in nature when he was not withdrawn into wherever he stayed.

He took his anger flashes out on the local wildlife, revelling in it instead of repressing it. He'd moved up in the world, from rabbits to even killing a timberwolf with his bare hooves in recent weeks. Not for food, but just because he could, like that Alicorn that cursed him.

Then, he met Siral.

The Unicorn had emerged like a ghost into the clearing, as the Grey skinned Earth pony boy stayed in the shadows. Words were exchanged, though not many.

As Siral gathered from what he said, as he'd heard of Grey Gaithoof's plight, his family had not even try to let him be treated, and they had cast him out, even for being touched by an Alicorn. They didn't even try to help him, not even letting Unicorns who also were Separatists help with this magic curse.

It made Grey Gaithoof hate his own family as much as the Alicorn who cursed him. He didn't realise the 'Alicorn' in question was stood before him right now.

At this point, Siral offered a deal. Grey could have a home with him, he could teach him, help him live a life worth living, and he could do what he could to life the Alicorn's curse, apparently making Grey a 'test subject' for a random spell to improve strength in their soldiers. [It had worked, at the cost of Grey's anger management and fur].

With a life having been led in the last 3 years that could only be described as miserable, Grey Gaithoof agreed, as long as he got a different name, something to cast aside the name his now hated family had given him.

Upon reaching the Citadel, still undergoing expansion, Siral gave Grey's new name.

A shorthand magical language origin name. It translated to Heart of Hate.

Odi Viscer.

Midday

24th May, 75 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Siral's main chamber hall

The upper levels were standard military structure, as was expected in the Citadel. Beneath its ground levels lay the true structures, some still under construction.

Siral's fortress, which as history would show, the basement levels of which would last for over a thousand years.

Now, he stood atop a small raise platform, as he addressed the 5 stood in the hallway.

"You have all suffered, but now, here we are. You are improved, by my hooves and magic, but also by your willingness to trust me, and each other."

Turning, Siral turned his gaze upon the female Pegasus, light green in colour with a white mane, and a rather sensual figure for any mare:

"Iena, once known as Emeralda Windclop, who as thanks for using your gift of persuasion with temptations of the body to gain favour in a deal with your family in the Nationalists, was exiled when your successful methods shamed them, as if they already had honour in waging their pointless war of egos and Alicorn oppression."

The light green Pegasus mare gave a small smirk, as Siral finished: "Now, you have training, beauty and skills to persuade, and infiltrate, to know how to manipulate others. Those who deserve their fates will be divided in their loyalty to each other by your tactics."

Siral had never told Iena that she never gave herself away, but Siral had seen her skill and potential, and informed of her wiles and methods of seduction to have them shame/throw her out, so he could pick her up.

Turning to the tall, but rather fat Minotaur who stood beside Iena now, Siral remarked on him: "Satio, once known as Bryce Bulliam, who refused to pay tribute to the Separatists who saw you as lesser for being a migrant, and for withholding the land and food you reared on them by beast or garden out of feeling you deserved it, not their pointless war. They took everything from you and left you with nothing, and unlike them, I sympathized with your dislike of paying tribute to things beyond your concern, and see no reason to judge you for your appearance, race or otherwise."

The Minotaur, rather shy himself, slightly looked away, though he avoided the gaze of Iena beside him, who he didn't wish to admit he had a rather immature crush on for a Minotaur, or anyone his age, being an adult.

Satio's fate was chance, but Siral had heard of many migrants suffering similar fates and chose him among many he could have otherwise picked.

Next came the elephant, or rather, dragon in the room. Golmov's sheer size had to be magically shrunken to allow him to fit into this hall for the temporary time he was here, until what was planned for all of them came to fruition.

"Golmov, who has chosen to keep his name. Humiliated by Alicorns, one princess or two specifically, by them forcing him to flee from the mountain treasure in the north that was rightfully his, as they celebrate each year in the Crystal Empire with that which belongs to him."

The Black dragon, striped yellow in places, had been shrunken willingly by Siral's magic, so he was only fifty feet long now. He still dwarfed any of the others in this hall, but not as much as his full size.

Golmov's fate was by chance, but word spread of his humilating defeat by being shouted at by Princess Celestia into surrendering the Crystal Heart. For Siral, it wasn't hard to find the dragon who likely had a score to settle with the race, and perhaps the white one and her sister, that humiliated his draconic pride.

Looking to the Grey skinned, fur-less Earth Pony stallion, the youngest one there, barely out of his adolescent years and into adulthood, Siral regarded Odi-Viscer carefully. The young stallion's grey body was marked only by his jagged blade severed heart mark, and the long trailing wisps of white hair that hung from his neck, a ghost of a mane.

"Odi Viscer, formally Grey Gaithoof, who as the one newest one here, needs no introduction."

As the grey stallion suppressed a shiver of subtle anger at his old family name.

Odi Viscer was a few years in the making, and yet he had the most potential. Earth ponies were after all one of the most easily experimented upon of pony kinds. And he had no qualms about what he did to Odi's life, as he had plans to make him more than just a servant, but a living weapon.

Siral finally turned to the last, and longest serving of his close servants. The White Unicorn mare, with a blue grey mane, and a cracked and healed, but semi performing horn on her head.

"Teal Quirt, who has decided to keep her name as well. As an accomplice and defender of an Equestrian ambassador, decades before the civil war, she was cut down in battle, her horn lost to an act of treacherous violence of infighting in Salaman. Even regrown, you are now crippled in your magic, never to reach a higher magic, let alone that elusive Alicorn status you once strived for, by a servant of a Wizard who now serves those most high and mighty of the Alicorns, the Royal Family, and the royalists in general. A servant who too, was supposed to be, in his words, an example of how 'kindness' is beneficial. They cast you aside from your magic guild, deeming you unable to meet their standards, abandoned, shamed."

Teal Quirt bristled, her hooves actually grating the floor slightly as Siral recounted her own summary of why she was here now.

Teal was by chance, and Siral had no need to alter her behaviour or past in any way. She admired his reputation, being a former Savant guild graduate and royal court magician. She was, in Siral's eyes, the most trustworthy of his servants, current or foreseeable, almost like a daughter to him in his more sentimental moments, despite her current age of 63. He had done enough magic to stave off aging to keep her in her prime, so she resembled a 30 year old Unicorn mare if anything.

Finished recalling their brief tales, Siral began: "You five, and more to come, shall be the instruments that returns this nation you once occupied, as a 'civilised one' like ponykind, a mistreated foreign migrant like Satio, or a roaming being such as Golmov, to a better time. A time, when Alicorns did not decide the rule of the land."

"A time when Alicorns did not order the land to adhere to their rule. Reshaping forests, ruling over those they have always been more powerful than, magically, politically or both, without consequence or match. Only other Alicorns, as 7 years of Civil War ended just 5 years ago showed, can or will challenge them."

"Many a wise being said that power corrupts, and now they serve their own aims. Even those more 'fair' among Alicorns serve only the citizens of Equestria that sided with them in the Civil War, be they the royal family or those 'more worthy' Nationalist families. And those in the Separatists would have those ruled positions of power be over specific pony races, but just replacing the Alicorns with others of the same race. "

"You, and others later, shall be the instruments of what is necessary. To establish a new order, in which beast and civilised can exist in Equestria, and the greater world if Alicorns are left unchecked, the old world as is now in Equestria must be undone."

"Equestria is diseased. Alicorns are a plague that commands and ruins it. They must be removed, by any means most efficient. Overthrown by converted masses, their power base crippled, their physical power drained, or if necessary, outright made examples of."

"Each of you, shall have skillsets to deal with the Alicorn problem, and power abuse in Equestria, in different ways."

"Why I have called you here, together, is to address a requirement for a promise I have made to each of you."

At this, the 5 were listening more intently. Siral paced on the platform before them, remarking: "In my many years, I experiment, I trial, and I have means of enhancing you all as I promised when I first met you. But, I require you to be in constant contact with me, we can no longer be as freelancing as before. As of now, consider this Citadel your home."

As a few odd looks went about, regarding the stone chamber as a reflection of their new 'home', Siral finished:

"But most importantly, some of you have roles you can fulfill, and some are better off remaining here, safe, until your time comes."

Addressing them each once again, Siral remarked: "Odi Viscer, your temperament and talents are not suited to the plans, yet. A need for direct action will come, but for now, you are to remain here as you already have since we met, free to wander only among the Fortress grounds."

Odi nodded his grey head, the young stallion happy nothing changed. Turning to the portly Minotaur, Siral remarked offhandedly: "The same applies to you Satio, your talents are best served here, but you will be useful later. And from what I gather, the Citadel kitchen staff welcome your help at any point."

"As long as he does not taste too much before its served..." Golmov murmured, the large dragon's rumbling voice carrying the mild tease across the room. Pausing, as he saw Satio look embarrassed slightly at his belly, while Iena and Teal Quirt grimaced at the poor 'humor', and Odi Viscer suppressed a slight smile, Siral remarked to Golmov:

"And you, while I'm sure you won't dislike what I need you for, you will be kept busy. Before I even think of using any magical enhancements on any of you or others, like anything I have done in my long life, I require test subjects. Anyone living will suffice. And being a dragon, as long as I can change your scale colour between attacks, nopony will bat a suspicious eye at a dragon snatching up civilians and vanishing over the span of a year."

"How many?" Golmov inquired, while Siral replied:

"Dozens, no more than a hundred. I shall inform you of the details in private."

Golmov's toothy maw seemed to grin slightly at this, before Siral turned to Teal Quirt and Iena, the white Unicorn and light green Pegasus listening:

"Teal, you may disguise yourself, while you Iena I shall do myself. I require eyes and ears into places in Equestria, as it never hurts to be short of spies. Your analysis of nobility Alicorns on how to sow doubt will be most beneficial Iena, while you Teal, will be most useful with a different matter."

"What might that be?" Teal inquired, brushing a part of her blue/grey mane aside as Siral rumbled:

"There is an academy in Canterlot I established, you went there yourself. Sow rumours of my return among the students each time you go, and that I seek to appear only to those who go to the academy guild in my name. All the while though, I wish for any knowledge on an old friend of mine. Starswirl the Bearded."

With that, Siral waved a hoof to them all, remarking aloud: "That will be all. We are close, and by our will the downfall shall begin. We are ready, all we need is to have enough tests to ensure your enhancements will only help, not harm you, and to know the ways to bring Equestria down. Only after success, can we build a better Equestria, and a better world in turn."

"Before any of you depart for your tasks, I recommend taking 2 weeks of leisure time. Any opportunity to better know each other, given how much you all are important to the grand scheme. Unity, is paramount. Only together is success a guarantee."

"Must we?" Iena asked cautiously, to which Siral remarked rather impatiently:

"Yes. Now I order you all to take 2 weeks' leisure time. Equestria shall plunge away from its tenuous peace when I organise it, with your help, on a time of my choosing. Differ from Equestria and be cooperative at least, however you choose. Build on what bonds you may have between each other, or grow new ones, whatever suits the need for unity between you all."

Siral knew that unity was key between these 5, and the others to come, be they more of these eventual high level beings he was to enhance in future, or simply ones he'd recruit to his cause, like those of his old magic academy he wished Teal Quirt to spread gossip to lure them to him.

Any amount of unity alone would be stronger than Equestria was even right now, in this most tenuous peace.

Later that day:

24th May, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Astronomy tower room

Shortly after the meeting, as she was perhaps the highest 'ranked' among them, Teal Quirt had been called to Siral's astronomy tower for a quieter meeting. The subject matter was not something they had yet to discuss though.

After all, it was brainstorming sessions like these between them, master and loose servant/trainee, that had led to them finding individuals like those after Teal. Individuals wronged by any Alicorn related woes of varying kinds, who also had specific skillsets motivated by those woes more than before.

But it was now that Siral had, admittedly, asked help of Teal Quirt once again.

On the blackboard, which he normally used to sketch star movements, he had drawn up a makeshift series of words, denoting many political undermining strategies or approaches.

Golmov retrieving test subject ponies, usually of random villages nobody would miss, for the sake of enhancements to them and any supporters, and potential weapons against stronger opponents. Iena analysing potential nobility marriage plans, and which could be disrupted, and Teal going off and recruiting more impressionable magic wielders from Siral's magic academy guild, which Teal was a former graduate of, with honours, a long time ago. [One reason besides him helping her that she was loyal to him so devoutly.]

But on the board were the ideas of enhancements, many of which involved taking features and abilities of other animals or races and adding it to them, particularly any that may give them an edge against powerful magic users like Alicorns. He'd be sure to ask Golmov to pick up a fair number of Unicorns in his random dragon attack kidnappings over the next year, after this 2 week 'teambuilding' holiday that was.

But Siral had told Teal two things. First, his ideas for another being like them to be were already established, with a few target beings selected, but on the shelf for now.

It was with the second, and more immediate matter of a next servant though, Siral had hit a mental block.

To cover all the bases of this grand plan to overthrow the land's powers, one had to think of all of them first.

Around 'leader number 6' on the board, Siral had put a circle with a question mark. Turning to Teal, he asked her in this brainstorming session:

"In what ways, that we have not yet covered, can we in any way undermine current Equestrian leadership?"

Thinking, with a hoof on the table before her, Teal rattled off: "Well, overwhelming power obviously we've covered for later considerations. Sowing dissent, through adultery, bribery, basically sowing doubt. Destabilising food supplies and heightening chances of rebellion, as no people rebels on full stomachs. Theft of wealth to fund their rule, though overwhelming power ties into that. And of course, targeted assassination or crippling in lesser cases."

At the last part, Teal actually gestured to herself, as Siral had shared what he envisioned for her, which she agreed to, once she was enhanced. Siral remarked now, with honesty in his voice as he sat down on a stool, pondering to himself as he scratched his short, scraggly white beard on his black, crisscross scarred body [he said an Alicorn gave him those scars all over his body, one of many reasons he loathed them].

"The one I envision as number 7 shall feature overwhelming power, just in case things go wrong. But, the next one honestly has me stumped. In what other ways could their power be undermined?"

Reclining, thinking for a few moments, Teal Quirt remarked with some casual thinking: "Good thing you gave us this holiday. Plenty of down time to come up with ideas."

"Yes, if only the Alicorns took downtime. They could be pounced on when they least expect it."

As Siral finished this, Teal Quirt's eyes widened slightly, as she suggested coyly: "Why couldn't they be? Subtle spreading of feelings of lethargy, laziness even. They'd be helpless by being apathetic."

Sitting more upright, Siral pondered at this, as he said with some scheming in his mind, turning to Teal with some pride at her suggestion:

"You have it! But, if not the Alicorns, hard targets and resilient to magic as they are, perhaps the populations they exploit? They have no power if the population isn't working."

Siral wrote the words onto the board: "Defeat by procrastination/productivity decline."

As the black Wizard stepped back, Teal saw the potential, and wondered: "Would an individual like that need overwhelming power like number 7, and some others among us are expected to have?"

"No. You would be surprised how easily the mind can be made to wander from tasks at hand. I doubt number 6 shall require very much work to create, perhaps weak to moderate psychic magic of some sort, not much more than that."

"And what sort of being, pony or otherwise, do you have in mind for this '6th' one, if number 7 is already more planned?" Teal asked. At this, Siral remarked rather callously:

"I don't have to be as picky with number 6. Why do you think I am taking these 2 weeks more easily myself, let alone you five? I'm ahead of my schedule. If I wasn't, I'd have already sent you and those with things to do off already."

Teal Quirt's face fell. She knew there had to be a good reason Siral was in a better mood than normal. Not that she was complaining, but Siral was usually more subdued and unreadable.

Things were falling into place, and thus some procrastination on their part was actually affordable, before it would be later weaponised by the next one to join their ranks, whomever it was.

For now, 2 weeks beckoned of more genuine peace on their part, though perhaps just as tenuous as Equestria's right now considering some of the individuals among the 5 here in the Citadel, despite any bonds they already shared loosely.

Author's Note

I told you I'd breeze over the first part of the Civil War, as nothing truly noteworthy happens in regards to specific characters.

We do get insight into Siral the Savant's 7 [well, 5 as of now] beings he crafts as 'leaders' of his plans to overthrow the current Equestria rule and rebuild it, united but devoid of Alicorns in power. Just because they're 'antagonists' doesn't mean they antagonize all the time. [and get to know them before fate gets to them however it does.]

Starswirl and Royal Sisters.

Footnotes of Starswirl:

Upon reflection, I maintain that the two royal sisters were among my favourite students I ever taught in magic. The most skilled, and most accomplished both in my time with them, and in my absence until events of recent years by what history I found.

That being said, back then some shenanigans they caused in their relative youth [I stress relative by the fact that both Celestia and Luna were both over 30 by the time I vanished] were not my preferred method of leisure.

Thank the spirits for their talent and dubiousness when I asked them of it, otherwise I may well have been less than ambivalent towards them both.

And yet in spite of any irritation they caused me at times, I always felt they could accomplish more in restoring any semblance of peace to Equestria, and perhaps the world, when their time came, then any I had ever met before them. That is a feeling I maintain to this day, all history past and modern taken into account.

Midday

26th May, 74 BNM

Equestria, Canterlot, Royal Palace

Gardens, flower alcoves

Where the sisters usually had their 'private lessons' with Starswirl varied, depending on the type of magic being dealt with. Outdoors was a given when working on teleportation, especially self-teleportation. It was a rather advanced type of magic, one which Starswirl was actually rather cautious about how freely the knowledge was doled out. Most Alicorns who had any curiosity about expanding their magical abilities beyond raw power and using their rank for political gain had learned either through him, or through his published scrolls. The magic was within the grasp of any Unicorn with enough effort or latent power as well.

Teaching the two royal sisters, daughters of 2 skillful magic users, Alicorn or not, was both a given and an easy task. But Starswirl was adamant in them perfecting it.

But today, he had a slight issue to pick with the girls.

He found the 2 sisters, slightly taller than him, both standing at the stone square within the flower alcove, almost like a clearing of sorts hidden by bushes and trees.

Princess Celestia, now 37, sported a marble like white coat, and a shimmering pink mane and tail, and purple eyes to accompany her large, and growing Alicorn wings and horn. Luna, now 32, was slightly shorter, had a medium blue coat, with lighter blue mane and tail, and blue/green [teal] eyes to accompany her own large and growing wings and horn.

And yet as Starswirl walked up, clad in his 2nd/least favorite cloak, a brown cloak without the hat, he asked them straight out, voice grumpy and interrogating:

"When I told you to practice your teleportation, did I in any way permit you to sneak into my quarters as I slept?"

Looking at Celestia with some guilt, Luna gave an innocent smile, asking: "You didn't say we could not."

Starswirl's eye twitched slightly, while Celestia then offered: "But we did it for good reason."

Sitting on his rear legs, Starswirl stroked his beard with his forehoof, a smirk on his face as his voice dripped with annoyance and sarcasm, something he seldom mixed into his mood-set:

"What possible reason could you have for teleporting into my living quarters in the castle in the night and making off with my preferred cloak and hat? The latter of which was something I valued from my many travels. Do enlighten me…"

With a nervous smile, Luna began to hover the cloak folded cloak and hat from behind her, as Celestia began:

"Well, we knew you said we were almost done learning what you wanted us to. And we wanted to show our thanks, for being a great teacher."

"Plus, we surmised your attire was somewhat plain, and perhaps our mark may best be our present to thee." Luna, in her more youthful nervousness, sometimes slipped into the formalities in her pronouns too often.

"We, hope you like it. If it is too much we can always put it back to normal."

"If what is too much?" Starswirl inquired, before he saw what had become of his blue hat and cloak.

The plain blue of the cloak and the hat [picked up in Pahrii during his exemplar of laughter era of travel], were now adorned with some lighter blue swirling swathes, but most prominently, insignia of the night sky's main features, such as 5 pronged stars and crescent moon shapes. The final touches were a series of golden orbs, akin in size and shape to those found on a court jester's outlandish outfit, thankfully devoid of the noise they made when shaking.

Blinking a few times, Starswirl was quiet, as he stared at the 'livened up' attire. Under his breath, he wondered what anyone who saw him travelling in that outfit would think of it. Siral, and a latter 3 exemplar beings [Chack included in a forge somewhere in Nationalist Equestria] had already thought it questionable in fashion.

And yet, he saw the sentiment and thankfulness in the eyes of the royal sisters, and this was a personal gift more than anything else. Even so, he still had a degree of preference that still existed.

"It is too much, is it not?" Luna said, sensing Starswirl's silence as the answer. The cloak and hat were taken in Starswirl's blue magic, hovering before his eyes. And yet, before them, a blue flash took a few seconds to appear, and flopping to the ground beneath it was a duplicate.

A set of cloak and hat exactly the same as the altered one still hovering before Starswirl. But he still hovered it over and put the altered ones on, remarking with some mixed thankfulness, and task setting:

"I am actually impressed you altered my outfit as you did, and, appreciate the thought. I'll be keeping this, but I'll want you to restore the copy I made to the colours before you made your changes."

Taking the copy on the ground up in her magic, Celestia asked Starswirl: "So, do you like it?"

"I won't be rid of my old garments, but I will add this to my possessions. A gift is never to be wasted, great or small, of the meaning is there."

Smiling at this, Celestia nodded to Luna, who said with a smile on her face: "We can have this back to your old colors with ease."

"I am certain you can." Starswirl remarked, as he then pointed his horn at the ground, turning the stonework on the ground into a mirror for a few seconds to look at his new visage.

Pausing, Starswirl remarked aloud, to the amusement of the princesses: "It is rather, overt, but nobody will forget that it was me wearing it."

30 minutes later

In the alcoves still, and after the princesses had restored one of the two cloak and hat sets to plain blue, going with the set they altered as a gift, the talk turned to matters of the day. The Princesses were, like many, eager to ask of Starswirl's wisdom gathered over his long lifespan, and times been in, on matters of the present. And of course, to ask if he might indulge in such tales of his times.

"I do think that the civil war won't begin again. It has been 5 years since the fighting stopped after all." Celestia remarked, to which Luna found herself cautiously agreeing. But Starswirl had his doubts:

"What makes you think this peace will last?"

"Well, father and mother have been working their flanks off, pardon the expression, to ensure it doesn't break down. Equestria may be divided somewhat, but there is peace." Luna offered. But Starswirl was not convinced.

"Divided nonetheless. And division sows conflict, even if it pauses, there is always something brewing in the interim. History shows it around the world through the ages, and I have seen it first-hand myself, one even from a particularly nasty Alicorn I encountered-."

"When was this? On your travels?" Celestia asked, interested, as Starswirl had actually never revealed this story. Eyes alert, Luna sat there, the mare as big as Starswirl suddenly like a child eagerly listening.

With a slight sigh, Starswirl remarked with some bitterness:

"There is not much to say but this: This Civil War was long foreseen by some. What is it I have taught you that occurs, based on history, when many individuals acquire power at the same time, in the same nation?"

"Rivalry, competition, even violence." Celestia repeated. Nodding, Starswirl added:

"But in my travels, me and a colleague of mine ran into an Alicorn who had been exiled for speaking out against his own colleagues, among whom he was not the highest ranking, but the only Alicorn. He foresaw the power struggle as more Alicorns came to power, and wanted to secure the place of his kin before it grew too wild. They cast him out, and with no Alicorns their political sphere was swallowed up."

"This Alicorn waited in a jungle, a world away from Equestria, biding his time, building forces, waiting for a conflict like the Civil War to rise, and for Equestria to be weak enough, for him to swoop in and claim a place amidst the instability. Despite me and my colleague putting an end to his tyrannical rule in that jungle, I must admit that, he had many fair points. It is too bad he also tainted mine, and a dear friend of mine's, perception of Alicorns before I came here."

"What happened?"

"That Alicorn took my friend and colleague, another wizard, hostage, and experimented ruthlessly on him, scarring him for life in many ways, body, mind and soul. His Alicorn state made him think lesser of those less powerful than himself, which ended up being his undoing, he underestimated us. But that vanity, ego, and determination to have power, is all too reminiscent of what I have seen unfolding in Equestria since I returned 37 years ago."

Quiet, Luna asked Starswirl: "What do you think could have been done, to prevent this?"

Starswirl would not reveal the prophecy that had drawn him into the future, but he had his own ideas about an honest answer:

"Perhaps if Alicorns had never come to be, this power shift, and the corruption such power brings if it is allowed to do so, might not have happened."

"I disagree."

Turning to Celestia, Starswirl turned on his seat on the stone tiles to ask the princess outright, while Luna was intrigued by her older sister's challenge of Starswirl:

"You said power of any kind has the potential for good and evil. Alicorns are a power themselves, like you said, and just as much as a potential for evil, they are also for good of all. You can't say the world should be robbed the gifts of something because of the risks."

"What if the risks are much greater than anything before?" Starswirl asked.

"The same could be counter argued of the benefits to the greater world." Celestia pointed out, after which Luna then added: "Sister is right, maybe you just see the bad before anything good too much."

"Experience has taught me to be wary before welcoming of new power besides my own or what I teach, unfortunately." Starswirl mumbled.

"Like self-teleporting, you made that spell, so you let others learn it?" Luna probed. Starswirl remarked:

"I didn't' invent it, but perfected it. I expect its inventor is dead by now, even if she was a long lived race. But I was younger, more open minded back then."

"You can't let bad experiences make you jaded forever. My mother says you should be open to others, take a leap of faith with them. Surely you know this?"

"Believe me, I met many individuals I had to take a leap of faith with before they proved themselves. Some of whom I still await their true merit to come forth, though I have doubts many foretold things actually come true as they are expected to." As Starswirl said this, he recalled how Chack had still yet to truly exemplify kindness, 37 years on from meeting the Salamander.

Slightly downhearted by Starswirl's remark, Celestia pointed out: "Master, maybe you could do well to try and not be as, withdrawn. You may be a great wizard, but you don't seem to do much to refute the tales of you being, well.."

"A grump." Luna finished. At this, Stasrwirl's ears perked, as he asked them both:

"And who calls me this?"

"Nopony in particular, but you are regarded as inapproachable by many. Cold, abrasive, but respected greatly. I know Luna, I and our parents know differently, but, why do you not do much to make more friends?"

"What do I have to gain from making more friends? What benefit is there exactly, when all that can happen is seeing friends come and go, parting ways to pursue their own ends, or going off on poor terms, never to be seen again despite promising to try and meet again?"

A twinge of bitterness was evident in Starswirl's voice, to which Luna asked:

"You had a friend before, didn't you?"

"Yes. He was the one that Alicorn in the jungle harmed, scarred for life. He became bitter, and, I had been hiding a truth from him for a while. A warning from somepony to not let him travel with me for my own good, to avoid dragging a friend with me,but I accepted his help, and he paid the price. I had to hide the truth, as I didn't want to lose my friend by leaving him behind, or revealing the truth and have a falling out. He found out, and told me when he left to return to Equestria long before I did. He didn't make much of a deal of it, but I knew he felt betrayed. He promised to find me when I returned to Equestria, but I have yet to find him, and I feel it is my fault. I learned that when duty calls, it is perhaps best to abandon social ties as much as one can. It just makes life simpler."

"But a simple life does not need be a lonely life." Celestia argued, and despite not knowing the details, she understood why Starswirl had explained it as he did. He was cautious of any social ties now, keeping them at an arm's distance, especially in this time of turmoil.

"I cannot bring myself to have as many social ties as you two without feeling as if I'm besmirching my responsibilities. And even if this fragile peace lasts, I have seen and experienced too much to ever truly live as calmly as I once did. That is how I was as a Wizard long ago, before my travels, and now it is merely a feeling strengthened far more than before."

At this declaration, Starswirl stood up, still clad in the newly decorated cloak and hat, as Luna then interrupted him politely:

"I am sorry you feel that way Starswirl. I wish you did not."

"So do I." He quietly remarked, more to himself than the sisters.

"Then why not try to be more open if you do not wish it so?" Celestia asked.

Without turning back to her, Starswirl spoke back calmly:

"My heart wishes to be more open, but my mind says otherwise. And based on experience, my mind has been right more often than my heart. If you wish to save yourself grief or trouble, I urge you to learn from my example. In the meanwhile though, I do appreciate the gift of your décor on my cloak and hat. I can still appreciate what gifts come my way."

Starswirl wandered off at that point, knowing the Princesses did not need to learn anything today. They'd proven their teleportation with the cloak and hat redecoration.

Talking alone together, the sisters couldn't help but feel a degree of pity for Starswirl.

"He knows cooperation is key to maintaining peace after any conflict, and openness is key to that, trust as well." Celestia remarked, but it was Luna who casually pawed the ground with her hoof, her silver horseshoe rustling the stone slightly as she did:

"It is too bad life has made him so jaded. So much wisdom, and yet look what it has done to him."

"Perhaps if he could find his friend he said would look for him?" Celestia wondered. At this, Luna's eyes turned back, thinking aloud:

"Maybe. What was his name, I know he had a magical academy named after him."

"Siral the Savant I believe. He vanished from Equestria 87 years ago, yet Starswirl said he should have returned."

As her sister thought, Luna remarked: "Maybe we could search for this Siral. Any records we could find."

"Perhaps a visit to the Savant academic guild is in order sister." Celestia gave a smile, to which Luna then pointed out as she recalled:

"Whenever our schedules in the coming week or so allow it."

Celestia's face fell slightly, knowing their royal schedules often didn't allow much leeway unless they arranged it at least a week or so earlier.

But it was something worth doing for their master, who deserved at least some form of happiness after his help of them and others.

Same day

Evening

26th May, 74 BNM

Equestria, Crystal Empire

Interim 'King' Sombra's chambers

His friend, Radiant Hope, a purple/blue Unicorn with a white mane, and a close associate of his within the Crystal Council, sat before him with a look of worry on her face.

Radiant was a frequent correspondant with the Princess of the empire as she visited the more southern parts of Equestria, which given all the peace talks of recent years, meant 'King' Sombra became a sort of defacto ruler by way of simply maintaining the empire's status-quo in Amore's absence, to which he stepped down readily on her return.

"Princess Amore sent a letter asking about your condition, and that you should stop your experiments on the crystal magic for a while. You gave me a bad scare for a start, but she's saying you don't need to do this with the war over."

Hauled up in his bed, the 2nd in command of the Crystal Council, remarkable for his age and orphan origins, the interim 'King' [in name only] in Princess Amore's absence sported a slight fever from one too many experiments on the darker crystals found in the caves around the empire.

Servants for the past year had said that in his more in depth experimenting sessions, they also reported signs of red eyes instead of his normal green, and his black mane becoming more like shadow, and his teeth sharper, though the signs quickly vanished soon after he stopped his spell-work.

But sometimes during his spell sessions, he compromised his body's strength, leaving him open to illness. And this time, pneumonia and fever had taken Sombra down, hard. He had recovered with magical help from the pneumonia, but the fever still prevailed somewhat, as it had for the past 2 days.

Stirring in bed, Sombra gave a nod to his childhood friend and associate, laying a reassuring hoof on her own atop his washcloth covered head and horn, which had receded from the red color it turned in his sessions also.

"I shall recover, and take Amore's words to heart. I was on the verge of a breakthrough, and got carried away is all."

"Just don't break yourself in the process Sombra." Giving Sombra a rub on the head, as she also magically cooled the moist rag on his head, Radiant Hope decided to stay with her friend until she was sure he was asleep.

In truth, Sombra did ease off his crystal research sessions for a few years. But the moment the conflicts erupted worse than ever, he felt the need, uncontested as well, to begin again.

As he did though, nobody would contest he had no valid reason to wish to unlock the power in the crystals for the defense of the empire.

Author's Note

I decided to give valid reason as to why Starswirl is said by Celestia in the present to have been, back then, jaded to friendship. Simply put, he saw time cost him friends on his journey, and lost his closest one, even before they meet again in the later Civil War.

Now the plot is set up that Celestia and Luna, in an attempt to try and make Starswirl less jaded [as Celestia once said Starswirl's problem was that he couldn't understand true friendship.], have a hoof in the reuniting of Starswirl and Siral.

…Not that hard to imagine what could occur the moment Starswirl catches even a whiff of what Siral has been doing/plans to do by enhancements with the 5, later 7 beings, his assets, his deceptively small fortress in the north, and his ultimate plans… Though he will not immediately catch wind of it, I will say that much. But Chack, as an 'agent' of Starswirl, will have his use here too, particularly in relation to a certain Unicorn and eventual being of 'Envy' whose horn he hacked off with his sword decades ago.

Also, meanwhile, the seeds of Sombra's eventual fall are already in place, he's been experimenting more recklessly at a slow rate.

The Sixth: Lady Ave-Dol, Fortification

Mid-Morning

May 28th, 74 BNM

Equestria, North-Western forests

50 miles from Baltimare

Compared to the lush wilderness and trees, flowers blooming and birdsong in the air, the rather gaunt looking Black Unicorn, his grey cloak up and hiding his face, seemed out of place.

But he had heard tales of this mare, thought to be a mage among her kind, one not tied to any Equestrian faction so much. And yet, from what he gathered of her seldom spoken of past, she was ex-Separatist. Ex, for good reason.

Separatists had no pleasure for Alicorns, born or ascended, and knowing this, she left before too much trouble came of it. She apparently had a reputation for avoiding trouble, avoiding confrontation, and living in her own little domain alone.

Still, if anything, Siral would have slapped himself silly for not considering her sooner as a 'candidate'. After all, he knew her well, and she was the only Alicorn who he could actually seriously consider sparing what he envisioned for most others, be it punishment, depowering or death. She was the one exception to power mongering he'd seen in Alicorns, as she shirked away from power over others by comparison.

For this reason, above all others, she was already a fitting candidate for a being he could craft to spread subtle lethargy and dropping of one's guard among many Alicorn power bases, for his other forces to then pounce. She had her way of spurring relaxation, lethargy, even outright blissful ignorance while in her mini-realm in the forest she had crafted.

More immediately however, as he had told her of the 'unfortunate souls' he'd been taking under his protection, she had a use that he would genuinely appreciate, which would help her get to know the 5 so far that would, if all went well, be enhanced like her and 1 other to come.

She was after all, good at helping sow tranquillity among others as it already stood.

But even so, Siral hid from her that he didn't view her as anything more than an acquaintance, for the simple fact that Lady Ave-Dol was, before anything else in his mind, an Alicorn.

Mid-Morning

Equestria, North-Western forests

50 miles from Baltimare

Lady Ave-Dol's forest home

Sat on a small quilt on the small grassy hill, Ave-Dol's pale blue body was relaxed as she focused her magic, her golden yellow mane loose as usual down to her relaxed wings, while her pale blue horn shone its white magic faintly.

Before her, the wind was rustling many petals off the trees that were already shedding for the summer, and with the faintest use of her substantial, but seldom exercised Alicorn magic, she made the petals dance in a gentle aerial display. Her barest of input simply kept the floating array of flower petals in the air, fluttering around her small cottage's front garden, for her to watch. Such simplicity brought her never-ending joy.

She knew every facet of her humble domain, and how to bring out its true beauty.

And she sensed a familiar presence approaching, appearing as quietly as he often did.

"It is a pleasure when you drop by Siral, even if it is usually unexpected."

"I hope I am not intruding on anything you are doing." His rather deeper, sometimes gaunt voice, seemed like a rumble amidst the peace of her domain.

The flowers on the wind fluttered away, as Abe-dol stood to turn with a gracious smile on her features, while Siral kept his hood over his scarred black face, out of habit. The pale blue Alicorn gestured to her little cottage as she replied:

"Not at all. Come, whatever you wish to discuss may be best done inside, where you'll be most comfortable."

With a smile, Siral replied smoothly as he followed the Alicorn inside her small cottage: "You know me well."

That was more of a lie, as time would show, but she was right, he did feel more comfortable out of open spaces.

Lady Ave-Dol's cottage

"2-weeks leisure for them AND yourself, you must have grown more lenient in recent years." Lady Ave-Dol gently sipped her honey tea, while Siral drank plain hot water. The Unicorn finally had his hood down, revealing his mosaic like scarring across his black face and body, despite still wearing his grey wizard cloak.

"Until the 7th of June, yes. But, things have been quieter in recent weeks, and this is the first time all 5 of them have actually been together all at once. Comradeship can help them readjust."

"Wise of you, they could use the help, but I have some, worries, about some of them. A dragon, among them for one thing. But they all have misgivings about Alicorns it seems."

"Which is why I wanted ask of you. If you come, you can help them get over any 'trust' issues, more easily. I know your skill with sowing calm can help immeasurably."

"But the distrust of Alicorns remains."

"Distrust of Alicorns with political power. You I feel would be an exception they quickly see is not like them. And exceptions help them get over prejudices."

Pondering for a moment, Lady Ave-Dol asked outright: "What do you intend, if I succeed in helping their well-being and possibly bonds between each other?"

Siral was quiet for a moment, as he replied calmly in his deep voice: "To help them live their own lives as best as they can, whatever fate decides that may be."

"I suppose there is no harm. But might there be more like them to come?"

"No, not yet, but I expect there will be in the future."

Raising her honey tea in her magic grip, Ave-Dol clacked the mug against Siral's warm water mug, replying serenely: "If it will help them, I shall come to your Citadel. What help for their souls I can give, I shall give it, however long I feel I should stay. I can come by the week's end."

"And I shall ensure they give you a fair chance." Siral replied smoothly.

The Alicorn and the Black Wizard indulged in idler talk, with Ave-dol even indulging Siral with some songs she had written in her wealth of leisure time she had.

As the day went on, Siral felt himself relax much greater than he normally did. He knew he had definitely found his 'candidate' for number 6, and a psychological 'control' for the other 5 [4, he had no pressing concerns with Teal Quirt].

Next Day

Late Morning

May 29th, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Lower catacombs lake

Walking across the narrow viaduct bridge, Siral gazed down into the dark waters, fed by the lake high above by magically operated drainage means. Ahead, the garrison support chief was going through the building done and still underway on this expansion, and with it, a one-way escape tunnel, and a labyrinth going the other way.

In short, leaving was a safe route out to the mountainside, exiting at a cavern mouth to a small stream. Entering the Citadel by this route however, one had to navigate a series of chambers, like a branching tree, where only one route was safe and led to this basement level.

In the 'dead ends', Siral was commissioning obstacles to claim any would be intruders. Local gas pockets were easy, carved tunnels leading to fatal falls down vertical crevices, one of which paired with another dead end leading to an underground pond filled with magically enhanced, voracious leeches.

Stopping at the top of the viaduct, Siral listened as the construction chief gestured down to a small grated gate being raised, to open up a small inlet chamber level with the water:

"So any larger creatures, besides those leech hordes, that you want, we store them in there, then release them into the water when ready."

"And how big is the chamber? What sort of aquatic creature would be too big?" Siral asked. Shrugging, the black armoured Earth pony stallion remarked offhandedly as he recalled the size of the flooded side chamber:

"I'd say, anything longer than 80 feet is going to be uncomfortable cooped up in there for too long. What did you have in mind?"

"Something serpentine perhaps. A Basilisk perhaps? What would you suggest?" Siral asked, noticing the Earth Pony's nervousness as he replied:

"With all due respect my lord, might that be excessive?"

"And if interrogated by hanging over the water, a prisoner may be killed by a glance alone. Perhaps just a sea serpent, easier to capture as well."

As Siral suggested this, the Earth Pony looked at the gated chamber, remarking quietly: "Better. May have to extend the holding chamber…"

"Get it done, however you see best. Now, about that other matter you wished to speak to me of?"

"Yes. We had a pair of workers go missing in the Labyrinth, checking the dead ends under safe instructions. At these dead ends listed." As Siral took the small paper in his magic, the Earth Pony remarked: "Just a few distant screams, then nothing."

With a sigh, Siral rumbled under his breath: "Demons, won't use them as much. How Geldrath kept an entire nest for as long as he did I'll never know…"

"What was that about demons?"

"Nothing. Just, those dead ends are fine, don't send any other workers down to check them, whatever you do. Unless they are to vanish too."

Siral finished the statement simply, while the Earth Pony garrison worker took Siral over to see progress on the custom built prisoner 'dunking' cells suspended by chains over the lake, near the viaduct's pathway.

Down in the waters immediately below, a hungry school of leeches had learned to always hang around from the test animals alone.

Late Afternoon

May 29th, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

3 miles from the Citadel

Giants valley

Relaxing his magic, Siral gave a smirk of success. He had picked wisely, as this valley housed a handful of perhaps his strongest assets at present, even if they could only be used sparingly.

The Stone Giants were dormant, laying against the mountain as seamlessly as mountains themselves. The largest was around 800 metres in length, and 500 in height, shaped like a bulky tortoise if anything, with the others mostly 400-500 metres tall and slightly longer, shaped like thick legged bears. One was a 'juvenile' only 100 metres tall, and 200 metres long, but the one Siral could as a result use before any of the others due to its ease of acquiring energy.

"I thought I'd find you out here master."

A familiar voice behind Siral made him turn slowly, as Teal Quirt came waltzing up behind him. The white Unicorn flicked some of her blue/grey mane out of the way, his own magic keeping her looking and feeling younger than she actually was, as she regarded the valley.

"You tend to them like plants."

"You could say that. They do grow after all, in their way."

Siral's remark about the slumbering, invisible giants amidst the rocky valley before them were true, but Teal Quirt had her own questions.

"And what of this, and I cannot believe you still, Alicorn you are bringing? You realise some of the others really do not like them."

"They will tolerate her, or else I'll have words with them. Besides, what better weapon, aside from lethargy that she shall spread when she and you all are enhanced, is there than cruel irony from? An Alicorn working against them all in Equestria."

"Is she powerful?" Teal asked cautiously. Siral replied cooly, sensing the innate envy Teal held for any magic user more powerful than she could be, as a result of her wounded horn regrown she'd had for 38 years now.

"She has power, but not overt. Subtle, and I'm certain you and some of the others could overpower her if the need did arise. Her lifestyle of self-exile and calm makes her, soft."

"SO why bring her in again before even enhancing her?"

"Some of your brethren could use some 'therapy', to ensure cooperation."

Teal was quiet, as was Siral. Until Teal remarked the obviously inferred remark:

"You want any tensions ironed out, so one of them doesn't try to kill another."

"Perceptive, as usual."

As Siral turned back to walk to the Citadel, Teal turned back too, walking beside her master as she asked: "And what of number 7?"

"Not needed yet. But he will be."

Teal didn't probe any further, as Siral kept quiet about the identity of who 'being' number 7 was going to be. But had something on her mind still.

Coming to walk along the dirt path beside the lake, trees lining both sides, and the Citadel towering ahead amidst the valley lake view, Teal asked:

"If I may, but have you heard any news of that Salamander Starswirl brought back with him so long ago?"

Siral said nothing, as he walked on beside Teal. After a bit of time, the Black Wizard remarked to the Unicorn mare: "I know as much as you do. Despite my saying that the last of Starswirl's exemplary beings has by far failed to live up to destiny, he has proven very elusive."

"Maybe searches for him are not thorough enough."

"Teal, enough of this. Finding that Salamander will accomplish nothing."

"He robbed me of my horn, he must pay." Teal Quirt said fiercely, but not before she settled into meekness with a glare and words from Siral:

"You will, when you are more powerful. What better victory would there be than a decisive one, where like when he struck you down in his reckless escape from a massacre he did, the victim is utterly powerless and caught by surprise."

"I have waited 38 years, and I am still waiting." Teal urged, somewhat complaining.

"The wait shall be worth it; you must trust me on this more than anything else."

Teal said nothing for the rest of the walk back to the Citadel with Siral. As much as she was loyal to Siral, she had a sore spot about Chack slicing her horn off, permanently denting her magic potential, and why she was guaranteed to never reach Alicorn level. Even if her promised enhancements let her exceed that potential lost, the pain Chack caused her remained.

Wherever he was, she wished to find him.

Late Morning

June 1st, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

'Living quarters'

Lady Ave-Dol arrived at the Citadel at week's end, as promised. Siral had ordered the other 5 to meet her, a formal arrangement, with only Teal Quirt knowing her true reason in the long term for joining them.

The pale Blue Alicorn calmly stood her ground as she saw Golmov scowling at her, the large, albeit shrunken 50 foot black and gold striped dragon not at all pleased to see an Alicorn. Odi Viscer however, was quiet, yet not as harsh as Golmov, the grey, furless Earth Pony adolescent keeping his gaze away from her in the meeting chamber.

Satio seemed reasonably open, the portly Minotaur the only one actually smiling slightly, whilst the light green, white maned Pegasus mare, Iena, met Ave-Dol's gaze with indifference.

She knew from the outset that these individuals could use a more sympathetic approach, and she was quick to set to work with them all on a one on one basis.

Recollections of Lady Ave-Dol, concerning Siral's 5 'proteges'.

Mid-Morning

June 2nd, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Lady Ave-Dol's atrium

"So, you were humiliated, that is your issue plaguing your mind for years now."

"How observant…"

"But it was by one, or two Alicorns. How does that reflect on all of them?"

"They all flaunt their authority, bolstered by power, their claims to territory that belongs to others already, as that accursed royalty did to my crystal mountain horde."

As Golmov finished his curt reply, Lady Ave-Dol gave a small sigh. They'd been going in circles, this dragon was not budging in his greedy tendencies, natural as they may be for him.

"So why help Siral? Aside from the wealth and riches he promises?"

"What else is there to desire?" Golmov honestly answered, to which Lady Ave-Dol replied in her own curt, but still peaceful way:

"Companions, a home, peace, to name a few."

"I'll have that once I acquire my riches and restore my honor."

"Yet you have them already if you choose to befriend the others more. You were not the only one harmed, and companionship can help you all heal."

Golmov rumbled to himself, before he remarked with some skepticism: "Merit might be in your words. I do find similar minds with some of the others."

Lady Ave-Dol probed: "Anypony in particular?"

"Teal Quirt. She was harmed, and she bears a similar feeling of restoring her pride, of sorts, though to whom, she will not say. And Iena was cast out for a so called 'shameful' way of helping her people, despite how greatly it did aide them."

Lady Ave-Dol gave a ghost of a smile, but she picked up on what Golmov said of them. Kindred similarities always helped, but sometimes they could fester if left unchecked and in the presence of others.

Early-Afternoon

June 2nd, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Lady Ave-Dol's atrium

"So you only hate that one Alicorn?"

Odi-Viscer nodded stiffly, the bald, grey bodied Earth pony adolescent stallion sat on the other side of the table, quiet as usual. And yet, she sensed an innate tension in him. His voice, surprisingly soft, replied with a sense of uncertainty:

"He did it, none of the others. But I do think many Alicorns could be like he was if they go too far with their power."

"Luckily, not many go as far as that one did in cursing you for no reason. And yet, why do you always seem so, tense?"

At Lady Ave-Dol's words, Odi-Viscer shrugged, as he remarked: "I just am. Ever since I was affected, many say I always seem angry, even when I'm not."

"And it doesn't bother you?"

"I miss not being angry, just to be able to fully relax."

Lady Ave-Dol saw already that solving any issues of socialization with the boy would be simply a matter of finding a way to vent his seemingly cursed and endless anger and rage, coupled with his muscular build it seemed. A simple solution with many variations luckily.

"Perhaps a calming hobby, have you tried that? What do you do for fun?"

"I used to beat up animals in the woods, I don't as often anymore because Siral says it is pointless to kill for no good reason."

Now Lady Ave-Dol was slightly aghast, but not surprised. She'd heard Odi-Viscer had been slightly, feral, when Siral picked him up. She still had a few suggestions for him.

"Why not make things, instead of, breaking them."

"With my hooves? I used to make small wood sculptures before I was cursed." Odi-Viscer glanced at his grey forelegs, noting how he'd killed many animals beneath them in the past, and ever relatively recently on a venture into the woods.

Lady Ave-Dol took a small metal strip, and explained as she began to shape it before Odi's eyes to a hoof mounted shape: "Why not take up the hobby again."

Late Afternoon

June 2nd, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Lady Ave-Dol's atrium

"Ungrateful swines, all of them." Iena muttered under her breath, her forehooves folded across her chest as she sat opposite Lady Ave-Dol.

"And that's why you don't feel up for much for others besides getting what you want?"

A small snort from the pale green Pegasus was all Ame-Dol needed to hear. Leaning forwards slightly, Ave-Dol asked the Pegasus with some honesty this time, exercising her subtle magic as she had for the sessions already to 'soften' her targets.

"So what do you want? Especially if you are here of all places?"

"Somewhere where I won't be judged for my talents, using what I was born with to my advantage. It is what I do best, and I had ways of helping my family that way, persuading others."

"You take pride in your beauty." Ave-Dol noted, to which Iena nodded, remarking bitterly:

"Yeah, too bad anypony never saw beyond that, either for them wanting it, or seeing how I could be useful for it. My talent was my curse."

"Perhaps if you get to know some of the others, you may find somepony who can be a companion for reasons beyond your beauty."

"Like who? Tall, black and ash-breath Golmov? Sickly and short tempered tight lipped Odi-Viscer? Bitter and cold Teal Quirt? No thanks."

"Maybe you should get to know them better. And I noticed you didn't mention Satio?"

"He's alright, barely talks much, seems afraid of me almost."

"Start with him perhaps."

Late Afternoon/Evening

June 2nd, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Lady Ave-Dol's atrium

"If I might remark, you seem to favor your own hobbies, or snacking alone, over social activity."

"I don't need much to be content. Its why I wasn't very happy when I had my land taken for 'war efforts'. I worked hard, I earned that, and I just want to not bother anybody and enjoy life."

Satio was quiet as he nervously ticked his hooves together, his belly protruding somewhat as he was hunched over before Ave-Dol, nervous. He wanted to eat, he didn't feel comfortable here, even just a little bun or a bean sprout, something.

Ame-Dol had seen this before. Satio ate when he was upset, as he'd come to enjoy simple pleasures in life, and was easily upset and made slightly miserable when robbed of it unfairly.

"You didn't' have many friends?"

"I migrated to Equestria for a better life, in a fertile land. I didn't have friends on my agenda."

"Maybe you could change that. What about some of the others here?"

"…Some of them are, they make me nervous."

"How?"

"Golmov is, a dragon, simple as that. I always feel like Odi-Viscer's holding back a lot of rage, let alone his disturbing looks at times. Teal Quirt keeps to herself very much, and Iena just, she's probably got better beings to interact with then me."

"By what I gather, you are the only one among you all that she has no annoyances with."

"Just how I like it." Satio remarked quietly, as his belly gave a nervous grumble, from hunger or nerves Ame-Dol did not know.

"Maybe you could get to know them, starting with her?"

"Maybe… But how?"

"You have any talents, why not make a peace offering of a meal for her?"

Satio's eyes perked up slightly, the Minotaur knowing he could definitely do that.

Evening

June 2nd, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Lady Ave-Dol's atrium

"I know you have this sense of vengeance against the one who sliced your horn, but you can't let that get in the way of befriending the others how you can."

"I can't let it go. I could have become an Alicorn at the rate I was going, but I was crippled, my new horn isn't as good as my old. He took what I could have been and cut me from it forever. I can't help it if I feel an injustice is still on me while he is out there."

Lady Ave-Dol feared this. Teal Quirt was the most hard headed, but also the most understandable. She hadn't even done anything wrong all those years ago, and was cut down by a warrior, who or what he was she did not say. And yet, she was also the most focused in her sense of harmful intending goals, more than the others.

Forget about making friends, Ave-Dol thought that if anybody was going to make a rash decision, it would be her.

As long as that warrior was still out there, potentially alive, Teal Quirt would never truly be calm, despite Ave-Dol's best efforts.

Meanwhile

Evening

June 2nd, 74 BNM

Equestria, Nationalist provinces

Las Pegasus lowlands, Forge smiths

Stoking the fires of the metal heating furnace, the young Pegasus stallion felt his boss's amphibious hands grip the stoker suddenly, as a harsh voice rose over the noise of the fires:

"Rainsleet, don't let the mortar pot just sit in the fires, shake it, let it slosh about and absorb heat more readily into the melting metal!"

"Yes sir!"

Chack grumbled under his breath as he walked from the forge ovens, as his other assistants were busy pounding and folding the blade weapons into shape. Steel tempered weapons were always in demand by the Las Pegasus militants, even in peacetime, as their military prestige meant they wished for the best non-magical weapons possible.

And the tempered steel blade forging methods Chack had brought with him from Salaman decades ago, combined with Equestrian magic heated forges, produced fine blades for them to use. And it made Chack's forge business profitable.

He was careful to keep a low profile though, but he had an easier time than expected with that. He was in fact no the only 'foreigner' brought in to help build up military means, be it weapons or training, and not the only Salamander either.

Chack had disguised his Salamander form as more wrinkled, aged, and with a few pale splotches on his moist black skin.

Dunking his head and hands into the blade cooling water troughs, an easy way for an amphibian to hydrate themselves among forges, Chack felt he'd acquired a steady, easy life for himself. Profiting off the situation in Equestria, and also covertly reporting to Starswirl on the Nationalist front.

Life was good for him, but he always trained in secret, as his old master would have wanted.

Author's Note

More characterization of the now 6 servants of Siral the Savant, though number 6, Lady Ame-Dol, is also the sort of 'mother hen' role coming into play, at Siral's insistence so not much trouble arises from these 'colourful' personalities in one place.

Meanwhile, he refurbishes his citadel with some secret areas, as seen in the ruins in the Savant mini arc in Volume 3.

As for Lady Ave-Dol herself, I decided to make her character a sort of tribute to the Tolkien character Tom Bombadil, but taking inspiration from the name from his wife, Merry Dol.

All the while though, Siral is playing the great deceiver to even her, an Alicorn. Albeit, she's good intention-ed, not as cunning or perceptive as needed to see how much Siral is hiding.

As for Chack, he's made a decent living for himself as a weaponsmith/metal forge business, such as horseshoes, etc.

Celestia, Luna and the Savant's Academy

June 7th, 74 BNM

Mid-Afternoon

Equestria, 'Oracle' mount

Savant's Academic Guild

The clouds hung low over the mountainside, the stone buildings, like that of a monastery, were drab as the day's tedium of the academic institution went on.

Also known as the Savant Academy, the institution was built over 100 years ago, during Siral's 60 years spent in Equestria whilst Starswirl went on through time for the last of his exemplar beings.

Now run by the order behind magical tutelage for the Royalists, it had been built near the borders of the Nationalist and Royalist borders, though nestled in the difficult to traverse mountains for any sizable armies.

A mile away, the ruins of the old Oracle structure resided higher on the mountain slope, right now obscured by a low cloud cover.

And yet, having arrived at Midday, under a low profile, the 2 princesses had searched for traces of Siral himself, to no avail.

Front courtyard

The sisters met, both having searched the archives for history of the Guild itself, and on any records of Siral himself. The Guild had little history beyond that already known, and as for Siral, there was remarkably little on his journies with Starswirl, nor mention of where he had vanished to 60 years after his return, now 87 years ago to this day.

In the front courtyard, there was a small statue and a plaque to Siral, and a small carved saying on the stone:

"Beware the moral abyss that comes with great power left unchecked and unearned."

Looking at the statue of the cloaked Unicorn, his face rather hidden to the point of his true visage being depicted as mysterious, Celestia remarked with some disappointment to Luna beside her:

"So the tales of his dislike of powerful individuals was right."

"And Alicorns are very likely a big reason for that. Let alone the one Starswirl said he was harmed by."

For this reason, Celestia and Luna agreed to come to the Guild in minimal disguise. Now, they bore no wings, only their horns, and their marks of the sun and moon were hidden by their travelling cloaks.

The robed student Unicorns wandering about the academy paid them no heed, as they rarely, but sometimes had visitors. Likely they may be graduates coming back to their school for a visit in their minds.

With some thought, turning away from the statue for a moment, Celestia had a minor brainstorm with her sister:

"But why would he just vanish? Starswirl said he should have returned as he did, yet if he had, surely he would have returned here of all places."

"Maybe he gave up, as Starswirl believes. Maybe he really did lose hope for Equestria's future stability. The history seems to point that way." Luna remarked.

"If only we knew somebody who was at the guild when Siral left." Luna's next remark made Celestia give a small smile of hope.

30 minutes later

Academic Guild, building corridors

"Sorry, not sure if anypony who would have been alive back then is still alive. They'd be at least, …100 or so if they had been at school when Siral left."

The student, a mid-teen year Unicorn stallion, shuffled his book bag slightly as these two visitors, apparently from the palace magicians, asked them basic questions.

"But one spell he passed on was fighting off aging for Unicorns, was it not?" Luna asked.

"Yes, but even so, 100 years is a lot of lifespan for anypony besides Alicorns. Only the Wizards and mages of old really exceeded that lifespan, and not even Meadowbrook is over 120. I think only Starswirl's over 150."

"198, we have asked him similar questions already about Siral." Celestia remarked. At this, the stallion's eyes widened slightly, as expected, Starswirl knew Siral in person.

"And not even Starswirl knows where the Savant is?"

Shaking their heads, Celestia and Luna saw the stallion recall something, as a few students brushed past in the hallway onto their duties, given it was a break period and all.

"Well, we had someone visit a few days ago. Some old Unicorn mare, says she knew somepony who has close ties to Siral, in the present. Rumors say he's working in solitude somewhere in the world, experimenting like he used to."

"Who was this mare?" Celestia suddenly asked.

"White coat, blue/grey, almost teal coloured mane, slightly crooked looking horn. Kind of bitter, but she seemed the right age to maybe be a generation after somepony who knew Siral. She met a large number of students here, talking to them, they seem real quiet about it all though. That's all I know."

With a slight thankful smile, Celestia and Luna bid the stallion farewell, deciding that their search for Siral would have to stop here for now.

They were gone from the Guild in a few minutes after that.

Academic Guild, archives, hidden levels

Unbeknownst to the sisters, or any of the students, Siral's old laboratory and personal archives were well hidden, accessible only by those who knew they existed, where they were, and the password spell to enter. A weak spell, but precise to be as good as any password.

The 2 weeks of 'socialization' between her and the other 5, though 1 of them, Lady Ave-Dol, shepherding them into cooperation, had ended, and Teal Quirt was pleased, and nostalgic, at where Siral had asked her to head to.

Her old academy, where she learned magic so long ago. She had been in a class in the time after he'd vanished, but heard from him that he'd left because he felt there was nothing he could do to change the course of the gryphon war and civil war to come. Simple as that, and he decided to plot from there.

But now she was here, as she had been before the 2 weeks 'socialization', sowing the seeds of more, like her, to join Siral. She had been the first, but she knew more could come.

The Academy had been set up not just as an institute for magic wielders to learn under a legacy of not flaunting underserved or under-respected power, though that was one purpose. But in his long term goals, Siral wished for a place to pick and choose servants of his goals, lesser than the roles he envisioned for his current 6, eventually 7, but important nonetheless.

Like a game of chess, where Siral was the King. The 6, soon to be 7, were all to chess as a Queen was, powerful entities themselves. And the servants and forces of the citadel, be they normal pony, Stone Giant in the valley, or even hired muscle creatures enslaved as he could easily do, were the pawns, castles and knight equivalents. These students would fill the equivalent of bishop, a crucial, limited but more numerous piece.

But today, she was merely gathering some notes. Siral said that when the time came, this academy may come under scrutiny, and thee need not be anything important left to be taken by a would be foe.

As she pored over the archive notes, Teal Quirt couldn't help but find one interesting document, a small diary entry from Siral.

-It then dawned upon me, why Starswirl omitted that single line from the prophecy. To beware those close to his heart that follow him on his quest, as I did against his wishes at first.

He was not only slave to the prophecy, but he feared what I may become. A threat. A danger.

But he foolishly, and likely, told himself I would be a menace to everypony. But I have my own ideas. If that had been the case, he would have told me. But it is clear he did not tell me, because he feared I may outpace him, become more powerful than he.

Well, the 6 decades in Equestria spent while he jumped through time for the last of his exemplary beings, wasting time that could be spent aiding the world before it was truly lost, have done just that.

Not only as the difference in the passage of time meant that I now match his age when he re-emerges as I will too as I jump, but I am more powerful than when he left. And I will remain that way, for I now see the truth.

Like the Alicorns of today, the Oracles were shortsighted, clinging to their power.

It was why Geldrath left them, a collision of powers. They feared a rival power to their own.

It was why they urged Starswirl to follow their prophecy, to not let me on with him.

They feared what someone on such a journey could accomplish when not devout to their path.

And now I see that they foresaw their own doom, and asked Starswirl to seek out these 6 to bolster his own teachings, to maintain Equestria as it was. But history moved too fast for the Oracles, and they were absorbed as the Alicorns grew in power.

But power is the ability to influence change, evil, or good.

Now, I see what those 7 beings in the Prophecy, of Envy, Greed, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth and Pride were to them. Not threats to Equestria, but threats to THEIR power.

Those with power fear to lose it to the passage of time and change.

For this reason, for the greater world's benefit, I shall see to it that these forces arise, and be put to use of the greater good, the purpose the Oracles foresaw, and misinterpreted with fear for their own power.

The Alicorns have been allowed to rise as high as they already have, and it will undoubtedly take great powers to take them down, wipe the slate of power clean in Equestria, and start anew. Alicorns are a plague, powers granted to those unworthy in wisdom, restraint and born into positions of power to start with in too many cases.

Like many empires in history, they crack and fall at the pinnacle of their power, as they fight amongst themselves, and an exterior threat finishes them off. The world moves on, and their legacy is reduced to ash by time.

Sometimes the natural order of things simply needs a push to get started from those that understand the nature of these things. And I consider it a privilege, and a duty, to do so.

How and when I meet those I feel could best fulfill these 7 roles, only time shall tell.

The insight revealed nothing truly ground-breaking to Teal Quirt, aside from the purpose behind Siral's vision. And suffice to say, she understood.

She was privy to more than the other 5 were in these matters, and yet here she found that, among other things, Siral was rebelling against the established systems that seemed to have caused these problems in Equestria to begin with.

And despite her being a piece in Siral's 'plan', though this she already figured, a sense of honour was imbedded at how important Siral viewed her, as he'd said that they now had 6 of the eventual 7.

Even so, Teal couldn't help but grow irritated at the brief mention of 'Starswirl's 6', and the knowledge that one he'd been following that was 'destined' [she scoffed at that], had robbed her of her horn in an escape from his cruel rampage in that Salaman palace, and stopping her from ever becoming an Alicorn, which at the time had been her dream and talent at the rate she was going.

She'd had little hope of finding records of him here.

Next day

Midday

June 8th, 74 BNM

Canterlot, Magical Academy

Starswirl's study

"You are certain of this?"

"Yes, nothing beyond that however." Celestia recalled, while Starswirl put a hoof to his beard, while Luna and Celestia stood calmly as their teacher thought to himself. Turning to them, Starswirl began with some initial disapproval, but also regard for their initiative:

"I wish you had come to me before going to that academy, but I cannot argue against the success, limited it may be. But, why exactly did you go?"

"We wanted to see if we could get you and your friend to meet again." Luna admitted quietly. Not saying anything himself, Starswirl turned away as he looked towards his bookshelf.

"Admirable, but more importantly I wish to meet him for better reasons. I would like to know what he learned in his 60 years here, before the Gryphon War and the Civil War, get his opinion on matters, so that I may try and make what peace there is right now last, succeed where he unfortunately failed."

Celestia frowned slightly at this. Starswirl seemed indifferent to the prospect of reuniting with a long-time friend, he didn't seem to believe it himself. And yet, she sensed a vague hesitation under it all, a daring to wish for it in his heart, but his mind told him otherwise.

She wondered when their teacher had last truly felt happiness, a moment when he could put his mind at rest.

Times as they were, she didn't see any such times so needed for him in the near future.

When the two sisters had left, Starswirl pondered in his thoughts. He needed to know, but he needed to be careful. He would attract a lot of attention using his authority himself to access that Guild.

And yet, if he used the authority through a third party…

Getting out an ink pot, quill and parchment roll, Starswirl began a letter to an acquaintance he was wise to have incognito in Equestria, get some use out of him if he wasn't to demonstrate a lick of true kindness for the sake of it.

Chack,

It has come to my attention that rumors are spreading of an old accomplice of mine, Siral the Savant, being out and about in this world, hiding for some reason.

The academic guild he established, the Savant's Guild, has been having a mysterious visitor from time to time, a Unicorn mare of mid age, who knows by close encounter of Siral's current location.

I will mail you a package with clearance and my seal, and you shall be granted full access. I would like you to find this contact, find out what you can of Siral's situation, and report back to me.

You will be suitably rewarded as soon as you come in person to Canterlot. I may be seen, my magic can be detected clearly as my own, but you can travel undetected, Salamander though you may be. They will believe you to be a foreign scholar.

Starswirl

Later

Early Afternoon

June 8th, 74 BNM

Equestria, Nationalist provinces

Las Pegasus lowlands, Forge smiths

Pounding the sword into shape, a custom design he was experimenting with before mass producing it, Chack raised the hammer over the red hot blade once more.

As a blue flash appeared before him, he nearly yelled aloud and swung his hammer at the floating parchment. Seeing the seal on the letter, Chack grumbled:

"Why can he not use normal mail!? Maybe it is faster, but these surprises are getting old."

The Salamander put aside the letter, finishing the blade with a few more pounds before he dunked it into the water bath nearby with a hiss of steam. Now, the Salamander unfurled the letter.

Reading it, Chack's eyes grew with interest as he also pulled out an enclosed seal of Starswirl's, and saw the task he wished of him.

Seeing he had to come to Canterlot in person once it was done, Chack immediately knew he would have to arrange someone to watch his forges while he was gone.

Luckily his protege ponies were not as useless as he made some of them feel.

Evening

June 8th, 74 BNM

Equestria, Canterlot

Royal Palace, dining room

"So, I trust you two are prepared for the tournament events?"

"Yes, we had our fittings before we had the excursion to the Savant Guild on Starswirl's request. We will be ready." Celestia remarked, while Luna gave a happy nod in agreement, wiping her mouth gently with her napkin of the soup she'd been taking a spoonful of.

King Nova gave a small smile at this news, as the blue bodied king had been worrying his light green and white mane even whiter at this upcoming tournament. A gathering of Royalists, Nationalists and Separatists that was meant to ease tensions by way of friendly competition, rather than bloodshed.

In a small bit of joking though, if the jousters got too daring in their events, as they often did in peace or war, no bloodshed was a fool's promise. If not blood, then head trauma, broken bones or accidental death.

Queen Aurora had suggested the tournament as a way of easing relations, and had helped him every step of the way, the white Alicorn queen having her black and light pink mane to the side as she finished her small plate of greens for tonight's dinner.

"I'm certain you two shall be the envy of Equestria." Queen Aurora remarked, as Celestia remarked with some good humoured caution:

"Hopefully not too much. I know we are of courting age, and I wouldn't want any fighting to take place because of us."

"Not if I have anything to say about it. This is to ease tensions, not start new ones. Besides, you and Luna have your whole long lives ahead, as do we. There is no rush if that is what you are thinking." King Nova gestured to Queen Aurora and himself at the latter part, while Luna couldn't help but blush at this prospect, remarking:

"Well, I do not think me or sister have seen anypony truly of interest to us, not to anything near those standards."

"Really?" Queen Aurora asked, to which Celestia actually remarked with some rather straightforward remark:

"Nopony to that standard, no. Friends, not love. But like father said, we are in no hurry."

"Well whatever occurs, many from all over Equestria, faction notwithstanding, will be in attendance, so many of your friends will be there, as will ponies we know, friendly or potentially friendly if all works out."

"If." Aurora remarked, as she had her own doubts about certain Alicorn leaders, as well as many of the non-Alicorn leaders in the Separatists. The Separatists were politically, and powerfully, the weakest faction, but the most volatile. It was a miracle they'd accepted.

Meanwhile the Nationalists, led by the Trumanes, were more scheming as always, though their acceptance could mean anything. That being said, no faction truly wished to go to war again if it could be avoided, not with 5 years of peace under the belt.

Finishing the cherry bowl before him, King Nova asked:

"So what of any performers from the Magic academy? Shall Starswirl be putting on a show?"

"No, he said he has work he must do." Celestia remarked, to which Queen Aurora face fell slightly:

"A shame. Even when he came to us before you were born, he was not as warm as I imagined a wizard like him would be. If anything, the wars have taken their toll on him. I only hope our efforts can lift his spirits among many others."

Celestia and Luna kept quiet to their parents, knowing Starswirl's uncertainty ran deeper than many would think, even beyond what they knew.

Wizards had a tendency to keep secrets when the really didn't need to.

June 9th, 74 BNM

Evening

Equestria, 'Oracle' mount

Savant's Academic Guild

Lower, secret archives

Teal Quirt read the letter she'd received from Siral, against that of a letter sent ahead of a guest coming tomorrow. She had another day of gathering and sending archive documents away from here, when the news had come.

An agent on Starswirl's behalf was coming to the Guild, to probe the archives for any material and deliver it to Starswirl. A Salamander, around 78 years old, but in remarkably good health, as Salamanders had good healing, and yet this one had somehow used magic of some kind to help, just as Siral had aided her own age.

A Salamander who had amassed small wealth among the Nationalists, selling blade weapons and armour to non-magic forces among them. An informant for Starswirl it seemed, and one who had come to Equestria at the same time as he had.

It was him.

But Siral's letter seemed to also pick this up, as Siral had eyes and ears everywhere in Equestria, from sapient, to even charmed birds as his spies.

Avoid confrontation with this Salamander. He may do worse to you then he did in Salaman 38 years ago if you confront him. Starswirl must be kept in doubt, do not engage.

You are not ready yet, and he is too strong for you.

Upon seeing that last sentence, Teal Quirt's white furred frame shook with anger, as she felt her burning shame and rage also make it clear the permanent slight weakness her Unicorn horn now had. Brushing aside some of her blue/grey mane, she couldn't believe that Siral was doubting her.

That accursed Salamander had ambushed her, caught her in a surprise attack. He did not best her.

And what better way to keep Starswirl in doubt of their plans then his servant not being able to report back to him of anything he found?

While the factions gathered in Canterlot for their competitive festivities, sports instead of battle in these so far 5 years of peace, she would pass her time by the slaughter of the Salamander, the would be exemplar of 'kindness', Chack, by her magic, weakened or not.

She did not need any 'enhancement' from Siral to take out a single Salamander, he was no Alicorn. And by this time tomorrow, when she would return to the Citadel with the last few archive materials for Siral, he would be nothing but what little she could reduce him to.

This she swore, but Siral would be pleased, she was confident of this.

She was right, but not how she imagined.

Little did she know that she was carrying out Siral's plans, as he knew her well. He knew how to push her into actions he wished.

To build a servant up to their full potential, they must first be broken, whether by discipline for disobeying orders, or by an enemy.

Author's Note

Taking inspiration from the events of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, between England and France's Kings Henry VIII and Francais I, sporting events to soothe tensions rather than battle. Many events to let off any steam, any post civil war tensions, and hopefully keep a war relapse off even further still. Equestria shall be gathering in force.

Meanwhile though, a small conflict shall unfold, that sets in motion the events leading to the 2nd, and most destructive phase of the civil war. Not triggered by any of the factions, but by a suddenly emergent 4th faction of Siral's. Before any of that, the enhancements must first be proven on one of the 6, before the others.

But some of the best enhancements made on living beings are made to save their life, before they become something to choose at will.

Cruel Duel, brewing Envy.

June 10th, 74 BNM

Early Afternoon

Equestria, 'Oracle' mount

Savant's Academic Guild

Main courtyard

Grumbling under his breath, Chack tightened the straps on his travelling cloak, fighting the mountain breeze chilling him. He'd found what he was looking for, Starswirl's seal let him into the archives. But he found no trace of the 'associate' of this Siral. A helpful few students had suggested coming back over the next few days, when she was sure to turn up.

He just wished the trek down to the small town and the inn he was staying in wasn't as long as it was.

Around a small corner of the buildings, a set of eyes watched the Salamander walking methodically down the winding mountain path.

Her eyes narrowed, she'd stayed out of sight today for this reason alone. He'd never make it back to his inn if she had any say.

Her magic flaring, she teleported to where she knew nopony could see the path, from the mountain base village or the academy up on the slopes.

Oracle mount, path slopes

Wolf creek pathway

Creek was being humble, as the small river was at least 30-foot-wide, and deep, and steep. The path crossed over a 5-foot rise above the stream, passing alongside the white stream for a long way down the mountain, until it turned left to head for the village it was then level with.

Ambling down the path, Chack let the noise of the stream beside the path calm him, as the mountain slopes reared up slightly behind him, and the small lowlands beckoned far ahead a half mile away.

In no particular hurry, Chack turned to the stream, watching some minnow fish in the waters swimming in a calmer side pool, with no true current to speak of.

The black salamander bent down to cup his slick skinned hands to the water, taking a mouthful, avoiding the minnows as he quenched his amphibian thirst while also moistening his face.

Yet his Salamander sense of touch warned him of somebody moving towards him, unseen. He had perfected his sense of touch to be just as good out of water as it was under it, and he now had more awareness of his surroundings than anyone, be it eye seeing pony to more vibration sensing, poor eyesighted Salamander.

Under his cloak, Chack tightened a grip on the sword he always kept with him, and the light armour. He was travelling light, but not unarmed or unprotected. But he wasn't as prepared as could be.

Turning around, Chack looked around at the forests surrounding the path and creek. This was no wolf, it was alone. Sensing around him, Chack felt something familiar in the air, around where the marauder was.

That tingling sensation in the air he felt, that hardly anyone besides a Salamander or well sensed species could feel. An impending energy buildup. That was usually a sign of a lightning strike.

But in Equestria, it more likely meant a magic user was readying themselves. And they were hiding from him, looking for him.

Chack's grip went for his sword, right as he heard a twig snap a surprising distance from where he thought the enemy was in the forests. His head turned to the sudden noise.

A flash of white and blue appeared out of the corner of his eye, blue/grey magic flashing as they teleported into existence and charged him.

Cloak flying, Chack leapt back, avoiding the magic infused charging Unicorn as he drew his sword, going into a combat stance as he eyed his would be attacker.

The Unicorn Mare, white furred with a Blue/Grey mane, and a slightly odd looking horn, perhaps damaged and regrown, stared him down, her horn glowing as her eyes bore into his own with a look Chack understood perfectly.

Keeping his guard up, Chack remarked in an unimpressed tone:

"Trying to sneak up on me, a fool's error. You can't hide from my honed senses."

"The only thing that will be hidden is your body when I'm done with you." Teal Quirt spat at him, as she charged her horn to unleash a beam of heated energy, which Chack leaped sideways to avoid, his sword bathed in the energy beam.

Feeling the drag on his blade as he leapt sideways, Chack brought his sword to the front as she finished her attack, and slightly stared at the now red hot tip of his blade, where the beam had bathed it. She clearly wasn't bluffing.

Flinging his other hand from beneath his robe, Chack hurled a throwing dagger he always kept handy, forcing Teal Quirt to magically deflect it as he kicked off in the dirt, charging her across the pathway, sword swinging upwards towards her face.

Some blue/grey hairs flew as his sword barely scraped her mane, while Teal spun around and let loose a swiping wave of magic at the Salamander's back.

Side-ducking, Chack gasped as he felt some burning energy grace his side through his robe, but knew it was only skin deep. Spinning, Chack knew he had to keep her on the defensive, always moving, not focused.

Sword digging into the path, Chack hurled up some dirt and dust into her face, Teal's magic deflecting the dust, but letting Chack get in close with his sword flying.

Swiping left, right, and any opening he saw, Chack forced Teal backwards, using magic to enhance her speed, but she saw she was being driven back towards the path edge, and the drop off into the running river. She was tiring, she'd tried a heavy attack to take him out before this got out of hoof.

She had to use more creative magic to fight back. A blade or two to counter his.

Focusing her magic, Teal's eyes widened as Chack's blade swung for her head, right for her horn, again. She vanished in a quick teleport behind Chack, and kicked backwards.

A grunt sounded as Chack was hurled into the river, sword flying from his hand, splashing to vanish beneath the waters.

Fuming, Chack began to already swim for his sword, but stopped as he saw bright blue streaks like spears begin raining down in the water.

Up on high, Teal fired more precise magic bursts to skewer the Salamander, hoping she slowed him if not killing him.

Catching her breath, Teal looked around, and saw what she needed. Her magic worked, and the rocks nearby began to split apart into 4 segments, quickly seeming to shed and be carved as they flew towards her.

A sound of splashing water behind her, as the rocks came flying over, forming into socket like shapes and sporting sharp edges and jagged spikes from them, like a mantis's legs.

The rock formed gauntlet slipped onto her 4 hooves, her magic working subtly to keep them there, as she heard a louder splash behind her.

Whipping around, Teal saw water erupt as Chack came flying at her, sword raised, a cry of bloodlust coming from him. Raising her hoof, Teal saw the blade meet the stone gauntlet's jagged spikes, locking it between them.

Landing, sword still caught, Chack's eyes widened, while Teal gave a sneer as she spun around.

His sword went flying, and Chack leapt backwards as Teal began to swing her forehooves at him, the rocky spikes on her gauntlets, gauntlets formed from one piece of stone, slashed and stabbed into the ground where he stood seconds before.

Standing ready, Chack saw her charge another magic beam, and knew he had to get his sword back and get in close.

Jumping, Chack felt the heat blast of where he stood propel him onto the ground, as he scrambled behind a tree to get some cover.

Incinerating blasts hit the tree, as Chack smelt burning wood around him. Panting hard, the Salamander ripped off his cloak entirely, eying the sword now 20 feet away from him.

Close quarters it was then.

The cloak flew from behind the tree, and Teal blasted it to ribbons with a beam of magic, as her rocky gauntlets clacked as the lowermost spikes cut into the dirt path. But there was no blood.

Her head turned, she heard the sound of metal on a dirt path, and spun around to see the blade swinging for her, in Chack's hands.

Whipping up a forehoof, her stone gauntlet blades deflected blow after blow, but she lacked skill, and was being forced to backstep the whole way.

Sword flying down again and again like a hammer, Chack mentally cursed with every time she blocked and deflected. He was aiming for her head or chest, as she was not wearing armour, unlike he was. But his armour was useless against magic.

Teal raised her forehooves in a cross, catching Chack's blade between them as she slammed it down to the ground, Chack still clutching the handle as he came to stare into her face.

Her glowing horn lit up her own fierce grey eyes with his widening green ones.

Blinding pain hit Teal as Chack had quickly headbutted her, a fist coming around to catch her temple, sending her falling backwards, horn still aglow as her head pounded.

Staggering up, Teal saw the Salamander jumping back into the river, and not giving him a chance, as she saw him vanish in a splash, she fired the magic she'd built up at the river, her head and aim still swimming from the blow to her head.

The small path section beside the river was lit up by the blue blast of magic, as a cloud of steam engulfed the area, her magic attack vaporising a large amount of water all at once.

The stone gauntlet clad Unicorn mare stared around, visibility for now cut down by what was effectively a cloud she'd made.

Staring around, probing, Teal heard a splash further down the river, and surged towards it, magic aiding a leap through the air to come smashing down atop the source, stone spike gauntlets skewering it.

A large stone, hurled from the river to fool her.

Sensing her mistake, made when she thought victory was hers, she barely heard the noise of something else leap from the water.

Spinning, her stone gauntlet forehooves flailing desperately as she also fired as powerful a magic burst, a wave and a slicing sort, as she could in her exhausted state, Teal felt something pierce her side as she unleashed it.

She saw a Salamander go flying backwards, sword once swinging around mid-jump still in hand, a bloodcurdling scream coming from him as he splashed down into the river further away, hidden as the steam was still dissipating.

But looking down, Teal had more reason to find it hard to breath.

A small throwing knife had been hurled before Chack brought his sword around, a bid to not take any chances. The knife handle protruded from her flank, and she saw blood beginning to seep from her wound.

Her chest was constricting, but as she looked ahead, she saw her opponent had fled. He had used the river to make a hasty escape, already gone. But she saw he hadn't come out of this unscathed. Half of his tail lay floating, burnt and severed, along with almost one of his entire arms.

Her vision was quickly turning black, and her own heartbeat became all she could hear. Stumbling up the river bank rocks, Teal found each step was growing more and more strenuous to perform.

Half a mile downstream, 1 mile from the oracle mountain village.

Dragging himself from the riverbed, Chack gasped as he hauled his body up onto the riverside, throwing his sword onto the shore to get a better grip. His entire body was slightly burned from her last magic burst, but the cold water of the river had helped alleviate that pain.

His left arm was gone from the shoulder down, sliced off by the magic. But as he glanced down, he saw it was still bleeding slightly, as was his half of missing tail. Chack almost smiled, he would survive.

Salamanders were renowned for their healing abilities, even re-growing entire limbs if given enough time, and not cauterised, as he was lucky to have been. That mare's magic was not quite as powerful to be hot enough to that as it sliced his limbs off.

It was why Salamanders, bushido or not, were told that if killing another, don't assume they died, finish it.

Even so, Chack had never lost an arm before, only his tail on occasion in the past, before he met Starswirl. He'd not be fighting until it healed and regrew, but already he could see the bleeding stopping on both his shoulder stump and tail stump.

He only hoped the knife he knew had gone into her had done enough damage.

And yet, that mare was the one Starswirl wanted him to find out about. Why had she attacked him when he had done nothing in the academy to warrant it?

Chack had experienced enough stealth attacks in his bushido youth, now over 58 years ago before he lost his master. And in his entire now 88 year lifespan, he knew when something was afoot.

He had used Starswirl's authority, she had been unable to be found, and then had attacked him on the road back down. This was more than coincidence.

For now though, Chack knew the nearby village could provide him with a new travelling cloak. Bitterly though, that same cloak had held the archive document copies Starswirl wanted.

Chack's tale was enough to tell the wizard something was afoot.

For now though, the Salamander calmed himself on the muddy river bank, as the rainclouds overhead finally opened up.

Oracle mount pathway, riverside segment.

She couldn't focus, as her breathing constricted. She had to keep the knife in, but her strength was failing.

Slumping onto the shores, Teal sat in the mud, thankful the rainfall and mud of the riverbank could hide her tears of shame and rage. That Salamander likely survived his limb loss, and she would die here for disobeying Siral's warnings.

She was weak, Chack had robbed her of her Alicorn potential, and now he had robbed her of her life when she tried to repay the favour.

Her vision began to fade, and Teal Quirt let sleep take her.

The rainfall didn't faze the grey cloaked, black unicorn wizard who had been watching.

As the white Unicorn, covered in mud in her coat and blue/grey mane, lay unconscious and bleeding slightly from her knife wound, the stone spike gauntlets having fallen from her hooves, a grey flash appeared.

Siral had been watching from afar, waiting, to see the outcome of his servant against the loose cannon servant that Starswirl still clung to in his foolish devotion to the prophecy.

Even so, he hadn't wished her outcome to be this serious. How shaming, but it showed Siral that Teal was indeed compromised. So distraught by her robbed potential was she, that she had charged headlong to try and prove herself.

But this presented a unique opportunity. Siral would have preferred to run more tests on prisoners and animals with his enhancements, but perhaps those enhancements could also serve to save her life.

After all, her gratitude and begging for forgiveness as he resurrects her, stronger than ever, would ensure he would have one servant among his eventual 7 who would never step out of line.

Walking over to the unconscious Unicorn mare, the Black Unicorn, his grey cloak covering his mosaic-like scars, leant down and laid a hoof on Teal's head, focusing his magic as he quickly began to teleport them back to his citadel.

Late Afternoon

June 10th, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Basement halls, 'forging' chambers

There were to be 7 commissioned stone 'vats', in which he would create his 7 'enhanced' servants, and be able to also brew in vast quantities potions or other creatures that could serve his goals. Experimentation on an industrial scale.

3 of the caldron vats were still under construction, but 4 were complete.

Standing atop a small stone walkway that ran past each of the 7, Siral used his magic to carefully lower Teal, her knife having been removed and healed enough with basic bandages, into the now murky grey looking liquid Siral had transformed from water. A medium in which a great number of potions and related spells could act upon.

As the Unicorn mare floated, Siral's grey magic worked on the liquid inside the vat's 30-foot diameter, and 30-foot depth. The grey liquid glowed grey, and then turned a slight blue as Teal's body was bathed in a blue glow, and gently pulled under the liquid.

The multipurpose 'brew' had been imbued with a basic stasis and healing spell. Now, while he worked, Teal could remain inside the now slowly turning translucent blue/grey liquid vat for as long as he needed, alive, and unconscious, healing from her wounds.

But these vats weren't to be wasted merely healing.

For now, Siral had done what he needed to.

Having come down out of concern for the eldest of the other 5 she would be with, and as their sort of defacto 'nanny' as some of them begrudgingly called her, lady Ave-Dol saw Siral wander over from the walkway, to the stairwell she waited at.

"What exactly kind of concoction is she in?"

Feigning uncertainty, Siral admitted:

"She is, close to death. I am doing what I can for her, but the brew is, not completely tested. She will heal, but I cannot promise that is all it will do."

"She may not be the same coming out?" Lady Ave-Dol's eyes widened slightly at this prospect, as Siral stared back at the vat, hiding the slight glint in his eyes:

"I highly suspect that she won't be."

With a slight sigh, Lady Ave-Dol offered an apology: "I tried to also warn from pursuing vengeance, but she wouldn't listen. But this price was too much to pay, why would she even go after him?"

Siral said nothing. He knew fully well that his letter had successfully goaded her, in the disguise of a warning not to. And he knew how to play all the others as easily as he had Teal if the need arose.

"If it is any consolation to your worries, there shall be no punishment waiting for her disobedience. She will come out of this better in the end."

Lady Ave-Dol's face brightened only slightly, worry for the rather youthful by magic 63-year-old Unicorn mare plaguing her. She would be sure to calm any of the other 5, or the castle staff who knew and respected Teal Quirt, to expect her to recover, albeit changed

As for Siral, things had gone exactly as he had planned in the end.

And besides, that Salamander, Chack, would serve as the next hint, a more obvious one, to his 'old friend', that things were happening that his wisdom hadn't forseen, or been too busy serving power corrupt royalty, getting involved in the struggles of the Alicorn powers, wasting his talents.

Late Night/Near Midnight

June 11th, 74 BNM

Equestria, North Midland valley lake

Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

Basement halls, 'forging' chambers

She had been in the forging vat's potion depths for over 24 hours now, and was fully healed in body.

But now, with the lanterns flickering brighter than normal fire by aid of magic, Siral set to work.

In his studies, he found that specific attributes in magic were hard to make from scratch, and as he tried to find a workaround, he found an unorthodox way of boosting physical or magical abilities.

Some animals in nature, while unable to perform magic themselves, had traits that made them more malleable by way of magic. And physical traits that if they were scaled up, would make them dominant among ponies and greater.

Siral decided that with magic as the glue that held them together, the best way to bring out the greatest potential of magical and physical abilities, and feeding off any powerful traits of emotion or physicality in the host, was to take what nature provided.

In the vaults, in pickled jars to keep them intact and preserved, Siral kept many different creatures for 'parts' in his potions. Entire creatures, or just parts of them.

And now, using his magic, the black wizard sensed what creatures would be best suited to 'merging' with Teal Quirt as she lay dorment.

And as a side effect, by their very nature of being a transformed creature, every single one of the 7 servants he planned would have transfiguration magic abilities beyond even Alicorns, to the point where changing objects would be like a toddler's skill to them. But Siral was interested in what specific skills and powers he wanted from them, ones exclusive to them.

Nearby, a few silent lab assistant Unicorns, ones from his own academic guild he established so long ago, stood ready to help with the selected body parts.

They had tested these hybrid creations on prisoners enough to ensure they survived, and then killed them quickly to prevent any loose ends.

Looking down at the bubbling, grey colored liquid filling the vast molding cauldron, the Savant knew this time the hybrid would work. Like with the other 6, he and his followers had experimented with enough magical methods to ensure they'd survive this time. And flourish.

The bodyparts, harvested from their owners, be they beast or sapient being taken prisoner, were dumped into the mixture from a platform above. A large scorpion, slaughtered Unicorn horns, a Chimera's tail, a dragon's arms, and a gorilla's body.

It was all coming together.

Inside the cauldron, as the potion had turned the grey opaque, the animal body parts dissolved into swirling colours slowly, and began to bond to the unconscious Unicorn mare in the mixture, hidden from view.

Down below, with his magic attuned to the vat of potion, Siral began to carve with his magic an image of the creature to emerge. He had no choice, as he let what the potion was working on dictate it to him.

Finishing, on the stone tablet he saw the carving.

Almost like a Haygyptian hieroglyph symbol, it showed an odd, centaur like creature. But this one had the lower body of a scorpion, 8 legged, and also with a front pair of clawed arms. Atop it, another set of arms, these ones more like dragon arms, though they had long scythe like claws running along the wrists. The head and torso was like that of a gorilla, except it had a set of 4 downwards and out facing Unicorn horns, akin to a headdress crown of sorts. And from its rear end, the snakelike tail of a chimera extended, snarling in the picture.

Siral mentally considered the image, and decided that a carving like this would be only a vague picture. What Teal Quirt truly looked like, in detail, remained to be seen.

For now, she would continue to be molded, until she was ready to awaken. The first of his enhanced servants.

How fitting that she was to be 'made' like this by one of Starswirl's exemplary beings, one supposedly of kindness no less, forged from his cruel treatment of her in recent days and first wounding her magic and limiting her from her full potential, like a cripple in many respects. The saying was right, Starswirl had in a way created the very threat he set out against. Siral just decided to be on the right side of things, in control.

After all, a threatening force, like any tool, could be used for good or evil. And good and evil were just a matter of perspective.

And when teal Quirt emerged, Siral was certain he could persuade the others to volunteer themselves. Lady Ave-Dol would be the only potential resistance, but if so, it wouldn't be the first time Siral had forced his will upon another's, whether they knew it or not.

Everything was proceeding as Siral intended in his broad strokes, and he foresaw no reason to doubt that trend would stop.

Mid-Morning

June 12th, 74 BNM

Equestria, midland mountains

Canterlot, city outskirts

Chack walked briskly towards the distant city, his shoulder and tail still throbbing slightly as they had now covered over by an epidermal layer of white skin as they slowly regrew the 1 and a half limbs, a process of another few months still to come.

Starswirl was in Canterlot still, whether or not he was attending this series of inter faction sporting events to promote unity he didn't know. But the Salamander had been to this city on at least 4 occasions since he came to Equestria 38 years ago, this would make it 5.

He was thankful he'd kept a hold of Starswirl's seal, he needed to get to Starswirl fast.

Something was afoot in Equestria, and the Salamander had an arm and half a tail gone to show somebody wanted those secrets kept for now, and they were tied to those who supposedly had links to Siral.

Author's Note

Teal Quirt [Envy to be] and Chack [kindness, not yet] come to blows, and both come out of it worse for wear. Chack would survive his losses, Salamanders having absurd healing, like in real life, whereas a lucky knife got Teal.

All the while though, Siral feels this presents an opportunity to begin the first of 7 enhanced being projects.

Meanwhile, the sporting events in Canterlot went on, the events lasting 5 days up until the 14th, meaning Chack had time to get to Canterlot before they ended.

In later chapters, when the time comes for the other 5 to be enhanced, I may consider request suggestions for them. They are to be unique hybrid forms like Discord is, but different, be it smaller/bigger, fiercer/cuter, obvious/subtle, depending on their unique traits.

Tense Relations, Birth of Envy

Midday
June 13th, 74 BNM
Equestria, midland mountains
Canterlot, Coltosseum

Day 4 of the tournaments, already going by the name of the Equestria Games. That moniker would later in history be used in sporting events in Equestria with less tense political atmospheres hovering over them.
Compromises had to be made, but neither side was too happy.
The hosting of the games in Canterlot, the Royalist capital, was not liked by the Nationalists and Separatists. The forbidding of any Alicorn participants, done to placate the Separatists, sparked some slight tension in the other 2 factions.
Even among the games, these meetings were well used by all factions to iron out any deals made in this now 5-year peace.
Despite this all, tensions still existed. Worse for those Starswirl would confide in was news of some hidden group, linked to rumours of Siral the Savant, making a move to kill a trusted accomplice of his.

Coltosseum, playing fields

Running tracks, marked with hurdles and jumps, were the main team event, the tripartite dash. Each faction fielded teams of one Unicorn, one Pegasus and one Earth Pony, as they competed on 3 different race tracks at the same time alongside each other, working together to dodge the obstacles.
Hurdles for the Earth Ponies, waving hoops to fly through for the Pegasi, and small catapulted loads of rotten vegetables aimed to bring down the Unicorns. The 3 could work together, as the obstacles affected only their target pony kind, as a Pegasus could blow away the vegetables or help the Earth pony over the hurdles, a Unicorn could lower the barriers and freeze the hoops, and the Earth ponies could stop any hoops moving and any projectiles flying by running past, when their operators would freeze them. All the while, putting in the fastest time for all 3 to cross the line.
The royalist stallions, decked in splendid blue and white tunics, dashed down the track, while beside them the Separatists put up a good fight, though a vegetable had hit their Unicorn in his lane and screwed up their teamwork and speed.
Pulling ahead, the Royalist Unicorn magically shrunk the hurdles for the Earth pony, as they took the strategy of having him run past and disable the catapults and moving hoops ahead of them. Keeping pace, the Unicorn was the slowest, but less projectiles came his way.
Nearby, the Nationalist Pegasus crossed the line first, but the whole team had to cross to finish. With the event ending, the Royalists had the fastest time for their team, despite none of their pegasi, unicorn or earth pony coming first in their categories. Their teamwork gave their slowest paced one enough speed to finish first overall, by mere seconds.
Once again, in the team events, the overall unity of the Royalists in their cause was demonstrated by team morale, as the Nationalists and Separatists, while good individually, often times fell apart when working as a team, both in the battles, despite having a frequent numbers and strength advantage, and in these sports.

Coltosseum, Nationalist box

Lord and Lady Trumane were the only Alicorns among the Nationalists who currently watched from the box, as others were elsewhere with small matters to deal with. They were the most prominent among the Alicorns, and public face required they be exposed more often.
Lady Trumane, a yellow and pale lilac maned Alicorn mare, gave a slight grimace at the Nationalist team coming a very narrow third, and last. Lord Trumane, a marble white, blue maned Alicorn stallion, grumbled under his breath:
“I won’t be making any more wagers on our own team if this keeps up.”
“Surely you wouldn’t start wagers on the other teams?”
“Of course not, but maybe if this were on Nationalist territory…” Lord Trumane idly leered around at the Coltosseum and its cheering, or jeering in some cases, crowds of ponies, with suspicion.
Lady Trumane rolled her eyes, knowing this paranoia was in him, and yet it wasn’t unfounded: “I suppose being on Royal territory may be disheartening, but perhaps that should inspire them to perform harder.”
Lord Trumane huffed at this, as he eyed up the rest of the field, knowing the individual events were where the odds were more even. Lady Trumane darted her eyes across the Coltosseum, eyeing up the stands.
In the Separatist box, she caught sight of the committee of Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies that made up their ‘leadership’, or backwards thinking rabble as she thought of them. If she had to put money on any side in the Civil War losing the ability to keep up, it would have been them. But they were as stubborn as they were in disharmony, the only thing they often agreed on was to separate Equestria into 3 nations that traded, but governed themselves.
Casting her gaze around, Lady Trumane had a simple vision of the 3 factions. The Separatists, stuck in the past wanting to divide Equestria, but often internally chaotic as a result of differences. The Royalists, stuck in the present to maintain the status quo, having the least numbers but greatest unity. And the Nationalists, wanting a council of Alicorns, not a single royal family, leading Equestria, keeping each other in check, the future.
Staring across, she regarded the royal box with more respect, but also derision. With her Alicorn magic, she cast a sight enhancement spell, and spied on the royal box from afar.
Queen Aurora, her white body like marble against her black and pink shimmering mane, spoke with Princess Celestia, the only very slightly smaller, now adult white Alicorn with the pink mane. Nearby was Princess Luna, younger looking but also an adult, watched with her light blue mane and darker blue body in contrast to her sister. And in the box with them, she saw King Nova, stocky, blue bodied and with a white and green glowing mane. Beside him, a palace captain and servant Unicorn, Blacksaddler she believed she recalled, was speaking to him in a whisper.
As King Nova’s expression grew slightly concerned, Lady Trumane remarked to her husband:
“Well my husband, take consolation that not everything is going swimmingly for the Royalists right now. Whatever it is, King Nova seems not too pleased to hear it.”
“Best news in I have heard in the last few hours.” Lord Trumane grumbled, the white, blue maned Alicorn knowing Lady Trumane was putting her skill of scanning crowds, good for seeking subtle hints of possible deceit or weakness in negotiations, to good use.

Royal Box

“You are sure he said it was urgent?” King Nova asked, as the crowds began to swell in volume, the magic aided javelin competition up next for Unicorns of the factions.
“Yes, and he also told me to say that, and I say this with no disrespect on my behalf, that this is more pressing than a silly sporting event that won’t do much to improve relations in the long term.”
Frowning, King Nova wished he could disagree. But this tournament was merely one step in numerous he envisioned in slowly ensuring peace. Baby steps, to avoid another conflict.
Even so, King Nova knew he had to send someone.
Sensing his thoughts almost, Queen Aurora offered aloud, placing a reassuring hoof on Celestia and Luna’s backs in succession as she remarked: “I’ll go. It would be best if one of us stayed here, and you and I agree that magical matters as Starswirl likely has concerns with is more my expertise.”
With a smile of thanks, King Nova softly kissed Aurora in thanks, the Alicorn queen departing with Captain Blacksaddler.
As their mother left, Princess Celestia and Luna quietly whispered as they turned their eyes back to the field events:
“What do you think Starswirl wants?” Princess Celestia wondered aloud.
“If it is urgent, not something that bodes well.” Luna remarked soberly, to which King Nova also overheard, frowning himself as he now couldn’t get the subtle train of thought of a possible threat out of his head, one he hadn’t seen coming.
He only hoped it wouldn’t be too serious.

30 minutes later
Canterlot, Magical Academy
Starswirl’s study

Starswirl insisted on secrecy, as what had been told by Chack put doubts and paranoia in his mind. As soon as Queen Aurora had arrived, Captain Blacksaddler leaving the room to await them finishing, he decided to get introductions out of the way fast.
Queen Aurora however, already had seen Chack, but only once, when they first arrived in Equestria. And last time he’d had both arms and a whole tail.
As she quietly shuffled inside, Queen Aurora let slide that Starswirl had bowed to her more noticeably than Chack had, who had merely nodded his head with a curt expression as he stood from his seat.
Gesturing to Chack, Starswirl remarked: “Introductions will not take long, but in short, what I’ve learned, came from him. He has been a contact of mine, under a guise of a weapon forger in Nationalist territory.”
“A Nationalist infiltrator? Are they hiding something?” Queen Aurora asked, as she always was suspicious of the Alicorns leading them, particularly the Trumanes. Before Starswirl could reply, Chack shook his head, remarking bluntly:
“I wish. The one who cut a few bits off me had no faction to speak of.”
“But it is the circumstances of the attack that has my concerns. But I needed you or your husband, because it concerns a Wizard who was in Equestria before I returned, who vanished 49 years before I returned. The Savant.” Starswirl explained.
Sensing much more to this, Queen Aurora used her magic to pull a pillow seat over, gesturing slightly for the Wizard to sit. She noticed Chack had already sat back down on his chair, and couldn’t help but wince in sympathy at his half stump tail and missing left forearm, covered by a makeshift tunic.
The tale of Chack going on Starswirl’s behalf to the Savant guild, for any records of why he vanished, and if he did return as promised at the same time Starswirl remerged to find Chack and ultimately return. More importantly, to chase a supposed Unicorn who was spreading rumours of a supposed Savant linked individual, potentially influential, somewhere in Equestria, looking for followers.
That described Mare had been the same Unicorn that attacked Chack on the road back from the Guild, of whom he was injured, but he likely mortally wounded, likely.

“Are you certain she was not operating alone?”
“She clearly had influence from elsewhere, given what she’d spread word of in the guild already. She was merely an agent, but Chack blatantly used my seal to gain access to the archives, making him a target. They didn’t want him to return with anything he found it seemed, and sent her after him.”
Queen Aurora looked down, recalling her ruling days as Queen beside King Nova, before Starswirl returned, or Celestia was born: “Siral barely interacted with the royal family, or many Alicorns for that matter, beyond letters. He was rather mysterious.”
“Yes, he had a bad run in with a rogue Alicorn in his past, to make a long story short about his distrust.” Starswirl remarked.
“That mysteriousness explains why he so easily vanished, and why if he has returned, nopony has really found him.” Queen Aurora was pondering in thought right now, as Chack then remarked:
“But also about that one who attacked me. I met her before, years ago. In a skirmish in Salaman, she went beyond her required job in protecting your royal ambassador in protecting a corrupt leader I took out. It took me some searching, but she went to the Savant Guild.”
Starswirl had some documents on her, not much, but enough:
“Teal Quirt. Unicorn mare, she would be around 63 by now, and yet by Chack’s description, she displayed a rather youthful look for her age, which given Chack damaged her horn, would not have been as possible.” Starswirl remarked, as he then concluded:
“She may have gained her power by an outside source. According to some history, she left the Royal magic court because they began demoting her due to lessened magical ability by Chack’s hand, and not on good terms.”
“You believe an Alicorn may have been aiding her and maybe others from the Guild academy?” Queen Aurora asked, to which Starswirl shook his head:
“Not an Alicorn, but yes, perhaps a powerful Unicorn. I suspect that may still look to ‘recruit’ from the guild, which means whoever it is has an interest in it.”
“Siral maybe.” Chack remarked, to which Starswirl quickly hushed the curt Salamander, remarking:
“No. I knew him, assassination attempts and recruitment were never his style, he would keep to himself entirely, independent. Covert recruitment of followers is not Siral’s methods. I suspect a student of the Guild who feels it is a key place to recruit followers to their cause.”
Queen Aurora thought over the facts, and decided to make a preliminary decision: “My husband and I shall discuss the final idea, but I think I can speak for both of us when I say this warrants investigation. Knowing you Starswirl, I expect you and your friend here would have started without our approval.”
“She knows us too well.” Chack grumbled, while Starswirl paid the Salamander’s rumblings no heed.
“Precisely. But we shall keep this covert, though from time to time I may call upon magical using students from this academy, or the royal guard. I feel Chack will have to remain here until he has regrown his limbs.”
Nodding at this, Chack remarked: “Canterlot will be getting a new forgesmith, once my stuff is shipped from Nationalist territory over the next 2 weeks. Letters already sent”
Queen Aurora accepted this news, but she couldn’t help but ask the wizard with all seriousness, as Starswirl shuffled his blue cloak out of thought once again:
“You are certain this is not a Nationalist, Separatist, or heaven forbid, an insurgency amidst Royalists?”
“Clearly not. Despite any misgivings, as those silly games show, none of the factions in Equestria have any true reason to spoil these 5 years of peace. Whatever this new group is, they may be operating with a different agenda. What that is, I do not know.”
“Then let us hope that unknown is revealed before anything bad comes of it.” Queen Aurora remarked, to which Chack restrained the urge to gesture angrily to his missing arm and half tail.

Early Morning
June 14th, 74 BNM
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Basement halls, ‘forging’ chambers

The cauldron was broiling now, and yet the bubbling opaque grey liquid inside the 30 by 30-foot vat was cold as the northernmost seas.
Atop the walkway ‘viaduct’, Siral and a few mask wearing lab assistant ponies waited patiently, the Black Wizard’s scarred visage hidden beneath his grey cloak as he fired his grey horn.
She was ready.
A simple spell to awaken her, as he shot a small dart of grey magic into the liquid. Seconds later, the bubbling potion brew suddenly stilled, becoming like a dead, grey egg-like liquid now, almost like the white of an egg the colour of concrete.
The potion then flared a brighter grey, and then turned a fierce blue/grey colour.
A reverberating, almost clicking rumble, filled the chamber, as something stirred inside the liquid.
Casting his eyes around as the mixture dimmed, Siral saw it spring from the potion. A scaly white forearm, a draconic limb.
Bathed in the potion, the large form pulled itself from the vat, and as Siral and the others rushed down to the ground level at the base of the vats, it tumbled down the vertical side, landing in a crumpled heap covered in the grey potion.
Coming to a stop, Siral began working his magic, siphoning the grey potion off it. As he cleaned it off, it began to stagger onto its own legs, all 6 of them.
Like the carving showed, she was a sight to behold, though her eyes remained shut still as she stood up.
Her entire body was a grey colour, with a darker blue/grey, teal like spine of fur running along her entire frame, head to tail. But while the spine of her body was elongated Unicorn, the rest had been altered.
Her arms were scaly and bulky, mixing the dragon arms with the gorilla torso, The Unicorn mixed with the Gorilla, giving her upper body an upright stance, like a centaur’s in a way. Her lower body however, with its top half grey furred and blue mane spine atop it, had a brown coloured scorpion lower body, with 8 jagged legs, the front 2 having pincers on them to act as small grasping hands if need be. The tail was taken from the chimera part, as the serpent that formed the tail had no mind of its own, and was merely an eyeless serpent acting as yet another appendage for her to wield.
As ‘Teal Quirt’ staggered up, Siral beheld her new face. The gorilla features made her snout shorter, and her now greyer fur and teal coloured mane were marked with that which made her a true force to be reckoned with.
Her old horn was gone, her forehead smooth now, but in its place she now sported 4 Unicorn horns, curving slightly and tipped with dark blue points, all facing downwards and outwards, like a headpiece crown stretching down to her jawline almost.
Her dragon arm and one front pincer arm braced herself on the ground, while Siral spoke with a commanding magical voice:
“You are now greater than you could have ever been, and more. Never again will a defeat bring you low as before you are now. Most trusted servant of my will, arise. Teal, the first of a new breed of beings, to eclipse the Alicorns forever.”
At the last word, Teal Quirt’s now changed, poisonous and glowing green eyes burst open, her breath strong and calm as the clicking, throaty roar of her now rawer, deeper, commanding voice, filled the chamber.
“Yes master.”

Meanwhile
Early Morning
Canterlot, Magical Academy
Starswirl’s study

Starswirl had been mulling over some scrolls with his breakfast of bread and water, when he was suddenly stuck with a vague recollection, almost like a suddenly surging passing thought, akin to a folk song stuck in one’s head suddenly playing in their mind. Though perhaps, not as strongly as this one.
The Envious One: A cold hearted servant, scheming for power and revenge.
The chanted mantra of the prophecy, mentioning one of the 7 beings, struck Starswirl still as he bit into his bread, the scroll slipping from his magical grasp.
Putting a forehoof to his head, Starswirl collected his mind, but he couldn’t help but wonder where this had suddenly come from.
Perhaps this was a warning, that whatever it was going on had something to do with those prophesized threats.
All the more reason to try and unravel these hidden events and agendas as fast as possible.

Later that day
Midday
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Living quarters

She quickly grew stronger, and slowly was getting used to her now 8 scorpion legs, 2 of which were small gripping claws as well. Now, she was bigger than any Alicorn would ever be, and more powerful, once she honed her abilities.
Before the others were called to see her fully ‘recovered’, Teal had already found that, true to Siral’s predictions, transformation magic was much, much easier now.
But ahead of her, staring at her with mixed reactions, were the other 5 who she knew were lined up by Siral for similar enhancements, by choice, or by force. She would have chosen anyway, as she’d said to Siral, but circumstances forced her unconsciously to need them.
Walking forwards, Teal saw the stares, and gauged their reactions for future reference.
Golmov, the 50 foot [shrunken for now] black and yellow striped dragon, seemed to stare with interest, his senses detecting the now much greater latent power in her, and a much greater ‘presence’ by any senses he had. He may have second thoughts, but the greedy dragon seemed open to volunteering for enhancements now that he sensed the changes made.
Odi-Viscer, the bald grey Earth pony stallion, stared with some trepidation, but curiosity. He was stunned by her change, scared almost, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He feared her, he respected her. And he knew that could be a danger for him, and others. He wanted that power, as that meant nopony could pose a threat to him, he could BE the threat, and let the world be his anger management tool, once he’d dealt with the Alicorns, one of whom ruined his life.
Satio, the gluttonous but kind Minotaur male, was unnerved by her appearance, but there were some thoughts as he turned to give a brief glance down at his less than intimidating, fat body. A sense of empowerment that he felt in Teal made him feel inadequate, as he saw how much he could change things to make life easy with that power, ease his need to satiate his gluttony which was borne of his insecurities and love of simple things.
Iena, the pale green Pegasus with the white mane, openly had some repulsion at Teal’s form, but as soon as Teal had showcased just how easy transformation came to her, her eyes grew alight to the possibilities of disguise, altering her appearance, for a large variety of things. How easy it would be to manipulate, or even just keep her body she was proud of, in its prime with such magic. Like Satio, she saw such power as the end of all her struggles in life, and a bolster to her own talents.
Lady Ave-Dol however, couldn’t help but feel some sympathy and reservation about this all. She was an Alicorn, she already had great power, but at the sight of how intrigued, hopeful after the initial shock as well, that the other 4 were at Teal’s newfound power, she felt it would be wrong to warn them.
And yet, the pale blue and yellow maned Alicorn mare couldn’t help but feel sorry that whenever Teal fully let her guard down, that would be her true form. She looked to Siral, and shot a look of sadness as she knew he had predicted that experimental potion might do this to her.
But behind the Black Wizard’s façade of humbly introducing Teal to the others, he was ecstatic. The power he could give them was luring the 4 others in like fish to bait, and only Lady Ave-Dol, as expected for one without such an Alicorn or misfortune influenced life, had reservations about wielding improvements herself.
Never mind for now, she would be the last anyway among those here.
The Black Wizard saw all the pieces falling into place, and once more were enhanced, he would make his first few more open moves, and if he hadn’t caught on, finally let his ‘old friend’ know he was back.

Author's Note

The first of the 7 enhanced beings has now been born. The being of Envy, the former Unicorn mare Teal Quirt, shortened to Teal.
Not every sin being shall have as complex a design as Teal’s, but all will be formed of a variety of ‘parts’.
6 of the 7 ‘Sin’ beings will have their eye colours altered to mirror the colours associated with their respective sin references, e.g. green for envy.

Six’s solidarity, Sowing of Discord

Early Morning
June 28th, 74 BNM
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Main Courtyard

The soldiers, the garrison of Equestrian soldiers here to guard the northern border, had not affiliated with the 3 infighting factions for the purpose of greater defence. They served Equestria’s defence, and thus were loyal to their Citadel’s leader, a black, scarred Unicorn stallion in grey robes, known simply as Master Blackmane, who had been in charge of this Citadel for over 20 years now, helping it grow from a small stone barracks to the imposing fortress, almost the size of a town thanks to his powerful magic helping build it faster.
Exercising in the yards, they saw the defacto second in command of the base, a middle aged, rather stern looking Unicorn mare of blue/grey mane and white coat, watching from a nearby balcony walkway.
None of them knew of the form she took when completely relaxed however, nor of the immense power she now wielded, after her transformation 2 weeks ago.
But right now, she was in charge. Master Blackmane was off on business in Royalist territory.
He was one of few in Equestria allowed safe passage without question through all the factions, as he defended Equestria as a whole, no matter the territory, him and others in charge of similar fortresses along the New Gryphon northern border, keeping in check the vital lands claimed in the war at great cost, which the Alicorns fought over the spoils of as one of many reasons besides the power struggle.
The fortresses were kept on standby, despite trading with New Gryphons underway, as they may decide to pounce on Equestria if more civil war breaks out.
And yet, only Teal Quirt knew the exact reason why ‘Blackmane’ was in royalist territory. The tale that it was to secure resources needed to maintain and improve the Citadel’s forces was a half-truth.
Though she did not know who it was, she knew Siral was busy in his slow cultivation of the Seventh of the all to be enhanced underlings of his. She had been the first, and while maybe not the strongest depending on what came of the others, she would be in charge of them, with lady Ave-Dol as their ‘keeper’, making sure order was kept between them, the Alicorn proving laid back, open minded, even if airy in the head at times.
She merely hoped this seventh was chosen well.

Midday
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Living quarters

Sat around a small table, Iena and Satio played a simple game of chess, though the portly minotaur had a difficult time hiding his thought pattern.
Sitting back, Iena brushed aside her white mane, as the light green Pegasus mare reclined in her, for Satio, slightly distracting figure. She knew this, and she was using it to her advantage. She didn’t like losing.
But also, there was somewhat of a bit of amusing, maybe even endearing quality to how easily Satio got flustered around her.
Focusing on the chess board, keeping his slightly burning cheeks cool with self-control, Satio moved the knight to the space he chose.
“Okay, there.”
Raising an eyebrow, Iena leaned forwards, taking the bishop piece from a long way’s across the board and taking a castle piece he hadn’t been keeping an eye on.
“You should be watching your flank Satio, not others.”
“Wha-, I, just, ah I can’t get checkmate with just a knight, a few pawns and a king…”
Satio submitted, toppling his king over as Iena snickered aloud, remarking:
“You are getting better, slowly. But you get distracted far too easily.”
“That is not fair. It is not like I could do the same to you.” Satio admitted, folding his arms over his girdle in slight shame, but also humiliation at this immediate defeat.
Iena’s snark softened slightly, as she simply teased Satio out of fun: “Well how might you spend this downtime? It is not like we have any more duties until this evening.”
“I don’t know. But, I just would do something I am good at. The gardens, my vegetable patch. Try one of the recipes in the fortress kitchen cook books I haven’t done yet.”
“What ones have you not done?” Iena asked, thinking he had already cooked anything the kitchens had with how often he was down there. While he ate light to keep her figure, she had to admit she was impressed with Satio’s skills in preparing good meals. She could understand why he indulged in food out of pleasure or commiseration in his life, she might too if she was as good as he was.
“Uh, well, I was wondering, do you have anything you recall liking, treat maybe. I’m always looking for new things to try and make.”
Iena slightly smiled at this, as she knew Satio had his way of sharing what he liked with her, as did she with teaching him games like chess or mental pursuits. And, he was always willing to give her his time, not that he seemed to have much outside his duties in meals to do anyway.
“My family’s cooks once did a divine blackberry pie.”
“I can give it a try.” Satio offered, the minotaur suddenly becoming less self-conscious at this potential challenge to himself, and to also maybe get Iena to have him as a definite good friend by her books, his own looks be damned.
He wanted her to be friendly with him as much as possible, as she was easier to get to know than the others. Lady Ave-Dol was more a mother/overseer if anything, and the other 3 were, somewhat inapproachable, whether they be occupied with their roles like Teal Quirt [especially post enhancement], or Golmov in his unknown errands set by Siral.
Or in Odi-Viscer’s case, indulging in his various hobbies to an almost addictive, socially secluded level.

Meanwhile
Citadel Fortress, Living areas
Odi-Viscer’s room

Hunched over the small work desk, the bald, grey Earth pony worked with the carving knife strapped by a gauntlet of sorts on the small log, one of many he borrowed from the castle firewood stores, slicing away shavings in very precise, meticulous ways.
Lady Ave-Dol’s advice had been good, as he took up a hobby he had as a small child, and became somewhat addicted to it.
Beside his desk, a very large pile of wood shavings lay. Scurrying out from underneath, a small mouse that had found it a nice play to stay peered out with a small squeak, at which Odi’s gaze suddenly turned slightly heated as he snapped to look at the mouse, who froze in place at the sight of the stallion sat by the table.
He saw two options: Kill the mouse for fun, or get this sculpture of one of the other 5 done better than the last attempt he did.
The earth pony would like either. He had made a second, rage against life’s unfairness induced hobby of killing smaller animals than he before Siral found him, with his bare hooves.
But the nagging feeling, he just would be so much more angered if he lost his rhythm and place in his carving frenzy on this attempt.
“Don’t be in my sights when I finish, I’m too busy.” Odi-Viscer grumbled darkly to the mouse, as he turned his attention back to the wood carving, wanting to make sure the carving of Satio didn’t come out thinner than he actually was this time around.
The mouse was gone seconds after that, as more shavings added to the now table high pile.

Meanwhile
150 miles away
Equestrian northern mountain ranges

Golmov flew idly over the mountain tops, his 200-foot black and yellow striped dragon form barely struggling with the 2 Earth pony travellers, who had made the mistake of wandering the open paths alone when Golmov was searching for ‘test subjects’ for Siral to pick from in his underground prisons.
Not that anyone other than Teal Quirt, himself or Siral would know, though frankly only lady Ave-Dol would make any significant danger if she found out.
The farmers had long fainted from shock and fear, and Golmov wished there wouldn’t be too many more of these ‘errands’ for Siral. The novelty and thrill of abducting random, alone travellers to avoid suspicion and listening to their screams of panic as he whisked them back alive had worn off after the first 15 victims. And these were victims 31 and 32.
Still, test subjects were needed, as there weren’t enough criminals bound for execution in Equestria that could be picked from in Equestrian counties the Citadel was near.

June 28th, 74 BNM
Equestria, Royalist territory
Trottingham, Main Valhoof Estate
Dining room

37-year-old Gaudium, the sandy brown Alicorn stallion, with a black mane and slight blue wings, and shimmering red eyes, felt out of place as usual.
These monthly family get together always reminded Gaudium of how insignificant the accomplishments of his elder siblings made him feel, and of how he was always seemingly the one pushed aside in his family.
Uncomfortably, Gaudium kept quiet as usual. His parents were speaking of politics with his 2 elder brothers, who had come back from the southern military peacetime exercises after many weeks organising with their newly received officer positions.
His elder sister, the 3rd youngest among the 4, added her two bits to the conversation at many points. She served the family name by being an influential socialite in the royal courts, and by her savvy skills in organising trade deals for the Valhoof name and Trottingham as a whole.
Then there was he, Gaudium. The youngest, and least accomplished.
Politics bored him, but he seldom expressed it, out of polite service to his parents. He socialised at events on his parents’ behalf, and despite meeting Princess Celestia herself at her 25th birthday 12 years ago, they had not interacted much. The Civil War had changed many things, and Gaudium had emerged as the black sheep of the family.
His brothers were military nobility, and the eldest in line to inherit the family estate as was duty, but Alicorn longevity meant he may well take his own estate elsewhere anyway. His sister was a successful socialite and negotiator for her family, whereas he was not ‘useful’.
He wanted to be creative, he had simple desires, to enjoy life, to not get in anypony’s way, as it was clear his family seemed to view him as rather ‘unnecessary’. Sure they loved him, but only as much as any reasonable family felt duty bound to.
Small wonder they’d given him a small estate, well-kept but somewhat away from Trottingham but within their territory, so he could do as he wished and influence anything as little as possible. They understood their son was a black sheep, and in a mutual agreement, they pushed him into the shadows as much as a member of the Alicorn nobility could be.
Gaudium preferred it that way, he was content, if lonely. He didn’t have many ‘true’ friends, as they always seemed to flock to his siblings and parents, right past him.
Still, at the dinner table, Gaudium slowly ate his cabbage and potato soup, as he decided to immerse in his own mind. He had ideas for more of these short stories, as he one day hoped to maybe publish folk tales that could be passed down, to entertain and teach.
His subtle magic glowed ever so slightly, as bright as he dared, as he saw the surface of his soup slightly ripple to form some images of a small hilltop with a wolf against a house, knocking on the door to-.”
“Really Gaudium, must you play with your food at your age?”
Snapping from his ‘brainstorming’ with his food, the potato shapes disappearing into their mashed surface, Gaudium blushed slightly as he apologised to his mother, the sandy red Alicorn mare with a black mane reprimanding him slightly for his table manners:
“Sorry mother, my mind was wandering, coming up with ideas.”
“Yes, for your ‘stories’ I wager.” His sister remarked, the vaguest of condescension in her voice, as talk then quickly turned back to talk of gossip of a scandal in the Manehatten nationalist nobility.
They teased him lightly for his rather ‘light’ interests, the fact that he still had an interest in things considered childish, especially given what his siblings, even if only up to 6 years his elder at most, did in their livelihoods.
‘Cultural skills’ were viewed as of lesser importance, as pastimes, not as life commitments.
He loved his family, but he didn’t feel as ‘needed’ by them for being too different from their life choices and styles.
Small wonder he looked forwards to heading back to his small, family given estate, where he could bury himself in his passions while living off funding from the land taxes, like all nobility.
After all, as he realised in his dabbling in music, he didn’t fit with their ‘rhythm’. He was a discordant presence, and it was best to not involve himself with family affairs for their practical benefit, and his own.

June 29th, 74 BNM
Equestria, Royalist territory
Trottingham, Outskirts
Gaudium Valhoof’s estate

The estate was considerably smaller than the main Valhoof estate, more of a large house than a mansion. A well furnish house, but only 4 bedrooms were in its quarters, and underused, given how few visitors Gaudium had, with the housekeeper living in a small cottage near the estate house.
Gaudium lived alone, and while he got lonely at times, he had his passions to distract him.
Sat at his desk, there were tomes of old tales, fiction mostly, drafts of short stories, sketches and drawings of places, creatures, anything that took his fancy, from poems to pottery on one occasion.
His Alicorn magic was used in a variety of artistic ways, ways his family felt were best pushed aside, but left to grow, or ‘fester’ on their own. If Gaudium made a name for himself, so be it. If not, he wouldn’t cause trouble.
He had his idols, the great artists, authors, poets, playwrights, musicians, ‘entertainers’ as some derisively called them, his parents and siblings on one or two occasions, those who made themselves famous in the arts, and did it because they wanted to, not because they had to.

Sat at his study desk, Gaudium reclined back, staring thoughtfully at yet another rough piece of work he’d done. A bare bones story, no heavy hoof delivered moral per say, but a tale meant to amuse before anything else. Just a tale of a young filly in the woods, and a pack of wolves continually trying to steal the buns she was carrying to her grandmother, and their humorous failings in each elaborate scheme they tried, when in the end one who simply asked politely got a bun that the girl could spare, given there was plenty to go around.
He had many stories, fiction, poem or even play or song, where his character could be more forward about their desires than he could with his parents. They tolerated him, pushed him aside. He wished he could let them know that this meant a lot to him, that he liked being a ‘free spirit’ so to speak, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
A common magical time keeping device, which was an hourglass that magically flipped when empty to tell the time past each hour, and had a number of flipping number tiles, like a sporting scoreboard, with numbers 1-24 to denote the hour.
Seeing the time, Gaudium’s eyes lit up slightly. He had very few ‘friends’, but one was an elderly Unicorn who had expressed an interest in his work, purely out of interest.
And he had been an acquaintance for the past 3 years now, a seemingly gruff Black Unicorn stallion who often travelled north to the fortresses guarding the New Gryphon war territory gains, having a high position there.
Blackmane he called himself.

Gaudium Valhoof’s estate
Outer garden lawn

Blackmane often asked they walk around Gaudium’s small, modest but well-kept gardens, the simplicity of its neatness something Blackmane admired.
Walking beside the Black Unicorn, Gaudium had long since grown used to the many scars that adorned his visage, though he didn’t probe about asking whether they were on more than just his face and neck.
The elder looking black Unicorn turned with a kindly smile to Gaudium, only slightly shorter than he was, his ghostly white mane cut short, as his grey travelling cloak’s lowered hood showed.
“And by the sounds of it, your work seems to be improving all the time.”
Gaudium gave a small smile at this, but admitted: “Maybe. Not that I have family approval to go by. Some have said my work is, odd. I am uncertain if they mean that in a complimentary way or not.”
“Trust me my boy, you should not let the presumptions of those who criticise, and never ‘make’ things of their own, tread upon your efforts. The world is unkind to new or unique things, sad but true, especially, if like you, they do not seem to ‘fit in’ with a pre-set role intended for them.”
Gaudium continued to walk alongside Blackmane, who had turned to stop briefly to gaze out at the distant Trottingham church bell tower, rising over the treetops from a mile away. Stopping in turn, Gaudium remarked with some vague hopefulness:
“Well, I get the impression that if I keep trying, I’ll have something good, amazing maybe, enough that I will be remembered.”
Turning to Gaudium, Blackmane nodded in agreement: “Precisely.”
Shaking his head slightly, Gaudium spoke with some humourous disbelief as Blackmane knelt down to idly smell some newly sprouting flowers in the garden bed.
“I always find it surprising that a military stallion would find an interest in the arts. It does not seem important, too undisciplined.”
“Discipline is only good for those who follow orders, who are part of a greater system. But discipline and talents, even that which artists do, such as music, poems, writing, can be taught. A taught artist can replicate what has been done before. But in ‘disciplines’, there are restrictions, rules, and stepping out of line is frowned upon.”
“I know this too well.” Gaudium remarked, to which Blackmane then stood up slowly, pointing a hoof at him with a knowing, small smile on his scarred face:
“But, you and few others have what can’t be taught, that not everypony, be they the most powerful and disciplined Alicorn, to the weakest and subordinate foal, possesses. Genuine creativity.”
“I wouldn’t call my work groundbreaking…” Gaudium remarked. But Blackmane waved this off, as he recalled:
“Strong or weak, creativity is a prized resource greater than gold or even anything of the flesh. What other universal facet of all of creativity is there besides the unwillingness to roll over and bury it? Look at you, shunted out of the way here, and yet you still carry out your works, whatever you wish.”
“Thank you, I think…” Gaudium replied. With a slight chuckle, Blackmane gestured back to the estate, remarking:
“Come now, I’m sure we can have a much grander time sharing stories, if I still have some I’ve yet to tell you that is. I’m sure you have some new ideas for, what is it you have in mind to try your hoof at this month?”
“Stories, short fairy tales with easy morals to learn from. Childish stuff really.”
Blackmane slightly frowned at this, as he remarked as he suddenly stopped Gaudium on the grass they walked upon:
“I want to tell you some quote from a philosopher, long ago and I have forgotten his name, but you should take it to heart. To be an ‘adult’ is to put away childish things, including fear of childishness, and the desire to be grown up.”
Blackmane then pointed a hoof at Gaudium’s head, remarking bluntly:
“And believe me, creativity is prevalent in children more than adults. Consider it a gift that you can be both childish and an adult, to know what makes both good or bad. Pity those who fear being creative. Some of the best plans in politics, business, culture and the military came from those who weren’t afraid of being childish from time to time.”
At this semi rant/speech, Gaudium once again was glad he was friends with this slightly eccentric stallion. He also was glad at the words of some of his works being passed around the fortress he manned and often being warmly received as a break from the boring normality up there.
The sandy brown Alicorn walked on ahead, remarking to Blackmane:
“Take a seat outside, usual way. I just want to get some works you might like.”
Blackmane smiled slightly as he nodded, the smile hiding dual meanings.
Siral knew this adolescent, not very long an adult by Alicorn standards, much the same as the eldest royal princess, was perfect.
He wanted to turn the prophecy on its head, and apparently the seventh was to be one of Pride. If Siral was to be proud of anypony, or have someone who justified their own self pride, it would be one he saw a kindred spirit in.
And like he said, skills could be taught, bodies enhanced as he proved with Teal Quirt and the others all to come, and ideals could be imparted, by teaching or by brainwashing if worst came to worst.
But in Gaudium, that discordant, somewhat disenfranchised soul among his noble family, cast aside, he saw something few had. That creative spark, which most children had but lost as they became adults by society’s demands, lest they be ostracised for it.
Siral prided his creativity in his magic, and even though he was subdued beneath a veneer of sombre scheming, his schemes were products of his creativity, as would Gaudium when, if all went as planned, he enhanced him as the seventh of his created elite servants.
And what better creation than a new Equestria and world, a better, calmer world upon which lessons from the current world could be avoided?
This is what Gaudium had that drew him into Siral’s gaze, as power and skills could be made. Long lasting creativity could not be created or taught, it was born, as was the desire to keep it alive even into adulthood, and keeping the mind open.
Despite every misgiving Siral had about Alicorns as a collective, he was not going to sacrifice creativity, no matter the race of the being who displayed it.

Author's Note

Unbridled creativity, which sometimes manifests as childish behaviour, or interest in childish things.
And the quote about adult things and not being afraid of being childish comes from a quote by author C.S. Lewis. For reference, just type into google or a search engine the keywords: C.S. Lewis, critics, adult, approval, childish. You’ll find the quote in question in its unedited entirety. It is a good quote to live by.

Insecurities

Mid-Morning
October 28th, 74 BNM
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.

The progress on them all had come along greatly, as now 4 of Siral’s key beings he’d chosen had been enhanced by his magic vats he made them bathe in for days to transform to their perfected forms.
Now, 4 and a half months since Teal Quirt had emerged, transformed into her new form but able to shapeshift to her old Unicorn shape, they stood on the precipice of the 5th of them to be transformed.
Golmov had volunteered to go second, and now the dragon, like Teal Quirt, had a ‘true’ form, but also shapeshifting magic to boot. It made him shrinking his size of whatever shape he took much easier. The creature parts added had been a giant Spider, harvested from one living in a remote cavern dwelling spider Siral slayed for the task, a number of Unicorn horn extracts to balance the mixture, and lastly a number of Gryphon body parts, to enhance him with their endurance and possessive spirits.
The carving on the cauldron Golmov had emerged from had formed, by Siral’s magic, a carving of a long serpentine dragon, but with his 2 normal arms elongated and sharpened at the joints. But most intimidating on the carving was that it sported a set of 8 furry, spider-like legs that spread out far from his body, 4 of them acting as wings, and the carapace like armor on the carving’s body made it resemble a cross between a tarantula, a long necked dragon and a set of four Gryphon feathered wings the size of his old dragon wings.
Third had been Odi-Viscer, who had, unlike the others, actually emerged from the potion vat completely unchanged, to even Siral’s surprise. The carving had shown a changed visage, and nothing had gone wrong, yet Odi-Viscer emerged just the same Grey, bald skinned earth pony, with the only change being that his ‘cutie’ mark had vanished from view, and that his skin felt slightly harder.
The carving showed something different, vaguely shaped, but it stood upright on four limbs, jagged with some protruding spiked along the back, but resembling an ape almost in its slanted stature. The mixture had been experimental, combining parts of a juvenile Stone Giant that Siral had harvested parts from, along with a few loads of Ursa Major claw powder. But the ingredient that tied it all together is what Siral theorised why Odi-Viscer had yet to transform, as he had been loaded with condensed magical essence from a number of demon spirits Siral had harvested, and had also placed inside the labyrinth as one of many pitfalls.
For now, the Earth Pony youth remained unchanged, save for tougher skin for some reason, and a somewhat dulled sense of physical pain, meaning that he could at least endure hardship better. The only obvious change was his eyes, which now shone slightly with a blood red hue in their irises.
Those two responded well enough to their changes, though Odi-Viscer was rather annoyed at no enhancement compared to Golmov or Teal Quirt, he wanted the power. The boy frequently went to Siral for check overs, to see if something was interfering with what should be working.
But with the fourth, the procedure went well, as Iena had been transformed 2 weeks ago. Unlike the others though, she didn’t respond well to the changes.
While she had the ability to transform like the others, she had prided herself on her body, her beauty, and now when she took her ‘normal’ appearance, it was a lie.
The combination of a slain basilisk’s blood, a Siren’s tongue, a changeling’s horn as well as a Unicorn’s, and taking demon essence for another attempt after Odi-Viscer, had yielded results this time. The demon ingredients worked this time.
But the moment she emerged, Iena was horrified, distraught, and raged at Siral. Not even her eyes remained the same, now reptilian and an unnaturally sapphire-like blue.
Like her carving, which showed a snakelike body, pock marked with changeling black holed segments, which flowed up into a now scaly version of an elongated Unicorn skull, flanked with a Siren’s aquatic ear flaps, and a third eye atop her forehead, where the Unicorn and Changeling horn flowed back like two rear facing spikes from her skull.
For two weeks, Iena had barely socialised, and hadn’t even exercised her transforming magic very much, rending a divide between her and anyone else at the Citadel she ever socialised with.
But her transformation had been a success, and now came the day Satio would take his turn, the fat minotaur feeling apprehensive.
But Satio had demands, and insisted Siral listen close.

Underground forging chambers
Brewing vat hall

Stood inside a small alcove, as they had nothing better to do, 3 of them listened in as the only 2 occupants in the hall below, at ground level with the massive vat, echoed up.
Leaning around the corner to hear better, Golmov turned to them, shrunken in his black and gold dragon form with his newfound magic as he spread this intrigue to the other 2, though one of them was rather disapproving of eavesdropping. His not too altered, but now brighter yellow eyes glowed with curiosity.
“Strange, Satio’s usually more reserved. Didn’t know he had a backbone beneath his blubber.”
At Golmov’s remark, Odi-Viscer peered around the corner too, blood red eyes alight with vague interest, aimed down towards the floor far below the stone walkway. Further back though, as she maintained her ‘true’ form out of pride for it, Teal Quirt shook her head. Her ape like face with the 4 horned ‘headdress’ did little to hide her hissing whisper, as she once again remarked to them both, emerald green eyes squinting in disapproval, though also alight with curiosity she wished to not say aloud:
“We shouldn’t be spying on the master like this.”
“Have a sense of humor Teal. I’m sure little Odi here wants to see what he’ll get that he didn’t.” Golmov jabbed. A sharp hoof into his gut nearly made Golmov choke aloud, but he kept quiet.
Catching his breath, Gomov whispered back to Teal while Odi continued to eavesdrop quietly:
“Besides, I worked my tail off before I was changed to get all those body parts Siral’s using. You cannot blame my curiosity.”
“Don’t let Ave-Dol hear that, we don’t need her realising the nature of some of our resource acquirements while she is not as committed as we are.”
“She will come around.” Golmov remarked, as Odi growled to them:
“Quiet, they’re talking louder now.”

“You expect me to jeopardize my work towards what will be imbued into you best for a trivial request like that?”
Satio stood his ground before his scarred Unicorn ‘master’, or boss as he thought. Compared to the others, he was more of a mild everyman, not special in many ways. But he had to do this, for the sake of a friend, even if she sometimes teased him a little too often.
“You have powerhouses already. Can’t you offer a bit of leniency with me as long as what you wish me to do is still possible in what form I take?”
“You wish to change what your true form only looks like, but that entails changing your makeup, which could risk how well you do your role.” Siral sternly remarked, not having this insubordination. But Satio was adamant, as he asked:
“I may not know potions, but I know cookery, similar principles.”
Siral scoffed at the analogy, but he had somewhat of a point. Satio gestured to the vat beside him, asking:
“She was distraught because of how she looked, she prided herself on her beauty. I just want to show her she can still do so, by, by changing myself so she’s more beautiful than I am, as she was before.”
“Beauty is skin deep, nothing more.” Siral remarked, to which Satio remarked with a regret later:
“You wouldn’t know that looking at you-.”
Whipping around, Siral’s horn glowed a shining grey at Satio, with flecks of black swirling around it as he spoke quietly:
“Do you dare finish that sentence?”
Satio gulped, as he saw Siral relax his magic, still giving him an expectant look, but now Satio had to be more careful.
“Just, I’ve seen your parts you laid out to pick from while I’m in there. Will any of them interfere with my assigned role?”
“At minimum, you will fulfil your role. But I carefully select from them to maximise your potential.”
“But I’ll already be powerful, and like I said, you already have powerhouses. And if I do this, you lose my full potential, but I will still be loyal and strong enough, and you’ll have morale in Iena back, who does have her full potential.”
Siral weighed this offer, as he had been thinking indeed that if Iena didn’t snap from her depression, she would become a wasted servant, a liability. Satio could see clearly in this regard, but Siral knew full well that this clear thinking was secondary to more trivial reasons.
Siral gave Satio an odd tone as he turned away, as the black Wizard offered this very quiet, somewhat surrendering tone: “Fine. Do what you will, what parts you could use are waiting up there. On this occasion only, I shall let one of you dictate your additions to what will enhance you.”
“Really? I, don’t know what to say.” Satio was stunned, but became quiet as Siral turned to him suddenly, a cold tone in the black Unicorn’s voice:
“Heed this then. I do this because it will ensure the greatest unity in wake of Iena’s forlorn wake. But do not presume I will be as lenient in future if it is anything less than beneficial to the greater plans I have envisioned with all of us involved. Cross me, and keep in mind that I know the processes that made you, and how to unmake in turn.”
Satio breathed calmly as Siral’s grey eyes bore into his own, the scarred Black Unicorn’s ghostly white mane what he looked at to avoid Siral’s gaze. Satio replied with some hesitant thanks:
“Okay. I’ll be in with what I select by this evening. Just, I wanted to help my friend is all. You understand right?”
Siral paused as he began to walk off, as he recalled very long ago how he too wanted to simply help a friend, as well as feed his simple curiosity, when he was much more open minded, simply learning for its own sake, and not scarred by the world, life or Alicorn powers.
“Acutely, Satio. Very acutely.”
Before Satio, Siral then vanished in a small swirl of grey and black hued magic.
Calming himself, Satio gazed towards the stairwell leading up, to the walkway level next to the vat of readied potion brew he had been charged with adding to. His own enhancements.

Gazing at the pile of ‘ingredients’, though body parts was a more accurate term, Satio realized his cooking analogy hadn’t been quite right.
Let alone the fact that he was the last part to be added, that what he put in would be on his head, so to speak.
Gazing over what looked like half the animal kingdom’s worth of body parts, along with a few jars of strange liquids, and even vapours even. One of the jars of smoke seemed to give off an air of sinister vibes, as if not wanting to be in there.
Gazing back at the vat of base potion, which looked just like slightly grimy water right now, the Minotaur brushed his chin in thought with a forehoof before he began to walk towards the first pile of animal parts, small limbs from rat sized animals it seemed.
He needed to make Iena see she would always be beautiful to him, inside and out, even if he had to make himself ugly to prove he believed she should be no matter what she looked like.

Later that Evening

Unlike earlier today, there were no eavesdroppers to see Satio go under.
The murky grey liquid sometimes glowed an odd orange colour from time to time, as Satio held his breath while he submitted to Siral’s magic lowering him down into the centre. The liquid alost felt like air, humid air, yet it supported and enveloped him as if many velvet drapes were wrapping around him.
“On your head, be what you become.” Siral remarked, as Satio vanished into the grey liquid, a last widened expression of trepidation on the portly Minotaur’s face as he vanished.
Staring over at where the body parts had been, Siral still couldn’t help but shake his head, be it through disappointment, or exasperation. He’d said any of the body part combinations from that pile would do.
Satio had used everything but the jar of condensed demons it seemed, even the beetle extract paste had gone in.
Siral shook his head, as he hovered down from the walkway towards the carving tablet, to see as he tapped into the potion beginning its work what was to emerge. By now, Satio was unconscious, adrift as the potion began its two to three day setting period.
“More ingredients does not mean more power.” Siral mumbled, as he began to sense with his magic into the mixture, his horn also beginning to carve a small image onto the tablet, to see what was to come out.
He sensed such a wide variety of things in the mixture with the Minotaur that it all clouded together, and at a point Siral nearly gave up on carving this label for the sake of trying to figure out what it would be. Even so, amidst the mixture parts somewhat cancelling each other out, there was the overwhelming sense that whatever emerged, he would have an insatiable appetite, and power to feed it.
And yet two creatures stood out, ones Siral had not had many samples of. An Ursa Major, and oddly, a Parasprite, both creatures of immense hunger, and yet wildly different. If it had been only those 2, he’d have more of an idea of what to expect.
As Siral regained his full consciousness however, he stared with utter bewilderment at the carving his magic had done on the tablet before the vat.
A very vague, almost round shaped being with stubby limbs and a pair of long horns stretching down from its head like a set of dual ponytails, but changing halfway across to what looked like a swarm of spots too small to make out immediately. If he had to guess, a swarm of something perhaps.
But Siral cared not for aesthetic looks, as Satio would fulfil his role and have his powers. Besides, if it got Iena back to full performance, he could do well with it being the more ‘gentle natured’ of his servants being the one who suffers never reaching his full potential power.
It would be the first, and last time, he let anyone mess with his experiments and work. There were other magicians across Equestria who had experiments of their own, whatever they were, though likely weapons, not living beings. Siral intended on outperforming them by as far a margin as possible.
If he had to give leniency to promote unity amidst his eventual seven, he would do it as long as it didn’t jeopardise their overall power.
Again, to contrast the Alicorns and Equestria Siral had a vision to undo and remake each, unity was paramount to success.

4 days later
Mid Morning
November 1st, 74 BNM
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Underground chambers.
‘Vat’ hall.

Something wasn’t right, Satio should have been out a day ago. For this reason, Siral had asked, out of necessity, for Lady Ave-Dol and Teal Quirt to join him. Nearby though, Golmov and Odi-Viscer had come along as well, hearing that Satio was taking longer than normal.
Not surprising though, given how many different things he’d put in with himself.
Looking at the vat, lady Ave-Dol understood the relieving news at least:
“At least he is still alive in there. How might we awaken him though?”
“He should have woken up by now.” Teal remarked, as she had changed from her scorpion/ape centaur like body to her old grey and blue/grey maned Unicorn form, to not take up as much room on the walkway.
Staring down, Siral ordered them: “He will awaken if more presences are felt on the surface. A short magic burst, or touch the potion, it is safe unless you drink it.”
Hearing this, Golmov remarked aloud as Odi-Viscer decided to get this over with, the bald earth pony striding over to bend off the walkway, a hoof extended to quickly splash the murky grey potion with mild disgust:
“No chance of that, not if he’s been in it for days now.”
Striding over, the dragon was still in his old form, shrunken and yellow eyed. Golmov restrained his ‘true form’ for shock value when the time came to make more moves, though he only told this to Siral, and Odi obviously had some sort of block by his makeup for now. The dragon trapsed past the Earth pony to focus some of his newfound magic into a small yellow burst onto the surface, like a coin splashing into it.
Gesturing to Teal Quirt, lady Ave-Dol watched as the blue/grey Unicorn fired another small burst into the potion, leaving only her. But as she walked up, she knew why Satio had altered his mixture, as she mentally thought aloud into her own small shot:
Come out, be with the friend you wished to help feel like herself again.
Her pale blue magic fired into the mixture, and yet still nothing.
With an aggravated growl, Teal Quirt turned to Siral, while the others merely watched the grey pool in disappointment.
“So, what went wrong this time, that’s 2 if you count Odi not coming out yet.”
The red eyed earth pony growled loudly, his muscles tensing at the mild jape, before he felt a clawed hand tap him on the back quickly, Golmov pointing to the grey pool suddenly,
Lady Ave-Dol saw this, and also noticed something off. As Siral thought to himself, Teal turned to see their distractions, while Siral then murmured aloud:
“He’s awake.”
Turning to the mixture, as they waited with bated breath, their anticipation built. Aside from Iena, who was still isolating herself in her quarters out of shame for her visage, this would be the first time they witnessed one of their own ‘rebirths’, and on the 5th of 7 to come at that.
The grey liquid was actually lowering in volume in the vat, as if draining. But the strange part was these vats had no holes unless Siral vanished the potion himself.
Further and further it drained, until now the 30-foot-deep vat was half empty. Looking now in confusion, the others saw Siral too was somewhat puzzled by this.
But as the orange hued form emerged with the quickly draining grey potion, what was happening became apparent.
Satio, in his new form, was drinking the entire 30 by 30 foot vat of potion he’d been transformed in.
A bloated orange form, like that of a leathery, shining orange ball of skin, was writhing in the lower part of the vat as the last of the potion was sucked up into it. Writhing slightly, the orange form shifted in shape, as it began to slowly shrink to reveal a pair of stubby arms, more like a set of many long tentacles of a cuttlefish almost, forming from the seemingly alive hulk of orange skinned, writhing, even pulsating coloured flesh.
A set of long ‘dreadlocks’ of the squishy looking flesh, like that of a jam spread or a mollusc’s pudgy skin, extended as a head formed, wrinkled, hairless, a translucent orange colour as the grey potion dissolved into the form that took shape.
Pudgy legs formed, as a recognizable shape of a somehow even fatter minotaur formed, though it now was formed of translucent orange, membrane like skin, with tendrils extending like a snail’s eyestalks from many parts of his body, the 2 most obvious ones the sort of head tails coming from his skull.
Settling into his now even pudgier, tendril laced, hairless orange and mollusc skinned minotaur shaped body, Satio looked around, before he noticed he was at the bottom of the vat, 30 feet down, with the other 4 and Siral looking down at him with mixed levels of bewilderment, and in some cases disgust.
“Ah. Little help, I have no magic experience whatsoever.”
Satio’s words carried from the bottom of the vat, while Teal couldn’t help but wince slightly in disgust as she called down:
“You were in that vat for 4 days.”
“And you drank the whole damn lot just now, pretty much your own filth!” Golmov shouted down, not sure whether to be amused or disgusted. Odi-Viscer stared down, but any jealousy he had was short lived, as Satio had indeed come out very, bizarre.
Trying to be the helpful one, Lady Ave-Dol began to work her magic on Satio, but she found herself unable to move him up to the walkway. Striding over, Siral lightly commanded the Alicorn knowingly:
“Do not bother. What he gained means he absorbs more than just what he bathes in. That is what gives him powers like he showed. He can absorb things, make himself stronger, or others weaker. Anything, once he learns to control it.”
Satio had felt the magic, as he called up meekly from the bottom of the vat: “So, you can’t lift me out of here?”
Lady Ave-Dol turned to Golmov, the only one physically capable of lifting Satio out. But the dragon raised a hand in denial, as he said:
“Oh no, he has magic, he can learn on the spot while he’s down there. Besides, I wash my hands of this weirdness for today.”
“Seconded.” Odi-Viscer suddenly quipped, as the Grey earth pony turned to follow the dragon out. Down in the vat’s bottom, Satio meekly moved a hand, but said nothing as he saw the two leaving him down there.
Lady Ave-Dol turned to Teal Quirt and Siral, asking either of them: “Surely you’ll stay?”
Giving Siral a coy, knowing look, to which he remained impassive and commanding, Teal saw her master’s eyes flicker, a coded signal for her to make sure he and Satio were alone.
Teal gestured for Ave-Dol to follow, as she remarked: “Master Siral will be enough for him to learn from.”
“Hey, come on you can’t leave me down here! I was hungry, I didn’t mean to disgust you all!”
“Not disgust. You hurled yourself into the deep, literally. Learn fast!” Teal retorted loudly, as Lady Ave-Dol gave a helpful smile down to Satio, remarking aloud: “Don’t keep us all waiting, Iena too.”
At this, Satio went quiet, as he knew she had been the only one among their close knit group not to come, she was still rather introverted right now.
Standing above the vat, Siral came to hover down to come beside Satio’s orange, almost gelatinous form. The Black Unicorn examined him, as he gave a small sigh:
“Try and focus your mind, your magic should be an extension of yourself.”
Satio submitted to this quick learning, wishing he hadn’t drunk what he’d been in. He could float otherwise.
As Siral began to try and get Satio to tap into his newfound magic with his strange body, he saw this as an overall success. He had wanted a being who could feast off Alicorn magic, and use it back at them. But now, he had a being who could feast off virtually anything he wished, and by the looks of it, was the most shapeshifting happy among them by his form alone.

November 1st, 74 BNM
Late Evening
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Upper living quarters

15 hours, and Satio had learned enough to shapeshift to climb from the vat, and do basic magic. He was proving a fast learner, but like the others had been when they first transformed had much to experiment with. Still, by the time Siral intended to use them full force, they would have had plenty to time to get used to their bodies.
But now, as he stood in a disguise of his old body, Satio gently raised his foreleg fist to the wooden door, hesitating briefly before he rapped on the door.
“Go away.” A feminine voice came from the other side. This wasn’t the first time Iena had turned away someone at her door trying to get in. She had magic to make food for herself, all the more reason she hadn’t emerged. But Satio knew she’d been told he hadn’t come out yet, and thought she might at last let him in.
“It is me.”
A silence came from the door, before Iena replied unseen through it:
“You’ve awakened.”
“Can I come in? I want to show you something.”
“I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”
Trying to make sure he kept the situation calm, Satio firmly remarked through the door:
“I could say the same about how I look as normal now. I just wanted you to feel you could be proud of your beauty, even if only compared to me.”
Iena was quiet through the door, as Satio finished: “I convinced Siral to let me choose what I looked like, as best I could manage. I know we all can change at will, but I wanted you to see, you’re not ugly to everyone, or compared to everyone. I made sure of that.”
A bit of dark blue magic suddenly engulfed the door handle, as the wooden door swung open to reveal a purposefully darkened room, clearly done on purpose by Iena as she lay in her room in solitude. She was hidden from view, as Satio slowly entered in his normal form.
“Show me.”
The door shut behind him, as the room went darker all of a sudden. Relaxing his form, keeping what control he’d learned in check, he felt his body alter to ‘normal’ now.
As his mass bloated outwards, glowing slightly orange as his now blob-like body with stubby tendrils ready to extend to grab, Satio heard a slithering among the darkness, as a pair of dark sapphire eyes ventured up to him in her room, staring at him, a slightly smaller third blue eye above them on her forehead.
Her siren ear flaps flickered, as her twin changeling and Unicorn horn lay facing down the back of her neck while her slithering basilisk snake body, with changing carapace parts along it, blended in with the darkened room.
Iena stared at Satio’s new form with an unreadable expression, before she softly spoke:
“Why did you do this to yourself?”
“To make you feel better. Your beauty wasn’t just skin deep, to me at least.”
“This is what we look like, truly, now. It’s not...”
“What matters, is if you are the same on the inside. Even as beautiful as you were, are, it pales compared to what you are like below the skin.” Satio mumbled shyly, as his orange, gelatinous body sagged slightly at his utterance to her. Iena blinked a few times, as her basilisk snake body coiled up slightly at his remark.
Outstretching her forearm, her ‘hoof’ now able to split into claws by a lesser part of her creature makeup, Iena gently stretched up to touch Satio’s cheek flesh, noting how odd, soft and smooth his entire orange body now seemed. Almost like a less slimy slug, though able to absorb anything he wished as consumption for energy at will.
With a small, thankful smile, Iena gently wrapped her arms around Satio’s large girth, mumbling or him to hear:
“You didn’t have to do this, and yet you did.”
As he heard her thankful remark, Satio moved to hug her, but noticed he felt a strange sensation on his stomach, as he then tensed his body reflexsively. Iena recoiled, as Satio’s shock at her thankfulness had begun absorbing her subconsciously, but rejecting her as Satio regained his composure.
“Sorry, I’m new to this, not sure it can be called a body.”
“You wear it well.” Iena remarked, as Satio gave a small ghost of a smile. He had her back, as they would at least be sympathetic to any insecurities about their true body together now.
Still, she hadn’t met anyone as kind or open as Satio had been, now or before when he hadn’t been changed. If only she’d known somepony like him earlier in life. The saying was right then, beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
And despite what they, the other 3 and later 2 to come, Lady Ave-Dol among them, could do with magic to alter their appearances, their true forms were their real shapes to wear as their own.

Author's Note

Breezing past the enhancements of the others among 5 of Siral’s beings, except or the 5th, as an alteration is made which showcases how they are not all just servants of a cunning, scheming wizard, but people with lives and feelings.
One last companion building chapter for the ‘sin beings’, as the 2 afterwards, Lady Ave-Dol included, are altered under less desirable circumstances.

Hearth's Warming Wrath

Midday
December 25th, 73 BNM
Equestria, Canterlot
Royal Palace

Over a year and a half since the encounter with that 'assasin' outside the Savant's guild, and despite his best efforts, Starswirl had made little headway. What tales of Siral's return there were had led to dead ends. Rumours, myths spread by fanatics it seemed, who when he did manage to track down one, admitted with a great amount of nervousness that they'd been paid to mislead him, to in their precise words, 'mislead a key ally of the Royal family'.
And yet, Starswirl sensed this was a half-truth. True, relations between the Royalists, Nationalists and Separatists were still somewhat tense, despite having simmered down, and any opportunity to undermine the other without causing trouble or battle wasn't ignored entirely. Yet, this seemed rather elaborate for simple deception to distract him from possibly advising the royal family, and too coincidental with his subtle flash in his mind of the being of Envy having emerged.
Worse yet, last year, in the past few months there had been 4 more, the beings of Greed, Wrath, Lust and Gluttony had also emerged somewhere, in quick succession. The only relief he had was that the beings of Sloth and Pride, whatever and wherever they were, had been slow and not yet come to light. Something was afoot, as feelings like this that the prophecy by the Oracles so long ago gave him hadn't been wrong. Vague, but never wrong.
The only upshot of the past year and a half had been that the 3 sides had begrudgingly traded and got along, though again, tensions were still there, from before and after the initial 7 year fighting period that had ended only 6 years ago.
Yet another year of stress and anxiety to Starswirl's mind. 5 beings of 7 had been born, he thought, and yet, nothing had come of it. Usually these things transpired soon after he received any premonition of the prophecy burned into his mind and magic, but this was unusual.
Yet he'd never been deceived before, and he knew they were out there.
And so as he found himself a special guest to the Royal Family's hearth warming day, in spite of them receiving few visitors on the actual day, he couldn't relax. Every day was a subtle stress of worry on his mind.
The official Hearth's Warming ball had gone smoothly enough, the tensions between the 3 sides evident but diminished as already noted. Today was supposed to be a day of calm, celebrating peace and unity, the irony of the date having grown less each year since the fighting stopped 6 years ago.
Starswirl was in constant turmoil, and while subtle it may have been, it didn't go unnoticed.

Midday
Royal lounge areas

The roaring fireplace that warmed the entire lounge hall crackled in the background, as Starswirl sat in the corner of the room, nose deep in scrolls, not enjoying the pleasant atmosphere himself. His blue cloak, the same one that Celestia and Luna had adorned with star and moon décor as a present of thanks to a teacher, lay nearby on a chair as he busied himself. He liked making himself busy, it kept him busy, he put his tension to good use, inventing spells and potions, though he recalled Siral had always been more skilled at potions, while not as good as he at spellwork.
When he found leads, he continued searching for Siral, for the 5 who he knew were out there. Chack's arm had long since regrown, and he had returned to the Nationalist territory, to his metalshop and forge business, always willing to help Starswirl now, after he saw something was afoot that had cost him an arm.

As King Nova had faintly fallen asleep on a pile of cushions near the fire, as he often did after a glass of mulled wine beside a fireplace this time of year, it was Queen Aurora, with Princesses Celestia and Luna in tow, that tried to get the wizard to come away from the reading. But to little avail.
"Must you focus on your endeavours even at this time?"
"Yes." Starswirl remarked, while Queen Aurora reminded Starswirl:
"We consider you a family friend, known as long as my daughters have lived, and known for legacy on top of that. Not taking part is not only rude, but saddening to see."
Starswirl turned from his scroll, to see Queen Aurora looking strongly at him, though she always gave the old wizard a degree of leniency. Princess Celestia and Luna's eyes were alight with pleading though, for Starswirl to at least lighten up.
As the sunlight was streaming from a window nearby, Starswirl submitted, as he said with a vague sense of mixed melancholy and apology:
"I've lived long, seen much, I cannot truly appreciate friendships as much, especially not with the duties I am burdened with."
"We manage, us and mother and father." Luna quipped, at which Aurora smiled gently at her younger daughter, while Celestia asked gently to the Wizard, knowing he struggled to socialise, and always had for some reason:
"Surely you had some friends once, even if gone now? What better time to say of them than today?"
Starswirl was quiet, as he thought bitterly of the one friend he thought would have reunited with him, and yet had not. Siral may well never reappear.
But he hadn't been the only one he'd known.
Trying to remember with precision, Starswirl recalled with some mild fondness:
"Maybe, I could tell you of some I haven't spoken of. My old friend, Siral, is known, but not ones we met. You know of the only one I met without Siral, as we parted ways before that."
With some magic, the princesses pulled some pillows over for their mother to sit on, before they got some for themselves. Knowing he had the bag of shrunken trinkets he kept at all times, Starswirl remarked:
"I did receive tokens of friendshop from them, 5 of them, the 6th I encountered, you have already met my Queen. Chack, even if we don't agree on ideals all the time."
"I thought you seemed oddly keen of that Salamander, despite your differences." Queen Aurora remarked, while Starswirl pulled out and resized the 5 trinkets the 5 he'd travelled through time and met had given him. And so he told the tale of Mashri, Hi'nai, Frello, Nahia and Irvin, and the events, sans mention of the prophecy connecting them all, but not omitting the Alicorn Geldrath and his torture of Siral, to them. Mashri's gladius sword, Hi'nai's family necklace, Frello's neck scarf, Nahia's preserved fur tuft, and Irvin's compass, and the stories behind each one, from the glory of the Romane Empire, the Pandina mountains and forests, to Pahrii's festival and churches, the Malabutu valley jungle's beauty and horrors, and the desolate wastes and hidden treasures and threats of the north Muttlantic and Glaceland areas, and he even regaled what tales unfolded in Salaman with Chack, and the history of his warrior class, and how honour meant all to them.
It felt good, talking about friends he had not lost to misunderstanding or mystery.

Late Afternoon
Equestria, North Midland valley lake
Military Fortress, the Stone Citadel.
Sat alone in his study, as a Grey wizard mused on his old friend and others he met, Siral also couldn't help but remember better, simpler times, especially on that travel with Starswirl.
Siral kept only one item to remember Starswirl, and it wasn't even something the wizard had to begin with. On their meeting of the magic exemplar, against a power hungry sorcerer dragon, Ghung Chian, a magic sapping medallion he used was acquired, which Starswirl let Siral take for study. It was a reminder of what they dealt with together.
Siral had learned from the medallion, and could perform magic beyond it, though he still used it from time to time for ease's sake, but also because it made him remember times when he was less exposed to the harshness of the world, of Equestria's Alicorn problem, when the world was full of mystery to explore and learn from for learning's sake.
A small token, all he kept, nothing more, as he knew the future beckoned, especially tonight, when there was no going back.

The fortress was a hub of festivities, to which their master had fully allowed it. Both secretly, and in public, Siral/Blackmane urged celebration of this bright moment in Equestria's history, of better times long ago.
In the barracks, the number of guards was halved, many returning to their families from nearby villages in the mountains, the ones that remained celebrating with feasting, drinking, dancing and music. What was first warding off fearful Windigo spirits from the frozen tundras to which not even the Crystal Ponies or New Gryphons ventured evolved into more traditions if anything.
For those more exclusive 6 under Siral, who often disguised, they celebrated in their own way together. Even the enhanced dragon, Golmov, whose now over year of using magic could now venture about as a guard to not attract attention if he ventured out of the Citadel.
Golmov took some convincing to understand the concept of gift giving, being the traditional dragon he was. But a compromise was reached, as he and the other 4 had magic to make at least small objects from anything, with effort and thought.
It was Lady Ave-Dol who proposed a more meaningful manner of 'gift giving', which didn't infringe on Golmov's desires to hoard treasures already in existence. They would make gifts for each other, thought out gifts to reflect their unity.
It came easier to some, while Siral stood by. He had plans for one particular present to a certain grey Earth Pony, that might finally yield results, and unleash his true form, later tonight. And with it, usher in the first step towards his grand plan.
For now, peaceful exchanges prevailed.

Living Quarters

The fact that Odi-Viscer gifted them all miniature wood carved sculptures was not a surprise, but he had become much better now, to the point where the paints he'd borrowed resembled their likeness. Each of them now had a wood carving of their old form, and for those 4 who were enhanced, 1 of their new enhanced form at its basic.
Golmov, being the greedy dragon, now serpent dragon/spider with feathery wings he was, had trouble finding gifts he'd be willing to part with. But his gift was one to be shared, and one made all the better with Satio's gift. The dragon had used his magic and fire to melt pure gold, which with his magic he could find much more easily than before, and with what little he could tolerate giving up formed a set of food plates with intricate dragon scale patterns on the edges, and enchanted so they'd never stain.
Satio, still the chef he was, had decided he would prepare a wide array of Hearth's warming cakes for them, even finding some ruby fragments for Golmov's cakes to be filled with. The former fat minotaur, now bloblike creature's cakes had been served on the spiderlike dragon's golden plateware.
Iena had opted for a bit of ambiance, as she had used what of her magic she could use delicately to collect many fine silken fabrics and turn them into curtains and banners around the living hall near the fireplace, magic acting on them to gently change colour across the rainbow spectrum. The Siren/Basilisk and Changeling scaled and 2 armed 'naga' as she was called by herself, had brightened up the room.
Teal Quirt on the other hand, added to the ambience by exercising her most intricate knowledge among the 5 enhanced. Taking an entire collection of instruments, her magic now had them playing quiet music from a corner of the room, memorised to play by her newfound powers going by musical sheets, and even eavesdropping on heath performances across villages in Equestria she'd spied on.
Lady Ave-Dol had opted for something simple, as the pale blue and blond maned Alicorn had opted to go for a classic, which she worked on for a week before today. Hearth's Warming scarves.
Despite some liking them more than others, they all wore them around their necks, long or short, fat or slender, each coloured to match their new eye shades as Ave-Dol saw them. Odi's was red, Golmov's yello, Teal's was Green, Iena's deep blue, Satio's orange, and her own was light blue to match her coat.
Wandering through the living room area, Ave-Dol gave a small smile as she looked around at these united, hard lived beforehand souls.
On a small couch, as they had no reason to hide their forms here, save change their size perhaps, Iena lay coiled upon the couch as her longer upper body wrapped behind Satio's orange, blubbery and gelatinous form, while she lay gently staring at the fireplace, her siren ear flaps sagging in relaxation as Satio gently munched on the cakes he'd allocated for himself, some through his mouth, the rest he simply put onto his belly to absorb directly into himself at will, smiling slightly through his small head as the naga like being, smaller than himself, lay draped across his reclined shoulders, her clawed arm around his neck affectionately.
Passing by the others, Ave-Dol saw Teal Quirt reading a scroll to herself in a small armchair she'd magically materialised into existence, her scorpion legs idly twitching as her eyes scanned the wording, her draconic hands reclined as it was her quad horn magic that held the scroll for her to read.
Meanwhile, Golmov sat with Odi-Viscer, the enhanced dragon's long body coiled up, 4 gryphon wings retracted as he was looming over the normal looking Earth Pony at a table, snorting with some laughter as Odi raised the knife yet again, and drove it down onto his forearm, getting stuck only a hair's length into his bald skin.
His enhancements had at least ensured his skin was as strong as stone, but not much more yet, and by now Ave-Dol had long got over the initial horror of seeing him testing that 'party' trick on himself when he first tried it a year ago.
Carrying the black scarf, as she saw all the others, herself included, wearing the ones she'd made, she walked up.
Siral had insisted he didn't want, nor need, any gifts, that he'd outgrown the festivities despite endorsing them in his own fortress.
But she wouldn't let him be entirely left out.

Walking through a corridor, Ave-Dol turned to walk up a stairwell, the Alicorn's hooves clicking on the stone as she gently hummed a hearth's tune to herself. But a scarred, Black Unicorn suddenly walked down the steps, his hoofsteps eerily quiet as usual. Stopping, Siral looked quizzically at her as he noted:
"I thought you would be with the others, enjoying the day's celebrations."
Quietly, Ave-Dol extended the black scarf to Siral, as she remarked softly: "I was going to give you this, a gift to you, for your role in helping them get along."
Siral was quiet, as he enveloped the black scarf in his grey and slightly black hued magic, staring at it blankly as he remarked:
"What for?"
"It is what is done between friends on this day."
Siral was quiet, as he remarked with a slight coldness to it: "I do not feel that close to anypony, and have not for a long time, nor felt the need to. But I understand and appreciate the sentiment, my lady."
Ave-Dol was saddened slightly, as she remarked quietly to the Black Wizard: "Must you be so withdrawn? The others have grown from their shells, you can too."
Siral raised an eyebrow, as he pointed out: "As a matter of fact, I intended to give one of them a gift, one I have been figuring out how to give to him for a while. It is time Odi-Viscer no longer feels inferior to the others."
Ave-Dol's eyes widened at this, as she knew enough of the big picture from what little she'd been told to deduce: "You know how to grant him powers like the other 4, ones he has been delayed in?"
"After tonight, a small excursion to a safer location with him and I alone, he will have more than just stone hard skin to his body."
"But tonight of all times?" Ave-Dol asked, to which Siral said with a mysterious, even smiling air about him as he passed:
"Hearth's Warming is a time of miracles after all, and greatness with it."
As he passed by, Ave-Dol noticed with a very slight smile that Siral had at least put the black scarf around his neck, beneath his grey robes. Following him, the Alicorn saw Sirla having already bent over to speak quietly to Odi-Viscer, the Grey Earth pony's red eyes lighting with interest as he spoke.
They would leave in half an hour, and return before midnight, one of them changed, but both satisfied.

Late Night
Equestria
Separatist provinces
Remote farming village

Stood on a hill a mile from the village, as the lights from celebrations lit up the houses amidst the surrounding forest, Odi-Viscer thought something seemed, familiar about this place.
Beside him, having transported them both here, Siral pointed to the distant village with a hoof: "A gift, and one that may be what unlocks your potential like the others. Your rage is the key to your power, but it is not constant like the others, it builds and fades. You need a hard push to fully unleash your potential, something to turn your anger on, and do not hold back. What was it that you did well before I met you?"
"Harming life, getting back at them."
"And after that Alicorn cursed you, experimented on you like a mere toy for his own gains with powers to rule with later, who cast you out?"
Odi-Viscer turned to the distant village, as he felt his vision turning slowly more and more red. Beside him, Siral remarked slowly to him: "Yes. Let it build, but spare me a minute of your wrath. Let me go and tell them to prepare, so they know it is you who comes."
Odi said nothing, but didn't protest as he glared at the distant lit village as Siral vanished in a black smoke.

Farming village square

Late night dancing and songs in the town square ground to a halt as a dark grey and black flash materialised, and before them, a Unicorn, clad in metallic Nationalist armor, had appeared in their fray, silencing the crowds.
It didn't take long for a village elder to accuse loudly, the elder earth pony stallion yelling at the Unicorn soldier, Siral in disguise: "What do you want outsider!?"
Turning his head to the elders and even others, the Unicorn loudly proclaimed: "Send a messenger, or not. This place will be gone soon by others besides me, and you can choose to be swept aside, or urge your pathetic Separatists to mount what force they can to, avenge your ends. And what better time than a peace day when even in war arms were laid down, easy prey."
With the last word, the Unicorn soldier fired a wave of spells at the housing roofing, setting many houses slightly ablaze before vanishing in another flash of grey and black light. Bellows and shouts, screams to put out the fires and of fear and anger, swept through the village.

As he reappeared on the hill crest, Siral saw Odi-Viscer shaking, his body vibrating and deforming slightly, as his bones beneath his skin seemed to move as he glowed a brighter red, his skin turning more and more grey, and cracked in places.
Siral urged in a dark whisper: "Go, let them have what they deserve. Leave one departing the village alive, do what you will with the others."
In a loud red flash, the hilltop lit up, as in the midst of the flare of magic and transformation magic, Siral saw the vague shape of what Odi-Viscer had become leap , or more explode off the ground, through the air towards the village, not sure if he'd jumped or had sprouted wings.
A distant rumble in the village marked his arrival, as silence reigned in the village for a few seconds.
Then, like an earthquake, rumbles emanated in unnatural patterns from the village, as one by one the lit houses were snuffed out of existence in booming rumbles, and a few bright red glows engulfed what houses weren't hit by the half a minute rampage. By this stage, everyone in the village was already dead, except for the one messenger Earth Pony who streaked as fast as his hooves could, panic in his heart as his home was engulfed by what seemed like a monster from the deepest underworld come to destroy everything.
At the end of it, the village was collapsed or ablaze, but amidst the dust and smoke, and what darkness was left, a fierce red light struck out in all directions, engulfing the terrain like a miniature red sun fallen to the world's surface, lighting up the forest in light and inferno as it diminished.
As the red glow subsided, and Siral heard the now enhanced, perfected, living weapon that was Odi-Viscer subside in the distance, as he marvelled at his new form, the Wizard couldn't help but give a small smirk of triumph as he thought aloud to himself:
"Now we begin. The lone survivor shall spread tales of a Nationalist attack on this holy day, and what tenuous peace was made when fighting was still desired will unravel once again. And the seventh shall be mine amidst the chaos, whether full war again comes swiftly or slowly, it will begin again before next spring I am sure."
Down in the village, as the being approached up the hill, shuffling to accustom to his new form in calmer times, Siral beheld Odi-Viscer's full form.
Red eyes glinted, but now an ape like body, with a short stumpy tale, and 2 large forelimbs and 2 short back limbs, and his entire body now was made of a stonelike skin, as if flesh was laid atop stone, and his 2 forelimbs and back shorter limbs sported massive retractable claws. On his forelegs' joints, 2 extra-long Unicorn horns, mixed with demon essence to make them more powerful, extended like elbow spikes up high enough to make his arms resemble the bones of a large dragon wing, and a long line of spikes adorned his back like two sets of teeth almost.

As the forest fire died down, the ashes of the village smoldering in the darkness, Siral guided the now much more calm, even sleepy almost, Odi-Viscer to stand still, so he may teleport them back to the Citadel.
Everything was in motion now, as Siral knew a dramatic example was needed to tip the scales into instability that would inevitably lead to another period of fighting, in which he would begin his full strokes, and finally begin changing Equestria for the better, from every level.

Author's Note

The last respite, before peace ends with a strategically planned bang, and also fully unlocks the powers that needed a rage 'trigger' in Odi-Viscer to fully manifest. Sometimes these things need a bit of a push.
Stress is getting to Starswirl, as despite 5 being enhanced, a year and a half has passed with the tenuous peace holding. The worst dangers are those that bide their time.
All the while, in a more peaceful time, Lady Ave-Dol and the other 5 get into the spirit of things, and she even extends a gift to Siral, which is accepted as even he has some musings around this time of times long gone, just like Starswirl.
Odi-Viscer destroys the village of his birth, as well as Siral using this as a trigger event for a 'domino' effect to begin the spur to the next fighting period, where his plans come to fruition.

The Council of Starswirl

January 27th, 72 BNM
Equestria

A month passed, another year came, but once again, by one attack, peace seemed to unravel as if the annihilated village in Separatist territory had been a pulled thread that tied the sewn stability together.
Riots against Nationalists and Royalists came, as the attack had been pre-warned, almost tauntingly, by a Nationalist clad soldier. The Nationalists denied this vehemently, accusing the Separatists of faking the attack to have any reason to fight to divide Equestria once more. The Royalists intervened, King Nova and Queen Aurora’s words to cooperate peacefully to solve this falling on deaf ears.
But soon, as they continued to urge peace, the conflict became three-way, as the Nationalist leaders, most Alicorns or nearly in power, didn’t tolerate the royalists seeming to order them around, nor the Separatist leaders. Very quickly, conscriptions in towns and villages across the Separatists had been drafted, and in response, the Nationalists did so too. The Royalists knew conflict was much greater in chance, and had no choice but to prepare for battle once again.
Desperate to solve this issue, Starswirl had contacted those considered wise among the factions, the closest thing to other wizards he could find. He would represent the Royalists, and the Unicorn mage Meadowbrook would come on behalf of the Nationalists. The Separatists however, had rejected Starswirl’s offer.
The idea was there, to prove this attack was not by Nationalist means, as Starswirl had found out that Meadowbrook also saw the pattern wasn’t there. Neither side was lying, which meant something else was at work here.
In a bid to ensure security of Equestria, Starswirl did send for representatives from the neutral fortresses of Equestria, those places that would take no side in the battles in case any nation, like the New Gryphons, pounced on Equestria as it fought itself.
From the mid-western mountains, the Tartarus fortress and prison leader had agreed to come, as had the leader of the Citadel fortress of the north midlands. And from the north-eastern coastal fortress port, their leader.
All 5 were respected leaders, even if the 3 leaders from the neutral fortresses were enigmatic and secluded, as their jobs required them to be for impartiality. But ensuring peace reigned in the end was paramount.
Unbeknownst to anyone though, the Citadel leader was more than happy to see what efforts would be made to try and figure out the reasons, and manner in which, he had played Equestria like a conductor would an orchestra.

Late Morning
January 27th, 72 BNM
Equestria, Neighagra falls
Meadowbrook’s tower

An ancient watchtower, one of the old pyre beacons that could be lit in the event of sighting any army of an enemy. Meadowbrook’s one duty he had to do for the Nationalists was to alert them to attackers coming their way. Beyond that, he was a free agent and a consultant, nothing more, as many a Mage and high ranking and esteemed magic user was in Equestria, those not in a high political position as many Alicorns were.
The Mage Meadowbrook had offered his home as the meeting point, as Starswirl wasn’t picky about territory. But being the closest to midway between the 3 fortresses in the Tartarus, Citadel and North-Eastern port locales, it was most convenient for the travellers.
For now though, they awaited the last to arrive, before the meeting would proceed as soon as possible.
The leader of the Citadel fortress was running late.

The 2 from the North Western fortress and Tartarus fortress had taken to their own private discussions in the lower living area, likely catching up and exchanging stories.
Starswirl however, was keen to see the work that Meadowbrook had supposedly been rumoured to be working on.
Scouring over the line of glass jars, hidden behind a seemingly innocent looking cabinet’s doors, Starswirl marvelled at the intricately carved artefacts that lay beneath each jar.
“I didn’t realise you had made this many of these items…8 altogether.” Starswirl remarked, to which the Eastern Unicorn, as Meadowbrook had been the daughter of migrants from across the Muttlantic a few decades prior to the New Gryphon War, gave a small shrug.
She was a Unicorn mare of pale yellow coat, and a dark and light blue striped mane and tail, and a flank mark of a purple star and a dark pink orchid flower beneath it: “Magic itself can exhaust a user. Items, can offer easy ways to perform proven feats, leaving talent to create new ways at their ease.”
Starswirl nodded, seeing the merit in that philosophy. As he looked over the jars, Starswirl asked the obvious:
“So, these items, they’re not exactly dangerous?”
“No, the magic each can do is harmless, but useful, they aren’t weapons. What made them tricky is making sure anypony can use them.”
Meadowbrook shut the cabinet, as Starswirl couldn’t help but offer his approval while Meadowbrook turned to face the elder wizard, the latter mare still slightly honoured whenever such a respected magic wielder of his renown spoke to her:
“Not raw power, but helping others use power they otherwise could not for good. If only more who create artefacts in this age thought that way. The last thing this potential war needs is even more destructive power than was available before.”
At Starswirl’s remark, Meadowbrook gave a small snort as she recounted:
“I’ve heard rumours of ‘weapons’ among the factions, but have not seen them myself.”
“Let us hope they are merely rumours, though whatever force destroyed that Separatist village does not bode well for such hopes.”
Starswirl couldn’t help but give a cursory glance out of a window, before he noticed an approaching pony coming towards the tower in the distance. Looking out as well, Meadowbrook remarked with some relief in her voice:
“Good, he’s arrived. I suggest we do not delay once he is rested.”
“He certainly doesn’t seem in a hurry.” Starswirl noted grumpily, as the black Unicorn, clad in a dark brown travelling cloak that revealed his rather stony-jawed face and jet black mane and tail.
Down on the path, the Citadel fortress leader made his way calmly towards the tower, impatient as to why Starswirl and Meadowbrook had summoned him. Blackmane made it a policy to know anything going on in Equestria, just as the other 2 from Tartarus and the North East fortress did, or should.

Late Afternoon
Meadowbrook’s tower

The 5 were gathered in the main living area, discussing brought papers and news, or what writing what they knew upon a blackboard Meadowbrook had brought out.
Finishing drawing another line between some cited points, Starswirl magically put down the chalk, remarking with some grumpily:
“You see the issue then; I doubt I must hammer home the point we can determine from what we collectively know.”
Turning to the others, as Meadowbrook sat off to the slight side, it was the Tartatus fortress leader, a rather wiry looking Pegasus stallion of dark red coat and dark brown mane and tail, known as General Slickwing:
“Somepony is lying…”
But it was the North Eastern port fortress leader, a burly looking Earth Pony mare of pale orange and green mane and tail, going by the name of General Broadhooves:
“One of the factions, or somepony we don’t know of.”
Nodding in agreement as they came to this, Starswirl questioned aloud: “For the sake of all of Equestria, not any factions we may or may not serve, willingly or just for ease of living, this must be resolved before war breaks out yet again.”
“That does not give much time, the leaders seemed to all too rapidly ready for battle, almost as if they were secretly wishing it.” The leader of the Citadel fortress to the north, Lord Blackmane, remarked bluntly, the black Unicorn flicking a strand of his black mane aside with a huff as he looked over the blackboard writings of their knowledge on this matter.
Meadowbrook winced at this, as she suggested collectively, her face thoughtful as asked them all: “Let us not presume the Nationalists are lying, I know of goings on in their midst, I make it my policy. And I am not lying on their behalf, I only cooperate enough for them to leave me in relative peace. They did not destroy the village.”
“So an unknown force then. Any ideas? What of outside threats, could somepony be preparing to take advantage of a war weakened Equestria as they could have done in the first civil war period?” Starswirl asked. Shaking her head, Broadhooves looked to Blackmane as she remarked:
“Not the New Gryphons, neither my watch forces have seen or heard of activity from them, they’re not making moves for war of any sort.”
“And if they were not preparing to come through the north mountains or down the north east coast, then the Crystal Empire watches would know if there was.” Blackmane remarked offhoofedly. Looking to Meadowbrook, Starswirl was more curious, and nervous, as he asked:
“Obvious culprit is out. And they must be magical, given the nature of the village’s destruction in Separatist territory.”
Meadowbrook put a hoof to her chin, before she looked to General Slickwing, asking him:
“You keep a watch on potentially dangerous magic users across Equestria, do you not?”
“Ones that do not report to any of the factions, yes. I cannot say I know of any of the calibre of power to pull off such an attack so fast and undetected, imprisoned prior or currently.”
As the dark red Pegasus stallion finished, Starswirl bitterly remarked: “So we have no idea who could be behind it then?”
“It would appear that way.” Blackmane remarked, offering an apologetic smile to the Grey wizard. Aggravated, as this meeting, discussing details for 7 hours now, had ground to an inconclusive halt, Starswirl put a hoof to his face to rub his aching temples.
Sensing this meeting had come to a standstill, Meadowbrook offered a small recess, as they could use some dinner to calm their minds.
The discussions after that dinner, before those who had travelled settled for the night, did not make much progress.

Next Day
Mid-Morning
January 27th, 72 BNM
Neighgara falls hilltops, Meadowbrook’s tower

“Goodbye Starswirl. I only wish this meeting you called could have yielded answers.” Meadowbrook smiled at the wizard, while Starswirl gruffly replied with all respect he could to this worthy mage:
“As do I, and thank you for having us.”
As he bid her goodbye, Starswirl left to walk. He needed to use his hooves for a bit, clear his head before teleporting as fast as he could back to Canterlot, to resume his roles. Generals Slickwing and Broadhooves had already left.
Oddly though, he found Lord Blackmane standing by himself, staring out at the Neighgara falls sight a mile away.
Approaching him, Starswirl saw Blackmane turn to greet him, a polite smile on his face as he asked the approaching wizard:
“Starswirl, I was hoping to catch you, I wished to discuss some matters with you, now that we have met for the first time.”
“What matters?”
“Well, it is not common knowledge, but my mentor, many decades ago, he knew you.”
“I’ve known many ponies.”
“Siral, the Savant. I went to his academy, he and I associated closely. It is why I am younger than I appear, he taught me enough to live longer than a normal pony, though I doubt I’ll live to see more than 150.”
Starswirl now was intrigued. He had yet to meet somepony who had actively known Siral in person.
“I have been searching for Siral, since he vanished 89 years ago. How did I not find you as a pony to question?” Starswirl asked, to which Blackmane shrugged:
“I do not let many know. Siral, wished for secrecy, even before he vanished. I was one of the few he truly confided in.”
Starswirl softened in his gaze slightly, as he gestured to the footpath ahead, remarking:
“Please, tell me what you can. It has been a while since I heard of him. I hope he didn’t speak too ill of me.”
Blackmane accompanied Starswirl, the Lord relaxing as he walked in conversation down the pathway, the Neighgara falls cascading down a mile away.

1 hour later
3 miles from Neighgara falls

The path they walked on took them down the top of the falls river canyon’s steep sides, but the conversation was illuminating to them both.
Starswirl did not at first talk of the prophecy, or the 6, or of the confirmed 5 of 7 enemy beings he feared were awake. But Blackmane had spoken of it, as Siral had confided in this Unicorn disciple of how Starswirl had deceived him in one key line, of how those close to his heart on the journey could become enemies. At that, Starswirl became more open, and told everything.
He even spoke of dreams he had of the 5 beings of Envy, Greed, Wrath, Lust and Gluttony he’d sensed fully awaken, despite not appearing in full yet. This got Blackmane’s intrigue.
“5 vivid dreams, alike those of the 6 the same prophecy said you would learn examples of virtues from?”
“Yes, as vivid as when the 5 who did set an example for me and Siral to witness. It is not a feeling I mistake, that prophecy was for all intents and purposes burned into my mind.”
Walking beside Starswirl, Blackmane remarked: “Well I would share your slight disappointment with your, sixth was it, exemplary being as you called him. A savage, supposed to be one who demonstrates kindness? Hardly…”
“In this day and age though, I can understand why Chack setting an example of kindness may be delayed. He came with me to Equestria, and works secretly as a set of eyes and ears in Equestria for me, one of the foreigners who are brought in by the factions for expertise or labour.”
“I know the sort, I recruit some for the Citadel’s strength. But I must confess, if Siral were here today, I doubt he’d approve of your close relationship with the royals, Alicorns. I daresay he might propose that it may have been an Alicorn, royal or national, that engineered the attack to reignite the war.”
Starswirl stopped, as he quietly hissed at the Black Unicorn:
“A rather rash accusation for anypony to make I feel.”
“Is it? The Alicorns are in power, but now the borders of the 3 factions are stuck. And if restarting the war, what better faction to attack then that with the least unity and Alicorns in it, to conquer them before moving onto the other?”
At Blackmane’s remark, Starswirl found himself quiet, seeing that such a plot would be feasible. Turning to the Wizard, Blackmane then remarked with some earnest warning:
“And who other than Alicorns could unleash such power as described that annihilated the village in one swoop, seen from afar? An Alicorn, or if your prophecy is right, something borne that rivals or even surpasses their power, quite likely bred for a purpose relating to their desires.”
“It seems plausible, but who might do this?”
“I suggest looking hard at the royal Alicorns, political or military. It may not be coincidence that they are the odd faction out of this incendiary dispute that occurred last Hearth’s Warming Heath.”
Starswirl saw Blackmane give a suggestive look, as the Wizard added all the points together.
“Yes, if the Nationalists and Separatists fought, with the Royals merely trying to break them up, both sides would be weakened as the third was left strongest.”
Blackmane nodded, as he looked northwards, before remarking to the Wizard:
“There is already plenty of scrutiny on the Alicorns in the Nationalists, so if you wish my strategic advice, based on what Siral would suggest, keep your eyes open to even those close to you, just as you did to him. Perhaps THEY are the ones the prophecy warned you of, not him.”
Starswirl admitted forlornly: “The thing with prophecies is, while often right when from those oracles, they were known to be vague.”
“And prone to misinterpretation I’m sure. It was nice to speak with you, but I must be going north. I wish to not leave the Citadel without my command for too long.”
Starswirl nodded, as he bid Blackmane goodbye with some true graciousness:
“And thank you, for giving me insight to an old friend long gone.”
As Blackmane gave a stiff bow in farewell, Starswirl watched as the Black Unicorn was engulfed in a white light, his black magic not dark magic, just coloured that way.
The black Unicorn vanished from the cliff, a black shape appearing a mile away , on the other side of the falls river canyon, before vanishing again, chain teleporting north as became common for those who could. Turning to leave, Starswirl knew he had to turn to head for Canterlot.
And yet something familiar with the magic, only very vaguely, came with Blackmane’s magic. It likely resembled Siral’s magic ‘signal’ by being a direct pupil of him.

As the Grey Wizard pondered before heading for Canterlot himself, the Black Unicorn stopped before teleporting once again, his disguise dropping, and his dark coloured travelling cloak reverting to a grey colour, his mane and tail to ghostly white, and the mosaic like scars over his body returning from their magic influenced disguise.
Siral knew the best way to sow doubt was to merge known truths with the uncertain and conjecture. Now Starswirl would focus his attention inwards, scrutinizing his own royal family allies.
He needed Starswirl in the dark until it was too late to stop his plans, and as a favour to a friend, Siral wished Starswirl to distance himself from those he included in his plans for Equestria.

Author's Note

Lies, deceit and misdirection, tools of the scheming master as Equestria falls into further disarray.
Siral, disguised as Lord Blackmane, prompts Starswirl to shine the light of doubt upon his own kin in the royal family, for valid reasons given what little they know.
Inclusion of Meadowbrook and her 8 varied, but not exactly dangerous artefacts briefly. Each one is basically a tool to carry out a useful spell with little to no effort, to the point even a non-magic user could do it.
Please review/critique as one would, if one wishes to leave feedback that is.

Siege of Baltimare

Early Morning
May 22nd, 72 BNM
Equestria, South Eastern coast
Baltimare

2 and a half months into new civil war, and it quickly became apparent that this time, there was no remorse to be had once battle began. No quarter, no reconsideration, if battle came it was too late to stop it.
Cities were besieged, raided, battles waged outside them when the defences held firm, letting the cities survive another day.
But today, Baltimare became a sight of chaos.
It would also mark the end of the Separatists as a player in the war, as those with more unity, and Alicorns amidst them, proved superior and seized their capital. It helped that the Nationalists were more ruthless and ambitious than the Royalists.
Like ghosts before the dawn sun had risen, the fleet ships had come from the south, bearing Nationalist crescents upon their sails. The first light before day had come from spells, flaming arrows, and the magically enchanted ship based weapons they unleashed upon the city and its port fortifications.
Baltimare’s city was in disarray, as the ships landed near or at the ports, whilst the rest rallied the Separatist defenders at their main fort, a structure of tall stone ramparts and towers.
From a distance, as some black smoke columns rose, one would have heard the screams and cries of panic and battle mixing into an inaudible cacophony of violence.
Amongst this violence, there were those who relished, who excelled, who dominated.
Not all who had great power used it for mere leverage, for political gain. Some used it outright to serve, champions among their armed forces, sometimes as known, or even more, and at times legendary as their leaders. Royalist, Separatist and Nationalist, all had their champions.
Those champions that were also Alicorns however, were all the more feared. And given the Separatists had no Alicorns, the presence of the greatest champion of the Nationalists had struck fear into all like a catalyst unleashed amidst the battle environment.

Baltimare, main fort, beachhead

Before the fort itself, the long beaches that were exposed by the low tide that morning became a battleground.
Arrows flew back and forth, and from the ships, the mounted catapults hurled magically enchanted boulders far and high, crashing into the walls of the fortress with thunderous crashes, cracking and even shattering one side entirely.
Nationalist ships beached their bows, unloading their troopers who had to walk, be it Unicorn or Earth Pony, whilst the Pegasi reigned chaos upon the Separatists with serrated-edged horseshoes as they passed down. Surging forwards, Unicorns raised magic shields and Earth Ponies made sure their armour was foreward facing, charging against the hail of retaliatory spells and arrows from the fortress and its troopers, pouring like ants from a blasted hole in the side of the massive fortress.
Minutes passed, and soon the troopers were embroiled in chaotic battle, meeting beneath the massive walls of the fortress whilst the city a mile away merely saw more hit and run skirmishes, fires raging as the real battle took place at the key tactical target, this fortress.
Among both sides though, there were always hired mercenaries, those who had been recruited.
In the case of foreigners who lived in Equestria, they had been drafted. Among them, a certain Salamander reporting to Starswirl, who would come to know the champion of the Nationalists well.

Charging up the beachhead, Chack sported brand new armor, forged using new types of armor from Nationalist forgers he’d decided to use to his advantage.
Nearby, a group of war chanting Nationalist Earth ponies marched slowly up the beach, shields raised to deflect all incoming arrows and spells of up to medium strength. Magic reflective armor, a key breakthrough, now only the most powerful magic would get through.
It helped to explain why the fighting from any magic users, and every pony as a whole, had become more vicious.
His armor was his old blood red, but he sported Nationalist colours on his leggings and arms to note his affiliation, despite being a non-pony.
Nearby, a small outpost tower had been overrun, and Chack charged towards the stragglers trying to flank a few soldiers battling some guards atop a stone walkway’s steps. Darting, the now nearing middle aged in body Salamander swung his sword, cutting down the first guard with ease.
He had forged a new blade, though he kept his old katana as a second, backup weapon. This blade was made of enchanted metal, extremely strong and sharp.
And yet as he parried a sword strike from another Separatist guard, Chack forcing the Pegasus to stumble by yielding and sidestepping with his shorter height, the Salamander swung out the sword’s grip pummel to smash against the pegasus’s helmet, a metallic clang signalling he was unconscious.
In his aging, and bitterness towards this fighting he’d been dragged into under threat of imprisonment, Chack didn’t feel as enthused as he would have been years ago in combat. He took the swiftest ways to beat opponents, death or otherwise.
Unlike some other pony he knew, who rampaged upon the beach a hundred metres away. That didn’t stop collateral damage from spreading from him however.
Slashing his sword through a Separatist Unicorn’s torso, Chack whirled as he heard a tremendous crash from down the beach, as a small dust cloud rose from the wet sands.
An armoured Earth Pony body came hurtling through that cloud towards him, Chack giving a panicked cry as he stumbled backwards to avoid it crashing into him, the body crumpling against the stone wall beside the rampart walkway.
Casting his gaze towards the scene, Chack saw that many of the forces were focusing on that one particular opponent.
Knowing he could handle himself, Chack surged up the fortress stairs, keen to ambush many of the archers who thought they were safe. He wanted this battle over, and she was at least drawing attention from him and those in the Nationalists who were pressing against other more intact sections of the castle fortress from the inside, having poured into its shattered walls.

Bronze magic shots flew through the dissipating dust cloud, the armoured Alicorn stallion’s assault continuing despite being surrounded by a hoard of enemies.
Spinning, unleashing a spinning flurry of spell shockwaves, the Separatist footsoldiers, magic, pegasi or earth, hurtled backwards as she sized them up.
Looking at the first group of a dozen to spring back to their hooves, the Alicorn’s glinting bronze armour flew with his motions, as he thrust out a sand red wing with magic infused to swing it like a fan.
A hurricane swept them away, screaming as other soldiers fired arrows and spells at the Alicorn.
“Give me a challenge at least!”
Beneath the bronze helmet, the stallion jeered at his opponents, as he saw a few Unicorns firing from afar down the beach. Turning to the side, he quickly engulfed a half burnt, beached Nationalist shipwreck, the bronze magic sending the ship crashing along the beach like a plough, flattening many of the soldiers charging him.
Cheers from Nationalists not embroiled in combat reached his ears, as he flew up and above the beachhead, razing the ground with magical shockwaves taking out waves of Separatists firing back or fleeing:
“AUBELLES! AUBELLES!”
From behind the Alicorn champion’s assault, the other Nationalist pegasi had landed enough soldiers inside the fortress to take all but the upper levels. Outside, a red armoured Salamander clambered up the walls with his sword giving him grip, quickly grabbing an Earth pony soldier who had tried to knock him off the edge and pulling him over the side.
Leaping up, Chack charged low to avoid a Unicorn’s blasting spell, his sword slicing the Unicorn’s left ankles to send him reeling down in pain, as Chack continued up the tower.
Looking out over the calming battlefield, Chack saw Baltimare on fire, many buildings in some degree of ruin. In the distance, a hurled magical boulder blasted itself apart midair, raining desk sized fragments down upon armies from above.
Impartial to the violence, Chack somehow couldn’t find himself enjoying it, knowing by Starswirl’s reports that some pony [or multiple ponies] in Equestria was playing all sides against each other.
This fight, and others like it, was based upon differences influenced by outsiders not involved. It had no honour in it if neither side was in the right to fight. Even violence had its principles.
And there was no honour in fighting for foolish reasons, intended or deceived.
Then, as he reflected upon this, and as the battle began to grow quiet, a distant battle horn groaned from out at sea.
Chack turned, and saw in the distance, approaching from around the cliff faces 7 miles away of the great horseshoe bay’s rim, a fleet of ships.
Separatist ships, lots of them, moving unusually fast.

Aubelles stared out, as he knew the last enemies on the beach were dealt with, captured, dead or fleeing to the hills.
But this fleet seemed imposing, to anyone but him.
Overhead, he saw Pegasi formations already flying towards the fleet, weapons to drop or swoop with in their possession. Nationalist ships not landed turned to head for the fleet, and Aubellum decided to join the fray.
The bronze Alicorn’s wings spread as he took flight once again, pumping his wings hard to get to the battle first. Chants of his name by those on the beach followed him, and he joined the Pegasi flying to attack the fleet sailing into the bay to defend their city they’d already lost. A deseoerate last assault, as this pride of the Separatist rabble of a navy sought to defend the Separatist’s last stronghold, and capital.
Ballistas mounted on the ships fired, magically infused spears firing like rockets at them, as a sea of spellfire came their way from the unicorns on the ships.
Swooping low, the Pegasi dropped their weapons, small balls of oil that weapons from the pegasi set alight with a flaming arrow. Flames engulfed the ships, as screams of the pained and retaliating Earth Ponies and Unicorns rose. Pegasi were shot down, but they flew across the fleet like gnats over a carcass.
Aubelles flew in, but one of the ship’s captain’s noticed, the surly Unicorn stallion roughly tugging on a rope that had been dragging his ship, like the others.
As he came down upon the ship, the water exploded beneath him, as a set of scaly jaws came roaring up to snag him. But Aubelles teleported before the teeth and gullet could engulf him, as the snap of the Sea Serpent’s jaws echoed as he reemerged off to the side of the beast.
Flying around, Aubellum saw other Sea Serpents rearing out of the water, ropes that had been pulling the Separatist ships going slack as they were ordered to attack. The large wall of blue scales wheeled around to glare at the airborne Alicorn, surging towards him from the water, fish finned ears pulled back in aggression as its jaws snapped forwards, Aubellum flying about and firing spells in a deliberately irritating way, toying with the massive creature.
Nearby, a Sea Serpent shrieked aloud as a Pegasus swooped down to cut its towing lines, letting the creature be free of the control of its masters through those enchanted bonds. Snapping its jaws and tail back and forth though, its last impulse was to attack the flying ones. A few pegasi were snapped from the air or smashed into the sea, but amidst the battle the Nationalist ships had come into range.
A large energy ball fired from the front ship, a team of powerful Unicorns combining their magic, detonated violently against a Sea Serpent’s head, sending it to the bottom of the bay with a loud squeal and a few fragments of fins and bloody scales flying as it sank. More weapons, enhanced by magic but used by Earth ponies on the ships, rained down upon the fleet. The devotion to a united, advanced military compared to the other factions was securing victory today.
But amidst the carnage, their champion blasted another Sea Serpent to the depths with a powerful magic burst, before he saw one Sea Serpent dive towards the Nationalist ships underwater.
Surging along the water’s surface, Aubelles saw his spells were reflecting off the back armour of the serpent, as only the face and some parts of the underside were vulnerable. Getting an idea, he pumped his wings hard, going towards the front of the creature underwater to fire a massive spell down, water and steam going everywhere as a rumble from underwater rose to shake the air.
Beneath, a tail slapped the surface as the serpent dived, and in front of him the ship’s denizens cheered for the save. But the Alicorn Stallion stared down, Aubelles beginning to glow a shining bronze colour as a dark shape rose up from beneath the water 30 feet below.
Exploding out, the jaws of the sea serpent engulfed the shining Alicorn, who had become a bronze glowing sphere as the creature surged upwards, snapping its jaws shut. But as it began to fall, it ballooned, groaning loudly before a massive glowing explosion ripped the massive creature asunder from the inside, fragments of its scales and hide flying in all directions.
Even amidst the battle going on between ships, and the one Sea Serpent ‘tug’ that remained trying to flee, battlecries rose from the Nationalist ship crew saw the Bronze armoured Alicorn turn to fly back into the fray of the ships.
Eventually, the Separatist fleet had dealt considerable losses to the Nationalist pegasi and ships, but nothing compared to their own losses. By midday, the fleet’s remnant fled, and Baltimare was battlescarred, but in Nationalist control.

Same day, late Afternoon
May 23rd, 72 BNM
Baltimare fortress

The day after the battle had been waged, and the news was celebratory.
The news reached that the Separatists were in shambles across Equestria, and it quickly became evident that this would now become a two sided war. The Separatists were fracturing, some refusing to take part in Equestrian affairs, others joining the Nationalists, and some but lesser amounts the Royalists.
Today was a cause for celebration, as in only two months of intense combat, skirmishes and planning, and two large battles, the Separatists had proven unable to keep up with the rapid push of the Nationalists, nor the dedication of the Royalists. But it was the Nationalists who gained the most glory.

“And with a single blast, as the creature thought him to be food, Aubelles unleashed all his power in the beast’s gullet, rearing up out of the sea, scattering its bloody body pieces across the bay and fleets as they did battle!”
A half drunken Earth Pony soldier, with others on the tables with him, poorly re-enacted the feats of battle yesterday, as a fully drunk Pegasus lay on her side, staring up as she lazily waved a hoof in gesture of the creature exploding.
Nearby, dances and friendly brawls took place amid the soldiers, a 2 to 1 ratio of stallions to mares, though the mares were just as riotous as the stallions in the midst of victory.
Across the fortress, there was celebration to be had, though the guards who stared out at the shambles of Baltimare’s city thought this battle was hard won, maybe not worth calling a victory if the place they fought over was in the state it was.

Staring out across the cityscape from afar, Aubelles reclined against the rampart, taking some time away from the partying, though he couldn’t help but notice the enticing looks some of the mares amidst the soldiers were giving him. He’d indulge when he was ready.
The Alicorn was actually a sandy red colour, with an obsidian black and blue mane and wings beneath his bronze armour, and his name was different from the one he’d adopted, Aubelles. But that part of him he left behind when he ascended to Alicorn level, though he refused to waste his talents in politics when he could make a name for himself with his power.
A sound of footsteps, not hoofsteps, caught his ears, as he saw a Salamander leaning against the rampart, staring out at the smoldering city:
“Chack, I was wondering where you got to, you fishy little grump.”
Rolling his eyes at the ‘playful’ nickname he had, among many Aubelles had for many in the armed forces, he merely remarked to the sight out there:
“What a waste.”
Staring out, the Alicorn cracked his neck saying coyly: “I thought it went rather well yesterday. Besides, those braggarts in the Separatists finally gave up, first smart move they’ve made in decades.”
Chack nodded, as he replied: “It was foolish of them to keep fighting when so easily outclassed, but brave.”
“They were dedicated, not that they stood a chance like you said. Why aren’t you joining in the celebrations? We’ve only got the Royalists to deal with?”
“Not my war as much as it is yours.”
Aubelles replied heartily: “If you live in Equestria, you don’t really have much choice. But at least you’re on the team that will be remembered for their victories.”
Chack thought back to the things Starswirl had said, namely that there was more to this entire civil war than was on the surface.
Powerful Alicorns like Aubelles were emerging even more, Alicorns not bound by politics, in this environment. Along with more fierce weapons on all sides, and the side with no Alicorns to lead, guide, or act as living superweapons had already lost.
This was would only get worse when the Nationalists turned their ambitious gaze fully towards the Royalists.

Author's Note

2 months, and the Separatists get hammered badly, as they are the only side with no Alicorns, and are the least united faction.
Chack is drafted into the Nationalists as a sort of mercenary, high up for his forging skills and reputation from abroad.
Aubelles is my Alicorn equivalent to Achilles.

Treason of the Citadel

24th August, 72 BNM
Equestria

3 months since the fall of Baltimare to the Nationalists, and the unofficial end of the Separatist faction [officially only 2 weeks ago, as the Separatists split for the most part to align with the Royalists of Separatists].
Rumours had spread of the sheer power on display on battlefields as more and more non-political Alicorns in the Royalists and Nationalists, no more than a hundred combined, most from Alicorn heritage already, joined the battles themselves. Aubelles was merely one notable Alicorn who actively fought, there were others, some with political clout to boot.
Tales spread, rumours of amazing, or terrifying feats performed by a single Alicorn in battle. Platoons wiped out in a single blast, the entire battlefield terrain altered by a single spell, and how useless many magical or physical weapons were against their magic.
Tales of the war becoming worse, more vicious, suddenly were truths.
And then the news broke.
Nationalists had gone to the Citadel in Equestria’s north-midland lands, and unbelievably, had become allies.
Lord Blackmane, in an utter breach of his oath to defend all of Equestria against outside threat, had picked a side in this conflict.

Late Morning
Canterlot, Royal Palace
Queen Aurora’s drawing chambers

Aurora couldn’t help but notice the bags under Starswirl’s eyes, the Wizard not looking the best he’d ever been at this stage. Stress was getting to him.
“I still cannot understand why he would do this. Still, those are questions I will leave him to answer once I meet him.”
Starswirl remarked aloud at this, as he had figured Lord Blackmane would not pick sides, based on readings and meeting him at that meeting at the onset of this new Civil War.
Taking a small sip, Queen Aurora remarked wistfully: “I met them all myself too, the ones you met. Sir General Slickwing from Tartarus, Lady General Broadhooves from the north east, and Blackmane. All determined, but, I always sensed something hidden, secret, about Blackmane.”
In deep thought, Aurora remarked: “You said he was a close disciple of Siral’s, your old friend? It explains his subtle dislike of Alicorns. But why would he align with a faction that is ruled by families of Alicorns clamouring for power?”
Starswirl shook his head at this, uncertain, as he stressed to Aurroa: “I feel I must find out. Blackmane struck me as somepony who keeps things to himself, cold, analytical. He either knows something we don’t, or has his own agenda. My worst fear is that he’s seen things to make him feel being allied with the Nationalists will be least harmful to him, which wouldn’t bode well for the war.”
“If you cannot convince him to remain neutral, at least ask him to reassure that he’ll defend Equestria as a whole. He swore an oath when he took that northern fortress’s command.”
Starswirl nodded to the Queen, as he replied with some attempt at optimism: “Let us hope that if I fail, your daughters can convince General Slickhooves to align with the Royals, to even this changing of allegiances.”
With a thankful smile, the white furred, black/pink maned Alicorn queen hovered a small bowl of sugar to the Wizard, to which he politely declined as he drank much of his tea, straight with little milk, in one gulp.
“You mustn’t blame yourself if things don’t work out Starswirl. You can only try your best in life’s affairs. You’re clearly letting stress get to you.”
“I’ve lived a long time, seen much. This war after a previous civil war and a gryphon war before is difficult, but manageable.” Starswirl pointed out, before Aurora admonished the wizard:
“Celestia and Luna see it, you are becoming colder as years go by, even before this war. They’ve known you since birth, we’ve known you for over 40 years when Celestia still grew inside me. Seeing you succumb to this stress makes us all concerned for you.”
Starswirl was quiet, as he reaffirmed his position with some unintended, but slight bitterness in his tone: “I can handle it.”
With a slight sigh, Aurora replied: “I know, we all know. But just don’t let your sense of duty blind you to those who care about you.”
Starswirl had a memory of his lie of omission to Siral, about the prophecy warning of those close to his heart being a danger. He didn’t admit it, but all this time, he’d been careful about making friends because of that.
“I made my own oath to the greater peace of Equestria so long ago, my life. If I appear stressed because of it, it’s a burden I happily saddle.”
Queen Aurora saw a hollow look in Starswirl, she knew he had many secrets that he hadn’t told anypony. Wizards as old as he, ones who delved deep into the mystic, always had their secrets.
She respected the wizard enough to not pry. But she and others still couldn’t help but worry.

Midday
Canterlot, Royal Palace
Main foyer

Bowing to their father, after also giving him a hug each, Princess Celestia and Luna backed away with Luna promising:
“We shall not fail you father.”
“Just do you best. That is all I can ask of you two.” King Nova pleaded sincerely, to which Celestia remarked:
“I’m sure that Tartarus and its neutral militants can be convinced to ally with us. General Slickwing’s ideologies do align with ours more often than not.”
“He’s a reliable pony if he agrees to help. Go now, home won’t have changed much when you return in a few days.”

The Blue Alicorn king watched from afar as his daughters boarded a small, fast air carriage, the royal guards pulling away with little pause as soon as they were aboard. Beside him, Queen Aurora gave him a small nuzzle, assuring her husband:
“They will be fine love. You know that.”
“I know. I just wish fate hadn’t required what they are going to ask for to even be needed. This war, it is draining everything.”
Aurora nodded in agreement, she merely hoped Starswirl could gain some insight into why the Citadel fortress had sided with the Nationalists. Some things had changed greatly, and not just alliances, but ponies too.
But when Starswirl returned, so much would have changed.

Next day
25th August, 72 BNM
Equestria, North midland mountain ranges
Citadel Fortress, main road entrance

Starswirl found himself waking under the fortified front gate arch of the hill mounted Citadel, the lakeside bridge and entry over a murky mud bank greeting him beforehand.
Looming overhead, built onto the slope of the mountainside to appear taller than it already considerably was, the Citadel’s battlements, towers, and unseen hidden underground levels filled Starswirl’s vision. Just like Tartarus, it had a larger majority of its space underground.
The blue robed Unicorn saw the usual guards stationed across the various battlements and doorways, as he then paused at a sight in the main courtyard.
A carriage, drawn by Pegasi, bearing the Nationalist colours, and the crest of the dominant Alicorn family among the various leaders.
“What are the Trumanes doing here?”
As Starswirl pondered this, he decided it would be best to keep a low profile to them at least. He’d seen them, he knew how to recognise them, and a Royalist aligned wizard, even invited, wasn’t the best thing to let them see.
Taking his blue wizard cloak, and his blue hat, he quickly applied some magic, changing the blue and star/moon décor to a plain brown colour, hiding the hat entirely, letting his lighter grey mane and beard flow freely.
Up on high, though, eyes were watching him.

Citadel fortress, living areas

He stared out from the living area’s balcony, a large veranda that doubled as a backup tower to fire from.
Peering down, Gaudium’s red eyes marvelled, and maybe somewhat feared, the famous Wizard who had arrived, and for some reason changed his robe colour.
The light brown, blue winged Alicorn walked back inside, as he wandered off down the hallway, towards the walkway that overlooked the main hall.
As soon as he got there, he saw Lady Ave-Dol, in her pale blue and yellow maned Alicorn form, also standing within earshot of the speaking taking place down in the main hall.
Hearing the young male Alicorn, the older female smiled at him. Ever since Gaudium had arrived here, she’d taken a liking to the young stallion, viewing him as a sort of son of sorts. The others treated him well enough, with indifferent acceptance from Odi Viscer being the worst he ever got. Gaudium had been shocked to see their ‘alternate’, or ‘true’ forms, but knew they’d chosen them.
He’d been told of Siral’s true identity, but like most of them, didn’t know his ‘true’ intentions.
Coming up to Ave-Dol, Gaudium overheard the last speaking down in the hall, as he looked at Ave-Dol as she and he stared down from the walkway balcony:
“Who are the visitors?”
“The Trumanes.”
“Huh, I guess Siral didn’t want them to see his, blemishes.” Gaudium jokingly remarked, though Ave-Dol merely nodded at this, thinking to herself:
Siral never spoke of the Trumanes, and yet here they are, and we are allied with the Nationalists. Why?”
It wasn’t the first time she sensed something was up with Siral, something he was hiding in the back of his mind.
Ave-Dol turned to Gaudium, asking him innocently: “Gaudium, I must ask, did Golmoc, Teal Quirt and Odi-Viscer say where they were headed? I can’t help but worry at this stage.”
“I thought you would know. They said they were heading south, training in the wilderness.”
She said nothing as Gaudium finished, going back to staring at the Trumanes as they shook hooves with Siral, disguised as Lord Blackmane.
Somepony was lying, those 3 had said they had been told to leave yesterday, before the Trumanes arrived this morning to finalize the alliance.
She’d eavesdropped on Siral enough to suspect he was hiding something.

Citadel, Main entrance hall

Lord Trumane, marble white with a blue mane, happily shook hooved with the disfigured, but nonetheless valued Lord Blackmane. Lady Trumane brushed some of her lilac mane from her eyes, her yellow Alicorn frame also bowing out of respect, having already shook hooves with him.
“Goodbye Lord Blackmane, and thank you for making the choice once again.” Lord Trumane’s remark was short and blunt in his farewell.
“It is easy to see the benefit in being on the winning side.” Lord Blackmane remarked blankly, to which Lady Trumane couldn’t help but smile in agreement, as she added to the farewell:
“All too true.”
Without much more of a word, the Trumanes left, though they gave a brown robed Unicorn who had entered with permission of the guards, his grey beard distinctive to Blackmane, but disregarded as a dishevelled traveller by the slightly upturned noses of the Trumanes as they passed by.
A few seconds passed, before the Trumanes were out of earshot, before Starswirl’s brown robes turned blue with stars and moon, and his hat donned atop his head to look as formal as could be. He had overheard enough, and was not at all pleased.
“So, I ask of your council, your input, and you say you fear Alicorns and their power. And yet here you are, you and your citadel, allied with the faction with most Alicorns, and the most ambitious and dangerous faction Equestria has ever faced. Tell me Blackmane, must I even state the hypocrisy and uncharacteristic nature of your decision?”
At Starswirl’s assertion of Blackmane’s conviction, loyalty and hypocrisy, the black maned, black Unicorn turned to slightly glare at Starswirl, stepping away from the main steps to a main table and chairs lined to face the main entrance like a judging table.
“If you are going to choose a side, choose wisely. I went with what my mind and heart said was the one most likely to win. You cannot deny that Alicorns present a huge strategic advantage to any faction that has them, and no faction has more than the one I have just forged an alliance with.”
“So you are allying with them for your own benefit?”
“My own ease. I offer help, and they stop pestering me, and this fortress against the north Gyrphons stands.”
At Blackmane’s words, Starswirl grew suspicious. There had been an undercurrent of doubt in the last part of the sentence. Then, it clicked:
“You feel the Gryphons aren’t going to attack, and you wish to get involved.”
At this, Blackmane gave a stiff smile, as he congratulated the blue robed wizard dryly while slowly walking from the main hall’s centre towards Starswirl slowly.
The Wizard backed up as he saw the black maned and bodied leader of the Citadel begin to speak, gesturing a few times with his hoof to the direction of the door in a symbol of Equestria as a whole:
“They don’t attack because of the Alicorns, and frankly the smart thing is to be within the side that is going to win. You let your loyalty to the royal family prevail over your logic, whereas I thought Wizards had a duty to Equestria as a whole. Times are changing Starswirl, and I intend to position my resources in the midst of the Nationalists, where they will be most appreciated, and trusted.”
As Blackmane stopped before Starswirl, the grey wizard narrowed his eyes, rebuking coldly: “So, you want to get in their inner circle. So much for being a close disciple to Siral, he would have never tolerated Alicorns, sadly.”
Blackmane’s gaze hardened at this, as the wizard stated with an icy steel to his tone: “You didn’t know him for 60 whole years that he lived in Equestria without you. He watched as his best efforts to sow peace quickly became futile amidst rising Alicorn power mongering. That time can change many ponies. Don’t preach to me about him out of some old acquaintanceship that you left behind on some self-righteous ‘prophecy’ that proved to merely distract you from your true duties.”
Starswirl’s expression faltered slightly, as he looked to see Blackmane turn around with a scathing remark:
“My decision stands. Go back to your precious royal ties.”
As the Black Unicorn began to walk away, Starswirl remarked quietly:
“You’re right. It was a distraction to my duties, but not entirely. I learned many things from them all, one still to come. But if I have one regret, it was losing an old friend. I should have been here.”
Blackmane remained with his back turned, as he actually dropped his cold tone slightly to admit:
“Starswirl, one thing that became clear in the time you were gone, even your presence may not have stopped this war, the previous or the Gryphon war. Alicorns have ambitions and power, a self-proclaimed importance, which always clouds their judgements and morality. Just like you.”
Starswirl’s expression snapped towards Blackmane, who then decided to flat out drop the façade:
“And now that I have the alliance I seek; I can stop proving you are just as easily fooled as the rest of them.”
Turning to face Starswirl, Blackmane’s black mane shimmered with grey magic, the white mane forming instead of it. Blackmane’s cloak remained unchanged, grey as usual. But more importantly, his exposed body and face emerged with a crisscross mosaic of faded, but prominent and hairless scar lines, as if he was made of glass fractured so many times.
He looked much older, which was when Starswirl remembered he’d lived 60 years before jumping to match him to the Salaman debacle, his last time jump ever. Siral was now his age.
Stunned, Starswirl saw Siral give a slight grin, his voice drawling the last word with an unhidden cold demeanour:
“Surprised to see me? I’m not surprised myself, after all it has been a long time, ‘old friend’…”

Up on the balconies, Gaudium stared down at the exchange, in awe but also fear at the tense atmosphere and silence that now reigned in the hall. With an unnerved expression, the light brown Alicorn turned to the light blue and blond maned female Alicorn, who’s eyes had narrowed ever so slightly.
Ever since she had gained her enhanced powers, in addition to aura based abilities that were much subtler, especially lethargy and laziness, she had a sense ofr many other things.
And for much time she’d sense a hidden layer of secrecy, even maliciousness, brewing deep inside Siral.
Today though, it was on the surface for her to sense easily.

“You did return to this time when I emerged for the 6th exemplar, didn’t you?” Starswirl quietly accused, to which Siral gave a ghost of a smile, offering this small retort:
“Yes. Why would I not? You know I came along on your venture in the first place out of curiosity. I decided it was worth seeing what you would do. And I must say, you have yet to, ‘succeed’ with Chack, aren’t you? Exemplar of kindness, a joke if there ever was one. How much blood is on his slimy webbed hands?”
“Compared to whom you’ve allied with, I’d wager less.” Starswirl rebuked, to which Siral shrugged lightly, remarking:
“True, but they are who they are, never something some prophecy says they are. Honesty was one of the virtues you learned, though we left on terse terms because you lied to me.”
“You left because you wanted to go back to Equestria, help it not devolve into chaos! I thought we had an understanding!” Starswirl pleaded, losing his composure at all this happening. Siral was the leader of the Citadel, and he was allied with the faction his own loyalties opposed, and his old friend had suddenly re-emerged, purposely having deceived him somehow and for some reason.
“Yes, but I also refused to be lied to any longer. Those close to your heart being a risk, the one line of it you didn’t tell me, and why you therefore didn’t’ want me along. Our previous friendship was a danger to a few foolish oracles for your duty, and you always had that fear of me. But do not fret, we are over, so no reason to fear me anymore.”
Blinking a few times, Starswirl walked towards Siral in the hall, asking quietly: “What happened to you Siral? You are not the Unicorn I relished my travels with.”
“60 years in Equestria, nothing changed for the better, disharmony was inevitable. And the past 40 years have not been much better for you, have they.”
As Siral added this, Starswirl’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at Siral’s seemingly curt demeanour:
“And what of you in these past 4 decades?”
“I have allied with the Nationalists, I have the last thing I want for my security. And I work largely independent, unlike you, tethered to the Royalists.”
“Yet you ‘tether’ yourself to the Nationalists.”
“Call it getting within their circle of trust for my own gain. Philosophers have said it for centuries, to know your enemy is the key to overcoming them.”
Starswirl blinked, before he grasped the subtle scope of Siral’s plan.
He would get within the Nationalists inner circle, trust from them shielding him. And then from within, he could…
“You cannot be serious Siral. You harbour this grudge after so many years still?”
Siral’s eyes widened in anger, as he hissed at Starswirl while his grey magic made his mosaic-like scars glow prominently: “They are dangerous, simple as that. Powerful, and without the knowledge you or I would have needed to match them in raw power, underserving and unappreciative of their gifts. Reckless, power hungry, arrogant, their squabbling over power and influence did more to destabilize Equestria than any rumoured destructive seven beings in that utter TRIPE of a prophecy ever could!”
Starswirl’s mind was whirling, as he pleaded with Siral: “Please, you must see there are some that are good.”
“Good is relative, an opinion even. But one thing I did learn, if that you and I are now in the factions we should be. You, protecting the old status quo by the Royalists, and I to pursue a grander, better vision of Equestria, with, or without the Nationalists in power.”
“You are going to discard them.”
“More like cut them from Equestria like a rotting limb from a body.” Siral surmised, to which Starswirl finally succumbed to his paranoia, and utter rage at this entire scenario:
“Whatever you plan to do, you will not get away with it Siral!”
“Spare me Starswirl. Now that you are here, do you think I would tell you even a hint of my plans if you had the slightest realistic chance of stopping them?”
Turning away, Siral offered this as he couldn’t help but give a pained grimace that this was how he would discard his old friend, but he knew the future beckoned, one where he could smile in his success so well earned:
“As part of my deal to align with the Nationalists, I promised them an event that would hand them a temporary advantage in the war, even if fighting from the Royalists became more revenge fuelled as a consequence.”
“Run along home Starswirl, while it stands.” Siral offered, as he turned around to see a blue flash vanish from the main hall, Starswirl having left in a panic.
Siral couldn’t help but wonder what Starswirl’s reaction would be when he saw that among those out on ‘wilderness’ exercises, some had gone to Canterlot as soon as he’d left the castle yesterday.
Up on high though, he sensed two watching pairs of eyes staring in trepidation. He would have to be careful of the eventual beings of Sloth and Pride growing too doubtful.

Author's Note

Siral drops the façade now that he has the alliance he wants to get into the inner circle of the Nationalists, after performing one ‘surprise’ attack for them with his Citadel ‘forces’.
Next chapter, something big happens.

The Scourges of Canterlot

Early Afternoon
25th August, 72 BNM
Equestria, Canterlot
City interior

Wandering through the bustling streets, the disguised Unicorn blended seamlessly with the well-dressed upper classes. But her eyes turned towards the castle, looming over the thatched roofing further away in the city, rising in its ivory white walls and battlements.
In a few centuries it would be remarkably different in appearance, because of what was about to occur.
Elsewhere in the city, sneaking in under similar disguises amongst castle servant ponies, the other two entered the castle ahead of her. One a black and yellow hued Pegasus, the other a silvery grey maned Earth pony.
The castle beckoned ahead, as she knew its ins and outs. 40 years ago, she had been a Royal spellcaster once, using her power to defend. But when she lost her horn, they suggested she ‘retire’.
Teal Quirt never forgot that feeling of betrayal, by the Royalists as a whole.

Canterlot, royal palace
Main foyer hall

The two guards, clad in their red and silver garb of the royalists, saw the blue/grey maned Unicorn mare slowly walking towards their doorway from ahead, her intentions clear.
“I am sorry my lady, but the court is in session and shut to-uh!”
The guard Pegasus who had held out a hoof suddenly felt a blue magic constrict his throat like a vice, and while the other guard, a Unicorn, readied to fire a spell to blow her away as she walked towards them quietly, Teal turned her horn on him.
As if hit by a raging bull, the Unicorn was caught in a blue hue and hurled sideways head and neck first into a nearby wall with a crack, the Unicorn’s neck breaking on impact.
The Pegasus meanwhile was hurled upwards as if gravity suddenly reversed, smashing with a scream into the ceiling high above, as he fell with a much less scream filled thud onto the floor behind Teal Quirt. She hadn’t stopped walking at all, and paid no heed to the now dead guards as she fired her blue magic at the doors.

Throne room

The small court that day had been in session, hearing of developments and pleas from across Royalist territory, when the doors crashed open off their hinges in a flash of blue.
Shocked, 2 of the guests were wounded with broken hooves or a leg by the doors hitting them, while the rest stared in outrage at this Unicorn Mare’s interruption.
Gliding through the crowds almost like a ghost, Teal Quirt matched only the gaze of the King, as Nova surged to his feet, Queen Aurora beside him also alert:
“You dare-!”
“I do your highness, I do dare!”
“Seize her!” A general cry to the guards went up, as the guards around the court room charged towards her, the gathered hoard of court denizens scattering as the Unicorn became engulfed in a blue hue, before a shockwave erupted out in all directions from her in a blinding light.
Court ponies flew painfully onto the floor or into walls, as in the blinding light’s subsidence, Nova squinted to see a guard charge blindly in, though the Unicorn did not get far. A blue hue engulfed the guard Unicorn stallion, and hurled him towards the thrones.
Aurora fired her magic, the white Alicorn’s aura catching the guard just barely enough that he only tumbled into her at a manageable level. Nova rose up, angrily powering his horn, before a second blue flash suddenly engulfed the room, this one like a million prickling thorns itching all over his body.
“AURORA! GET HELP, GO!”
With a nod of understanding to her husband, as she caught a glimpse of a strange creature’s silhouette amidst the fading light in the middle of the throne room, she vanished with the guard she’d saved, teleporting to the castle grounds.
Left behind, Nova shaded his eyes with a hoof, as he saw the blue flash this time had done something different.
Everypony in the throne room was completely frozen in place, as if unable to move from their positions at all, only their eyes able to move. Amidst the frozen ponies, as Nova also realised that he’d been able to resist this spell, the creature emerged.
A scorpion’s lower body, legs, and 2 gripping arms, as well as a spikey tail, but atop it an ape’s torso, with blue/grey hairy limbs and hooves on the arms that seemed to be able to split to form bulky fingers, or claws. The head however, a stubby nosed hybrid of an ape and a Unicorn, was adorned with 4 downwards curving horns, like a headdress almost, each horn clearly a Unicorn-esqe magic horn.
“Begone creature, or else you will see my full power used against you with no remorse.” Nova warned sternly, to which the creature seemed to take coy amusement from, as she gently nudged a frozen noble pony to fall over onto their side, still as a statue even on impact.
“Before we begin, I had to make it just between you and I. And on that point, where are your daughters?”
“You dare… What do you want from us!?” Nova demanded angrily, his blue horn flaring slightly. With a slight shrug, the creature replied with some haughty tones before it devolved into repressed anger at him:
“Oh I don’t want anything from your daughters, one of my friends does. As for you, I have my reasons. Namely, when I lost my magic, I was cast out without a second thought from your high and mighty royal magician guild.”
The scorpion/ape centaur creature suddenly morphed back into the Teal maned, white furred Unicorn mare, as she bitterly spoke to him with a few steps towards the throne, Nova not once dropping his guard:
“I asked for help when I lost my power, guarding some pompous ambassador to Salaman, and afterwards they cast me out. They serve you, I served you until 40 years ago. And I got nothing in return when I needed it most.”
“That does not excuse what you have done so far.” Nova replied coldly. To this, Teal Quirt slowly morphed back into her scorpion/ape centaur form, as she replied:
“Hmm, not that on its own. But, it just so happens to be a reason why I can enjoy this act for the Nationalist cause, anything to harm you or the Royalists in general.”
“So that is how it is…” Nova’s eyes snapped open further, as he fired a large dark blue spell right at Teal Quirt. Her arms flung upwards, a lighter blue magic shield raising as the spell slammed into her, blasting her into the wall, past the crowds of frozen ponies.
With a flick of his horn, Nova engulfed the frozen ponies, guard and visitor alike, and vanished them from the room, out into the grounds. It took a great deal of effort, as Nova saw Teal Quirt walking on her many legs towards him as he regained his full awareness.
“Save them, yet you can’t save yourself…” Teal Quirt grimaced at this, as Nova charged another spell.
Then, the entire castle shook, as if hit by an earthquake.
Caught off guard, Nova lost his focus, while Teal pressed her advantage, engulfing herself in a magic layer, the screech she gave ripped into Nova’s bones as he was tackled by Teal, the stone wall coming to meet him fast.
Stone flew in all directions as they smashed through, while the castle descended into chaos for reasons besides their clash.

Canterlot, royal palace
Upper towers

After a few more earthquake like hits, the tower was ready to come down.
Down below, as he gazed towards the dust cloud rising, Golmov gave a small laugh as he saw Odi-Viscer ram the tower base yet again. Finally, the white stone cracked, and the tower began to slowly fall over like a massive tree in a forest.
The guards swarmed, a warning bell rung, and the grey ape-like creature jumped through the smoke towards them, a beastly roar following the unseen battle that quickly unfolded, as the entire castle shook from the impact of the tower crashing into a few other rooftops in the city itself.
Spreading his 4 wings, the centipede like dragon took off in the direction of some crashing noises elsewhere in the castle, a series of blue flashes showing where their primary goal was.

Canterlot, royal palace
Archive halls

Books, parchment, wood and stone flew as Nova’s shield held firm, as he skidded to a halt on his hooves in the now ruined archives, Teal Quirt leaping from the hole he’d been fired through to fire a pair of blue heat beams right at him.
Firing back, Nova squinted as the beams of Teal’s two and his own collided, energy discharges flying and setting the castle library ablaze as the heat even melted and scorched metal and stone flooring where they met.
Seething through the effort, Nova roared as he had finally had enough:
“STAND DOWN!”
His own beam surged, as Teal was blown backwards into a bookcase that hadn’t been wrecked, the scorpion part of her body writhing its legs as she rolled to her feet with some effort, while Nova advanced, his horn glowing fiercely as he began a barrage.
Rubble flew away in Nova’s magic, as he found Teal Quirt standing up to face him, her four horns now all glowing on her apelike face as she darkly replied, her eyes now glowing a stronger green with each word:
“You have no power, now YOU WILL STAND DOWN!”
Her blue magic hued bright in all four horns, and suddenly Nova, even charging his horn at full power, ready to take her down, felt his movement slowed, as the ground and air around him seemed to hum and vibrate as an outside magic fought with his own.
He slowly felt his knees starting to bend, but he fought it, visibly stuck halfway between bowing and moving slowly towards the creature before him. Dust, parchment fragments and wood flew around him in a bubble at the two magic forces at work, his own and hers.
Over the massive humming though, more earthquake like crashes shook the castle, and amidst the shaking, Nova buckled, sinking to his knees barely. Before him, he saw a twisted smile split across the ape-scorpion-chimera hybrid, and he snapped.
Unleashing his full power, the field broke in all directions.
The archives exploded in a bright clash of blue and greenish hued light as Teal put up a last minute shield, lightning arcs blasting that part of the castle apart, stone walls and roof tiles crashing down as the archives they sat upon were torn asunder.
As the library section of the castle collapsed, a blue burst shot from it like a meteor, rising up to hover above the dust swirling ruins to reveal Nova, panting and delirious from the close proximity attack he’d unleashed.
Taking in a quick gaze as he beat his wings, the archive ruins subsiding amidst the castle towers they sat between, King Nova’s eyes widened at the carnage.
Some towers were collapsed, into the castle or into the city, and a large amount of fires and rumbles came from the main courtyard, a few booms of something crashing repeatedly where the main battle was taking place. With his vision, he saw it.

Unicorn guards fired furiously at the creature, as Pegasi and Earth ponies clad in the red and silver royal colours unleashed arrows and full on siege weapons upon it. But the grey skinned creature shrugged them off like ants, its mottled grey skin and muscles in its stone armoured, ape shaped and bald skinned body merely dusted from the blows.
Its size, towering at triple a normal pony’s height, was deceiving, as the horrifc creature leapt across the battlefield like a cheetah, fists and body like a small castle wall crashing into the ground, into guards, and into anything that dared attack or try and get into the castle.
Clearly, Aurora had gone and found reinforcements from the city’s outside garrison base, but they were outclassed in every way by that single creature.
The creature span, hurling what remained of one guard it had crushed in its grip off the mountainside, before spinning and firing a beam of red light from its mouth, as if pouring lava as bright as the sun from inside itself, Stone actually melted where it touched, and guard after guard were incinerated.
About to fly in, a bright green explosion from beneath him rocked the air he flew in, as a dust cloaked centaur like creature flew with her magic towards him, clawed hands outstretched as green tendril lengths of light snagged his neck suddenly.
Choking, Nova’s shield stopped the very hot beam from melting his neck, but he was hurled around like a lassoed mount, and violently thrown through the air.
And then he heard a rush and series of clicks in the air, as a pair of yellow eyes flew beneath him for him to see, along with many legs and four wings, before extreme pain engulfed his back.
Nova screamed aloud as Golmov, having flown in the moment Teal Quirt surprised Nova mid-air, to use his newfound magic to send Nova flying downwards towards the castle gardens with a yellow blast to his back.
As the King landed in a crater of soil and grass, Golmov turned to Teal Quirt in the air with a gleeful offer on his lips:
“May I take over from here?”
“I made him bow for but a moment, have your fun, but finish him whatever you do.” Teal said, casting a glance back towards the carnage Odi-Viscer was waging back at the castle’s front.
Golmov flew down towards the gardens, as Teal turned and used her magic to contact Odi-Viscer in his mind:
“We’re nearly done. You have a place to be soon, ignore the rabble.”
“No, this is too good to give up now!”
“Siral placed me in charge, not you.”
“I didn’t get to fight an Alicorn and you two did!”
“You will get one at some point, just do as you’re told Odi!”
As she looked over, she suddenly saw a flash of red, as many red mouth beams flew from where Odi-Viscer was unleashing himself, destroying large swathes of castle walls and buildings with the guard forces in his immediate vision, oe eye beam sweeping the sky as a pegasus flight came in, the flight vanishing in the red light like dust in a breeze.
The grey golem leapt from the dust and smoke in a billowing streak, his arc sending him further down the mountainside Canterlot rested upon.
Behind her, Teal Quirt heard more crashes, as Golmov had taken a few magic hits from Nova before grabbing the Alicorn, and hurling him into the castle’s chapel, walking slowly towards him.

Canterlot, castle plaza

The grey creature had gone, but as the guards advanced, they saw so many fragments, cinders, of what remained of their comrades, the city near the castle, melted and incinerated if not crushed by the falling towers and physical punches and blows of the creature.
The air had flakes of grey and black that remained of so many guards and civilians, and some guards had to steel themselves.
Up ahead, as a few brave ponies who had been hiding in the castle fled, somehow having not died in the many parts being ruined, the guards heard more crashes, and some saw a terrifying looking creature hovering over the castle, matching the description of the one that had entered the main hall by the survivors Queen Aurora teleported out 20 minutes ago. 20 minutes that seemed an eternity now.
More sounds of carnage came from the castle, as it was clear there were in fact three creatures.
“Advance, we have to-!”
One guard was cut off as the entire mountain shook slightly, rhythmic pounding shaking the slope the castle part of Canterlot was in place upon.
Unseen on the mountain slope, the golem like creature had swollen in size, a red glow clearly coming from his body as he repeatedly punched the mountain in a specific spot, his red magic and strength sending cracks deep into the rocks that held up part of the mountain face.

Canterlot, royal palace
Chapel

Gasping for air, Nova fired a blue beam again, but was tiring fast.
Ahead of him, the centipede like dragon had shifted into a full grown black and gold dragon, advancing slowly on him, pews and busts of ponies across the chapel being knocked aside by his tail as he walked towards the Alicorn wheezing at the alter.
“Look at you, weak, fearful, this is whom the one that humiliated me out of my Crystal Heart some time ago spawned from? Pathetic.”
Golmov cruelly remarked as he stood over Nova, who remained shaky on his hooves, but he was tired, so tired.
With a bellow, Nova fired a fierce blue beam towards Golmov’s head, but a yellow shield the shapeshifting beast conjured deflected it in all directions, the shots sending small holes into stones, curtains and windows across the chapel. At this, Golmov’s hand thrust out, passing through the weak beam with only a slight twinge of discomfort as he seized Nova, and slammed the Alicorn down onto the floor in a crushing grip.
Something broke, and Nova nearly screamed at the pain in his chest, the blue and black maned Alicorn king gasping as the black and gold dragon gripping him against the floor shapeshifted into the centipede dragon, full size taking up the chapel inside like a normal dragon. The hand gripping him morphed into one with a wing on its length, the claws sharper and longer as he was held in place.
“Fearful, yes. For what you might do to my ponies.”
“Fear only for Alicorns. For me, I take what I want, avoid fights if I can. But against Alicorns, me and my friends will happily take any on.”
Golmov knelt down, his yellow eyes glinting with his insect like mandibles around his mouth glowing yellow as he readied:
“Your ordeal today will be one of many to come for your kind, your daughters included.”
With a casual flick, Golmov tossed Nova back into a set of wrecked pews, before another flick of his yellow magic sent a nearby bust of an older Unicorn mare smashing into Nova’s back with a crash.
The gigantic beast began to shrink in size, wanting to see this in more detail, but stopped to revert back to normal size as he saw Nova somehow staggering up, barely, to face him with a flickering blue horn weakly showing signs of power.
But in his mind, Nova was sending a message to Aurora:
“Aurora, I tried my best, for Equestria’s peace, everything. Tell our daughters that, I tried.”
Nova gave a sigh as he charged his faint blue magic, while he saw a pair of yellow beams powering up in two of Golmov’s four hand ‘wings’, while a larger beam readied in his mouth, the yellow light drowning out the blue in the chapel before they fired, arcing everywhere and always streaking to directly before Golmov.

Having been heading towards the city in sight of the dimished violence, and the earthquakes unfolding, Queen Aurora had frozen in the air, surprising the guards with her, as she heard Nova’s last message.
A faint pang in her heart was matched by a bright series of yellow beams scattering and arcing through the air where the distant castle chapel was.
At that moment, the entire castle began to move downwards.

Canterlot outskirts

He’d teleported into the valley, ready for one last jump, but Starswirl had to stop at what the saw a mile away.
Canterlot, especially the main castle, ablaze, in ruins, and silent. Thunderous booms came from the mountainside below, as an unseen dust cloud shot up from the slope’s base, visible cracks appearing with red hues in the slope face below the castle’s part of the city.
The grey wizard’s heart tumbled, sank deeper than he thought, as he saw the yellow beams arc from the castle, and saw the faintest outline of a figure hovering down towards the dust cloud at the base of the mountainslope.
He sensed it, those feelings of Envy, Greed, and Wrath.
At that moment though, as the yellow beams from the distant castle subsided, the red hued cracks finally spread to the castle above.
The entire part of Canterlot that housed the city and the houses immediately bordering the outer wall and towers began to fall, as millions of tonnes of rock and mountain began to slide, tumble, and crash itself apart on its way down the slope. The entire northern end of Canterlot had fallen away from the mountainside, what remained of the castle after the attack being plunged to its doom in a massive landslide unseen or heard of except in myth.
Starswirl stared, lost for words, as the fragments of white stone that remained of the Canterlot castle came to rest after 20 seconds at the base of the valley, three quarters of Canterlot remaining high above, ripped from the royal palace area.
Siral had made his play, he had attacked the heart of the Royalists and decimated so much.
Planted in the ground, Starswirl stared ahead to see the faintest flashes of green and red vanish, their beings having cleared the rubble before it consumed them, as a barely visible creature vanished in a yellow flash just afterwards.
Snapping from his daze, Starswirl teleported to Canterlot’s outskirts, his mind racing.
Beneath the rubble, a remnant of a blue flash as an Alicorn died was seen only by those staring dumbfounded from the city above.

Late Afternoon
25th August, 72 BNM
Equestria, Canterlot
City edge

Guards were posted to watch the edge, where the entire palace area and many houses had fallen away, as those with houses right near the edge were evacuated in case of unexpected landslide.
But it was the Queen who had ventured to the edge without protest from the guards, the white, black and pink maned Alicorn inconsolable, but quiet.
Tentatively, as he’d spent much of the first few minutes finding out what happened, Starswirl cautiously approached the drop off where Aurora sat on her hind legs.
The grey wizard sat beside the larger queen, who merely turned her head to see him. He saw the heartbreak in her face, but, something different. He had never seen that shade of anger in her face, that deep rooted one that was founded by a harsh event, and often festered.
He croaked out as he stared down at the ruins, avoiding her gaze:
“I, I should have been here. The one I met, he sent them.”
“Why?”
Starswirl shook his head, as he himself wished he understood why Siral would go to these extremes. He didn’t realize just how far Siral had gone, what had happened since he last saw him, and why that would explain why he kept himself hidden.
Aurora’s pointed question also showed a level of bitter anger had become a part of her, and Starswirl worried for the Queen now. Those Siral’s attack had not killed, had instead hardened them.
“It was Siral… It has always been Siral. He has his own agenda, and wants to erase the Equestria of old, it is why he allied with the Nationalists. He, he sent them.”
Aurora looked at Starswirl with a cold look now, as she said to him with a tone as certain as she would be saying a universal truth:
“Your friend… He is now an enemy, your enemy. Accept this, or you are banished.”
Starswirl turned to look at Aurora, shocked at this remark, but her face, with tears and anger in it, showed the rage burning like a faint ember in her eyes.
Looking down, Starswirl submitted, as he said mournfully:
“I live to serve. Excuse me…”
Starswirl couldn’t handle it anymore, as he strode from the edge to find a quiet area. He felt so much weight today, he’d found his long lost friend was the one behind so much, and this had happened because Siral knew Starswirl would be away, and see his failure.

When Celestia and Luna returned form Tartarus, striking a deal with their leader to ally with the Royalists, they didn’t know just how important that success would be.
They were devastated, and equally disrupted by their mother’s handling of it, while they saw how embittered Starswirl had become after the initial shock by the time they got back.

Across Equestria, news spread. Royalists demanded retribution for their dead king, as Queen Aurora assumed power in his stead.
The Nationalists rallied, enthused by this blow, but something no side expected happened too. Dissent appeared in the Nationalist ranks just as the Royalists had been dealt a significant blow.
Those opposing the utter violence against more than just the Royal military clashed with those who saw the results as worth it. The Nationalists, with a lesser foe to fight in the Royalists, slowly began to squabble, fight, divide themselves.
Some saw it as a waste of the spoils of war, unethical, even morally wrong if the Nationalists were trying to be the better option for Equestria.
Others saw it as necessary, even deserving of the long ruling Alicorn royalty and their capital, even if no Alicorns, royal family, noble or even elite military had been killed besides King Nova. It was a morale crippling blow that had hardened the soft Royalists that didn’t seem to lose faith, leaving a smaller, but more brazen enemy to fight.

Early Afternoon
26th August, 72 BNM
Equestria, North midland mountains
Citadel, main area

Sat in his private study, Siral listened to Lady Ave-Dol’s curt words for him:
“-said nothing about these sort of acts. You are hiding too many secrets Siral, I came here under the impression that I was helping these ones you’ve taken in!”
“And you are, they have been wronged by society. I am simply enabling them to hit back at society, with a cause that will benefit from it.”
“It makes sense why Iena was somehow not disturbed we’ve allied with the Nationalists when she returned with Satio yesterday. You have been deceiving me, you are planning something, aren’t you!?”
Siral rose to his feet, meeting the taller shimmering blue Alicorn -like creature, her fiery orange feather mane shmmering as Ave-Dol bored into his eyes:
“You will come clean, now.”
Siral weighed his options, and decided with a grim look that he would indeed.
“As you wish. Here is where things stand. I have created 5 beings of immense power, who with recent events, have shown they can overpower even an Alicorn royal.”
Walking around the desk, Siral gestured with some black magic trailing around his hoof as he pointed at her:
“You are the sixth, but the only one I kept in the dark, because I knew you would disapprove. So here is where things stand if this insubordination continues, or if you spread your doubts to Gaudium, who clearly you have a bond of a maternal nature it would seem.”
“I created them, I have means of controlling them more forcefully. You have two choices, either I can have them all enslaved and forced to kill you, and Gaudium.”
Ave-Dol’s eyes widened in shock, as Siral had brought Gaudium in as an unseen means of gaining her submission.
“Or, if you act out later on, when Gaudium has too been enhanced, you will have SIX beings who will be compelled to reduce you to but a memory while they live as slaves in their minds.”
“But ideally, you keep quiet, do your role, and we can get along. In time, you will see this is necessary for all of Equestria. Sometimes, a bit of force is necessary to instil change for the better.”
As Siral stared at Ave-Dol, he gave a ghost of a smile, as Ave-Dol’s eyes shimmered at the betrayal of her trust. Siral did have their well-being in mind, for his own ends. And she had been a pawn in his game this entire time. But she cared more about the other 6, their lives ruined by others, ones Siral was taking advantage of even if they didn’t know it.
With a slight bow of her head, Ave-Dol hissed under her breath:
“You won’t keep this up.”
“We shall see. And if you think of sowing doubts into any of them, remember I have ways of turning those still loyal onto any of them.”
Lady Ave-Dol sunk to the ground in mild defeat, as she felt Siral lay a hoof upon the back of her neck in a mocking sympathy:
“There there, now you see. Not only can Alicorns be killed, but they can also be controlled, deceived. If I were more sympathetic, I’d say they’re not so different from anypony else after all.”
“You are despicable Siral.” Ave-Dol hissed as she stood, maintaining her composure as she walked, defeated, to the office door, tears at her own failings to make her stand and submitting to Siral’s threats against her and the others getting her in the end.
“History, shall see me differently.” Siral replied calmly as the enhanced Alicorn left the office. Turning to the bookshelf, Siral spoke slowly to himself:
“Perhaps it is time to add a subtle brainwashing potion in their meals.”
He always had contingencies, but he hoped not to use it. Utmost loyalty had yielded success today, and if Lady Ave-Dol was the only one thus far he needed to keep in check, all the better for it.

Author's Note

King Nova is dead, by the hands of the beings of Envy, and finished by Greed, while Wrath simply ripped Canterlot’s northern quarter with the palace apart and literally slid if down the mountainside.
Meanwhile though, the beings of lust and gluttony had been merely out on an exploration round that need not be seen.
Aurora, no longer the calm, generous and nice queen, and her daughters will come to mourn their mother’s change, as well as the change Starswirl undergoes to the more bitter wizard many see him as in much later centuries.
Siral issues a threat against the only soft hearted one of the first 6, Gaudium’s still a sort of newcomer and unconverted one. Lady Ave-Dol has been put in a corner now, and Siral is watching her.

Grief becomes Cruelty

Early Afternoon
27th October, 72 BNM
Equestria, western lowlands
Nokotaford, Royal Palace

Two months had passed, and the passing of King Nova amidst the devastating attack on Canterlot had changed a great many things.
In wake of it being discovered the Nationalists were using rumoured, and confirmed, monsters, high level magical beings, the Royalists responded in kind. Magicians and those of arcana profession were all but conscripted to begin brewing and concocting spells, potions, training of magical users and producing magically enhanced weapons for both magic and non-magic, such as Pegasi, Earth pony or the odd mercenary, to use.
This arms race had sprung up on both sides though, as tensions within the more dominant Nationalists had given rise to paranoia, and trying to make sure they wouldn’t be overwhelmed by any other. Only the forceful hooves of the Trumanes and ruling Alicorn families kept the Nationalists from beginning to test their new weapons on each other, instead of the Royalists.
As such, and in wake of Canterlot’s attack, the official capital of the Royalists was moved to the north western city of Nokotaford, where a second palace of the royal family, less used overall, resided for their use.
News of small skirmishes, and yet the war had come to a standstill at the moment, as both sides built up their forces.

Royal Palace, throne room

Queen Aurora sat upon the throne, a hard look on her face as she regarded the messenger before her with some irritation at the news the Pegasus bared:
“Why was I not informed sooner?”
“Forgive me your majesty, but it was only yesterday that the Las Pegasus ports were raided.”
“You presume such a delay wouldn’t give them an advantage of any sort…naïve fool of a stallion. Begone, I must confer with my generals.”
As the Pegasus stallion gulped while bowing, before flying out, Queen Aurora stood up with a snort, knowing she would have some words with the generals about a retaliatory attack on a Nationalist town or something. It wouldn’t be the first time raids were done simply to irritate each side, and it clearly worked.
The white Alicorn, with black and pink striped mane, had changed a great deal. No longer warm, inviting, now withdrawn, cold, and instead of regal, bright dresses of garments, she wore nothing but blacks and greys now if given the choice of attire, which being queen, was almost always.
She’d stopped shedding tears for her husband, and now merely wore her subtle mourning in her language of clothing, as she set about ensuring her Royalists had ultimate victory in the end.
Walking through the doorways to one of the castle drawing rooms, Aurora heard hoofsteps, as Celestia rounded the corner, heading in another direction:
“Mother, what was the news this time?” Celestia tried to strike up conversation, her tone bright and hopeful, to a degree.
“Another raid by the Nationalists, Las Pegasus. Do not fret over it daughter, I will have a retaliation strike on the way soon.” Aurora said in a dismissive tone, to which Celestia’s face fell while her mother continued past with a small nod in her daughter’s direction. The elder Alicorn princess stared at her mother with a forlorn look, shaking her head as she walked to the castle library, where she wished to research something:
“Mother… What have you become?”

Mid Afternoon
27th October, 72 BNM
Equestria, western lowlands
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Archives

It was later that day however, that more reminders of how much had changed with ponies she knew and loved came to Celestia, and her sister.
Luna had become withdrawn, she had been more of a father’s daughter, in the same vein as Celestia was to their mother, slightly more relatable to one parent. In her withdrawal, Luna had buried herself in studies and training in magic and tactic books.
Luna urged her sister that they would have to be ready to fight, but Celestia knew Luna was always to be the one more inclined to combat by her more passionate nature. Celestia was always the more reserved sister, even and especially in wake of their father’s death. With their mother turning cold and even cruel, somepony had to keep a level head.
As they found that even Starswirl had started to change significantly.

Archive, drawing room

The grey wizard was poring over the last of the maps, open to the Equestrian midlands, a large swathe of woodlands that for a strange reason, were largely uncharted.
Rolling up the maps with his magic, Starswirl floated them into a shrinking bag as he looked up to see the two Alicorn princesses come walking in, at his summons.
“I would have thought promptness was a trait valued among royals.” Starswirl remarked, to which Celestia’s eyes narrowed in some disappointment, while Luna admitted with some meek apology:
“We had to sit in with the Generals’ meeting.”
“Hopefully something not repeated if I have success.” Starswirl finished packing as he replied, to which Celestia and Luna stood across from the table which he sat at now. Looking sadly at Starswirl, Luna offered:
“Must you leave though? Thy presence would be sorely missed.”
“No it would not, I do not socialise enough for that.” Starswirl replied curtly, to which Celestia frowned, before she reminded Starswirl:
“By us, Starswirl. By us.”
The Grey wizard stopped for a moment, as he quietly sighed in his paused pacing stead:
“I will be gone 2 months at most. No more.”
“But why?” Celestia asked the wizard, who merely span to face her and Luna with a slightly loud edge to his voice, grey beard dishevelled slightly from a few nights with little sleep it seemed:
“So I can end this damn war, that is why!”
Celestia backed away slightly, while Luna stood fast as Starswirl replied in a calmer tone:
“If our enemies, enemies among whom there are those who can, and want to kill, you two and other Alicorns, they have great power. I seek something to tip the scales in our favour, for once in my life. It is getting to the point where if this war keeps up, nopony will truly win in the end. You’ve seen your mother; you’ve felt the needless losses mounting. Needless, pointless, deranged and unjustified by those who did it”
Luna looked down slightly as Starswirl finished his ranting, while Celestia openly questioned him:
“Those who did it? The Nationalists, or your old friend from the Citadel you told us of after we’d grieved for father?”
Starswirl was quiet, as Celestia sensitively finished while Luna stared on with a look of trepidation on her face:
“I know he betrayed you, but you aren’t acting like yourself Starswirl.”
“Good, my old self didn’t take this threat seriously enough, or see what I should have seen all along. As far as I am concerned, my old ways can go hang at this point.”
As he shuffled the maps off the desk, Luna grew hurt at her former teacher’s tone, her hoof stomping in aggravation as she rebuked:
“It wasn’t your fault, your friend was the one who is at fault, not you.”
“But my deeds may have made him this way, even a slight nudge can start an avalanche, a small breeze a thunderstorm.”
“Then why are you leaving on a journey, without help?” Celestia demanded. Staying quiet, Starswirl let Celestia continue:
“For years, even before either civil war, you’ve been distant, antisocial, but you were experienced enough that many accepted it. But you must understand there are those who can, who want to help you.”
“I have a moral obligation to do myself, now cease pestering that which I alone must deal with!” Starswirl insisted, jabbing a hoof at Celestia as his temper began to fray slightly.
Luna and Celestia exchanged a glance, before Celestia gave a saddened look, before nodding in agreement: “Very well. All I’ll say is I hope you succeed.”
Starswirl looked down slightly, even as the two Alicorns before him, taller than he, seemed to feel small to him. So much ran through his mind, but he had to at least reassure his former pupils:
“But if it will help alleviate your worry for me, I won’t be alone. I have one ally coming with me, I need his help anyway. But as for who it is, I want to ask of you a favour.”
As Starswirl began, Luna shared a worried look with Celestia, wishing the reasons for what was said were simply not true:
“You recall the Salamander I know, Chack? He will be coming with me, where we’re going. What concerns me is to do with your mother, she may not take too kindly to somepony aligned with the Nationalists aiding me after recent events. But Chack is my eyes and ears into the Nationalist armies, I trust him with my life enough to not endanger it. May I ask that if she asks if I am alone, say yes.”
Celestia recalled the tales she’d heard of Chack, while it was Luna who replied:
“Yes, we will.”
“Good. He may well have learned about those creatures that attacked the city anyway. This is more than just a journey, also a way for me to plan how to deal with them.”
“Just, please remember you have friends here Starswirl.” Celestia pleaded quietly, as Luna also stood with a similar look on her face.
The Wizard merely grunted in reply, intent on leaving soon. And yet only the slightest twinge of guilt for his mannerisms hurting Celestia and Luna plagued his mind.
Slightest being the exact description, drowned by his sense of duty.
He would be gone by tomorrow morning

Same day
Late Afternoon
27th October, 72 BNM
Equestria, eastern coasts
Bayland port town, outskirts

The bronze Alicorn walked proudly through the streets, the smaller Salamander packed with travel gear and some minimal dark red bushido armour bearing the Nationalist symbol beside him.
Chack had become known as a friend of Aubelles, an odd companion for an Alicorn thought to view those lesser than he with amusement in his ego. Egotistical, but never outright cruel or malicious, with a sense of honour still.
“You are certain you do not wish me to accompany you?” Aubelles offered again, to which Chack dismissively replied.
“I can handle myself Aubelles, even if my years are starting to grow numerous, I already did for decades before coming here. And for all I know this could end up being a wild goose chase.”
“Still, the troops will miss you. As will the blacksmiths I expect.”
“Spare me, they only like me for my expertise in blade crafting. Still, I will miss the coastal places the army group frequents.”
“Yes, ever since the Canterlot success, things have been easy for ourselves.” Aubelles remarked, at which Chack became slightly quiet, while he probed once again:
“Aubelles. Success it may have been, what do you make of these, creatures, that serve our alignment on the Citadel’s direct control?”
Aubelles stopped for a moment, thinking to himself as he put a hoof to his mouth in some thought:
“Formidable, if tales are right. Perhaps on par with Alicorns, even me.”
“Does that trouble you? A rival or rivals perhaps?” Chack questioned, a slight hint of humour in his voice as he poked Aubelles’s ego in a not so subtle way.
“No. Just a waste, I once visited Canterlot long ago, to think that magnificent city is missing its palace and King now.” Aubelles admitted.
“I suppose that is true. Too much fighting means there’s no spoils to be had.” Chack reasoned, to which Aubelles gave a slight laugh as he laid a hoof on the Salamander’s head in a semi mocking/heartfelt goodbye:
“Have a pleasant trip Chack. Though my offer to arrange a flight for your-.”
“Please, I can walk Aubelles. However it turns out, I will see you again.”
The bronze Alicorn gave a small smile as the Salamander turned to walk the long dirt track that led inland from the port town, a few weeks, no more than two months of supposedly spying on Royalist territory for any easy targets.”

Next day
28th October, 72 BNM
Equestria, midlands
Hillsides

Starswirl had found Chack and regrouped when both were clear, catching up on information before they went on further south.
Chack had only rumors and tales from the Citadel to go by, but he revealed that doubts in the Nationalists about going too far were among the common forces, while the leaders were all too enthusiastic about their assets from the Citadel, and other living superweapons in the form of trained Alicorns, dangerous potions and spells, which the Royalists were also concocting. Nothing on the scale of full-fledged living beings as came from the Citadel though.
But where they were headed, may hold secrets that could be unlocked for their own gain.

Late Morning
29th October, 72 BNM
Equestria, south midlands
‘Everfree forest’

Centuries of magic ‘sculpting’ equestrian, its land, rivers and weather all falling more and more under magical manipulation to better Equestria, or serve specific functions, had created it.
After all, every action had a reaction, physics, magic, anything.
The magical energies that had been used to shape Equestria to pony ideal use had trickled through the land, concentrating.
All that would be natural, untamed, wild, had concentrated in specific spots across Equestrias. Caverns, swamps, a few notable mountain peaks.
But none compared to the great forest, the twisted woodland, the Everfree Forest, by size or by its mysteries, both wondrous and dangerous.
Great untamed magic centuries gathered lay in the forest’s depths.
And at the edge of the forest, near where in a few centuries a town would sprout at its rim, a Grey Wizard and his Salamander companion had arrived, ready to enter.

Forest borders

Standing before the forest edge, Starswirl saw how the light seemed to actually diminish very quickly into the forest.
“This place feels strange. I can only describe it as wild.” Chack breathed, the Salamander cautiously eying up the expanse of vine choked treelines that went on for miles.
“What parts of Equestria are left untamed, do their best to make up for the other reigned in terrains across the nation. None more so than here.” Starswirl remarked. In truth though, many tales were spread of this forest, of the many creatures hiding in its furthest depths.
But what great power undoubtedly resided in its depths was what was needed.
Seeing the trees beckoning, Chack gave a small breath in anticipation, giving his sword a pat in its side sheath, his armour ready in anticipation of this place.
“You lead the way, this is your domain after all.”
“And I shall lead, but not in full knowledge of what to expect. Be on your guard, there may be more to be found in this forest then what we seek.”
“And what of the war while we are gone?”
“If we can find a power to take out those beings and their master, what is lost while we are gone will be worth it. The war is now a battle of outdoing the other, and we must acquire power nopony has knowledge of, until too late to resist.” Starswirl said curtly, gesturing with a blue shine from his horn to the trees.
Chack saw the cold look in Starswirl’s eyes, and couldn’t help but feel that something was off, the Wizard hadn’t been the same since he found out it was Siral this whole time, the creatures attacking Canterlot, inciting the second Civil war with the very slightest of nudges in the form of a destroyed village here and there, impersonations, deceit, all to set Equestria on the Alicorn infighting he’d preached as inevitable.
The worst part was nobody could prove, nor expected, that if Siral hadn’t done all this, it wouldn’t have happened at all.
As Starswirl set off ahead, the Wizard carrying his own supplies and camping equipment in a smaller bag shrunken by magic, the Salamander walked briskly in pursuit, as the vine choked oaks and other monstrous sized trees of Everfree forest engulfed them in their shades.

Author's Note

The Everfree forest holds many secrets, and in this journey for Starswirl and Chack, what becomes some great asset centuries later is found deep in the forest.
But what they first intend to do with that they find is not the greatest power that comes from it.
As for Queen Aurora, taking notes from Queen Victoria’s later years of rule, she wears dark colours now in permanent mourning, so she can focus her mind on ruling. Celestia is the only one least affected, as Luna has become quieter and more withdrawn to a degree, and Starswirl’s change of mood isn’t helping things.
Even so, among the nationalists as Chack has insight into, some second thoughts about the sheer damage the war is doing are growing, even among its most proud warriors, Alicorn or not.

Dreams, Lord of the Forest

Late Afternoon
3rd November, 72 BNM
Equestria, south midlands
‘Everfree forest’, inner depths

5 days had taken them deep into the Everfree forest, and even now Equestria seemed a world away. In here they were in uncharted territory, so progress was slow, methodical, as Starswirl searched with Chack in tow.
Gnarled tree trunks, shades and darkness cast by the large overgrown vines, branches and old forest blotted out the late morning sun. In here, life began, thrived, suffered and died in the forest, hardly venturing beyond its dark, untamed depths. A world of untamed natural, beautiful brutality, nestled right in the midlands of perhaps the most ‘cultivated’ landmass on the planet. Magic from Unicorns, Weather altering from the Pegasi, hard efforts to alter the land from Earth Ponies, made Equestria, and a large part of the world’s north western landmass, the least natural behaving land known.
But all the ‘taming’ of Equestria merely diverted what disorder to balance it out into concentrated spots, none bigger than the Everfree forest.
The old forest hid many secrets, and as a spillover of raw magic, a consequence of magical manipulating of Equestria’s landscape, weather and even wildlife in some case, tales of strange creatures not seen before, of supposedly mysterious features hidden in the forest’s depths, from spirits, to trees that moved, to unholy and heavenly creatures of great mystery.

Evening
Everfree Forest, natural crossroads

Once again they’d stopped in a clearing, as Starswirl had decided to have a look around, his blue horn shining as he used a subtle spell beyond Chack’s knowledge. The Unicorn mumbled under his breath, his grey beard dishevelled from their travels, whilst the Salamander could only follow the Wizard where he went.
Looking around, Chack saw the path they’d come on, a crudely marked trail, winding away into the dark woods behind them, whilst ahead, 2 other paths beckoned, their trails and features indistinguishable from each other from the alcove where three
Nearby, Starswirl grunted as he stopped his spell:
“Too vague, too unreadable, yet its everywhere.”
“Care to let me be privy to what you are thinking? Or should I remain an uninformed accomplice on this expedition.” Chack rebuked in a deriding tone from across the clearing, as he gazed around the sights while Starswirl replied:
“This forest is old, it has much magic flowing through it, magic that could be rather easily harnessed for extreme power, were it not so widespread to the point of it being too thin to use.”
At the wizard’s explanation, Chack gazed sceptically around the forest, saying: “And those creatures, your old friend, how much forest magic would be needed to be able to defeat them?”
“It would take harnessing power from across a quarter of this province sized forest’s inherent magic to do that. But where we stand shows that is not a labour we need do.”
“How so?” Chack asked, but as Starswirl began to speak, he could swear he heard a faint whisper, a voice he once knew but seemed so far and forgotten that it was impossible to be here now. It came from all around them.
“-trails. These do not run on their own, there are sources, focus points, wellsprings in which the magic is focused, like lakes along a river which other rivers flow into.”
Starswirl finished, as he shone his blue horn light on the trail, the slightly white glowing smoke along the trail, like mist moving in a barely visible stream, pulsated along the paths.
“Might those energies be watching us somehow?” Chack cautiously asked, fingering his sword ever so slightly. Looking around warily, Starswirl had the same feeling of suspicion:
“I’d be surprised if they weren’t. This forest has many eyes, and it somehow feels more connected at a mystical than it should be.”
Looking up, both saw what very little sunlight was getting through the treetops was fading fast. Looking down, the very slightly glowing vapours that flowed through the forest floor seemed to light up the paths as the day ended.
Regarding the trail with caution, Starswirl suggested smartly: “Perhaps we sleep up a tree tonight? I feel this might also be a hunting trail, and I’d like not just my magic to keep us-, Chack?”
Looking around, Starswirl saw Chack had already wandered over to a large mangrove tree of sorts, vines hanging down that he brushed aside. The armour clad Salamander stopped at the trunk, gesturing with a head nod:
“This looks safe enough.”
“In this forest I believe safe is a word hardly used…” Starswirl remarked, the Unicorn walking over to the tree to begin looking at its higher branches for a place to rest and unpack.
Still, as the night drew on, the faint glows of the mist created an aura of mystery in this part of the forest, and the prevalence of a watchful presence was unnerving as they both settled for sleep later that night.

Later that night

Chack’s eyes flickered, he’d chosen to watch while Starswirl took a power nap. Yet he felt sleepy, unusually so. He could go 3 days without sleep if need be, but something in the air made his head swim, the very air he breathed felt heavy, intoxicating, and his vision began to shimmer.
His eyes flickered, and he felt his head slowly slump forwards, as sleep took him.
Nearby, Stasrwirl shuffled in his sleep, kicking slightly as he groaned at something in his dreams.

Falling, he was falling, yet his landing was soft, wherever he was.
Looking around, it was a shining white mist, slowly growing darker as shapes began to emerge.
Figures, much like himself, Salamanders that seemed familiar. Very vague, almost rotting and degraded houses and paths through Salaman, his home, appeared and disappeared as he walked through the strange, vivid dreamscape.
Echoes of voices he recognised egged him further on.
“-disobeyed me, dishonour even if you vanquished our foes!”
“-banished, you refuse to take your life.”
“-helpful to the Nationalists, even for a foreign lake lizard like you are.”
“-do not trust what you hear, there are things going on in Equestria that you cannot comprehend, that even I cannot, things the prophecy hasn’t helped me see.”
“-you did this to me! You took my future with my horn and magic!”
Staggering through the fogs, Chack saw a few lingering shapes with each whisper from his past, long and recent. His old master, the aged Salamander who died in a coup shortly after Chack’s exile, avenged now but still one who rejected him. A Nationalist general he’d met, looking down on him for his race despite his accomplishments as an experienced warrior and weaponsmith, Starswirl himself giving Chack warnings of goings on beyond both of their knowledge, and that Teal maned Unicorn he attacked during his avenging of his master’s death in Salaman 40 years ago before coming to Equestria. She had tried to kill him, but he got her, lost an arm that he grew back but delivered a fatal blow to her before fleeing.
Why was she there among the others?
Wandering through, vivid flowing white and blue shapes, like orbs of light hat trailed jellyfish like tendrils from them, circled around him, an unintelligible dialect echoing from them as he wandered down the path through the white mist.
But in the distance, he could sense turmoil, far away beyond his sight, visible only as a spectrum of auras of chaos and evil on the horizon, no longer brewing but unleashed against the world, and presided over all of them was an aura darker than any of them, be it the hesitant or the vicious ones it lorded over.
One of the lesser ones, the one of green light in shadows, bore into his soul, a pair of piercing green eyes amidst a haggard, blueish-grey scorpion-centaur hybrid, reminded him of the Teal Maned one he thought he’d slayed. Utter hatred came from there, aimed at him, unlike the others whose ill content was aimed more generally.
Staggering, he turned his gaze forwards, as he noticed strange pillars, and towering before him, a transparent floor he walked over, where strange trees of light grew downwards away from him, interlocking their branches.
One massive one called to him, ushering him forwards, he reached close, feeling its power emanating before and beneath him, as he came to see it more vividly.
Suddenly, the world fell out from under him, and the world turned white in a flash, his very last vision a pair of white glowing tendrils reaching out to him, and blue/white fire engulfing him in a searing, but cold light.

Midnight
3rd/4th November, 72 BNM
Equestria, south midlands
‘Everfree forest’, deep chasms

The ground raced up to meet Chack’s face as he snapped awake by gravity’s harsh embrace. Jarring his head, thankful for his samurai helmet, the dirt and moss caked his mouth as he slid down the steep slope, falling into a small muddy puddle at the bottom of the hole.
He looked around, seeing rock walls around him overgrown with treetrunks and roots, vines and moss, yet it glowed a faint white enough to see where obstacles were. Dandelion like floaters, glowing white in the air, littered the cavern’s depths that beckoned to him. Looking down, and then up the slope, Chack realised something as he saw the white mist trailing down into this chasm he’d fallen into, and flowing into the cavern.
Whatever this was, it had caused him to have this dream, it led him here. His old master had told him that sometimes if vivid enough, dreams are more than just dreams.
Pulling his sword out, Chack ventured forward. He’d go forth, but not unprotected, he wasn’t naïve after all.

Meanwhile

He saw the 3 prophets, the 3 blind mares, their eyes glowing, before all turned black, and he awoke in the journey he’d been making.
Trudging out across the stark, brown landscape, Starswirl kept his blue cloak close as the wind picked up. Before him, the castle ruins lay before him, one of a few hastily erected in this desolate world as a fortress to defend what they had to still fight over.
Staring out, Starswirl saw the convoy approaching, a few chariots being drawn up the pathway, under the archway that marked the edge of their defence lines in this part of Equestria.
Further out beyond, the dusk light of the sun bathed the land in a red tinge that befitted its desolate state. Fighting over resources included fighting over the weather control, and while some places became deprived of it, other places drowned or were turned into oceans.
Overhead, as a result of fighting over control, of power, the shattered remains of the moon beckoned, thousands of fragments surrounding a ruined husk hanging high in the skies. When it went, the world was changed forever, and nopony knew what started its destruction, only that it behaved strangely beforehand, changing its patterns of movement.

His hoofs kicking up dirt and dust from the trail, as the browning grasses and vines growing around the castle ruins.
The chariots were unpacked, as brown cloaked Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth ponies, and foreign Diamond Dogs, Gryphons and even a dragoness helped unload the supplies. Walking up, pulling down his hood, Starswirl gruffly asked the convoy’s leader aboard the nearest cargo chariot, while those of this ‘clan’ unpacked.
“Were you followed?”
Shaking her head, the White Alicorn nodded, her pink mane cut short for practicality. In her brown cloak, Celestia remarked bitterly as another crate of supplies floated past her:
“No, and no sign of anypony when we went out.”
“Did you find anything in the raid either?”
At this, Celestia nodded, as she gestured to the crate she hovered over to the front of the wagon now, from beneath its covering:
“The armoury was empty, except for this, they left in a hurry.”
Pacing forwards slowly, Starswirl pulled open the lid of the crate, while nearby a few of the cloaked ponies stared over in curiosity, while the dragoness slowly turned to the horizon, spotting something coming she couldn’t make out amidst some very dark stormclouds, their red hues seeming to give them a bloody-pink colouration in the skies.
Yanking off the lid, Starswirl gazed inside, but his looked turned to confusion, then horror.
Inside lay a black stone, as a grey eye suddenly blinked from within, widening and then narrowing in recognition and victorious rage.
A hum of yellow magic came from before him, as Starswirl suddenly saw Celestia’s yellow magic glowing in his face:
“He’ll give me Luna alive, for you and the others…”
The betrayal and anger surging turned to panic as the dragoness called out:
“Fliers from the north!”
At that same moment, brown cloaks flew off as pony, Gryphon and dog troopers of the north kingdom, clad in their silver and black armour, emerged among them. They’d taken or killed ones they knew and replaced them with dopplegangers, infiltrators.
As the dragoness flung a few aside, magic and weapons flew, clangs of steel on steel filling the air as Starswirl turned to Celestia to charge her, his blue magic firing her backwards through the chariot in his rage.
Celestia took flight, firing a yellow beam as she fled, screaming back in a plea to her old master.
“She is my sister!”
“She’s already gone you foolish girl!”
In his fury, Starswirl flung off his cloak, as black and silver clad pegasi, dragons, Gryphons and even strange creatures from abroad, and some abominations he couldn’t even name, flew in as a fleet.
He charged, teleporting to enemies, firing spell after spell, but every kill, every blasted foe, every crumbling part of the castle ruins they sheltered in, was merely seconds passing in the time of this inevitable loss.
Soon, it was only him, as he saw a few of his followers, remnants of the Royalists that managed to be organised enough in this world of the Savant’s, carried off by his creations and servants.
He felt arms enclose him, but he blasted them off. Their bewitched, brainwashed and slavish devotion showed in the very slight grey glows in their eyes. Some of these creatures and beings had been indoctrinated from birth, unable to resist.
Blue magic diminished, and before long, he couldn’t teleport, as magic grapples forced him to his knees, as a large shape came hovering over him from behind, and an electrifying sensation filled his mind along with white lighting around his head. He blacked out without a second longer of agony.

He had awakened before a large flowing river of some kind, but it was strange, it alternated between water, a strange sickly smelling brown liquid, and a poisonous concoction of other colours.
Nearby, he saw the island he was on was not only his. Laid before him tauntingly was a Katana sword, and he saw the 5 artefacts from his journey so long ago that had been taken from him in an attack he barely escaped from.
Staring out, he saw a set of 7 silhouettes hovering atop the hill near the strange river’s edge, as a myriad of shapes flittered along the edge of the river.
An orange, shapeless mass that radiated subdued hunger shifted on one bank, a serpentine, insect scaled demon on another nearby, coyly regarding him with taunting desire that was clearly torture of his soul. On another bank, a yellow centipede like dragon towered tauntingly before him, a sick grin on his face at finally getting him, while nearby, a grey, stone and flesh skinned brute bore into his soul with piercing red eyes that radiated power and anger.
Nearby the centre, two more, a centaur like being with scorpion body and ape face features, smiled grimly at him, radiating bitterness and jealousy, while beside her, a sadder looking light blue bodied Windigo/Alicorn hybrid with a burning orange feathered mane sat passively, radiating an aura of hopelessness.
Behind them all, a longer bodied figure was hidden in shadow, as a shaded figure with red and yellow eyed stared back, his long serpent like body showing the long arms and legs off, and the engulfing wings on his back overshadowing the 2 long horns like a savage deer’s atop his head. A look of smug victory came from the taunting, glowing grin of his jagged teeth.
In all of them, the shimmer of the grey glow of indoctrination, these 7 longer than others, was present.
Above them all though, a familiar face, one not indoctrinated at all, hovered down into the circle of 7 watching Starswirl’s prison island on this changing river.
In an aura of black smoke, Siral emerged, clad in more refined robed befitting a ruler, but he still sported the jagged scarring of his encounter with his first Alicorn now over a century ago by his age, even longer in real time.
Eyes wide, Starswirl saw a number of long pony horns, Alicorn horns, adorning his robes of ruling. One dark blue horn on the shoulder made him hang his head in despair, Celestia’s betrayal had been for naught indeed.
A black and grey aura of magic engulfed Starswirl’s chin, as Siral turned him to look him in the eye:
“All this fighting, it caused this. Well, with you gone, and when the others all are, with the power we unleashed able to destroy, we can rebuild, better than before, just like promised.”
Flicking Starswirl’s chin away in his magic grip, Siral rumbled as he hovered backwards and upwards, regarding with a hoof each of his seven creations, the seventh still clad in mystery, though 3 of them Starswirl recognised as their identities being present so long ago in Canterlot’s attack and King Nova’s death.
That had been 60 years ago.
As he hovered up, Siral’s command carried in the air as he flicked a hoof, and Starswirl’s island began to sink:
“Change is traumatic, but necessary. If only you realised it like I did, instead of remaining a willing slave to your sworn loyalties. Goodbye, old friend.”
The multiformed liquid of the river engulfed him, as Starswirl’s vision swam in the scalding hot liquid.
He tasted sweet and sickly liquid, yet also burning poisons, the river was slave to Siral’s creations’ wiles like so many other features.
Pressure built, until finally he took a breath, and burning filled his chest while his vision fluttered…

Midnight
3rd/4th November, 72 BNM
Equestria, south midlands
‘Everfree forest’, mangrove maze

Eyes snapping open, Starswirl choked on the muddy water he’d fallen into, spitting it out violently as the forest stream’s inky and murky taste filled his mouth as he coughed it up.
He gazed around, heart pounding at the vivid dream, almost like a vision. But he saw around him the faint white mist that had been on the trails. He’d sleepwalked it seemed, yet the dream had been too vivid to be coincidence.
Too vivid to be someone else exactly, it was as if he’d lived it himself. Perhaps he had, in another time. A time yet to come.
Yet the meaning was clear, it was a time yet to come he could not let happen.
Staring around, wiping some mud off his cloak, Starswirl looked around, knowing in the back of his mind that Chack was likely to be alright. But something called to him down this stream he’d been summoned to, zigzagging between the tree trunks and mangrove tree maze that loomed ahead. White floaters illuminated the trail, calling out to him, as the forest was eerily quiet all around him.
The Wizard ventured through the forest stream, knowing he’d seen many strange things, and that another wouldn’t hurt.

1 hour later
Deep Forest Chasms

The caverns, more like twisted tree roots forming a tunnel, flowed with the ethereal mist that glowed in the night, a light in the darkest night imaginable.
A thousand tree root ends reached out into the tunnel, either seeming to try and grab at Chack as he ventured further in, or reaching in the direction he was headed.
Soon, he came to a tight passage, and Chack shuffled awkwardly through the narrow gap, his armour scraping on the jagged tree roots while he squeezed through one step at a time.
After a few metres, he emerged, but he saw a strange clearing, almost like a bulbous space enclosed in thick trees. Where a massive tree once stood had been overgrown with vines on the outside, died, and rotted away, left an enclosure of vines that acted like a vine cathedral of sorts around what lay in the centre of its ground.
A small puddle, yet it seemed to be as clear as glass, glowed a faint white in the middle of the green and black clearing. 2 metres wide, it seemed to hum almost before him.
Tentatively stepping forwards, Chack suddenly felt his movements stopped, as a faint white glow engulfed his armour and sword suddenly.
“Remove your worldly possessions, you do not need them here.”
Like a voice on the wind, yet vibrating like an earth tremor in his mind, Chack groaned as the voice compelled him. But he refused at first, asking bluntly to the voice that seemed to come from around the Salamander:
“Who are you?”
“What you see before you and more.”
“I do not appreciate being led astray in the night, speak clearly demon!” Chack accused. A humming seemed to fill the air, as a faint white fire, more illusion than flame, rose from the puddle before him like a wispy bonfire:
“Demon? I would take insult to that were I less patient. The only things demons and I share is that we need no physical form, but unlike them I need not control and consume others to exist, but by creating and letting life thrive I thrive. They are animals, they consume. I am more forest, I grow, I expand, I thrive in this peaceful chaos that is nature untamed.”
“So why the dream, why make me fall down a hole?”
“You are needed. You and another you came with, who will be told what we know that he must know as well.”
Looking around, Chack cautiously began to strip his armour and sword, as the ‘being’ echoed from the roots around the Salamander:
“I have watched through the roots and branches of my reach of the world outside that surrounds this domain. Whereas here there is no taming, no forced control, out there the world is shaped, and while it has done a decent enough job staying in balance, the imbalance that there is has meant my domain can grow. But, those who control it have changed, grown bolder and hungrier for control as centuries pass.”
“I was the first, but I didn’t desire power over others, I left, fading into legend.”
Around Chack, a few tree roots groaned, as a face emerged, equine almost, but warped and turned longer in its snout, like a wolf’s. Around it, emerging from the darkness, green eyes of the local bark skinned timberwolves shone, regarding this ‘growth’ inside the root cathedral with silent respect almost.
The face blinked a few times, as a hoof stomped from a root nearby to join it, and the extension formed a vine and wood skinned Alicorn front half, wings horn and all, draped with wood vines and a greenish/white glow as it leant down, its deep, soft voice replying with a degree of pride and solemnity to it:
“You may call me Everfree.”
Blinking at the sight, Chack heard a few of the timberwolves beyond this enclosure, including the gap he’d shuffled through before, growl at this word in seeming admiration. The wood skinned alicorn looming 20 feet over him regarded him with blank eyes, while the shimmering white puddle and well glowed brightly behind him, flaring with the name.
The Salamander felt the urge to bow, but at this point, he didn’t know at all what to do against this being, this spirit of the forest come to life. Lord of Everfree, god of the Timberwolves and ruler of all untamed in Equestria, the hidden king.

Mangrove maze

Staggering through the last outcropping, Starswirl found himself stumbling down a steep rocky slope of dark blue rocks, the white glow focusing deep inside what looked like an open cavern.
As he felt the looming presence growing around him, he saw something ahead, glowing.
A tree sapling, crystalline in structure, with the white mist glowing around it.
As he ventured closer however, he heard the creak and rustle of wood and stone, as he saw a cloud of white mist flowing down the slope begin to gather around a shifting mangrove tree, the vinelike extensions twisting to form into a rough shape before his eyes off to the side.
Within the form of the mangrove tree’s branches and twigs, a set of bark like eyes emerged, similar to the Timberwolves but wiser, far older. Yet the Alicorn shape that emerged, flanked with goat like horns, a wolflike snout and draconian claws from its hooves, gave Starswirl reason to be wary, thinking this was another dream.
“A dream this is not, Starswirl.”
“How do you know my name spirit?” Starswirl asked bluntly, as he saw the green glow of Timberwolf eyes beginning to watch him from afar.
“Spirit, better than what your friend called me, the Salamander. I have already introduced myself to him, but you have yet to meet Everfree.”
“The forest?” Starswirl asked warily, before a reverberating chuckle and sigh echoed in the dark night, the white light from the glowing parts of the mangrove tree, white mists and even the small crystalline tree sapling in the cavern nearby blinking at this.
“Yes, and no. I am Everfree, though in mortal life I was the first Alicorn, of a name I willingly forgot. You are one of the few alive today that was born before I was.”
“Then I expect you to be more to the point than you are now, what do you want, why did you lead me here?” Starswirl asked, pointing to the strange tree sapling.
“I came to offer, help. What happens out there affects my domain, and I came to offer help in your quest for a source of power, to counter those who use their own for ultimately, destructive ends for all but themselves.”
“The vision…” Starswirl breathed, to which Everfree replied:
“Your future, your last moments. Time is an illusion to me, and I can show those living the future, though only their own. Futures are never set, but that warning is hopefully enough to remind you the grave danger out there right now.”
Starswirl scoffed at this, replying to the forest bodied Alicorn form standing before him formed of mangrove branches: “I need not be reminded of the danger I know all too well, personally in their leader’s case.”

Starswirl scoffed at this, replying to the forest bodied Alicorn form standing before him formed of mangrove branches: “I need not be reminded of the danger I know all too well, personally in their leader’s case.”
“Then you must realise that by that future, as I read your thoughts, I had to intervene. I saw my domain gone, along with many others beyond this forest. That is why I called you here. There is great power in this forest, in focused spots like you hoped. But it is power that cannot be easily harnessed.”
“I never expected power to undo Siral’s evils now and to come to be easy to use. Teach me.”
“We shall see. I sense doubts in your mind.”
“Every second wasted is one he can scheme; my doubts are of how full your commitment to ‘helping’ me truly is.” Starswirl replied impatiently, losing his temper as he had often been doing in these more stressful times.
The Alicorn turned his head in scepticism of the wizard before him, before the branches creaked with him turning to the sapling before him in the alcove, with a calm voice perpetuating through the clearing, the stars barely visible overhead:
“Then let us begin. When we finish, you and your friend shall have your roles as we have foreseen to undo the futures to come if left unchecked.”
“Forgive me if I have doubts about undoing futures, a prophecy set about all this.”
“A prophecy you devoted to following, preparing for what was to come. Now, we shall work to prevent a future, not to prepare for it. Make fate your own design as is natural.”
Somehow, Starswirl found himself not at all disagreeing with this. He was officially done with following prophecy, he sought to change the course of things, however was best and most efficient.
And so the long teachings by Everfree to the Wizard, and elsewhere with the Salamander, continued through the night, with their ultimate tests to come.

Author's Note

Everfree, deity of the forest, the first Alicorn, who chose a life of solitude to bond with nature in the one untamed part of Equestria, then at the time a small forest, now much bigger. More and more ‘control’ of Equestria’s features, weather and nature made the more chaotic magic manifest stronger in Everfree and other ‘oasis’s’ of natural order grow in size.
Able to see people’s futures by reading their minds, his ‘design’ of the Alicorn avatars is reminiscent of the Timberwolves in body features.
But all the while though, Starswirl’s vision of his future shows his last moments in a war to come, one he hopes to avoid at all costs, where Siral carried on with his desire to control his servants, 7 or more, more directly with indoctrination means.
He is led to a certain alcove with a rather small, for now, crystalline tree in a blue/grey stoned cavern alcove.
Chack meanwhile is lured, his own being vague messages that drag him to a strange pool of some sort.

Resignation to new Paths

Late Afternoon
4th November, 72 BNM
Equestria, north midland mountains
Citadel fortress, living quarters
Siral’s office

Poring over the various texts he had compiled over the decades, a collection spanning centuries of knowledge and strategy, Siral couldn’t help but get a feeling of satisfaction at how things were progressing.
He had Equestria where he wanted it: Bloodthirsty on both sides mostly being spurred on by their Alicorn superiors, and with imbedded contacts in both major factions. The one little third faction of the Seperatists having been defeated predictably fast with their rejection of Alicorns was a given long ago, though that was the one aspect of that weak faction that made Siral garner a sliver of respect for them having a shred of common sense amidst their futile quest against such odds.
More to the point he was on the ‘winning’ side, the Nationalists, but was already working to break them apart from the inside. Before he made his own big moves he wanted them weakened.
A broken enemy was easier to quash, to have surprise, fear and intimidation on side was paramount to achieve ultimate success.
And from the inside, 2 of his close servants, bonded emotionally enough to work well together, were already in place to sow discontent.

2 weeks ago

“-feel you will have an easy time getting into the Trumane castle kitchens, you merely need to be there as backup. And, to deposit this into certain meals when the time comes.”
Hovering the small vials over to the left sitting figure, Siral saw the orange slime-skinned, bloblike fat minotaur look at the vials, his eyes narrowing at the inferred contents.
“Kill them?”
“Only a few. Once YOU have done your part in using your wiles to sow division and doubts into the Trumane lord’s mind.”
Pointing a hoof towards the snakelike being sat in the other chair, the Changeling armoured naga folding her lithe arms and claws over each other, Iena flicked her siren ear flaps in annoyance, asking the obvious:
“And how do I get in this time? The Trumanes don’t take anypony in from the court, they’re picky about outsiders.”
“I know that Mr. Trumane has a libido his wife cannot fully satisfy, and he is known, like many nobleponies of varying genders, to take escorts from time to time, some for a while even.”
“I’m sorry but why should she have to become, a concubine, for this!?” Satio protested, his voice rising slightly, while Iena reached out a hand to ease the fat creature while she regarded Siral sceptically:
“Because she will be able to use her magic and wiles to get into the minds of anypony in that place in ways simply flirting in court encounters as she already has cannot. At their most intimate, the mind is most vulnerable. She is not degrading herself, she will have more power over them than any other method.”
“So you expect her to bed nobleponies for sowing doubts in their minds and me to be a waiting poison chef?”
“No, I expect you two to work together on sowing doubts through scandals and murder without being found out, and if it becomes known, you two in close proximity means you can get out and wreak havoc during your getaway with less risk to yourselves.”
“I don’t want to poison innocents.” Satio mumbled, to which Siral leant forwards with the callous remark:
“They are Alicorns and nobility, they are not innocent, certainly the ones I’ll have you two targeting for trickery or a last meal. Ponies like them seized your land, and also ousted you because your methods of gaining influence for your noble family were simply less modest. Do I need to go into further detail than that?”
At Siral’s words, Satio and Iena briefly had hard looks cross their faces, and it was Satio magically vanishing the poison vials into his unseen possession that earned a smile from Siral. Iena’s ears flapped with a slither of her tail shuffling behind her, as she asked:
“I presume I’ll take the place of one going in to entertain them?”
“Naturally.”
Siral had them both, they were easier to control if together on the same role. Powerful as they were, their partnership was best suited to spying and sabotage. Subtle approaches.
Good thing for that too, as for the ‘big three’ as he termed them, subtlety for them was a foreign a concept as modesty was for Iena, or small portions at dinner was for Satio.

Late Morning
Citadel fortress, living quarters
Siral’s office

Those two were now imbedded in the Trumane residence, the heart of Nationalist affairs and command, having taken their places among the ‘escorts’ and castle catering each, in the newly created Trumane residence in the Nationalist controlled Baltimare.
But something was not accounted for, a certain Wizard, and the Salamander he had as an imbedded agent in the Nationalist armies. They’d vanished nearly a week ago, both leaving on some strange journey.
His myriad of spies in the animal world saw them both together, heading into the Everfree Forest, one place in Equestria he had very little insight into, dismissing it as a wild place of no interest to anyone.
But clearly something lured his old friend and failed exemplar there.

Wandering up to the balcony of his office, a small doorway leading to an overlook of the lake before the Citadel, the black Unicorn shifted some of his ageing white mane from his eyes as a breeze picked up.
Looking to the side, he saw one of his favoured spies.
A Horned Owl, finishing preening its wings, stared back with its wide yellow eyes as Siral projected his command as he spoke:
“You have the energy by my will to travel day and night. Find the Grey Wizard and the Salamander he travels with, head for the wild forest to the south. I shall see as you see when you do.”
With a brief caw, the owl took flight, its wide wingspan for an owl giving it flight as it headed south, Siral watching as this animal he had as a familiar took off. It wasn’t uncommon for Unicorns to have pets, but he decided to make his useful.
He had more important goals to focus on, like formulating the final great battle between the 2 factions before he unleashed his own forces against them both in total.

Citadel basement levels
Armory training halls

Up in the balconies, the servants and guards, all sworn loyalty to Siral and the creatures he had under his command, watched as two of said servants underwent training, one mentoring the other in combat.
Golmov’s many legs, spiked and like that of a gigantic centipede’s struck and flailed as they lashed out physically and with magic blasts scything out from them. A blue/green mist frequently dashed about, back and forth as well as a wall of black magic deflecting blows with ease.
Teal Quirt backstepped, but she knew she was in control. The Centaur/Scorpion and 4 horned ape/pony headed hybrid barked at the dragon/centipede/gryphon winged monstrocity:
“Stop using the standard attacks, use the unorthodox!”
Silently, Golmov adjusted, the changed dragon’s shrunken form swinging out a leg at Teal from the side, only to have it suddenly grow to a gigantic size like his former dragon size mid swing, Teal vanishing in a green/blue vapour as she teleported back, Golmov spinning to focus his now enlarged form on charging Teal with many yellow beams firing to seize him in a grip.
“Control my central line, overwhelm my senses!”
The beams paused, before they began to split like many branches on a tree, firing at Teal from all sides and throwing up an array of yellow lightning across the hall. But Teal had vanished yet again, though this time when she reemerged she seemed to be breathing harder as her 4 horns on her ape/pony hybrid face faded in magic.
“Better.”
The much larger dragon charged, but Teal outstretched one of her scorpion legs and glowed her 4 head horns, a green glow engulfing Golmov’s rear legs and sending him sliding sideways into a pillar mid charge.
As Golmov recovered with a hiss, his enlarged form shrinking to dodge a green blast Teal fired at his head, he swung out with his many arms at her, though her green shield deflected them sideways each time:
“Focus your constant barriers, in case sneak attacks like that are something you crave! Don’t get carried away with only the offense!”
Golmov fired some yellow beams right at Teal Quirt point blank, though she had formed a decoy that was blasted through like a fine mist. As the vapour cleared, Golmov saw a green glow off to the corner of his eye, and a single clawed ape arm pointing said green glow from a fingertip at his eye:
“Offense is only as good as your defence.”
Golmov grumbled as he backed up, shuffling to shrink his form down to her level. As he shrunk though, Teal noticed something clanging on his person:
“Hmm, when did you get the third one?”
With a smirk, Golmov gestured down to his growing collection of Alicorn horns, though it only numbered three so far:
“They are getting aggressive, more Alicorns appearing on battlefields. The two after my first, mighty King Nova, were rather fresh to the whole battlefield and inexperienced with combat for my liking. But, an Alicorn is an Alicorn in death regardless.”
Raising an eyebrow, Teal Quirt reverted to her white and teal maned Unicorn ‘origin’, while Golmov reverted to a shrunken but rather larger black and gold striped dragon form:
“Don’t let your trophy hoarding distract you. Surprise, fear and intimidation must be on side. If any are lacking, it would be best not to engage. You want more trophies? Follow that mindset in future.”
Golmov scowled at the minor nagging Teal gave him, the only reason he didn’t feel like putting Teal in her place was that she was better than he was, despite him having a higher Alicorn count then she did, 3 to 0.
Nearby, a few of the servants moved in, noticing the battle training was done. The dragon and Unicorn left, though Teal noticed somepony had vanished from watching:
“Where did Odi go off to?”
“He doesn’t like watching what he’s not allowed to do, ever since he had his first training down here he’s been banned.
“I didn’t need reminding Golmov. He nearly brought the castle down atop us.” Teal sardonically replied. The former Earth Pony was restricted to wilderness training if he wanted to exercise his tendencies. Among the 6 changed so far, Odi Viscer had no concept of ‘holding back’ or ‘subtlety’.

Citadel Grounds, forest paths

The trees around the walking pair towered about, but they were deeply embroiled in a conversation that was curt, but polite enough to be considered friendly at best.
“-always thought clay was better, it’s easier to work with when you do.”
“But wood can be carved all the time, it doesn’t harden.”
“Yes, but wood rots.”
“That is what varnish or magic preserving is for. Besides, wood can’t shatter like clay.”
“Yes, as you clearly demonstrated when I showed you my mini Alicorn sculpture. That took me 2 days by the way.”
“I gripped it too hard. Besides, you got your own back, unless setting fire to my carved chair was an accident.”
“What me? Oh no, it just burst into flames on its own after I left your room yesterday.”
As Gaudium played innocent, Odi-Viscer grumbled as he paced alongside the slightly taller Alicorn male. The shorter bald, grey Earth Pony got on well enough, but they had a few differences of opinion when it came to their sculpting, and what they sculpted.
“Why did you break it anyway? Really?” Gaudium asked more honesty, to which Odi replied curtly:
“It looked like the Alicorn who cursed me to look like I am.”
“It was supposed to be a self-sculpture.” Gaudium replied bluntly, his yellow and red eyes narrowing as the Earth Pony before him stopped, looking at the Alicorn blankly before replying in a bored tone:
“Clearly it wasn’t a good likeness then, you look nothing like him.”
“So all the others have their gripes with Alicorns, but you just have the one. You ever think of going out there after him?”
“Too often, but Siral says he’ll be brought to justice one day, I trust him there.” Odi replied, to which Gaudium merely shrugged, saying:
“Why he’s got a knack for taking in ones who’ve been wronged, I’ll never know.”
The Alicorn and Earth Pony came to a massive fallen tree, to which the Alicorn simply flapped his wings to fly over, offering a slight smirk as he came across to the other side out of view.
“Come on, you can jump it can’t you? Or crawl under.”
A few moments of pause, before a red glow appeared, and a series of cracks began to form in the trunk, splintering fast before the whole tree was slowly wrenched apart by a pair of grey clawed, ape-like arms with stone imbedded like scales into them. Odi-Viscer’s tall form towered as he ripped the fallen tree slowly in half as easily as opening some swinging doors.
“A little excessive perhaps?” Gaudium remarked, while Odi reverted to his Earth Pony form with a slight red glow, the grey pony shrugging as he replied:
“Nothing gets in my way.”
“You could have just changed the tree with magic, or jumped like I suggested.” Gaudium remarked, though he couldn’t help but snicker as the Earth Pony’s tone remained monotonous:
“It is more satisfying to use brute force.”
“But there’s no fun in that, you do it and there’s nothing left to be played with. Just like your woodwork, you can’t replace the shaved off parts.”
“But the results are permanent.” Odi reasoned.
As they walked, the talk was hidden in double meaning. Talk of differences in sculpting mediums reflected their approaches to come in life when both were transformed.
Odi was fixated on permanent results, committed to finality in his moves to leave his mark, whereas Gaudium favoured flexibility and creativity, taking a degree of pride in the final result that sometimes took longer. One used a hard, well placed touch, the other delicate but more varied means.

Meanwhile
Midday
Midland mountaintops, 10 miles from Tartarus

Standing atop the cliff edge, she couldn’t help but stare out at the current central bastion of the Royalists with resignation heavy in her heart.
Her shimmering light blue frame slumped on the cliff edge, orange feathered mane flowing behind her as the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid with Phoenix features lay her head on the rocks.
Ave-Dol gave a soft sigh as she stared out, the midday sun showing the sharp mountain ridge under which the fortress of Tartarus lay, its few battlement towers jutting out like teeth from the earth even from here.
With a look skywards, she hoped somepony was listening:
“What do I do? He has me caught, I cannot try to free them, he will turn them against me before they can do anything…”
Staring out at the distant fortress, she mused hopelessly:
“I cannot go to the Nationalists, they ally with Siral now, even as he lies to them. But I cannot go to the Royalists, they will go after them all, the war will worsen, the Nationalists won’t give up what they’ve gained, and the Royalists won’t spare those I try to protect. Not after what was done at Canterlot… What I fear is to come.”
Staring at her current changed form, Ave-Dol grew bitter as she stared at her shimmering hooves:
“Why did I let him deceive me so? I was content on my own, not a care in the world… And now no matter what I do, I will cause pain to others, and myself.”
Holding back some mournful tears, Ave-Dol’s voice suddenly dropped to a lower tone, remarking hopelessly to the skies:
“Perhaps that is it. I try to do things, when what I can best do is inconvenience Siral, by doing nothing. I see no other way for myself now…”
With that, Ave-Dol surrendered to her stance of inaction.
Unbeknownst to her though, this had been envisioned as her final transformation.
Overhead, a very subtle magic was imbued inside of the mind of a raven flying far overhead.

Meanwhile
Citadel, Siral’s office

Through the eyes of the Raven, one of many bird spies he had, he saw and sensed the resignation in Ave-Dol’s mind.
It was pleasing to see that his 6th being had finally fallen into place, a spell he put in place during her transformation, enhancing the aura she gave off now as the others did around those unprotected.
Laziness and sleepiness would follow as she wandered where she went now, a hidden sapping of strength where she visited.
And the best part was he would not ask much of her and she would do so much in return without knowing it.
Now he could play both sides more thoroughly.

Same Day
Early Evening
Equestria, south midlands
‘Everfree forest’, mangrove maze

“For a day you have taught me much, though not what I would like to learn.”
“And what is wrong with what I have taught you?” The mangrove vine formed Alicorn asked, a blank ‘eye’ staring him head on with an expectant look on its visage. In utter annoyance, Starswirl gestured outwards, using the fading sunlight streaming in from overhead in a few cracks in the treeline as an example:
“Every day this war drags on, innocents die, suffer, and this world does too. You saw the future I behold later, if what you say is true of what horrors you showed me. So forgive me if I feel you haven’t shown me anything that could be in any way immediately useful to stopping Siral!”
The Wizard exclaimed vehemently, turning to pace around the stone alcove that held the diminutive crystalline tree.
“So impatient, you must focus your mind. You urge to hurry when that same impatience will spell your doom. If you were not so anxious to succeed, you would see that the first step to success is to see what weakness your old friend has in his grand scheme that you know of.”
“I DO NOT HAVE THE LUXURY OF WASTING TIME ANYMORE! I did enough of that on that forsaken expedition through time that made Siral as he is today! Reveal usable knowledge or you are of no use to me!”
Starswirl bellowed at the mangrove being, the Wizard’s voice breaking with his rage, his grey beard and mane becoming dishevelled as he let his often tempered frustrations fly.
“HOLD YOUR TONGUE WIZARD! I may be aged and patient, but I have my limits of tolerance as well! The answer lies before you, both in the literal and within what you saw in your future to be averted.”
Looking around, Starswirl snorted in irritation, before his eyes settled on the small treelike structure inside the alcove, ever so gently pulsating like a glowing white/blue heartbeat of light from the small sapling form.
“What exactly is this?”
“A wellspring, one of raw magic, pure and uncultured like so much of the forest. Like others, it ties into so much of the magical energy this forest has absorbed, even before the culturing of this greater land in terrain and weather began.”
“I can feel the power…” Starswirl murmured, but Everfree’s head suddenly appeared in a ghostly white mist before him, shaking his head:
“No, it does not respond well to any thoughts tainted by selfish desire. Despite your noble intentions, you carry a guilt you should not in seeking such power, in spite of what you’ve experienced in your long journeys.”
“Guilt? Of course I feel guilt, I failed Siral, I lied to him, I let him come along, when he would have felt more comfortable helping in Equestria instead of going on this pointless quest with me, this war could have been averted, the Alicorns taught to be humbler and responsible.”
“Forgive my own doubts, but 2 Unicorns may not have made much of an impact had you both remained to see them emerge. I recall in my Alicorn days that as more Alicorns emerged, they started listening less and less to the wisdom of the previous magic masters of Equestria. One reason I retreated to this domain long ago, I felt no desire for their squabbling.”
“And by all accounts, your guilt may be for not just Siral leaving with you despite your protests and being warped, but you leaving Equestria to fall to its state in your absence.”
“Noticing the obvious is not commendable.” Starswirl grumbled, as he continued to stare at the sapling like structure, asking quietly:
“What must I do to harness this power?”
“Only a pure heart, one that knows and accepts what it is that makes one, can harness it. That is something you lack, though what is missing is unknown. It just is, or is not. Nothing more, nothing less. Serenity, peace at its core.”
“An impossible goal.”
“But your friend seems keen to harness it in his own way.”
Starswirl turned to the mangrove figure, who now was a fully formed Alicorn/wolf hybrid of vine and wood walking near him, green glowing eyes making him look all too alike the Timberwolves in features.
“Peace and Serenity from Siral? Your sense of humor is as warped as his schemes.”
“Peace and Serenity does not entail noble intentions, but in how they are conducted. Think of his schemes, what is it he seeks to sow in Equestria, to encourage what has festered for decades, centuries already, that he himself seeks to purge from his servants and armies for when the time is right?”
Starswirl thought for a moment, but then it became obvious.
“Unity.”
“Precisely. Unity is the greatest strength one can possess, that can be shared among others to further increase its power.”
Starswirl recalled what he’d seen in his apocalyptic vision of his final future moments, in that war torn future where Siral ruined the world prior to building it up again with his 7 servants. Their eyes, the eyes of those armies of minions who served him.
“He forced unity, enslaved them.”
“Unity does not necessarily mean it is by choice.”
“That is unity from the top down, not unilateral. Siral is the root of it all. That much I already knew!”
Starswirl grew aggravated, as he looked at the tree sapling yet again, seeing it taunting him almost. Snorting derisively, Starswirl mumbled as he walked off:
“This trip was a waste of time; I know that now. Siral is the key, he must be stopped, now!”
The Wizard began to wander away, but the more booming voice from the forest spirit through the vines beat into his eardrums as a wind picked up in the twilight lit forest:
“If you go rushing headlong into this, you will encounter nothing but trouble, an earlier doom than your future warned!”
“Do not try to stop me!” Starswirl exclaimed.
“Unity is the key to Siral’s strength, those Seven are his key, but one isn’t fully forged yet! Even if all Seven were, they are the foundations of his power, they grant him power, but to compromise even one. Not destroy, compromise, just as he has been doing to Equestria, would make enough of an impact! Do not be as foolish in your own power as an Alicorn!”
At Everfree’s almost pleading words, Starswirl paused mid stride, the Unicorn deep in thought at the forest spirit’s words to him.
“When the time is right, when he believes himself to be on the cusp of taking power, I shall be ready. You have my word.”
Everfree was silent, before he rumbled words on the wind as the mangrove vine bodied Alicorn form vanished on the wind:
“You are blind to what power you could wield against him, that you’ve gathered over your journey through learning.”
Starswirl stared down at the cloak he had on him, magically pulling out a pouch he held by a drawstring inside an inner pocket. With an empty expression, he opened it up, revealing the contents as he stared inside. Bitterness crept up on him, they were great people to know, he would never wish he hadn’t met them.
But he just wished he could have done so without failing in his duty to keeping balance in the world. He sacrificed the wrong thing in life.
With a sadness he hoped would never come, Starswirl magically hovered the pouch over to the Alcove rocks near the tree, tipping the contents out as he also discarded the pouch nearby. He was done with prophecy, they could rest here, memories, a life lived well but badly chosen in priorities.
“Let their memories rest with you in this calmer domain. I cannot hold onto them when I confront one who met them too. I will only tell you that much.”
A wave of disappointment flooded the forest around him, as a whisper on the wind carried into Starswirl’s ears:
“What you speak with is not just Everfree. Perhaps in future you will not argue with yourself as much if you return here. At least your friend is more open minded, he will learn more than you let yourself.”
As he’d walked away, Starswirl turned to hear the wind rustle, only to see that he’d subconsciously walked further from the alcove than previously thought. It was gone, a faint blue/white glow in a crevice a few hundred metres away.
He felt it, he felt that Chack was still out there, learning from Everfree, and his own inner thoughts. He prayed Chack found more useful from this place than Stasrwirl could.
All Starswirl found was confirmation that he needed to act.
Siral was out there still, and plotting as always. But he had 6 of 7 powerful servants, and potential weaknesses.

Mangrove maze, sapling alcove

The faintly glowing white/blue tree sapling pulsated slowly in the night.
A Timberwolf slowly trotted over, sniffing the ground near the sapling where the pouch and 5 discarded items had been dropped.
A Romane Gladius sword, a gold and jade pendant necklace, a neck scarf, a tuft of tiger fur, and a sailing compass.
Slowly, the Wolf carefully grabbed the pouch in its jaws, as it nudged the artefacts back inside the shrinking pouch left behind by the wizard. In the forest overhead, Everfree focused its influence through this wolf.

30 minutes later
Everfree Forest, Deep chasms

Having been sat in a sort of meditative state, Chack had been listening intently to a great deal of insight into Alicorn history, this forest, and had already heard that Starswirl had left.
The Salamander had seen visions of Stasrwirl leaving, and while it irked him, he felt Starswirl was right. The Wizard had nothing left to be taught for now.
Listening in, Chack heard the voice of Everfree whispering around him:
“I have seen enough of suffering to come that it affects my domain too. That is why I need your help.”
“I am but a mere warrior, old, cruel I’ve been called. I am not exactly noble warrior material, nor do I wish to be.”
Chack replied as he calmly stood up, though he couldn’t help but be drawn to the glowing white pool and ethereal fumes that glowed from its surface inside the vine ‘cathedral’.
“Nobility is a concept foreign to the natural world. And while I tried to teach Starswirl, I have a more direct need from you. I require a voice, one to stand up to the voices of violence and cruelty that have been poisoning Equestria for too long.”
“I have no loyalties to Equestria, just Starswirl, and even those are frayed now.”
“Which makes you perfect to serve that which is overlooked, natural order. If Equestria falls, the world falls. Let me forge you into a warrior required to resist these forces ravaging the world. While it is not possible for this to defeat these warmongers, it is enough to keep them at bay. Maintain balance, justice, that is your warrior code’s way is it not?”
“Yes, it is.”
At this murmur from Chack, he saw a Timberwolf come slowly walking from the edge of the vine walls, depositing a pouch of 5 strange items, antiques it seemed, on the ground near the white fumed pool.
“Incomplete, but these items contain memory, experience, to give power through traits seldom seen in the world as it is. They shall be the seeds of great power for you to wield, and for others to wield in futures far from now. Those Starswirl encountered before, when he and Siral were on better terms. They can help you, help the world. Shall we begin?”
Staring around the vine catherdral, Chack saw the timberwolf wandering away, as a few more white fumes began to gather. He saw hundreds of eyes of other creatures watching with curious intent from the forest, as well as the eyes of Everfree projecting from the vine walls and from the white fumes of the pool in the centre.
Bowing his head, Chack sat down cross legged, folding his tail back as he bowed his small eyed Salamander head low:
“I am ready.”
He did not know how long he would be here, but he submitted to the teachings of Everfree.

Late Morning
9th November, 72 BNM
Equestria, midland forest boundary

Starswirl grumbled as he finally reached the edge of the massive forest, the forest’s depths making teleporting difficult to do over long distances in case he ended up imbedded inside a tree or something.
The blue cloaked wizard spared a glance back towards the forest, lamenting that he was leaving Chack behind. But realistically, Chack could handle himself, and Starswirl simply couldn’t afford anything holding him down anymore.
He had eyes north now, be it for Siral or any of his servants.
One of them in his vision, the light blue Alicorn with orange feathered mane and a Windigo look to her, struck him as saddened by her servitude. She reeked of submission to her fate, sloth, surrender, most unwilling to be in Siral’s cause enslaved or otherwise.
She was the only one he saw that was a weakness, he knew nothing of the 7th, though being one of pride was not an indicator of weakness unless he could turn the servant against Siral.
If all else failed, Stasrwirl had some royal archives to visit, spells he knew that he had previously refused to even learn out of principle. The time for principle was passed.
He set off north, as an owl hooted overhead as it headed into the forest to roost.

In the skies overhead, as Siral gazed through its vision, the Horned Owl saw the blue Wizard having emerged from the Everfree forest, without a Salamander. It seemed that Starswirl had undergone this alone, that Chack had vanished full stop.
But a wizard was worth keeping an eye on, while the rest of his plans rolled on.

Author's Note

Things are going well for Siral, as well as the other 7 save for one.
Iena and Satio are now infiltrators in the Trumane stronghold and the Nationalist leadership as a result.
Teal Quirt is the elder and mentor of the ones willing to be more combat oriented, such as Golmov. Odi Viscer doesn’t have training, as he has no restraint.
Gaudium is still a work in progress, though he bickers with Odi-Viscer over their hobbies somewhat.
All the while though Lady Ave-Dol wanders, having finally resigned to becoming a true sloth, if anything because of the hopeless situation she’s in for protecting the Nationalists Siral schemes against from within, the Royalists, and protecting those of the other 6 she knows are merely pawns in Siral’s game.
Starswirl finally gives up on the whole prophecy shtick, he feels it ruined his duties and friendship with Siral from the get go, even if he felt he learned from those he met.
Meanwhile, Chack resigns to learning from Everfree to become a warrior against those who would ruin Equestria, Siral or otherwise. This shall come into play at crucial moments later on in the story.
Next chapter delves into Starswirl’s darker studies, as well as insight into Celestia and Luna, with their mother Queen Aurora, as well as the first signs of drawing on the Sun and Moon cycles for raw magical power.

When Wizards crave Power

Late Morning
17th December, 72 BNM
South Eastern Equestria
Hayseed Farming Plains

The Nationalist patrol had arrived too late, the small procession travelling ahead of an army regiment coming to reinforce Baltimare from the west had been destroyed.
A handful of wagons lay wrecked on the road, deep scorch marks in the ground as if molten rock had been poured there. There were no bodies to be found however.
Not one Pegasus, Earth Pony or Unicorn of the dozen or so coming here was present in any state.
Not even the 2 Alicorn generals, both younger sons in a noble family, were here.
With a puzzled look, the leader of the patrol turned his head to his second in command, a Pegasus mare, the Earth Pony shaking his head at the morbid, but strange sight.
“Again, no bodies. This is the 3rd case of a patrol attacked this month, and again, led by an Alicorn.”
“Or two in this case.” She added, shifting her helmet slightly to better see the scorch marks on a wagon she landed beside. Sifting through some soot, the Earth Pony captain turned to the others:
“Move out, there’s nothing here for us to find!”
With that, they swiftly left, not knowing this wasn’t an isolated incident.

Midday
Equestria, north midland mountains
Citadel, basement levels
Prison catacombs

His neighbor’s, and dear friend’s screams, had died minutes ago, but only now was the other cage raised.
Sat inside the adjacent grungy prison cage, the Alicorn stared bitterly at his clipped wings and restraint clamped over his horn, all the while he regarded the one standing a few metres from him with utter hate.
All around him, slightly dripping caves echoed all around, while his cage hung from a chain and lever setup that hung it to be level with a stone bridge that ran the length of the catacombs. Further down, he saw other cages lined up in the same row as his, most of them empty.
Nearby, the one he hated right now stood passively, the eerie looking silver amulet with the blue/grey stone in its centre swaying as the blue smog faded around it.
And beside him, those servant ponies with the strange silver glows in their eyes cranked the cage beside him.
Its floor had opened up, and the Alicorn occupant, his brother in arms, a general and young son of a noble family like he, had fallen through and been forced to swim in the dark waters with clipped wings and sapped strength and magic.
Whatever killed him had been efficient, there was no body in the dark waters below.
And the same had been done to the dozen or so troopers that came with them. Drained and dumped as chum for whatever lay below.
Waltzing up along the walkway, the Black and grey maned Unicorn stood before him, a smile as if having had a pleasant walk or something trivial on his features as the masked servant ponies walked by, to the pulleys and crank handles that controlled his cage.
“So, General Pransleigh is it? Let us see what you have to offer me.”
“You think you can betray the Nationalists like this? They’ll-!”
“They’ll what? Bluster and infight me to death? I already have who and what I need in place regarding them. Believe me, you are going to serve a higher cause, I wouldn’t have told my servants explicitly to spare all of you for prison. Golmov likes to add Alicorn horns to his collection, three of them so far, and Odi-Viscer, well, there wouldn’t even be ants alive where you were if he wasn’t warned to spare you.”
“You are mad, vile, what our leaders see in you-.”
“Is a lie they ate up like dogs to a leg of meat. How easily blinded would-be leaders are when somepony with power comes knocking with their own services to offer them.”
Siral held up the silver amulet then, and General Pransleigh shifted his bright red frame to see the foreboding looking jewel and necklace swinging hypnotically. Siral gave a small grin as he showed the trinket proving useful:
“You may not know what this is, so I’ll give you the short of it. Just over 500 years ago, there was an Eastern Dragon, a paladin of sorts in the far flung kingdoms of Pandina. He used this little trinket, to suck dry the very life essence and energy, chi they called it there, from any living creature. With it, he claimed energy for himself from powerful magic wielders and creatures. But, he fell victim when another turned it against him to fill his energy to burst, as it could handle magic faster than he could, where he would normally take it from the amulet for himself at a manageable rate.”
Then, Siral hovered up a small jewel, this one a blank white crystal of perfectly 4-edged diamond shape, held inside of a dark silver Alicorn crest amulet necklace of sorts.
“I have been putting the Alicorns I’ve had captured to good use. As dangerous your kind might be, I won’t let your gifts go to waste. They’ll see more responsible use.”
Shifting aside his robe, Siral revealed 4 other necklaces he had of similar make, all made with a perfect diamond shape inside them, each a different colour. Light purple, sandy yellow, obsidian black and dark green, the ‘eyes’ of the Alicorns on the necklace also the same colour.
“Now, its traits have been perfected, in these. Anyone can use them, but only I know how to unlock the full magic they contain, sustain, indefinitely if they endure. Everything you are worth, in these mere, inconspicuous amulets, an Alicorn’s magic for anyone to use partially, or in my case, entirely.”
“Are you planning on talking me to death?” Pransleigh spat, his red frame shaking at the sight of the blank crystal meant for him. Indeed, as he spoke, Siral’s eyes began to flow a slight black, as his horn glowed grey, and the gem began to emit a slight red haze that seemed to suck from Pransleigh’s horn and eyes.
“I merely wished you to see where all you were worth shall be kept after you are done. I only keep Ghung Chian’s amulet as a test, to make sure these work as they are meant to.”
Pransleigh hissed, and eventually began to scream as he felt his magic, and life, get sucked from his body. For a minute this went on, a red haze filling the catacombs as this Alicorn gave off a greater light show of being drained than a normal pony.
Slumping near unconscious, as this spell didn’t suck him entirely dry to focus on keeping intact what it did take, Pransleigh saw the red hued gem inside the amulet glistening back at him as the same amulet vanished under Siral’s cloak with the others.
Turning his back, Siral gave a satisfied smile as he examined the new Alicorn Amulet, while the chains began to quickly lower the near dead Pransleigh down into the waters below the catacomb viaduct bridge.
Water took him, until the bottom of the cage opened up to let him rudely awaken in the dirty, turgid waters, struggling with no magic and no wings to stay on the surface as he swam under and up from beneath the cage.
A thousand gnawing mouths took him from beneath, as Pransleigh felt the demon enhanced leeches Siral had created in thousands swim from underwater to him.
Over the Alicorn’s desperate screeches below, Siral saw a rush of water as the savage cursed Sea Serpent he kept in this ‘lagoon’ darted from a shoreline it often rested on to surge underwater towards the Alicorn.
Whipping around as he lost all feeling in his left foreleg, Pransleigh saw a surge of water come through one of the viaduct arches, only for it to burst at the last moment to reveal fish scales and a maw of teeth coming for him. The Alicorn vanished in a splash of the water, little blood left as a few of the leeches were scattered by the Sea Serpent’s path. They would let the serpent have this one, they’d consumed the other Alicorn and the normal ponies.
Up on high, Siral walked back towards the distant stairwell, the servants cranking up the cage to reset it.
One such Alicorn amulet would resurface a thousand years or so from now, in the hooves of a would be magician, the same amulet Pransleigh was sucked dry to make. One of a few legacy creations of the Savant.
Beneath the waters, a very vague red light registered. Flowing from the body was a red light, much paler than it should be, shaped like an Alicorn as it vanished into the air.
Elsewhere in the skies unseen, a very faint supernova twinkled, a circumstance of the Universe that showed how tied to destiny Alicorns were.

Late Morning
19th December, 72 BNM
Equestria, western mountains
Tartarus fortress, archives
Forbidden section

Over centuries of magic knowledge in Equestria being exploited, found, lost and expanded, there were those spells, curses, potion knowledge and arcane arts of many sorts gathered the world over. But here, within Tartarus’s archives, that which was deemed forbidden and taboo, some punishable by death, was kept out of less good willed hooves.
In times when he was less plagued by an obsession and stress of taking out Siral, Starswirl would have paid more heed to how certain scrolls and information had been drawn by the Royalists in recent months. Taboos were being relaxed as the war dragged on, tactics and means of fighting becoming less restrained. In the end, that would be what spelt the abrupt end of the war, when measures to acquire power over the other went too far. But that was another time, one yet to come, one which Starswirl was blind to by choice by immediate concerns.
The scrolls before him were ancient, old magic, before laws became placed on them. Dark magic he daren’t consider using in better days, but knew all too well in its reputation. But such magic he sought, such power, was for a cause that was becoming life or death.
So death would teach him.
Necromantium [First Edition]
The infamous Necromantium, written 2000 years ago by an unknown sorcerer, a collection of dark spells from around the world, from before Equestria, translated in all except the incantations to be spoken themselves. One who supposedly had power over death, spirits, and all that existed beyond the mortal world, eventually surrendering to its pull himself.
Starswirl knew that magic came from the world around them, and that the souls, the very essence of raw magic, returned there when the time came. But spells in here could help him harness that power for himself, to use in his bid to defeat Siral and his minions, a way of making all they had slayed come back and have their revenge.
Inwardly, Starswirl would grin. Siral may have been a master of potions and the brewing arts, which helped spellwork and forging items, and creatures, but Starswirl had always been gifted with pure spells, and curses.

Lit by only a single candle on his table within the archive’s lofty shelves.
Staring down at the Necromantium’s texts on the spirit realm itself, Starswirl read all he could.
The spirit realm, the realm where souls passed from life to death, a realm separating the two. This realm was where magic came from, an exchange realm between those alive, and those yet to be born and already dead.
The texts spoke of not just ways to draw energy from it, but enter it. But what disturbed Starswirl was the texts mentioning need for sacrifice.
It was that part alone that made him question his sanity in what he was researching. But the rest of his mind argued that this was a necessary evil. A lesser evil, targeted at only a few.
He would find a way to get there, harness that energy, he had to.
Shutting the Necromantium, Starswirl knew he had clearance, being the highest ranked Wizard in the Royalists, as he took the large volume into his bag for carrying out.

As he wandered through the aisles towards the exit, his own forbidden text in his possession, Starswirl couldn’t help but pause at some ponies he recognised in the aisle on astronomy, an odd place to be.
He saw some lower magicians he recognised, some even from his own former academy he mentored himself.
A somewhat meek voiced Unicorn mare looked up from the heavy text she was reading by hornlight, remarking in a surprised tone that got the attention of the 3 other Royal magicians as well.
“Master Starswirl? I didn’t know you were here.”
“As I would have preferred, but it seems that it is not just I that is seeking taboo knowledge. What are you all doing here?”
“Royal orders from the generals, and Queen herself. Anything to find a way to draw magical energy from surroundings in the world, what even Alicorns have may not be enough if this keeps going.”
“Intriguing, but why Astronomy?”
“We have tried potions, curses, too many spellbooks to count, and even creating beings from magic to serve out bidding.”
Starswirl’s eyes flared slightly at the last one, but he kept his cool as he replied: “Why creatures?”
“Rumours of Nationalists having some at their command, namely that Citadel sorcerer.” A deep voiced Unicorn male spoke, shutting the astronomy text he carried.
“My sources say those creatures are, unpredictable. They may be put down soon for lack of effectiveness. I would avoid creating any of your own.”
Six or Seven are enough to deal with as it is…
Starswirl kept his private misgivings to himself as he then faced a question from the 3rd Unicorn, a squeaky voiced bookworm of a magician stallion:
“Were you just in the forbidden section?”
“Yes, to no avail. What is in there is not what the enemy are using, so there is no guidance to be found, do not bother going there yourself.”
“Like we could, you’re one of the handful in Equestria allowed in there.” The same squeaky voiced stallion admitted, his horn light dimming as he allocated a celestial movements text to take out.
Nodding in agreement, keeping secret what he’d taken out by permission, Starswirl admitted more calmly as he wandered over to just check this section out of idle curioisity with his hoof light:
“So tell me, I have been down here for 2 weeks now. Have I missed much?”
Sharing a few looks, the Unicorns were awkwardly quiet as the Mare admitted to the Grey Wizard:
“Not much, but 3 more Alicorns and their convoys from the Nationalists went missing, that makes 5.”
“Hmm, somepony doing their part perhaps, they haven’t targeted any Royalist Alicorns.”
Yet.
Examining some texts on astrology, which were linked to the astronomy section as knowing star movements was a requirement, Starswirl paused as he heard the other big news:
“Oh, and the Savant Guild School went rogue, they joined the Nationalists.”
Pausing, Starswirl muttered under his breath:
“Of course they did, they were bound to anyway.”

Meanwhile
Late Morning
19th December, 72 BNM
Citadel, Main Foyer

Stood on his makeshift podium, Siral couldn’t help but offer a raised hoof in welcome to the many Unicorn students bowing before him.
Every stallion and mare, decked in grey robes of the academy, from the youngest student to the oldest teacher, and even the cleaning staff, had the same grey glint in their eyes as they all drank a ceremonious welcoming glass of wine from Siral.
One sip, and the obedience potion he had concocted gave him the ability to enforce his will into theirs, ever so subtly.
Derived from the same concoction that would allow him control of anything, or anyone’s mind, no matter how powerful. Once inside, that was it.
And he could use it at will, get those who disobeyed back in line very quickly without executing them.
Best of all, he could access their minds, and their memories. He could make them forget anything he wanted, even forever.
And he had plans to ensure his 7th, and greatest servant, was more under his control than the others, even if they all too fell under his sway. He wanted at least one who he could fully rely upon, even more than his very loyal 2nd, Teal Quirt.
Presiding over more followers, Siral merely soaked in his building forces.
Up on high, a brown Alicorn couldn’t help but hide in a balcony alcove as he watched the rather disturbing obedience in these visitors. Gaudium didn’t know he was seeing what he would fall victim to for the rest of his life.
A loss of self-identity and control, forever.

Same day
Mid Afternoon
19th December, 72 BNM
Tartarus, front gates

Walking from the main entrance, Starswirl still marvelled at this massive fortress, the stronghold of the Royalists as of now.
All hidden beneath the mountain, save for the massive metal and stone tower and battlements built into an exposed cliff face, and a door unlike any other. 2 massive doors that could let even a full grown dragon inside.
Looking back, Starswirl hid a head shake of amusement as the small door inside the larger one was shut, a single pony entrance and exit.
Staring out at the mid afternoon sun, obscured by a bank of snowclouds being moved towards a distant plains expanse to ensure no area got too much snow.
The snowfall had stopped here, and Tartarus was merely peppered with a thin layer of snow around and about the cliff faces and mountain reaches. A serene white coat for an imposing fortress crawling with guards, armaments and an air of stalwart hostility.
With a flash of blue, the Wizard was gone.
Overhead, the watchful Horned Owl of Siral, perched on a tower battlement roof of Tartarus’s face, watched keen eyed as the Wizard vanished, giving a hoot as it took flight.

Mid Afternoon
December 21st, 72 BNM
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Throne room

“And what of your initial findings?” Queen Aurora spoke bluntly, her black dress clashing with her white wings and fur, and her light pink and black mane.
The same 4 Unicorns from the Tartarus archives shook slightly in the Queen’s presence, her newfound sternness as of a few months ago still haunting. It was the mare that spoke up:
“It is, possible, but it will take time to develop spells needed, let alone train magic users powerful enough to be able to use them.”
“Is this assuming Alicorns will be the ones to wield this power over the cosmos?”
“Yes your majesty. We can have spells and means to draw magical energy from the heavens, stars and moon and whatnot, in a few months, no more than a year. And perhaps more time before even Alicorns can do it reliably.”
Aurora’s eyes narrowed slightly at this, as the Queen rose to her feet to slowly walk towards the 4 bowed low Unicorn magicians. Her footsteps echoing around the throne room, with even the royal guards at the doors watching with their turned eyes with some nervousness.
“A year, maybe more? While this power will be immeasurable in the end, let me remind you of something to pay heed to as you dither in this research.”
Stopping before the 4 of them, her back turned to face a stain glass window depicting her late husband, King Nova. With a tone like ice, she asked the 4 bowed Unicorns behind her:
“Tell me, have any of you lost a loved one in this war?”
A quiet silence rang, before the deep voiced Unicorn male spoke up:
“My Uncle, he died in the Baltimare sieges.”
“Good, then at least one of you can understand this fact perfectly as I can. Every moment this war carries on, ponies die.”
Her next words were spoken very cryptically, and the 4 Unicorns shared a very scared look as she murmured this while walking past them back to her throne, metal horseshoes clacking as she spoke:
“The Nationalists do not wait long to strike if they can, be sure not to keep me and my generals waiting.”
The 4 Unicorns cowered before her, as Queen Aurora raised her voice slightly, borderline royal Canterlot voice:
“Why are you still here!?”
The 4 Unicorn magicians could not have left any faster unless they had teleported.

Late Afternoon
December 21st, 72 BNM
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Royal Library

Despite everything, Starswirl did make time for the two Princesses. He still found their relative optimism, in comparison to their mother, a respite of sorts.
Plus, having two sane minds to converse with on matters he alone might not have the patience for helped. He had found some things in the archives he was willing to speak to them with.
That being said, he found Luna had been growing somewhat withdrawn with each day since King Nova’s death, in more subtle ways than her mother. Not quite cold ruler, but simply less engaged with socialising or outward ventures:
“In time we might be able to jump from Universe to Universe… Aren’t you curious to find out what else is out there in the Cosmos?”
Starswirl’s query seemed to fall on worried ears, as Celestia walked beside Starswirl through the royal library, a distracted look on her face as she admitted ruefully to him:
“Master, I’m not certain. I have many things to worry over, like Luna being so distant lately… I doubt I’ll have time to help with what your suggesting.”
Starswirl offered a forced smile, something he’d sadly been having to do more and more for Celestia’s sake.
“I know you’ve been concerned since Luna started becoming more and more withdrawn, like your mother sadly. But, just give her time, and space. A little distance can work wonders, she is trying to sort herself out, that is all.”
“But I’m her sister, I should help her.” Celestia replied. Starswirl shook his head, as he replied:
“Like your mother, she is still grieving, as you are too. Don’t deny it, you have simply grown to accept it faster, and hide it better. In time, she will heal.”
It was the best Starswirl could muster for the royal sister’s sake, and was appreciated by the White Alicorn princess. But he was not being totally honest.
He had no idea what to do to help any grieving pony at this point, he now was set. The best way for him, and therefore any wise pony, to deal with their problems, was to face them head on.
Walking to a section of the library aisles that held tomes on Equestria’s older history, a place he sought for knowledge on the Everfree forest, Celestia asked him outright:
“And how are you Starswirl? I heard your old friend’s academy turned rogue, but-.”
“Siral is not my friend!”
His reply was perhaps too barbed, but it was true. Queen Aurora had made it clear across Royalist influences that Siral was an enemy now, and it was a wonder the academy set up long ago by him didn’t defect sooner.
Celestia was quiet, as she saw the suddenly tense state Starswirl was in. He still had his own issues it seemed, not hurt and loss, but betrayal. She knew of the prophecy, she knew of how Siral was once a longtime friend of many, many years before they set off.
A year spent across time for Starswirl, and a friend became an enemy without him knowing, and then decades later, came crashing in opposition to him with the whole Canterlot attack and all the revelations that came with it.
As Starswirl walked away, he muttered back to Celestia:
“Give my regards to Luna. I have matters to attend to. But you can tell her this, the source of so much woe in Equestria will be a memory within my lifetime, even if it ends my life in the process.”
“You can’t be serious.” Celestia pleaded with Starswirl, who was inconsolable in his obsessed mind-set any mention of Siral seemed to put him in. The Wizard turned to face Celestia, a cold fire burning in his eyes that she had never seen before:
“I have a duty to this world, sworn by me centuries before you were conceived. And I will not allow ANYONE to prevent me from fulfilling it.”
“That does not mean you should abandon actually living your life. You are far from the pony who taught me and Luna the ways of magic and wisdom.”
“That pony was unable to do what I now must.”
Starswirl wandered out without her. Celestia stared at her master, wondering what sort of state he would be in once Siral was dealt with, if he lived to tell the tale. Would he finally be satisfied?
Deep down, she worried Starswirl as she once knew him, a cold but understanding Wizard who was able to barely cut loose, and actually enjoy life’s bounties and good times, was gone forever.
History would prove she was right to fear this. Some scars simply never healed.
Be they on individual, or on celestial bodies to come as a product of the magical arms race that was in its infancy whilst this war between two Wizards secretly brewed.

Evening
Luna’s quarters

Celestia had visited Luna in her quarters, seeing her sister who seldom came from her quarters except for meals and on specific requests. Luna had her hobbies, stargazing a key one, and so the young Alicorn’s sleep pattern had become slowly more and more nocturnal. She made herself useful in night courts, but she was slowly becoming known as the less public of the princesses. Though with Queen Aurora’s icy presiding, both princesses were lesser presences in the royal territories anyway.
“He’s changed, hasn’t he?” Luna remarked sadly, as she put aside the star charts she’d drawn up at Celestia’s quiet words with her about her discussion today.
The two princesses had many fears, be it their mother’s constant tense and cold state, the war, this hush-hush research into new magic even drawing from the Tartarus archives, of which they didn’t know Starswirl had plunged into those most forbidden texts in his quest for power to quash Siral.
“I don’t even know him anymore. He now doesn’t only have trouble being friendly, I think he outright rejects them out of fear now.”
“After Siral, I can see why…” Luna replied to Celestia. The elder sister hung her head, as she added to the discussion:
“I just hope he can find peace before it is too late.”
“Did he say anything about that Salamander he knew?” Luna wondered. To this, Celestia shook her head, as she replied:
“No. I fear he and that Salamander may have parted ways too. At this point, I suspect it was Starswirl that pushed him away, for his cause.”
“Too many atrocities in history are justified as being necessary, large or small.” Luna remarked, to which Celestia wished she could prove her sister wrong.
Unknowingly, she knew not how right that statement was. Because of that, all sides in this conflict were all too driven.

Author's Note

Siral is getting darker in his methods, he is creating power to harness for himself. And as a bonus, in my story, Siral created THE Alicorn Amulet, one of a few he created. Every one of the amulets like the one in the show I depict as the essence and magic of an Alicorn all but slain to create it. But Siral himself is the only one who can draw on those trinkets’ full power, what Trixie draws on in the show is but a fraction.
Meanwhile, Starswirl is getting truly obsessive and uncompromising with what he is going to use, going to the darkest of dark magic, that of necromancy and the spirit realm, from which all magical energy is drawn from.
As this all occurs, Celestia seems to be the only relatively composed one among the higher royals, her sister grieving in her own way for her father still, and her mother becoming very cold now.

Hearth’s Malicious Schemes

Late Afternoon
December 25th, 71 BNM
Citadel, main hall

Hearth’s Warming Heath.
Even in the Citadel the holiday was celebrated. However, the air of imposing presence that was barely felt across the fortress didn’t completely vanish.
The main hall had been converted to a dining area for the guards, staff and even some of their families for those that had them to attend. A banquet was held in honour of the holiday, and in honour of the current state of advantage the Nationalists they allied with were in. The front doors were open, and the festivities and light music playing from some guards with their instruments echoed into the setting skies, winter’s early sunsets clear to behold now.
But the moment Siral had emerged, even just to walk through the hall to another room, the hall fell eerily silent, even before he came into view. His very presence seemed felt by all, even the visiting family members to a lesser extent. All except for his closest servants visiting.
Teal Quirt followed Siral, in her Unicorn form, she was not one for outward festivities, yet she seemed more at ease than any of the guards and visitors that seemed at attention, or in awe, as Siral briefly passed through the hall like a ghost.
Yet near the end of the hall, a Brown Alicorn stallion with blue wings couldn’t help but feel an air of apprehension in the hall as Siral and his 2nd passed. Gaudium felt the air itself still.
It wasn’t until the black wizard had passed up the stairwell to the upper levels with Teal Quirt, presumably to his offices, that the festivities resumed.
What was most disturbing was that this seemed utterly natural, nobody talked about the imposing self-silence that came with Siral’s entry and exit.
Casting his gaze around, politely excusing himself while the band played folk tunes in the hall, Gaudium noticed the others who were present.
Iena and Satio were still at the Trumanes for their reasons, and Odi-Viscer and Golmov were off doing whatever they wished. Unlike last year’s Hearth’s, one which Gaudium hadn’t been present for, this year was much more sombre, divisive.
And the only other Gaudium saw was acting her usual reserved self now, but he saw the look of trepidation, avoiding Siral’s vision, as he passed. Lady Ave-Dol had made herself scarce as the Wizard passed by.
Enough was enough.
Gaudium made to follow Lady Ave-Dol out the main doors, up to the outer castle rampart she’d clearly fled to for some air.

Citadel, Castle wall rampart

She heard him coming, as he flapped his blue wings to land beside her. She was transformed in her normal light blue and blond Alicorn form, her mind also trying to keep her inner self in check amidst what turmoil was constant. Turmoil Gaudium had picked up on long ago but only now had the motive to question her:
“Seems odd, how obedient they all are to him. Nopony ever seems to really say anything bad about him, not even jokingly. I know some ponies are close to saints, but everypony has something to poke fun at…”
Gaudium stared out at the lake as he pondered this aloud, while beside him, the normal looking light blue Alicorn stifled some hidden fretting as she flicked her blond mane aside. Lady Ave-Dol knew why they were obedient, she had seen enough, heard enough, be it hinted, or said to her face directly.
Siral had his means of influencing the mind, potions mostly, and one sip was all it took to place that connection he needed. She had been herself to never drink or eat anything unless she gathered it herself. It had become a paranoia she hid all too well.
But it hadn’t gone unnoticed by the insightful Brown Alicorn male, and tonight had been too blatant to ignore.
“And speaking of odd, I know mares can be concerned about their figure, but you haven’t eaten or drunk anything at all, even on this day of all days.”
“Well, like you said, I care about my figure.”
“Coming from one who can alter her appearance to some glowing feather maned form, and once lived out in nature alone? Spare me Ave-Dol.”
Gaudium grew concerned, but his tone was borderline accusatory, but in the most gentle of ways:
“What is troubling you? Is it Siral? Do not think I haven’t noticed you’ve been nervous and even flat out sad around him.”
Ave-Dol stared at the brown Alicorn before her, his light blue wings flexing ever so slightly as he waited for an answer.
“I’d rather not say Gaudium… It is nothing for you to be concerned about.”
“It is when it makes you deprive yourself for some reason. Please Ave-Dol, I care about you, the others all care about you in their own ways, they’ve noticed too.”
“They shouldn’t worry about me, I will be fine after some time…”
“4 months and you are still like this. Something is eating you, because you clearly are not eating much for yourself.”
Gaudium turned away, while Lady Ave-Dol wrestled with herself. If she told Gaudium, he would be targeted by Siral, and she would be as well before she could find any not swayed by Siral’s methods and turn them on him.
The brown Alicorn artisan murmured to her, back still turned: “When I came here, you took me under your wing before the others, helped me after my family was lost at Trottingham. Seems like a lifetime ago, 8 months… I was distant with them, I don’t want it to be the same with you…”
At Gaudium’s admittance, Ave-Dol’s heart nearly broke, as the brown Alicorn took her silence as a sign to leave. At the last moment, she let loose something:
“Gaudium, wait.”
The Alicorn turned to her, but she could only admit this much, even as her voice cracked slightly:
“I, I have my own secrets, but this is something I must deal with on my own. I wish I could tell you, truly I do, but I cannot. I won’t let you or the others get involved.”
“Involved in what?” Gaudium probed, to which Ave-Dol knew she’d said too much.
“Forgive me, this is my problem.” Ave-Dol quickly murmured, as she wandered off briskly without letting Gaudium even get a word in. Even as he teleported in front of her in a flash of blue, she simply brushed right by him, her wing flaring out to push him aside.
“Ave, wait!”
But she was gone, as Ave-Dol then suddenly teleported away in a flash of light blue before Gaudium’s eyes.
The Alicorn stallion stood there, stunned, puzzled, and saddened. Yet amongst it all, he was worried, as what was bothering Lady Ave-Dol was to do with him and the others.
And Siral was tied to it somehow. He knew something.

Evening
Citadel, Siral’s office

The black Unicorn scratched one of his many mosaic like scar marks on his neck as he looked over the map. Beside him, as his defacto second, Tea Quirt stood in her hybrid form, her scorpion claws pouring over the map of the Everfree forest on the board nearby.
The map Siral looked at showed Equestria’s mountain range around Tartarus, and another showed the maps of Tartarus itself. Oddly though, he had many drawn marks on it, yet a few circled areas with question marks on them.
“I don’t know what your game is Starswirl, but you won’t have that fortress to flock to for the archives or whatever it is before midsummer. Still, at least you’ve become predictable in your behaviour.”
Sitting back, Siral looked to another board, as a map of Everfree Forest and a small sketched image of the Salamander Chack, and a few dead end trails, vanished into the forest, marked with a large question mark.
“The failed exemplar’s disappearance into the Forest is something else however. He’s not dead, too skilled a warrior for that. Forget kindness, you should call him a champion of vanishing…”
“Do you have to speak as if I’m not here?” Teal Quirt asked, having stared at Siral oddly as he seemed unaware of her presence.
Shaking it off, Siral replied to the sceptical looking hybrid and former Unicorn:
“Sorry, I speak aloud, it helps me think better.”
“Wizards…” Teal murmured, as she used the notes Siral leant her to trace any signs of the Salamander in the forest.
Bending over the map of Tartarus, Starswirl was sure to chart out the plan of-:
“Siral!”
The Black Wizard nearly yelped as the maps went flying in shock, a blue flash appearing at the end of his office with an impatient call of his name.
Beside him, before the light even reached its peak, Teal acted instinctively, disappearing in a green flash from the room, the notepad dropping like a rock from where she stood to clatter to the ground. The visitor never even knew she had been there milliseconds before he arrived.
The Wizard stifled his heartbeat, staring at the slowly walking brown Alicorn with increasing irritation:
“Explain nearly shocking me into an early grave Gaudium, with haste…”
“Ave-Dol’s depressed state in past months.”
“Has she not told you it is her issue to work out?”
“Not when I heard it is about something you and she know, something that has to do with a risk to me and the 5 others.” Gaudium probed.
Siral was quiet, staring at the brown Alicorn before him, the very quick flash of suspicion in his eyes giving to a feigned look of concern, as he let Gaudium continue:
“You’ve changed Siral, and not in the good way. You’ve been gathering followers for the war cause, that’s fine. But they seem to revere you so strongly, are you hiding secrets from us?
As Gaudium finished, the Black Unicorn hung his head, admitting softly while wearing that mask of solemnity over his conniving state:
“I had hoped not to let this slip. It is a personal embarrassment, but also a risk to you all. If the enemy were to find out…”
“Find out what?”
With a sigh, Siral began. He’d rehearsed this, he’d prepared, and it was half the truth, as all the greatest lies were.
“The others, Ave-Dol included, are not as perfect beings as I would like. There is something in their creation, a flaw, and the right spell could bring all 6 down easier than even a normal mortal. As for the euphoric state of some of my followers, I admit, I have been, seeding their drinks with something meant for those 6. A cure, and when it came to my followers, I had to be certain in the least it did no harm whatever its outcome, success or not.”
“You were using them as tests?” Gaudium looked disgusted, to which Siral was desperate looking, coming around the desk as he seemed to plead to the younger Alicorn:
“Gaudium, I was desperate to protect those 6 and their lives. If I perfect this, they will be as much as I promised. But Lady Ave-Dol is paranoid, she knows I’m testing on food and drink in secret, and she won’t eat or drink unless she gets it herself. But in truth I have not once used it on her or the others, not even you. What the cure does is it uses body functions that inspire euphoria to spread itself, that is why those I test on more thoroughly appear enthusiastic, their servitude is already there, just made more blatant in their support.”
The brown Alicorn looked at the older Unicorn, a degree of understanding behind his red eyes. But the Unicorn pointed at Gaudium excitedly, as behind them the maps of Tartarus rolled themselves up and were shuffled out of view without Gaudium’s knowledge:
“But you, I was wishing to speak to you anyway about this. With your improvements, you’ll be one who has no weakness the others do right from the start. And with your creation, I can get the working cure from you for the others. I cannot get it soon any other way.”
Gaudium was hesitant, as he turned to face a bookshelf nearby, asking quietly:
“So, my improvements. You could get this cure from them.”
“Yes. It is much easier and faster to get it forged while the creation process goes, not after. Your enhancement can save the others from the one weakness they have in their bodies.”
Gaudium shuffled his hooves, turning to ask Siral: “So, Ave-Dol was nervous, because she didn’t like you testing on random food and drink? And her own weakness like you said?”
“She has always been sensitive, it is why I brought her here, to have that humbleness and sensitivity with the others that I lack. Too much in this case. But please do not tell her we had this discussion, or that you know.”
Gaudium saw Siral’s pleading look, as he gave a gentle smile to the Unicorn that had visited him in his off-site estate in Trottingham many times as Blackmane before he lost his family:
“Secrecy, very well. And, when can I start?”
“Pardon?” Siral asked, genuine confusion on his face now.
“I want to help with this cure, as soon as possible.” Gaudium’s said, staunch in his confidence.
Siral looked at Gaudium for a moment, his eyes wandering back to the hidden maps of Tartarus stashed away in his desk for now. Looking back at Gaudium, the Unicorn gave a thankful smile before remarking:
“Soon then, soon. Before the end of March, that much I promise you. For now, I only ask that we keep this between ourselves. I can handle Lady Ave-Dol, perhaps some time of leave, to clear her head. I can get the others to make themselves useful or scarce without her around all the time.”
Gaudium gave a small snort of thanks, but also of apology, as he saw Siral looking somewhat ashamed at this whole exchange:
“That is as much as I ask, and will do. I just wanted to know, I worry for her, the others too. We all don’t have much, you understand don’t you?”
“Perfectly Gaudium. Now run along now. And refrain from teleporting into my office as a surprise in future, for the sake of my health.”
Turning away, Siral paid no heed as the brown Alicorn vanished in a flash of blue light.
A small smile played on his face as he drew up around his desk, satisfied at how he handled the whole business of this. Yet out of the corner of his mind, his magic sensed her presence outside the office window.
“It is clear now Teal…”
A green flash materialised in the office, as the mixed centaur/scorpion/ape hybrid appeared before his desk. As she walked over to a nearby bookshelf, transforming back to her white Unicorn with blue/grey mane form, Teal Quirt replied back:
“He has never heard of doors, has he?”
“He’ll know in time.” Siral remarked. As she walked over to pick up her notebook on the salamander sightings, Teal then askes suspiciously:
“You seem to go easy on him though, for his antics and all.”
“When he is enhanced, that won’t be a problem anymore. He’ll be my finest work yet.”
“Oh, and what of all that tripe about his perfection improving the rest of us?” Teal Quirt asked, a hoof tapping slightly in her original form as she glanced at Siral, expecting an answer.
“Perfection only through capacity, not authority. If you are getting jealous, don’t. You will remain the dominant authority among them.”
Teal Quirt slightly bristled, as she replied with a gesture to her normal state’s horn:
“I lost my capacity before you enhanced me. I can’t be blamed for disliking being surpassed in power yet again.”
Siral narrowed his eyes, this feeling of inadequacy in terms of magic remained in Teal Quirt, even as she gained immense power through his work. The fact that she was not THE most powerful among the 6 so far, but not the weakest, didn’t help. But Teal Quirt buried this issue for now, as she continued:
“Anyway, what of Ave-Dol? You know she’s been trouble with her state, even if she hasn’t done anything. Don’t think the others haven’t noticed, I do because you make me aware of it.”
“And it will stay that way. If anypony shall be strongly altered once Gaudium is perfected it shall be her. But her bond with Gaudium is a problem, one I shall remedy with some well needed solitude for her.”
“If you imprison her in the catacombs somepony WILL notice.” Teal remarked, to which Siral tsked her sarcastically:
“Really, there is no need for such depraved thinking Teal. A little tactic of unknowing house arrest. I’m sure she has missed her old hovel in the wilderness, and a set of watchful eyes keeping tabs on her for us will blend in with the other wildlife she cherishes there.”
Up above them, on one of a few pedestals, a brown eagle stopped preening itself as it tilted its head down when Siral finished this sentence. Gazing up at the office ceiling, Teal Quirt gave a small nod in agreement, though she hid any thoughts of how she was feeling more and more outmatched in raw power against some of the others.
“I must ask Siral: Why exactly do you resort to mere birds as your watchful eyes across Equestria?”
At Teal’s odd question, Siral jabbed a hoof at her: “Why forge when nature provides useful enough beings to control?”
She said nothing more, but what it was that Siral said somehow carried a hidden meaning to her she was unsure of. That of control and of things useful enough.
Maybe when the day came for Tartarus to taste war she would show just how useful she was.
All the while however, if Siral could take pride in anything with Gaudium, if not what force of nature he’d mould the young Alicorn into, it was at how easily he played on the boy’s impressionable mind. Easygoing, easily distracted yet creative, and all too easily deceived.
As easy to shape as the clay that Alicorn loved to sculpt with. Siral was an architect of higher calibre and vision after all.

Same day
Early Evening
Baltimare, Trumane Castle
Kitchens

“I wanted that fruit platter out the door 3 minutes ago bull!”
“Yes sir, sorry sir!”
Staggering away from the oven of pastries he was checking over, the Minotaur grabbed the platter of fruit slices to quickly hand to a waiter pony that had come along. The main chef, a grizzled Unicorn stallion, whacked him over the head with a spatula as he passed:
“Just because you make mean dishes doesn’t mean you get a pass on being slow, work on it!”
“Don’t be slow, right.”
Satio exhaled, as he smelt the pies were nearly done from the main over, while a few of the other chefs brushed passed the rather portly Minotaur to hand other dishes out, whilst washer mares and stallions worked on the empty tableware that was brought back.
As one dish was brought forwards past Satio, he knew who it was for. Inside his chef cloak, the vials he had been given by Siral ‘for when the time came’ clicked together as he reached in. But he pulled out a small folded piece of paper instead, using his orange magic to quickly slip it under the plate as it went out past him.
With a small smile, the hidden agent of Siral continued to work the dinner shift for the Trumane’s Hearth feast.

Dining Hall

“And the fact was that they believed the dignitaries were there to pledge the service of their lord to them. But their faces when they revealed their lord knew and had stopped the sneak attack with ease was priceless…”
As the Earl of Humboldt recalled his experience during a small skirmish of no fighting last month, the table rose with laughter. As she looked around, joining in the laughter, Iena saw the food begin arriving.
Curiously, as one of a few ‘champions’ of the Nationalists that was invited, she saw a sandy red Alicorn, not a noblepony but a warrior, sat in a suit he appeared rather uncomfortable in. Aubelles, invited by the Trumanes, probably to flaunt a high profile guest.
But she didn’t need to read his mind with magic, she had her wiles and perception enough to see he really didn’t want to be here. She was the only one in this dinner she felt great pity for.
Beside her, Lord Trumane, his white coat groomed as well as his blue and black mane, spoke aloud to the gathering:
“Now that the desserts are here, once again, enjoy. Only the finest.”
Chatter increased as the dishes were handed out, whilst to the left of Lord Trumane, Lady Trumane, her groomed lilac mane flowing as the yellow Unicorn mare whispered into her husband’s ear, Iena hearing clearly:
“-Aubelles over there, disgruntled over his missing acquaintance, let me see what I can draw from him.”
As her fruit bowl was laid before her, Iena listened in an intrigued manner as Lady Trumane asked down the table:
“Aubelles, from what I hear an acquantence of yours, servant is he? The Salamander, is off on business. A shame he cannot attend.”
“Believe me Lady Trumane, he would be perhaps even more out of his depth than I feel right now. Such an honour it is to be among you all tonight of all nights, I doubt he could handle it as well as I am.”
Iena would have giggled aloud if she lacked self-control, she could tell Aubelles was really not enjoying this upper class atmosphere. In fact, his eyes conveyed a semi-joking consideration of suicide at how dull this was.
She grew up in nobility before she was ousted for being ignoble in her methods of persuasion and negotiating, but she sympathised. He wasn’t used to it.
Turning her head to her plate, she noticed the small note hidden beneath the fruit platter before her, and the faintest of orange glowing letter S’s visible on the corner. Stifling a smile, she quickly used some light green magic to tuck the slip into her dress.
Her note taking gone unnoticed, Iena turned to see Lord Trumane hovering a bowl of dipping crème to her, a polite look on his face as he offered:
“May I?”
“Certainly my lord…”
As she spoke, the faintest of green flashes came through her eyes, as Lord Trumane used his magic to drop some whipped cream onto her fruit platter. He was a work in progress, baby steps, so as to avoid arousing suspicion.
Playing him like a harp, it was a delicate process. Only when they grew close enough for the bed to call would her true powers be able to take hold unnoticed.
And all the while, she knew well that Lady Trumane was only subtly aware of this by her doing. With another glimmer of green in her eyes, one that flared in Lady Trumane’s eyes at the dinner table, the Lady’s view showed the Lord catering slightly to this younger mare, and a very faint twinge of dismay, even jealousy, began to simmer.
Again, a delicate work in progress.

Later Evening
Baltimare, Iena’s rented house

Having got off work, and the dinner having ended, the Pegasus mare had left under the guise of returning to her residence in Baltimare.
It was easy to get a reasonably well equipped house with Siral’s connections, and it doubled as Satio’s accommodations too, his public guise there as a personal servant, a trophy of sorts.
The curtains were drawn as the Hearth’s Warming Celebrations died down, while Satio had a large platter of the food stuff not served at the dinner for not being ‘perfect’ in appearance, such as pies or pastries that were even slightly under or overdone, fruits that were uneven in shape or just plain leftovers.
He was sat in his more shimmering orange bloblike form, as if his Minotaur body had tripled in weight and turned an orange jelly like form in content. Outside, the faint echoes of hymns and carols carried into the fireplace lit room as he hovered a small booklet in front of his face, a small storybook he’d taken an interest in.
Slithering behind the large sofa that accommodated him, Iena’s Siren ears flickered as she stroked a set of clawed fingers gently over Satio’s back, the gelatinous Minotaur shivering under her touch as he munched and read quietly:
“Any crumbs, you clean them up. My house after all.”
Gulping down the pie, as it was even slightly visible in his orange form as a vague shape that shrank in its absorption, Satio gave a small smile:
“Trust me, I won’t waste any of this.”
Sure enough, some crumbs spilt onto his torso from his mouth, but they too were absorbed into his body from the skin by his willpower.
Slithering around to sit beside him, Iena took the time to snuggle up beside him, remarking:
“This was nice, thanks for getting the night off on this night. Too bad you only get Sunday off this week.”
“It was worth it. We don’t get much time together here, I’m often in the kitchens when you’re not courting, and so on.” Satio replied, the large orange arm morphing in shape to a longer tendril like shape, drawing her close. She found his body to be remarkably dry, and warm, and he’d perfected absorbing what he wanted now, so she had no fears from his skin contact.
With a small smile gracing her serpentine, siren body, she turned to lay on his fattened torso, her fingers stroking his bulbous chin as she whispered in the night:
“So, Hearth’s Warming Heath, such a time of company to be had… But, I’m not sure we’re enjoying it enough tonight. I have a few ideas for that…”
Satio’s eyes widened slightly, as he asked with some trepidation: “Can I have some guesses first?”
“We play chess.”
“…Not my first guess.”
“Among other things to be done tonight.” Iena finished, slithering up his chest to plant a small kiss from her serpentine face on his bigger lips, before her magic began to summon a chessboard from the corner of the room.

Same Day
25th December, 72 BNM
Crystal Empire, main plaza square

The plaza was a hub of activity, the Crystal heart’s warmth spreading across the empire, the frigid tundra of the wastes to the north reduced to a pleasant winter’s chill on this night.
Looks of wonder were given by all who passed through the main square, before the palace of Queen Amore. Among the throngs of those admiring the crystal heart, was one who was not so pleased today, but knew he would be one day.
Staring at the Crystal Heart, pulsating in the main square like a real heart, a disguised Pegasus stallion couldn’t help but stare with some bitter longing at the artefact. What was once his, and rightfully should be his still.
Golmov seethed, the dragon hybrid restraining himself from seizing it where he stood right now. The black and yellow streaked mane of his metal grey coat gave nothing away of his true visage, be it dragon, or his true form.
“Someday, it will be mine again. Someday.”
He murmured under his breath, disappearing back into the throngs of the others who wandered about the crystal markets. Pausing mid stride, Golmov couldn’t help but feel a magical tingling in his mind.
He recognised dark magic, Siral used it. He was surprised somepony in the Empire was.
Turning his senses, he felt the dark magic, small and miniscule for now, coming from within the palace itself. From what he heard, the lord protector, and interim ruler whenever Queen Amore was out of the empire, Sombra, was known to use means Amore would not, loyal as he was to the Empire. Tales of his dark magic growing.
Still, it was no matter to Golmov. When the time came, he would burn like the others when he reclaimed his crystal heart.
After the Alicorns who humiliated him into giving it up were dead, namely that white Princess.
Still, if there was one consolation to Golmov’s visit, it was seeing the purity and peace of this Empire under a still pleasant Queen. He had darkened more of the Royalist rule by helping kill King Nova, that much was certain by Queen Aurora’s change in the months now passed.
He’d take what he could, for now.

Meanwhile, Late Evening/night
Nokotaford, Royal Palace entry plaza.
Nextdoor cathedral

The royal Hearth’s ball had ended, and there had been many Alicorns in attendance.
And with his search for the one that cursed him with no fur and a disfigured visage so long ago still out there, Odi-Viscer wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.
Sat among the stone gargoyles of a nextdoor cathedral, in his Earth Pony form, he spied on the exiting Alicorns, be they flying or driving away in carriages. All noble ponies.
None the one in the forest he met as a child that used him, turned him into something his own village threw out. He’d had his revenge on his village, now that just left the Alicorn himself.
The sketched from memory drawing of the Alicorn, colours in his own mind still, had yet to get a match, and none of the Alicorns below were using detectable appearance altering magic.
So he waited.
He did make himself useful for Siral however, as the Wizard told him to lightly spy on the royal family and Starswirl if he saw them.
There was no sign of the Wizard, but he did see the white and blue princess sisters bidding the guests farewell at the doors. Their mother remained inside, withdrawn and colder than the winter’s air.
Not much change from what he’d heard. And none of the Alicorns mattered to him, while the one who he wanted was out there still.
The being of wrath simply waited with the gargoyles, though his watch tonight would be in vain. What it would reveal was that his target was not Royalist.
Unbeknownst to him, the Alicorn was not even real, a disguise itself. But Siral wouldn’t let the deceived Earth Pony transformed know that, likely not ever.
Not while Odi could potentially be used as a last resort weapon against Alicorns under the guise of hunting the one he wanted. If all were targeted, it would guarantee the death of the one he wanted. Still, there was no need, or desire, for such trouble, yet.
The small loaf of bread Odi had beside him beckoned, as he took a nibble of it in his hoof, watching the leaving Alicorns one by one, memorising them.
He’d come to know some of their last moments personally, if Siral’s plans called for it. Odi didn’t want to kill any of them, just the one, he knew that much, he only cared about that much.

Author's Note

Next chapter is perspective of the sisters and Starswirl, but in this one, the setup and the deceit Siral goes to is shown, as well as the roles the others have.

Secrets, Starswirl the Hunter

Mid-Morning
March 19th, 71 BNM
Equestria, North-Western forests
50 miles from Baltimare
Lady Ave-Dol’s forest home

3 months, 3 months had passed since Siral asked her to depart until called back. She recalled his tone as he called her to his office.
He had been friendly, courteous, but she didn’t need to be an Alicorn or more in magic to sense the hidden menace behind his words:

December 27th, 72 BNM

2 days after Hearth’s Heath, and when Gaudium had confronted both her, and then Siral. She should have expected this, but she hadn’t in all honesty. Among her mistakes with this whole place and its master.
Staring dumbfounded at Siral across from his desk, Ave-Dol shook her head as Siral admitted with an offhanded tone:
“I had that talk with Gaudium, and he agrees, it may be best to take some time away. Clear your head… I can handle them all in your absence, even if I may need to be more forceful in my methods to keep some of them in line.”
“You lied to Gaudium, what did you tell him?”
“The truth. Not all of it though.” Siral admitted, the black Unicorn with the scarred visage turning to her, an almost patronising grin on his face, though she felt the air tense like stone as he spoke:
“Perhaps until Spring, I shall contact you when I require your presence. We shall miss you dearly Lady Ave-Dol, as much as I’m certain what wildlife you harboured in your home cottage where you can return to have.”
Had she been less pacifist in nature, and had she not known just how powerful Siral was for a Unicorn, she and her enhanced abilities would have attacked him right there and then.

Present
Mid-Morning
March 19th, 71 BNM
Equestria, North-Western forests
50 miles from Baltimare
Lady Ave-Dol’s forest home

Marvelling, Ave-Dol slowly paced closer to the deer family before her, that had simply laid out on the forest clearing ground. A mother and 2 fawns, that normally would merely pass through here quickly, alert and wary.
But as she approached, the lethargic fawns glanced at her from their mother’s side, sniffing as they approached, almost blissfully at ease in their current state. Their mother approached too, yet didn’t snap to attention, didn’t run away, but simply sauntered over as well.
The light blue Alicorn laughed lightly as the fawns came up, rubbing against her legs as she let the mother, one she knew very well from years of living in this area, also approach.
“What brought this on?” Laughing at merriment with this odd behaviour, Ave-Dol glanced around as these deer basked in bliss.
No, not bliss, they were relaxed, not a care in the world.
Looking at the deer though, Ave-Dol noticed something peculiar. For deer very at ease, neither the fawns nor mother were looking well fed.
“Come along, let me get you some food. Some berries perhaps.”
With a gesture, the Alicorn led the 2 fawns and mother along, the spring flowers on the trees in blossom this time of year lighting the forest in many colours.
Glancing around though, Ave-Dol’s smile faltered. This was not the first time she’d noticed odd behaviour from animals here.
A Fox had come to take a nap, right in the middle of the path, as blissfully unaware as many other animals she’d seen in the forest in greater numbers since she returned.
And she’d seen fewer birds flying about the forest, yet the usual number of nests.
Stopping at a tree, the deer trailing behind now, Ave-Dol’s heart sank, yet her mind wandered as she saw the sight of two dead chicks, fallen from the nest above.
Glancing up, the nest was intact, and the mother bird looked in good health, yet hadn’t noticed the presence of the Alicorn only 20 feet below.
“Not even the birdsong is as active…” Ave-Dol remarked aloud, her sadness growing into suspicion, while the deer and 2 fawns finally caught up.
Relaxing slightly, Ave-Dol replied aloud to the deer walking beside her now:
“Well, seeing how easy going you seem…”
With a faint blue glow, her form changed to her glowing bodied one, her mane turning a feathery orange, her body a translucent blue and her body shape more pointed like a bird’s.
“It is so much better, I feel no sense of magic strain in this-…”
As soon as she’d spoken, she’d heard a loud scurrying. Like bolts of lightning, the deer and 2 fawns had taken off into the foliage, and the birdsong all around her had begun loudly as usual.
The whole forest seemed to come alive when she changed to her normal form.
“What the…”
With a pause, Ave-Dol reverted her form to her Alicorn disguise, and once again, the forest became quieter, more subdued.
As she glanced at the Fox that had frozen in place when she changed, she saw its eyes become droopy when she was normal again. In suspicion, she flared blue again, changing to her true form.
The Fox’s heckles raised, and as it darted into the undergrowth, the birdsong resumed in the forest.
When she was disguised, it was almost as if she cast a spell of easiness on the forest’s denizens.
Looking at herself, she murmured aloud: “They didn’t behave like this around me before I left…”
Blinking, Ave-Dol shook her head, mumbling under her breath:
“Is it me perhaps?”
Elsewhere, while she unknowingly exercised her greatest ability to serve Siral’s ultimate aims, the culmination of efforts from him and a rival began to set into motion.
One motivated the other, but soon the actions of another would accelerate events to come.

Midday
March 19th, 71 BNM
Tartarus, mountaintop towers

The efforts were excruciating, half of all the Royal Wizards had gathered here, as well as students, pupils, to make any progress as soon as possible.
A great stone, the magic amplifier, Quintessence stone they called it, later to be called Quintessenite by sciences centuries later, lay in the centre of the altar type setup. It was not needed, but the Alicorns would be the only ones with a hope of pulling off this spellwork without it, that or Unicorns of extraordinary skill beyond those of the Wizards present.
Working together, the multi-coloured glows of their magic, amplified by the stone’s presence, shot skyward like an aurora in the middle of the day.
A wind picked up where the magic experiment took place, and the Wizards and apprentice stallion and mares visibly strained from the effort.
Outside the alter setup, a pair of Unicorns, clad in muted grey cloaks, sat beside a sundial.
Ever so slightly, they saw the shadow cast overhead change in angle.
The Sun, ever so slightly, had moved.
The equivalent of turning the clock back an hour by timekeeping centuries from now had been accomplished.
Kneeling in awe, the mare turned to her accomplice, a fellow Royal wizard:
“Such power, it is immense. If only the spell were not so difficult for normal ponies to handle. This is the 20th time we’ve done these small movements on the day, I merely am grateful the night and moon are the same difficulty.”
“We make the spells, Alicorns use it. We serve that demand from our rulers to the letter, let them handle making it easy to use.”
At her colleague’s words, the mare looked up as the Wizards and Apprentices, their cloaks flung back as they recovered from this attempt. She shook her head, remarking:
“If the Nationalists get wind of this…”
“They’ll want the power too no doubt.” The Stallion concurred, marking on the sundial where the shadows had moved to.
Shouting up, he called out: “Alright, take a break, recover your strength. After that we return it to its time before we started as usual!”
Murmurs of exhaustion spread through the ranks, but this top secret project, by Royalist high command itself, was well paying and prestigious enough to shut up even the most morally uptight of wizards and apprentices.
Overhead, an eagle cawed slightly as it flew away from the mountain, a silver glint in its eye.

Meanwhile
Midday
Citadel, Siral’s astronomy tower top.

Having seen through the Eagle’s eyes, Siral blinked in shock at what he’d seen. He thought it was a joke at first, from the rumors of some strange gatherings of wizards that Golmov reported form spying on Tartarus from afar.
But casting his gaze back at the sunlit cast shadows of his tower’s 4 corner ‘spikes’, he then looked skywards at the sun, a snarl building in his throat:
“Does the arrogance of Alicorns know no bounds…!”
With a flash of grey, he vanished from the balcony.

Siral’s offices

Striding over to his map collection, Siral ripped out the ones he needed.
Tartarus was what he sought, but also some of the Nokotaford city. He quickly wrote a letter and flashed it away in a magic glow

Early Afternoon

“They cannot be serious…” Teal Quirt remarked, looking at everything Siral had presented, the Wizard pacing somewhat as he turned to her:
“Apparently they are. Anything to one up the competition.”
“The Sun, and Moon, used as sources of raw power by briefly stopping their motions… And I thought our plans were ambitious.” Teal Quirt remarked, her disguised white Unicorn mare form peering incredulously at the details of the map and what Siral had written out from his spy reports, namely animal and Golmov’s accounts.
Looking out the window, Siral gave an aggravated growl, as he spoke to Teal Quirt:
“Ave-Dol is on leave, able to be called upon. Iena and Satio are still spies as needed. Odi-Viscer is able, as are Golmov and you. Gaudium… will be ready soon.”
“Sir?” Teal asked curiously, as Siral turned to her:
“I promised him enhancement before March was finished. He can be under for a few days more than normal if need be. They have given us no choice, we must be ready before this power becomes a tool for the Alicorns to freely use, whatever faction.”
“The Tartarus attack? You’ll have to let the Nationalists know it must be earlier now, and they may find out what the Royalists were developing there.”
“They will need time to know the details and catch up if they do. Our schedule has accelerated against both sides now.” Siral replied.
With a small grin, Teal Quirt nodded as she replied:
“I will contact the army leaders, let them know the attack must be pushed ahead.”
Siral held up a hoof as Teal made to leave, as he then had a distant look, turning to her:
“Not until 2 days from now. I sense we aren’t the only ones who may have accelerated plans by this. Call it a feeling, but these celestial oddities won’t have gone unnoticed… And I feel we should hear where things occur before making a move.”
Teal Quirt looked at Siral, as she asked with uncertainty: “So, remain here in case something develops, then head out?”
“No merits for understanding orders Teal.” Siral drawled, at which the Unicorn bristled under her master’s sardonic reply. As she bristled though, Siral remarked:
“Odi-Viscer has been useful in keeping tabs on Royalist Alicorns my other spies aren’t, while he uselessly hunts one in particular. If anyone among them makes a move, we shall know.”

Late Evening
March 19th, 71 BNM
Nokotaford, royal library, lower levels

In truth, Starswirl took had seen the oddities in sun and moon behaviour, he had studied astronomy profusely in his early wizarding days in times centuries ago. And he certainly expected the even more astronomy attuned Siral to have noticed this too.
But that was not why Starswirl readied to leave tonight.
Dark candlelight illuminated the archives, the lone occupant readying for travel in the night, his blue cloak ready and his hat perched on the table before him.
As he packed his equipment, he heard hoofsteps, as a yellow light shone in the dark archives he’d come down to for some last minute checking of the less restricted tomes he used. The last pony he wanted to be confronted by spoke up, her voice bitter and accusatory in tone:
“So you were planning on leaving yet again?”
“This is not your conce-.”
“Save it Starswirl, spare me that line of yours you’ve used to justify keeping secrets from those who could help, when you need not.”
Celestia spoke in a tone she herself didn’t expect to ever confront Starswirl with, the Wizard unperturbed, but listening at least. The White Alicorn frowned as she heard Starswirl’s next statement:
“Siral’s schemes end, now. He has only 6 of the 7 beings of his, this is my last chance before he has too many. If not him, then taking the life of the 7th before it becomes complete shall suffice.”
“Do you not hear yourself? You are contemplating murdering a potentially innocent being.” Celestia admonished, shocked at Starswirl’s utter lack of morality in this endeavour. Turning to finish sealing his equipment in his robe pockets, he remarked offhandedly:
“If Siral has them in his grip, it is a mercy at this point.”
All of a sudden, he felt himself violently dragged towards Celestia in her yellow magic, before a hoof came to smack him rather hard across the cheek, the princess’s purple eyes ablaze with disgust, and hurt:
“Do not do this Starswirl! You are better than this! What happened to the noble wizard the tales and songs spoke of?”
“…He never existed.” Starswirl spat, rubbing his cheek with a free hoof as Celestia released him from her magic grip, a few tears barely held back as he glared at her.
Walking backwards slightly, Celestia let Starswirl finish, though she barely heard his words:
“You wanted no more secrets, there you go.”
Shaking her head, Celestia turned to leave, mumbling as she departed to leave the Wizard in peace:
“I see now what your problem is, why you never led much of a life outside of solitude and duty.”
“Finally, you see I have no time for it, it cannot interfere.”
“No Starswirl. You had no difficulty in living life, you never tried to live life at all. How could one like you ever have true social relationships with other ponies, when you actively choose to abandon that which makes life worth living, what experiences we have with others. I admired you as a teacher, but now I just pity you.”
Starswirl was quiet as Celestia left, those last biting words dancing through his mind as silence reigned in the archives he was now alone in. Celestia’s hoof slap to his face hadn’t stung as much as her words.
But though he knew she was right, he’d long grown numb to such accusations.
A sense of duty was a powerful anaesthetic; a lesson he knew well by now.
He was gone before midnight fell.

Midnight
Nextdoor cathedral, rooftop

Half asleep, Odi-Viscer’s red eyes snapped open, as he sensed something he’d attuned his own magic to for these long waits whenever he staked out an Alicorn locale:
“Whuh, who jumped place, huh?!”
Shuffling on his perch, leaning against a nearby Gargoyle, the Earth Pony sensed, as he furrowed his brows:
“Huh, Starswirl. He’s back and forth a lot it seems. Heading west…”
He mentally sent this, his mind and head glowing a very vague red and then grey as he sent the mental message to Siral from afar.
Shuffling atop the roof, Odi-Viscer reclined back, murmuring: “Maybe I can get some uninterrupted sleep…”
The disguised being of Wrath simply snoozed on atop the cathedral roof, unaware of what the Wizard had departed for, only that he had gone.
If he had made the mistake of not being in his subdued form, his raw power would have given away his position to anypony with a minor ability in sensing magical energy. But Odi was no fool, none of the 6, soon to be 7, were.
Still, the Earth Pony didn’t complain for now. Starswirl was not the one he sought.
If only Starswirl knew how close one of the 7 he sought to destroy had been all this time, even if Odi utterly uninclined to violence, for now.

Mid-Morning
March 20th, 71 BNM
Nokotaford, Luna’s quarters

“And you could do nothing to stop him?”
“No, he was resolute, stubborn as always.” Celestia shook her head bitterly. Nearby, Luna replied aloud:
“You think he’s noticed that mother is looking happier recently?”
“I doubt that.” Celestia replied bluntly, but she remained listening as Luna had some thoughts, an odd mixture of optimism and confuson:
“Actually come to think of it, mother’s really only outwardly happy whenever the messengers from, I think it was Tartarus, bring her news. And its news she always keeps secret.”
Turning to Luna, Celestia was stern as she spoke to her sister: “Promise me this, you’ll have my back when we question those two about the secrets they’ve been keeping. We deserve to know, we are heirs, we have a duty to know.”
“Who, mother or Starswirl?” Luna asked, but she stood up in agreement.
“Either, or both, this can’t go on for any longer.” Celestia adamantly said, smiling as Luna nodded in agreement, before she added with a look out the window:
“I just hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble wherever he goes. I didn’t think he’d be willing to murder an innocent if need be though, he always struck me as a noble wizard.”
“Believe me sister, the feeling is mutual.” Celestia replied, still scowling at the state Starswirl had left in last night.

Late Afternoon/Evening
21st March, 71 BNM
Equestria north midland mountains
Citadel outskirts

The Sun was setting on the horizon, reflecting over the lake the Citadel rested on the mountainous shores of.
But the sight was not a blissful one for the Wizard the snuck across the forest covered ridges and shores. He didn’t use teleporting, but he used invisibility, any means of avoiding detection. He had ventured west, then south, as he had felt Siral’s presence somehow wherever he went.
It was only when he began guessing how that his mind wandered to controlled spies, and he had noticed the sight of a bird circling high above him all too consistently wherever he teleported to. Within 10 minutes of arrival there was one that somehow felt like Siral.
He then headed north east, using many shorter teleports, coupled with invisibly, keeping his profile as low as possible by sight of my magic energy.
Within a day and a half of travel, he found himself outside the Citadel’s outer walls.

He examined the Citadel, hidden inside a bank of tall trees along the lakefront as he spied on the castle. He sensed Siral’s eyes everywhere, but Siral kept himself hidden. Once inside the Citadel’s walls however, there would be no hiding.
His eyesight as he hid by invisibility showed him the energies of those inside.
But the castle and fortress, much of its structure going underground, muffled and distorted the energy signs, meshing them into a mixture of colours in his sight that engulfed the whole fortress. He knew who was in there, but not where.
The being of Envy’s green emanation was there, and nobody else apart from the unmistakable grey/black feeling he got from Siral’s presence in the castle. And the many feelings and colours of magical energy he got form the guards on the fortress’s outside and inside gave away its defensive strengths.
He had a gamble, the 7th possibly in there under Siral’s influence but not yet transformed. If not the 7th, he would go for the one of Envy, and if all else failed, he would target Siral himself.
One of them died tonight.

Citadel, outer ramparts

Keeping his hoofsteps silent, Starswirl remained invisible, to himself appearing like a hazy blue figure amidst a normal world. To others, he was unseen.
Walking past a guard, Starswirl turned midstride to get a closer look at the glossy silver gleam in the guard’s eyes. Every guard it seemed had that same look, and a stalwart obedience when it came to on duty behaviour.
Trapesing down the ladders and walkways to the castle entry doorways, as he passed by a guard dining lounge, he felt that same magic of ‘control’ there, but diminished, as if it flared when needed, but allowed free will within certain boundaries.
Starting ahead, Starswirl found the entrance to the fortress, as the metal door was opened to let a group of guards walk out of the side entrance.
Slipping in behind the guards, Starswirl entered the fortress.
Inside, he found the stone walled access corridors all around him. He had only seen the main hall, the public areas. Here he had access to all areas.
But inside, his senses now had a feeling for how big the underground areas were for some reason, especially the lower levels.
Tentatively, keeping himself invisible, he walked downstairs, noting cautiously how loudly all but the lightest hoofsteps echoed when there were no guard present and speaking nearby.
But he had no time, and all around him the aura of menace, secrecy and impending threat loomed.
The grey wizard found a winding stairwell, and ventured into the catacomb levels of the fortress. In his mind, he sensed the presence of Envy higher up, as well as the aura of black and grey that Siral practically erupted in his fortress.
He continued down, feeling the urge to see all of Siral’s secrets before making a move.

Same time
Siral’s offices

He’d felt it, that presence. The moment it entered the fortress’s inner confines he knew.
Starswirl was near. How near he could not tell, nor why. He kept himself too well hidden, he could be outside the door or 2 miles away it was so muted and distorted by Starswirl’s clever magic hiding himself.
Casting the map of Tartarus’s inner areas aside, Siral contacted Teal through a mental telepathy call:
“Where are you? And where is Gaudium?”
“In his quarters, reading. Why?”
“…Keep an eye on him.”
“Am I his keeper now?”
“Not keeper, but perhaps protector. We may have someone snooping around our home, inside or in the mountains I know not. Starswirl has found ways to hide himself too well for me to know where he is exactly. Remain vigilant for anything suspicious.”
The other end was silent, but Siral knew this was a confirmation. Teal Quirt knew full well the dangers of Starswirl, a wizard of his calibre on par with Siral, almost, as far as she knew.
But like Siral, Starswirl had improved himself. For now, they played the game of cat and mouse from both sides.

Author's Note

And now we get into a very meaty part of this story, a set of mini skirmish type events, which finally shows the conflict between wizards come to a head. But it won’t be a single battle, as it triggers a wide range of events.
And yet all the while, other developments that will have huge ramifications in history have already accelerated Siral’s own plans. No doubt this will come up between the two while they come to blows.
Meanwhile though, Lady Ave-Dol experiences a hidden ‘curse’ she has been plagued with, to truly make her a being that instigates sloth when she is hidden, without choice.

Starswirl in the Catacombs

Evening
March 21st, 71 BNM
Equestria, North midland mountains
Citadel, lower basements
Dungeon levels

Keeping himself invisible, Starswirl had found his way down into the basement levels, which made up most of the Citadel’s internal structure, built into the mountain face and depths over decades, manual and magic work building its great halls, tunnels and secret chambers to their current state.
He passed by prison cells, the iron barred cells devoid of occupants, save for the occasional hairs and scales he saw on the ground giving away the occupant history. It seemed whoever was kept in here was more than one race.
Keeping his breathing low, Starswirl ducked back instinctively as a pair of guard pegasi walked past, their black and silver armour simple but ridged with serrated edges. As they ventured down the hallway, Starswirl saw where they had come from, and slipped inside.
Finding a large vertical shaft of sorts, with a large spiral staircase running along its outside circular walls, he slowly trotted down, blue magic softening his hoofsteps to that of a mouse.
Down and down he went, and soon he saw a doorway before him, as water lapped below, clearly an underground pond feeding into the bottom of the stairwell depths. Glancing inside, seeing that torches were lit, he braved the orange lit hallway, seeing a gentle slope running further down, as some echoes carried from the chambers up ahead.
As he advanced though, he paused mid step in the middle of the hallway, something bursting in his mind. He sensed some new presences he hadn’t before, faint, but there.
“Alicorns… Here?”
All races and sibraces had unique magic ‘signatures’ to those that could read them, and Alicorns were no different.
Up ahead, through the hallway into the chambers ahead, their presences flickered, muted, many of them.
Blinking, nerves on edge, Starswirl advanced, invisible all the while.

Lower chambers, storage vault

Coming to a doorway just before the main halls up ahead, Starswirl saw a problem. The metal cast door was enchanted, as a faint ripple of grey magic emanated over it. Every part, except for a lock in the centre. Peering into the hole, Starswirl grimaced as he mumbled bitterly:
“I can’t see inside, dare I risk it? If I overpower the spell, hidden alarm spells may go off… Another way in, carefully.”
Looking at the door, Starswirl focused his magic, his eyes seeing a projection of the vault beyond, where the door ended. Shutting his eyes, he let his other senses guide him, and he teleported.
A blue flash went unnoticed in the hallway as he entered the vault, none of the enchantment alarms tripped.

It was pitch black inside, but his blue light from his horn illuminated all. With nopony else inside, he had no need to be invisible. So he wandered through the long hall of shelves and storage cabinets.
It was not a storage vault of treasures as he suspected, but some things in here were rare and valuable in other ways.
An entire side of the room seemed to be a library of plants, animal body parts in pickling jars, all culminating in it being an apothecary that would be the envy of any would be potions brewer. Some creatures and plant parts in the jars and tubs Starswirl had never seen before.
A few small creatures the size of bluebirds, even dead, and deformed, seemed to stare back at him from the jars, too deformed to know what they were beforehand.
Passing by what seemed to be potions pantry Siral had dreamt of, even in his more noble times, Starswirl saw a group of cabinets up ahead. As he sensed with his magic, he felt the Alicorns coming from within them. But the cabinets were smaller than any ponies he’d seen.
With a slight gulp of trepidation, Starswirl slowly walked forwards, a slight echoing whisper from many voices vibrating in his head as he came to the cabinets, some cries of pain even as his horn glowed blue to sense their signatures.
Opening up the cabinet on the left, Starswirl didn’t find the source of the voices. Oddly though, what horror he did find should have been them.
He saw a dozen or so long horns, all Unicorn but larger in appearance. Alicorn horns, multi-coloured, some older than others in how long they’d been here.
“Alicorns going missing in the war, presumed dead…”
Bowing his head in lament, Starswirl quietly shut the cabinet doors, but not before he noticed something back over in the creature part shelves. A few tubs and preserving jars with other parts form ponies:
“Not just horns, wings too, a butcher’s fortress is what I am in.”
In disgust, Starswirl finally turned to the cabinet form which the voices came from in his head, and with a blue glow of magic from his own horn, he wrenched them open.
He saw nothing inside at first, but as the shadows fell back, he saw what looked like amulets with different gem colours in them. As he stared at them, he heard the voices, and the Alicorn carving from the gold chain and head seemed the source.
Voice after voice, whispering in pain, but to Starswirl’s horror, he found that some had faded entirely.
One with a red gem in the centre was the clearest, but even that one was incomprehensible. Yet something came through.
Turning to the other cabinet, Starswirl opened it, and noticed an Alicorn horn perched inside it that bore a striking colour resemblance to the amulet’s gemstone.
At that moment, raw magic inside an amulet, Starswirl stared back at the amulet, and his mind raced.
He then had a memory suddenly come back, from so long ago, but clear as to why it applied now.
Pandina, 534 years ago, when he and Siral were still friends.

29th July, 605 BNM
Midday
Imperial Pandina, Tabit Province
Hilomeyan Mountains, Xigongyian Valley
River banks

Their Eastern Dragoness companion, Hinai, also their found Exemplar of Magic, had bid them farewell hours ago, and they faced their next stage of travel through the world and time.
Walking down the massive valley, Starswirl and Siral were already searching for a place to begin their next ‘hibernating state spell round’, for they had more individuals of merit to find.
Walking along the river bank, Starswirl asked Siral cautiously:
“What of the amulet found on Ghung Chian?”
“It may take weeks, months to fully understand it. I know not who forged it, but I think together we can understand the magic behind it.”
“A side project, we must remain focused.” Starswirl reminded him, to which Siral waved a hoof offhandedly in acknowledgement.
Still, the amulet’s silver chain and blue/grey stone within were heavily on their minds. That orange Eastern Dragon had wielded great power with it, power beyond his own, by draining others magic and very life essence into it, for him to use. An extremely dangerous and insidious magic, not to be idly tampered with.

Present
Citadel, lower basements
Forging chambers

Head still reeling from the horrors he’d seen Siral keep in his vault, of his own creation, the Wizard had left the vault with haste. Now invisible once again, he had ventured down into the main chamber looming before him.
A large stone viaduct spanned the chamber overhead in a winding fashion, with platforms at intervals, 7 of them.
Opposite each platform, was a massive stone cauldron the size of a small hut, looming high in the darkly lit stone chamber, yet only stretching halfway to the ceiling.
As he sensed with his magic, Starswirl nearly recoiled. In his mind, emanations of the magic from the 6 beings so far enhanced practically wafted from 6 of these massive vats.
Here was the birthplace of the beings to exemplify Envy, Greed, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth, in order of oldest to most fresh by the magic ‘signature’.
“So, one at a time Siral?” Starswirl murmured, before he noticed what looked like a small plaque before each massive cauldron.
A sound of hoofsteps echoed behind him, as Starswirl quickly dashed down the stairwell nearby to the ‘ground’ level, at the base of the cauldrons.
A half minute passed, as Starswirl came up to one of the massive caldrouns, overhearing discussion from a patrol of guards overhead, noting the magic signature of ‘obedience’ that seemed to come off them by Siral’s magic senses.
“-got them on edge, but why would an intruder come down here? Other than the handful of prisoners, it can’t be a rescue attempt, they were presumed dead.”
“But to get inside, they must be dangerous for the master to send out a warning, whoever they are.” The Earth Pony stallion replied, his armour clinking as he walked along the stone walkway above, the Unicorn mare in armour beside him nodding in agreement.
Keeping invisible, Starswirl let this patrol pass by, as they would check from up on high where they could see all, except him right now.
Coming up to one of the plaques, before the oldest used of the 7 vats, Starswirl saw the magically carved image on the front.
A scorpion body with 6 legs and 2 pincer arms, an ape torso with 2 dragon arms, a shortened Unicorn head with 4 curving horns coming down and out like a headdress of sorts, and a short cut mane flowing from its back. The being of Envy.
“So this is what it looks like up close… Only from a distance have I seen you, that day in Canterlot.”
As he made to wander off, his thoughts turned to the other vats, and one by one he briskly wandered to each, knowing here was where he could evaluate the threats.
Greed, a centipede legged dragon with Gryphon wings on its upper body that doubles as arms and hands, and 2 more sets of dragon like wings along his back.
Wrath, an ape shaped golem with skin imbedded with stone plating, spikes, and a thin mane of hair stretching down its back to the end of its stubby tail.
Lust, a serpentine form with 2 lithe arms and clawed hands, the ears and head of a Siren, insectoid like back scales from a changeling, and 2 horns arching backwards like 2 twin head tails.
Gluttony, merely a Minotaur with a very bloated appearance, simplicity that belied his power.
And Sloth, a very slender looking Alicorn mixed with the wispy look of a Windigo, and the fiery feather mane of a phoenix.
All 6 showed lines of energy coming off them, to which Starswirl mused:
“Each emits an aura of their ‘trait’, or else they perform it themselves. Beings, made to cause grief in different ways.”
Finally, he came to the 7th vat, only to find the plaque before it was blank, and no magic seemed to be coming off it. No stench of pride.
“I am not too late, as suspected. But where is the host?”
Walking slowly around the massive vat’s walls, Starswirl placed a hoof on the edge, thinking aloud in a whisper:
“Beings can’t be created from scratch, only altered from ones already alive. Where is the seventh?”
Looking around, Starswirl recalled what the guard overhead had said, as he looked around, looking for a doorway to search other areas:
“Other than the handful of prisoners, it can’t be a rescue attempt, they were presumed dead.”
“Prisoner, any sane being wouldn’t volunteer for these horrific existences.”
The Wizard continued into the catacombs, searching for any dungeons he had not yet found.
Deep down though, he had noticed the being of Sloth strongly resembled an Alicorn. And Siral may well have one or more as his prisoner right now, as the seventh to come.
He would be merciful in this regard if it was true.

Minutes later
Lower chambers, storage vault

Opening the chamber, the vault lit up in proper torchlight as Siral entered the chamber. Striding into the vault, Siral muttered under his breath in a rare moment of self-deprecating casual behaviour he allowed only when alone:
“Close to my goals and he comes and starts snooping around… And he calls me inconsiderate.”
His grey magic opened the cabinets, as he saw the collection of Alicorn amulets he had created. The most recent red amulet was still ‘cooling’, as all of them needed to become stable. With this, he opted for taking the 2 oldest for good measure, his grey magic seizing the white and the yellow amulets and slipping them around his neck.
As he slipped them on, he felt a rush of energy each time, white and yellow rushing his eyesight before settling down, as Siral grit his teeth to let the energy sync with his own.
“Can’t believe these are to be first used to deal with a trespasser…”
As he moved to shut the cabinet, Siral paused, as he sensed a recognisable magic to Starswirl’s own, having been around the cabinets.
“So you’ve seen my work Starswirl? You will more than see it when I find you…”

Meanwhile
Evening
Citadel, upper levels, living areas

The sunset had passed already, no more sunlight streaming into the living area lounge. The fireplace crackled, but offered little relaxation.
The book before her was a decent novel, nothing spectacular, but she needed a distraction.
But Teal Quirt couldn’t help but keep glancing up and around, even down towards the floor, anxiety eating at her from the inside. Her blue/grey mane was somewhat dishevelled from her nervous fiddling with her hoof.
A sound of hooves came behind her, as Gaudium casually trotted into the living area, some flecks of dried clay on his light brown Alicorn coat. Turning to him, she saw him magically peel away all the clay ‘crumbs’ into a ball before his face, with it transforming into a small bread dough ball before her eyes.
Seeing her odd look at his magic, not too powerful but creative, Gaudium remarked shyly as he hovered the dough ball near the fire to quickly cook:
“I missed dinner, just a little snack.”
“Has anyone told you that you have more creativity than most Alicorns, of any age?”
“Believe me, I hear that often. Not that my parents thought much of artistry, while they were alive.”
At Gaudium’s remark about his parents, Teal Quirt’s nervous tick came back with a storm. She kept quiet, she had to. It was another reason for her to be wary.
She had been the one who led, and in person, killed Gaudium’s parents in Trottingham, and made sure his siblings were killed, to get him here with no ties he’d be wanting to find.
But this Alicorn sat beside her in his own armchair now, warming a magic made bread dough to bread over a fireplace, was a cause of worry on two counts.
Siral told her to make sure Gaudium was kept away from Starswirl, keep him safe. She knew Gaudium may be a target, and he was crucial.
But if Gaudium found out anything that occurred, he would have to be kept check by force, no friendly unity between them.
As he finished heating the bread to cooked form, Gaudium noticed Teal’s thousand-yard stare, as he asked:
“Something’s bothering you, what is it?”
“…Has Siral told you some Royalists want to attack the Citadel, us?”
Gaudium was quiet, as he took a small bite of the bread ball with a sad understanding look:
“He mentioned it, not surprising given the war. He said its why he’d made sure Ave-Dol’s home remained hidden, and that the others are staying hidden and separated for now.”
Teal Quirt nodded, but she knew secretly this was another half-truth. Siral kept them separate on their tasks outside the Citadel for not being found as easily, and to do more at once.
“Well, there’s talk of a powerful figure hunting us, specifically, and he’s prowling around these mountains. Wouldn’t anybody in our position be nervous?”
At Teal’s words, Gaudium looked at the Unicorn mare blankly, as he admitted:
“You said you’ve been in grave danger before, not exactly how but you have. I can’t say I’ve ever been in that position, I’m not sure what to think.”
“Pray that day doesn’t come.” Teal finished, before Gaudium asked outright now:
“On that note, you never said what that mortal danger was. I heard it was before you had your own power ups. What did happen?”
“Let’s just say I have a dislike for Salamanders now, where to begin?”
Telling/venting about a certain Salamander she’d been wounded by in horn, and nearly fatally, on two separate counts. And Gaudium was willing to listen at least.

Late Evening
Citadel
Catacombs, underground lake.

Keeping his hoofsteps silent as usual, his form invisible, Starswirl was in awe, and fear even, at what he beheld.
The viaduct bridge, stretching across a lake in a massive cavern, with chains reaching down from the caverns to large cages that hung level alongside the viaduct.
The lake below practically reeked of ominous threat, the surface black and foreboding.
Wandering along the cages, Starswirl found the cage that held prisoners, all in one cage as well. But his hopes fell.
They were merely soldiers, Unicorns, Pegasus and Earth Ponies, 5 of them, huddled together and starved looking.
He couldn’t help it, as Starswirl flickered the air as he reemerged in midair with a whisper, nervous as he heard it echo slightly in the cavern.
“Don’t panic, I’m here to help.”
A set of tired eyes looked at him, the lead soldier Pegasus stallion seeing the grey bearded wizard before him, a light of hope, but mostly fear, in his eyes.
“Is…Is he near?”
Starswirl’s blue magic pulled the cage closer to the viaduct bridge slowly, the chains creaking ever so louder in the lake chamber than he would be comfortable with. Shaking his head, Starswirl’s magic slowly creaked the cage door open, the Wizard hovering the 5 ponies out onto the bridge beside him and then letting the cage swing back quietly into its hanging position.
“Siral? No, not yet. But you should leave, I sense a back exit near the end of the hall.”
Pointing to the other end of the chamber, where a narrow doorway beckoned, the other starved soldiers looking at it with some uncertainty. Their captain, the Pegasus stallion, weakly remarked:
“We are not in the best shape…”
“What did he do to you all?”
“Us? He just left us here, for later use he said. He killed out leader, we were escorting our Mistress as she went to meet with the Trumanes in Baltimare, and-.”
“Wait, you are Nationalists?” Starswirl remarked, surprised rather than aggressive. The other soldiers weakly nodded, as their captain finished:
“The black wizard, he, he used his magic, some medallion. He sucked her magic dry, nearly killed her. He had two, one he already had, a silver chain, but her magic was taken into a gold one, pink, like her coat…”
Starswirl’s memory flashed to the vault. He had seen a pink amulet among those that emanated stolen Alicorn power and life.
“And then he just, dropped her into the lake. Its horror, they ripped her apart…”
“Were there other Alicorns killed?”
“Just a red stallion after her. Hard to say how long ago, time’s hard to keep track of down here.”
“This can’t go on. Make your way to the exit, I’ll find Siral and make him answer for these unspeakable crimes, and others he has done.”
Starswirl boldly stated this in a low tone, as he gestured for the 5 soldiers to head out of the tunnel at the far end of the viaduct bridge.
“Thank you, whoever you are.” The Pegasus leader weakly laid a hoof on Starswirl’s shoulder, clapping the still grimly determined Wizard in utter thanks.
But as he looked over Starswirl’s shoulder, he froze in horror. The others turned, and saw it too.
Sensing a presence, and power, Starswirl turned around, putting himself in front of the 5 weak ponies, stripped of their weapons, armour and magic in the Unicorn mare’s case.
At the far end of the bridge, the end leading up into the Citadel’s other catacombs, a grey robed Unicorn with a hideously scarred face, a ghostly white mane and short beard, and a slight grey and black aura around his horn, stood like a statue facing them.
“So it seems knocking on the door is beneath the great Starswirl the Bearded now, is it? Skulking about, as if afraid of what happens if you’re found.”
Siral’s tone came across as utterly condescending, yet spiteful at the same time. Silence that could be pierced at any instant reigned, while Starswirl stood firm against Siral, keeping the 5 soldiers behind him safe from this Wizard’s powers, those that he knew of.
But what drew Starswirl’s true ire, and fear, was the dark magic he felt coalescing around Siral, and the two golden chains around his neck, sensing ex-Alicorn magic inside them, in the same vein of the medallion the two wizards came across so many centuries ago.
Starswirl had delved into his own questionable magic sources, the necromancy magic he’d taken as a last resort knowledge source. But here, Siral had all but drowned himself in magic neither he nor the Siral he’d once been friends with would have dared delve into.
“How far you have fallen Siral…” Starswirl lamented aloud, to which Siral’s eyes narrowed while he stood 30 metres from them on the bridge. Looking at the cowering soldiers behind Starswirl, Siral asked sceptically:
“Before you inevitably try to preach me to death, what do you plan on doing with them? Release them I presume?”
At Siral’s remark, Starswirl took a step forwards, glowering at Siral as he replied:
“Obviously, they have seen what you’ve done. And if you try and-.”
“I won’t try to stop them. Not that anypony will believe 5 soldiers wandering the wilds after losing their Alicorn mistress, and going mad to the point of delusions about a key ally of the Nationalists.”
As Siral spoke, he pointed a hoof at himself with a small grin on his face, knowing he had the troopers escaping well in hoof. Looking behind Starswirl from afar, Siral gestured with a hoof to the tunnel, his tone flat:
“Straight through the tunnel, you’ll reach an exit gate. Try not to get lost on the way out, it’s a labyrinth if you try to come back.”
Unnerved, the soldiers began to scurry down the viaduct bridge, whilst the Pegasus captain cast a terrified look at Siral before turning to gallop as fast as his starved body could carry him through the tunnel a fair distance away.
Now alone with Siral on the bridge, the lake below as ominous as ever, Starswirl was tense, ready, as he spoke:
“Maybe not them, but my word shall be believed. I will go to your allies, tell them-.”
“They won’t believe you either, they see more value in me as an ally, then turning against me. Try as you might Starswirl, I have been at this longer than you. While you have served, I’ve played the war’s events to my advantage, positioned myself so that they don’t want to believe I’m a threat to them, even if evidence does get out.”
Bristling with anger, Starswirl finally exploded as Siral offhandedly remarked about the now vanished fleeing soldiers in the tunnel:
“Besides, my servants in the mountains will deal with those starved test subjects, not yet tested on mind you, before they get far from the exit.”
“ENOUGH SIRAL! I know you’re not yet finished in your goals, one remains to be birthed. You won’t carry out any of your evils any longer while I am here!”
Starswirl’s blue magic lit up in a furious display, while before him, Siral’s own magic, enhanced by 2 Alicorn amulets he’d forged, was less prominent for now.
“You dare confront me in my own-!”
Siral’s eyes widened as a blue light engulfed him, though his white/black protective shield stopped direct contact. Starswirl’s magic spread lightning like sparks across Siral’s shield surface, before he was flung sideways through the cavern, smashing into the rock wall with a resounding crash that rumbled through the chamber. Grey/black magic flickered as it blasted Starswirl’s blue magic off him, with Siral shaking his head in a daze as the 2 amulets then began to glow slightly, white and yellow amulets growing in brightness as dark, twisted Alicorn magic bolstered his own.
“By the ways and times you and I have time jumped, I have lived in real time 60 years that you have not.”
Hovering above the waters of the cavern, which began to ripple as the demon enhance leech hordes were awakened by the impact on the wall above them, Siral’s magic brightened as he readied an area attack:
“You were 60 years my senior in experience, now we are the same age. But unlike time and our age, I have surpassed you in ways you don’t even dare, accomplished feats you wouldn’t have dreamt of.”
“6 feats I came to destroy, that or the 7th if they are waiting.”
“Perhaps I was wrong; you are willing to go to extremes as I am. A lesson learned too late for you I am afraid, but you could still prove, useful to me.”
Starwirl’s eyes widened at Siral’s last words, dripping with toxic intent. With a blinding flash of blue light, Starswirl attacked again, whilst grey and black light engulfed the cavern, and the waters below in the lake broiled under the collision of magic between them.

Meanwhile
Late Evening
Citadel, upper levels, living areas

The Citadel shook slightly, too sudden for an Earthquake.
At the rumbling, Gaudium’s head glanced to the window, remarking: “Is one of the stone giants taking a walk near here?”
Teal Quirt leapt to her feet, as she heard a voice in her mind calling out:
Starswirl is in battle with me, I may require assistance to make sure he is brought down!
As the Unicorn took off, her form changing to her scorpion lower body as she bolted out the door, Gaudium turned to the fleeing Teal with a look of fear and concern:
“Where are you-!”
“STAY HERE GAUDIUM!” She bellowed back, as she tore through the halls towards where she sensed a great conflict occurring in the lower levels. The Citadel was in uproar at the rumbling, the noises and echoes.
Back in the living area, Gaudium glanced at the doorway, sensing something was terribly wrong. The attacker may have come.
Danger to those he cherished…

Author's Note

A clash at last between Starswirl and Siral, and Starswirl is the one throwing the first blows. He is in Siral’s territory now, not that Siral is overconfident, as calling for potential help from Teal proves.
What fate befalls Starswirl will give way to an extremely cruel irony about the creation of the seventh being he is destined to stop.
And once this conflict is over, it has a snowball effect. Won’t say anymore.

Friends to Foes

Evening
March 21st, 71 BNM
Equestria, North midland mountains
Citadel, lower basements
Catacombs, underground lake.

Blue and Grey flares lit up the cavern like twin stars in battle against each other. Both powers colliding, burning in as much desire to end this conflict now as their unleashed power conveyed. The cavern shook with each collision of power and will in long awaited conflict.

The waters surged from below Starswirl as he was flung across the cavern’s chamber, his blue magic hovering him a protective sphere to a standstill above the black waters. A thousand hungry leeches, imbued with demon harvested magic, snapped at the Unicorn a mere 5 feet above the water.
Up above, a grey wave of energy, like a slicing sword blow from above, surged from the bridge, upon which Siral stood, his horn glowing a fierce grey as he prepared to smack Starswirl into the hungry lake below.
Grey ‘arm’ met Starswirl’s shield, rippling magic like hot magma streaming off as he kept himself just on the lake surface with the impact. The gnashing mouths of the enhanced leeches made his lower shield flicker with strain, but before long, Starswirl saw a way around. With some magic on his end, he levered the arm pressing on his forcefield around, deflecting it to slide past into the water with a boiling splash and freeing him to fly back up in retaliation.
Soaring up into the upper ceiling of the chamber, Starswirl dodged a few high powered grey pulses from the Wizard, as his blue magic fired back towards the central ceiling.
Stalactites that hung from above were shattered, a few large ones directly above the bridge walkway that Siral stood upon beginning to fall. Down below, Siral’s grey magic pushed the massive stone meteors aside to land in the waters below, his magic shattering the last one altogether and floating its fragments in the air as weapons for use. Without pause, Siral’s grey magic sharpened the fragments into rocky daggers, and fired them at the floating Wizard higher above in the chamber.
Weaving in midair, Starswirl was engulfed in some dust as the projectiles shattered on the ceiling behind him. The Wizard was fixated on the source of the projectiles, and with a charging of his barriers, he flew down at full speed, headlong into the last projectile inbound.
Hurling the last rock projectile, Siral saw it shatter on impact, but something shining blue surge through its debris. Instinctively, Siral’s shields went up, the amulets shining in their white and yellow gems to give him more strength at a faster rate, as he also fired a grey beam at the shielded Unicorn.
Like a hurled catapult round, Starswirl smashed into Siral’s own shield, the beam dispersing as easily as sprayed water by his speed and magic strength. The Grey Wizard’s shield held, but the bridge buckled under the impact, that part he stood on crumbling to begin Siral falling towards the water beneath it.
As time seemed to slow, Starswirl turned to the midair Siral, caught off guard momentarily, as he fired a powerful blue magic beam right at the grey shield, dropping his shield for more power. Still engulfed in his shield, Siral yelled aloud as he was thrust down by the beam with a large splash, into the depths of the lake he’d populated with horrors for his prisoners to be executed by.
Not waiting around, Stasrwirl used his magic to fly back onto the bridge, his hooves clacking as he took a moment to catch his breath while the waters churned below.
Turning around with his breathing calming down now, Starswirl mused aloud:
“I know you can handle more than that Siral…”

Sure enough, the waters broiled beneath him, as a grey shimmering mass came up. And there was Siral, perched on top of a roiling pillar of water kept intact by his magic, as if it were solid to his hooves. Inside the black water platform and pillar beneath, the leeches swarmed.
“They know better than to harm me. I have all the home advantages here Stasrwirl, yet even without them you are no match for my power.”
“Power not earned, you’ve become a hypocrite, using Alicorn magic for your own ends!”
“Their power is used more responsibly under my authority, what I disliked was the ambition and arrogance that came with being born with that power, or acquiring it with little sacrifice compared to the great Wizards and Mages of past times...”
“So you are jealous of them, is that it? You make them suffer because you envy their might?”
“Suffering is the greatest teacher there is, be it a long life of work like you and I, or the addition of personal experiences at their hooves.”
Siral gestured to his scarred visage as he spoke, whilst he then gestured to the amulets he wore:
“Besides, why envy those whose power I can now so easily take for myself?”
“And how many more have to suffer and die, Alicorn or not, before your ambitions are achieved?” Starswirl accused, as Siral gave a brief pause before he remarked coldly:
“Equestria, the world, existed reasonably peacefully enough before Alicorns came to be. Does that suffice as an answer, old friend?”
Siral’s venomous answer was all Starswirl needed to hear, as he replied to the Grey Wizard who had been hovering closer on his watery pillar the whole time:
“My old friend is dead. The Wizard before me is as much a monster as the beings that serve you.”
Siral frowned at this, a very small part of him deep down actually hurt by this. A small part, that was buried beneath all his ambitions, desires, and sense of duty to what he must do.
“Your old friend died at that Alicorn’s hooves in the jungle so long ago…”
Siral’s ultimate sore spot, his torture at the hooves of Geldrath in the jungles, whilst Starswirl was busy searching for him in the demon plagued jungles with the exemplar to be of honesty, the tigress Nahia.
Now, Siral was within a few metres of Starswirl’s face, at which point, blue flared once again.
A blue pulse sent Siral flying backwards into the far chamber wall, his blue shield stopping him from being crushed on impact. The watery pillar he stood on was flung at Starswirl like a writhing snake as he went back, as the Wizard backstepped and flung a scything magic arc to cut the water and leech filled creature asunder.
Water and the wounded leeches spilling off the bridge, Starswirl turned to see Siral’s grey magic flare, as all around him the cages and chains that had held prisoners before glowed grey.
Chains snapped as the cages shrieked with warping metal, flying at Starswirl from all sides. In a flash of blue, Starswirl had teleported, the impact echoing in the chamber.
Appearing in midair, Starswirl flew toward Siral, a blue beam blasting Siral’s own shield sphere with enough force to begin burrowing it into the rock he was pressed into. The dark cavern lit up in blue and began to rumble with the force of the attack.
Pouring more energy into the attack, Starswirl felt the beam suddenly surge, as Siral’s shield collapsed.
But surging up his bright blue beam was a dark shape, and out from the top of the beam right before his eyes popped Siral, glowing a darker black colour and his body scars actually turning a toxic black as well, looking more monster than Unicorn as his grey wizard cloak had turned ragged now.

Point blank, Siral’s dark magic fired into Starswirl’s face, a large explosion of energy rocking the chamber as Starswirl was flung backwards, splashing into the lake below with a rising steam and vanishing beneath the inky depths.
Not wasting a moment, Siral rose up, a roar leaving his mouth as his dark magic surged, his yellow and white amulets glowing fiercely as their Alicorn sapped powers gave him strength to keep going.
Large clawlike fingers of dark magic shot from Siral’s forelegs as his horn glowed darker than the blackest void, scything through the water to try and catch Starswirl, even as the leeches began to writhe towards the hidden Unicorn.
In the waters however, a large blue sphere exploded, forcing water away as the Unicorn reemerged, stood on the lake’s bottom with all water and the leeches forced away in a sphere. Leaping up from the base of the lake, Starswirl didn’t see the black scythe like arm come from the side, smashing into his blue shield like a bat to a ball.
Rocked from the impact, his shield barely holding as he crashed into the far wall, Starswirl tumbled down onto a rocky ledge 10 feet above the waters, his shield failing as he staggered to his knees, regaining his senses as the dark wizard charged at him like a black meteor in the lake chamber’s depths.
Looking at the incoming Wizard, Starswirl made a decision. This was hopeless, unless something came up, head on attacks weren’t working.
With a choice made, Starswirl fired his blue horn one more time, but this time a blinding blue flash lit up the room, Siral’s eyes dilating massively as the burst of light filled the room.
As the light faded, his focus diminished somewhat, Siral crashed into the wall, no other Unicorn present, his shield failing at the end to leave Siral clambering out of the slight crumbled hole in the chamber wall he’d made, his horn still glowing black with dark magic, and his legs and body glowing black along his scar shapes.
“A flash and dash move? Cowardly, but smart I will grant you Starswirl!”
Coming to slowly hover around to the bridge, Siral set his hooves on its length, scanning the chamber with a bright grey spotlight from his horn, his dark magic fading slightly as the battle rush wore off.
Wandering through the chamber’s length along the bridge, looking around the whole time for any sign of Starswirl, Siral magically hovered over the halfway section of the viaduct bridge, past metal fragments where he’d used the cages and chains to attack Starswirl.
“If you have this much power, why bother with the other 7 beings you’ve forged? Or is it 6, your 7th little pot has no markings on it…”
Starswirl’s voiced echoed all around the chamber, at which Siral’s eyes narrowed. Invisibility, coupled with any spells to hide his location. Scanning the room slowly in more than just his spotlight, Siral replied to the echo:
“They are forces as much as I am, some different, but powerful nonetheless. Of course you saw the work of a mere 3 of them in Canterlot I wager…”
“If they’re so powerful, is that why have I sensed only one here right now? Why you have been amassing power? Have you bitten off more than you can chew with them?”
Siral shook his head, laughing aloud as he realised what Starswirl’s game was, stopping on the bridge as he began to sense where Starswirl seemed to be coming from, in more ways than one.
“I have no need to fear any of them, nor will I ever. They have no reason nor gain from rebellion against me, and their enhancement can be as easily unmade as it was made.”
“So you are prepared to bring them down if they rebel? Hardly trusting your servants, are you?”
“It is called covering all possibilities, any wise strategist does it. Unlike Alicorns, they at least appreciate their gifts.”
“Gifts engineered to make them living weapons for your cause I presume?”
“You always were skilled in assumption Starswirl, but if you are trying to turn the one here against me you are out of luck. She is the one I entrust most, a pupil of my former academy, whom your little fishy friend you left in Everfree forest has met twice now…”
“And what of the others? I can’t assume they are all so loyal and connected to you in their pasts…”
“Souls impacted by the war, by Alicorns, or by sympathy to these souls themselves. I made sure to find those who would be motivated to aide my cause, even if they needed a little push in the right direction…”
Silence reigned in the chamber, as Siral glanced around to the front entrance. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a green eyed figure peering from the Citadel end’s tunnel mouth, as Teal Quirt had remained hidden this entire time, her scorpion/ape torso body huddled inside the tunnel.
“Your servant is near, I sense her. She has the blood of one Alicorn I knew myself, King Nova’s blood, on her hooves. He didn’t deserve to die like that…”
“Why do you defend Alicorns? What have they done to earn your trust as a collective race? They’re infighting and warmongering are a product of their traits, I had nothing to do with that! You come after me as if I am the instigator when you serve the ones that started it all! I merely became an active agent, influencing the situation to get the desired outcome!”
Scoffing loudly, Siral murmured lowly, his voice carrying up to the ceiling, where Starswirl was invisible, hovering amidst a small fissure in the ceiling.
“Yet if I recall, on our very first meeting with a so called exemplar being of yours, you opposed my intervening in ‘destiny’.”
He and the hidden Siral recalled the Romane Empire era, and Siral influencing officials to have the gladiatrix earth pony Mashri fight her brother, the one who was the cause of her imprisonment by him betraying her trust. It brought out her loyalty display, but Starswirl had not approved. Never again did any of them directly intervene out of choice.
“Every being we meet, we influence their lives. You consider yourself a slave to destiny, you think things will always play out as foretold and you must conform to what you perceive as destined. That is your problem Starswirl, you cannot be a true protector of Equestria if you serve those that are part of the problem itself. Have you not felt what experiments your Royalists are conducting? The slight changes in how the moon and sun move?”
Silence, at which Siral took it as an inability to refute it. Continuing on, Siral spoke bluntly, as he sensed exactly where Starswirl was right now, mentally signalling to Teal Quirt inside the tunnel to get ready.
Inside the tunnel, her form’s powering up in a green glow, she remained hidden, as she sensed the Wizard’s attentive senses draw to her from above somewhere in the cavern.
“The Nationalists will find out, they’ll want it for their own use, and the world will become as much a slave to their will, as you are to them. You once called me friend, but how could I have been blind, to have ever befriended somepony as blind as you. I will NEVER submit to any Alicorn, and anypony who upholds their undeserving godhead status among mortals is a similar case. And if they will not change themselves, and I suspect you came here knowing this, I will ensure no Alicorn sleeps soundly ever again. With the help of all I have gathered, I will make Equestria, and the World, in harmony again, and I will do so, ATOP THEIR BONES!”
With a flurry of rage, Siral flared out a scythe like blast of black magic, detonating in a long chain across the roof. Smoke and light filled the cavern as the blast echoed in a deafening volume, while a glowing blue form shot towards the tunnel in an escape attempt.

Flying through the smoke, Starswirl saw the tunnel ahead, and his expression turned to a glare as he saw the scorpion/ape hybrid thrust out her dragon arm hued in green magic, clotheslining the Wizard mid-flight to go crashing into the hallway just behind her.
Smoke and dust rumbled from the main hall as Starswirl staggered to his feet, head spinning and in agony from the magic infused blow that took out his shields. Gaining his senses, he saw a green hued blast fire at his head, and in a blue flash he teleported to the side of Teal Quirt’s attack.
Spinning, Starswirl fired a barrage of spells at the creature, her scorpion lower body throwing up her pincers to form a green shield, while her 2 dragon arms pointed at him, the 4 horns on her head glowing a toxic green as a 6 pronged blast formed into a single large beam that hit Starswirl head on.
The green flash utterly overwhelmed the exhausted Wizard, as Siral’s voice echoed in a magic infused screech into the hall:
“Make him bleed, he will contribute to the last part of…No, not here…”
Over the ringing in his head, Stasrwirl head a scuttling, as Teal Quirt had quickly dashed to him, legs rearing up against the wall with her speed, her Dragon arms engulfed in green as both grabbed Starswirl by the shoulders to slam him into the stone walls, earning a cry of pain from the Wizard as her face turned confused for a moment.
“What was that Siral?”
“….I told you to keep him away! Gaudium is here!”
With a set of widening eyes, Teal turned to Starswirl, squirming in her draconian strength grip. Eyes bulging slightly, Stasrwirl wheezed out:
“So he is the Sev-ARGHHH!”
With a wrenching yell, Starswirl felt Teal Quirt thrust out one of her lower body’s scorpion pincers to clamp its sharp ends into his rear left leg’s thigh, clenching so the serrated edges pierced the skin to inflict heavy slicing into his limb, her green magic on her body making it burn all the time as well.
“You came her to kill us? I consider this payback for what your little fish fiend did to me, twice!”
She made sure the claw she had deep in Stasrwirl’s thigh hurt him as much as possible.

Back inside the main catacomb lake chamber, Siral had turned, seeing Gaudium come flying down on his blue wings, his red eyes ablaze with a fire he hadn’t seen before. The black Wizard saw rage all over Gaudium’s face.
“I and Teal must have missed your presence as I dealt with Starswirl, my mistake. I presume you heard my exchange then?”
Gaudium was deathly silent, the light brown Alicorn coming to stand before Siral, as Starswirl’s screams echoed form the hall beyond by Teal Quirt’s torture of his thigh wound.
“You’re killing Alicorns in your goals? That is what you want? What about me, what about Ave-Dol? Is that why she’s so hurt, why she’s ‘on holiday’, because she found out about all this? What other lies have you been telling me all this time!?”
Siral looked at Gaudium, weighing his options. A dark look crossed the Wizard’s face, knowing he had no choice, no way to spin this to the youthful Alicorn stallion before him. But this wasn’t a lost cause, only in uninfluenced loyalty was there no more to be had.
“She is soft hearted, useful with her naivete. Just as you are, you were useful for your creativity, and how disconnected from the usual paths Alicorns take to become blights on existence itself. Outliers among a problem race, who I took under my guidance.”
“I came here because my family is dead, I had nowhere else to go! Ave-Dol came here of her own volition, though I’m guessing you lied to her about what you really have us do! Teal, Golmov, Odi, they’re weapons! Iena and Satio, you have them as insiders within the Nationalist leadership family’s home!”
“Being as you are now; it is certainly better than your prior existence. Unlike your parents and siblings, I view you as highly useful. They didn’t know what they were missing in pushing you aside, but I did.”
At that moment, a very loud screech sounded from Starswirl, but amidst its echoes, Gaudium’s expression turned to utter horror as he put two and two together.
“You, you killed them…my family…”
“Seeing as the truth is the only path… yes. Or more appropriately, my Servant did. While the others were busy with skirmish tasks elsewhere at the time, Teal Quirt was very helpful in the Trottingham incidents. They did not suffer for long under her power.”
At that precise moment, a blue flash flared above them, as Siral leapt aside with Starswirl crumpling onto the bridge behind them, sliding to the edge and hanging on with his two good forehooves.
Seeing Starswirl barely hanging on nearby, Siral paid little heed to the uncontrollable Gaudium nearby, the light brown Alicorn’s blue wings flaring as his rage finally broke.
“HOW MANY OF THE OTHERS LIVES HAVE YOU RUINED!?”
A burning curse shot from Gaudium’s horn, raw power but not refined, to which Siral dispersed as easily as a cloud of smoke, his form turning to a black vapour before Gaudium before it surged towards the young Alicorn stallion, solidifying into the scarred Wizard’s form before he fired a spell into Gauidum’s face with a few last words, a last bitter insult to Gaudium before he was subdued painfully with a powerful curse:
“Your last free thought will be regret of becoming my enemy…”
Black engulfed the Alicorn, sending him flying backwards with a howl of agony.
Behind Siral, as he focused on Gaudium, Starswirl desperately scrambled onto the bridge, some blood dropping from his left rear thigh as he limped away, his blue horn charging ready to go.

As Starswirl continued to screech, the Wizard powered up a blue beam out of reaction, to which Teal Quirt’s dragon arm pressed into his head to crush his skull. Yet in a flash of blue, as Teal’s own green magic fought to stop him, he teleported from her grip with a scorching hot flash, sending Teal tumbling against the hall’s wall roughly.
Seething, she turned to scramble into the main hall, her scorpion legs flailing in their steps as she rounded, hearing a screech from Gaudium up ahead:
“How many of the others’ lives have you ruined!?”
But as soon as she entered the bridge’s view, she saw Siral hurling Gaudium towards her, his light purple magic overwhelmed by Siral’s own black magic. Scraping painfully along the stone floor, his body bristling with restraining black magic, Siral bellowed to Teal Quirt from the bridge:
“Take him away!”
But behind him, the grey Wizard glowed blue as he limped, and Siral span to fire a black spell at the Wizard, missing as Starswirl vanished in a blue flash of light. As the sound of the last spell hitting the wall at the lake cavern’s far end echoed, Siral’s own howl of rage filled the air.
From up in the caverns, a few Citadel guards came scrambling to the balconies, whilst to many others beyond, Siral’s rage fuelled command went beyond the cavern:
“Destroy the Grey Wizard!”
As a few distant rumbles began to grow in frequency, Teal Quirt saw Gaudium stare up at her, eyes alight with betrayal and rage, and the pain from Siral’s dark shackles on his body.
With a scowl at how things had taken a turn for the worst, Teal Quirt scuttled along on her scorpion legs, her green magic emanating from her 2 dragon hands and 4 horns on her ape/horse head hovering the light brown and blue winged Alicorn stallion behind her.

Citadel, lower levels
Dungeon chambers

“I wish things hadn’t turned out this way, but I believe in this vision. Enough to deceive you, as nice a stallion as you are.”
“Starswirl is right, you are a monster…”
Teal Quirt stopped, as she’d been hovering Gauidum behind her without more than her scowl. Now, she hovered him around in front of her, her draconic arm wrenching his restrained head to face her from upside down:
“I would kill you now, if it were not for the fact that once you are turned, you will not have any memories of your life at all. I will be superior to what you’ll become in one way, I will have my mind intact…”
Gaudium’s expression turned to stark horror as he was hovered towards the dungeon cell halls, Teal Quirt’s green grip keeping him locked as a cell prepared to hold any high magic powered individuals lay ahead, in a very dark corridor.
It would be one of Gaudium’s last memories.

Catacombs, lake chamber

The guards dispersed themselves around the lake chamber with magic or ropes to begin repairing the destroyed viaduct bridge segment, keeping the leeches away and making sure the sea serpent didn’t even come out of its cave.
Standing, seething atop the bridge, Siral glared at the bridge surface. Starswirl had gotten away, wounded, but not dead. Gauidum had found out, and now he would have to be held by force until he was transformed.
It was now quite fortunate that he planned on utterly destroying all memories Gaudium had of his life before his change. Unlike the others, this would be the first of his breeds that would be a clean, powerful slate to start with. Everything else in living beings could be magically imbued, except a skill as hard to understand such as creativity.
That was what drew Gaudium as a target.
Glaring at the bridge surface still, Siral turned to walk towards the main Citadel entry tunnel, hearing the sounds of thundering shaking from the distance mountains higher up and far away. His local army of titans were doing their part to try and take out the Wizard, who seemed tired at least.
A sticky wet liquid sqwelched on Siral’s hoof, and with a glance down, he saw a crimson liquid staining in a few drops, and even a few large puddles. Starswirl had a large wound thanks to Teal Quirt, bleeding noticeably.
Staring at the blood of his former friend, Siral’s scowl vanished. Perhaps Starswirl could prove useful to his cause after all.
Taking out a small vial and cork, Siral’s black and grey magic, the white and yellow amulets fading from no need for them now, scooped up as much of the blood before it dried and stained the stone.
A volume of blood the same size as the vial’s cork now rested, as Siral had thoughts turn to Gaudium’s enhancement.
A better revenge would be in Starswirl contributing to the last of his seven.
Without a look back, pocketing the vial of blood, Siral ignored the torn and burnt state of his grey cloak as he slowly walked along the bridge, the guards repairing the damage from their battle as he exited.

Late Evening/Nightfall
5 miles from Citadel, north midland mountain valleys

Having taken a tunnel route out, Starswirl’s teleportations dropped him on a mountain slope not far from the inconspicuous mine shaft that served as a secret labyrinth plagued entrance to the Citadel. One wrong path taken alongs its length led to a dead end, and a hidden trap or horror.
Wheezing, the Wizard saw his badly bleeding leg trailing some blood droplets on the grass and muddy slopes near where he landed.
The moon was half full overhead, blemished by a half overcast of night clouds, but the pitch black of the forest was daunting to the Wizard.
Collapsing on the slope, his soul sank as his mind turned to panic. His mind run, as he thought hard about those he knew were in graver danger than he had anticipated.
Alicorns flashed through his mind, dead, and alive, regardless of their side in the Civil War.
But as his mind wandered to the 2 princesses, the earth began to tremble.
His horn lighting up the area in a dim, but broad light, Starswirl saw something horrifying to his left. A boulder began to shift, as a much, much larger shape behind it rear impossibly high up, the very mountain face looming behind it seemed to engulf the night sky.
A low humming noise filled the air, as a groaning that sounded too uneven for it to be simply a rockslide reverberated through the air and ground and back again, through Starswirl’s very bones itself.
Something very old, and powerful. Tainted with Siral’s magic enough to move more than it otherwise could, as a set of very small grey dots that marked the ‘eyes’ reared higher and higher into the night sky, becoming like stars by how far and small they seemed.
In the dim blue light, the mountain being loomed before the Wizard, a single shuffling step of its large foreleg shaking the ground, moss and shrubs covering its entirety as loose dirt and rocks tumbled off its massive body, 200 metres tall and even longer head to tail, shaped like a tortoise made out of a mountain.
His blue magic dimmed as the massive being cast its shadow over Starswirl, rearing its head down as a maw impossibly wide began to open, the air roaring as its head moved to attack. What seemed slow from a distance belied just how fast something of its size moved.
In a blue flash, Starswirl vanished further up the mountain slopes, away from this gargantuan creature. Utterly exhausted at this point, his leg beginning to feel numb, he fired a desperate blast at the creature, a blue lightning bolt in the dark mountain night crashing against its massive stone fore shoulder, a few bits of rock and debris flying from the powerful blast.
Yet an unearthly roar echoed as it charged, its waddles faster than a charging Rhino up the mountain towards Starswirl.
Off to the side of his vision, Starswirl saw another mountain ridge move, as a longer shape began to detach, a very barely visible behemoth hauling itself from its slumber on a slimmer body with 6 legs, and 2 similar pinpoint grey eyes aimed at him.
A fear like no other wrenched through Stasrwirl, and it poured itslf into his spells as he began a desperate flee through the mountains, slow in his teleporting by his blood loss, wound, exhaustion from his previous fight, and helplessness even before these titans, Siral’s stone giant army, turned on him as he tried to escape.
As he fled, a pang of fear, horror, and plea for a miracle blazed he unleashed another spell at the pursuing stone giant, the second one coming up even faster from a mile behind them.

Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Princesses’s quarters

Starswirl’s terrified expression, and a dark mountainside with beings of incomprehensible size and power chasing him, flashed in Celestia’s mind as if she were feeling it.
Fear for them, just as much for himself. Too vivd to be a dream.
Darting awake with a terrified scream, Celestia saw her doors burst open 2 seconds later, as Luna used the doorway connecting their chambers without going through the outside guards. Her face beheld similar distraught worry:
“Sister, Starswirl! You had the vision too!?”
“Yes, what a drea-vision? It is real?”
“I know dreams better than you sister, Starswirl is in grave peril!”
Celestia sprang from her bed, remarking fretfully: “He set off on his own, he rejected our help when I said he shouldn’t.”
“We never listened to him all the time before.” Luna replied briskly, a small joke as Celestia readied a teleporting spell, to save their teacher and friend, even if he wasn’t much of one from his end.

Outside, the guards rushed in with a frenzy as they saw Celestia and Luna vanish in a mixed yellow/blue flash.
Queen Aurora was not going to be happy with them vanishing without announcement in the night.

Author's Note

Starswirl made the mistake of engaging Siral on his home turf, with no prior knowledge or details of what to find, or what Siral had dabbled in.
And Siral makes his position very clear, even as Gaudium had been listening in as always from above. He was less noticeable as a presence than the 6 others, though the distraction helped him eavesdrop unseen.
Gaudium’s pleasant times are over, for good in fact. And from here on in things are no longer scheming and waiting with Siral and the others. But this won’t be the last time Siral’s carefully sculpted web of deceit unwravels, and far from the most easily resolved.
And Stasrwirl finds out firsthand how powerful Siral’s Citadel sentinels are. But amidst his panic, he subconsciously begs for help from 2 Alicorns he now knows are in more grave danger than previously thought.

A Wizard saved, a Seventh enslaved.

Late Evening/Midnight
March 21st, 71 BNM
Equestria, North midland mountains
10 miles north west of the Citadel
‘Colossus Valley’

Darkness, only a few outlines and very black silhouettes of trees and distant mountain ridges discernible against the starlight, half clouded night sky, the half-moon’s white glow poking through the cloud banks to give even the faintest of illumination across the mountains.
Gasping as he slid down the slope, his badly bleeding leg giving out, Starswirl tumbled into a heap onto a ledge, running along a ravine where he’d miraculously lost the massive creatures searching for him.
The earth trembled rhythmically, as the two creatures, one like a tortoise, the other like a sleek, 6-legged lizard, both 100 metres in their massive height, and larger in their body length.
There was a reason Siral had chosen here as his fortress, and it was in legends that these Stone Giants, known as the Colossi, were said to reside in the north midland mountain ranges of Equestria, and in other remote regions in the world. Older than any known beings, simple but immense in their presence.
That simplicity in their minds made them a contrived race for those wishing to ally, or subdue them. They had very few desires, very few dislikes, no fears, as simple minded as any animalistic creature could be.
But Siral had swayed them, and by their simplicity, he swayed ALL of them. These two were but a mere handful, there were possibly dozens, maybe over a hundred if they were better hidden then Legends told.
Yet the main reason nopony before in history had swayed them, was that no need for such overt forces existed. Siral had them at his beck and call.
The only upside to these immense beings under his command was that they could be easily seen coming. These were not weapons of attack, but something to ensure what was seized could never be retaken.
Sentinels, not Vanguards.
And with pain flooding his system, Starswirl could not focus enough to teleport anymore. And if he could not even do that, he could not muster enough magic to even scratch their rocky cliff faces of bodies.
Hiding in the ravine, thankful for the night preventing him being as easily spotted, Stasrwirl’s eyes widened as he heard a foot stomp rather close by.
Peering around, he could see it rearing up in the night, its immense jagged stone head blotting out stars and the moonlit night sky as it turned. Out of its pinpoint grey eyes there now shone a beam of light, swinging from side to side.
Ducking inside as a beam swept close to his hiding spot, Starswirl tried to muster any magic he could, and in a feeble blue glimmer from his horn, he turned invisible.
Glancing out from the rock hiding place, as he looked around in the dark ravine path stretching ahead, and a distant roar of a waterfall up ahead.
Glancing down, he saw that the path headed towards a canyon, likely with a river carried from the waterfall’s base further along the steep canyon.
Looking back, he saw that even the 100-metre-tall 6 legged Colossi had to step down into it, as the barely visible outline of its form now lay below and behind him, its grey spotlights scanning the canyon walls and river in wide sweeping arcs.
Still invisible, Starswirl rumbled aloud:
“At least they’re so loud that I won’t make noise to give myself away.”
Maintaining his invisibility, Starswirl looked west, and saw he had to get across the Canyon.
“I can’t go up this canyon forever, they’ll find me… Across, then a clear run while they’re busy scouring for me, through the woods and away…Please.”
In a bid to stifle his leg bleeding for his attempt now, Starswirl first focused his magic on the bleeding leg, stemming its flow for a few moments as he then began to focus his blue magic.
As he focused, he noticed the tortoise shaped Colossi turning a half mile away, its silver eyes glinting like stars as he could have sworn it felt his magic building up. But in a flash of blue, he was somewhere else.
His eyes had turned to the other side of the canyon, seeing a ledge the other Colossi’s sweeping grey eye spotlights had passed over, one that marked the end of the grassy grounds he could walk, and not have to climb through, and a denser treeline to hide in.
As he vanished to it, he felt his focus slacken as his leg began to flare in pain again.

With a painful thud, Starswirl’s heart leapt as he found himself scrambling for grip. He’d teleported a few feet short, and he found half his body out over the edge of the cliff’s lip. His forehooves gripped the long grasses desperately as he hoisted himself up, his rear legs kicking some stones down to tumble to the forest floor.
Gasping for breath, Starswirl felt his invisibility field fade while lying on the ground. Peering out, he saw the air growing slowly brighter, and his heart nearly jumped with the spotlight about to land on him. A quick flare of invisibly, and he was gone right as he was about to be spotted, but not quite fast enough.
As the other tortoise shaped Colossi surveyed up ahead, still as the mountains around it except for its head moving, the other slender, 6 legged Colossi stomped over to the canyon ledge, its legs clambering, shaped like tree trunk bases in their splayed ‘toes’, crushing trees and bushes beneath its immense weight.
A faint hum filled the air as its head passed over him, its silver glinting eyes like dots on its face flickering with each rumble. If it was even possible, the air grew even darker above him, Starswirl frozen in place in fear of being detected in his weakened state. A head the size of a castle rampart passed over him, a few loose bits of dirt landing on him from where it had reared from somewhere in the earth.
Glancing around, as a faint breeze began to pick up in the night, Starswirl’s eyes widened at an immense foot slamming down a stone’s throw from him as the giant creature seemed to sense the air. But after a few tense moments, it moved again, its foot picking up to shuffle up the slope.
Looking back, Starswirl nearly yelled as he saw another leg come up towards the ledge, the head passing over him already. Scrambling forwards, his invisibility fading briefly, Starswirl was showered with pebbles and dirt fragments as the ledge was obliterated by the creature’s shuffling leg.
Hiding himself, Starswirl was deathly quiet as the mountain sized creature passed overhead, its torso and tail going directly over his head to scout out the slopes ahead.
As the immense beast lumbered ahead, many trees levelled beneath its footsteps, Starswirl quietly grit his teeth while pulling his bad leg from a pile of dirt and pebbles that had showered it.
“Infection among other things…”
Shaking his head, Starswirl’s mind then felt something coming.
From the west, his mind hued red, as he sensed Wrath itself coming in pursuit of something.
And from the north west, a yellow hue, Greed, also moving to meet with the being of Wrath. Strangely though, Greed was going to Wrath, not to him, as if pursuing something else headed his way.
“He must have called them both…” Starswirl lamented. Ahead of him, he saw the 6 legged Stone Giant turning slowly, its head reared up to look towards the distant tortoise shaped one a mile away, and then with a moment of pause, it reared further up towards the sky, its silver eyes glinting brighter all of a sudden, its head lighting up like the moon overhead, a dim light basking the Cliffside.
At that moment, it let out a sound of such volume that Starswirl didn’t think was possible to achieve.
A bellowing groan, like thunder bursting directly overhead in such quick succession that it became a continuous noise, emanating from the massive creature. It shook Starswirl to his core, overwhelmed by the noise, and something else, as if a magical force was prickling his skin from the inside.
The Colossi’s area attack, a roar to sound its position, to overwhelm any foes, and in the darkness, even help see better.
But against magic users, as Siral had too discovered, Stasrwirl found that by sheer overwhelming of his senses, it unmasked his disguise.
In the night, he re-emerged, his body reappearing on the shattered cliff edge as his focus was broken from his invisibility spell.
A second later, a second roar a mile away came, this one shorter.
Peering around, Starswirl saw the other Colossi staring right at him from a mile down the canyon, its 2 glinting eyes fixed on him.
Scrambling up, Starswirl heard rumbling, as he span around, his bad hoof shaking as he stood, to see the silver light from the other beast’s eyes shine on him from up the slope. A tree crashed over into the river in its silver lighting of the canyon’s lip, the Colossi planting its foot on the edge as it glared down at the Wizard in its eyelamps.
A deep rumbling groan escaped it as its head came closer, tilting slightly on seeing the Wizard.
A quick glance around, and Starswirl’s heart sank at seeing the Tortoise shaped Colossi actually charging towards him with a groan of unearthly anger, a minute from stomping him beneath its mountainous bulk.
Staring around at the other, its head actually hinging open in two hinges at the side to reveal some jagged spiked ‘teeth’, Starswirl bitterly lit his horn in the night, the feeble blue light overpowered by the Colossi’s silver eyelights. If he weren’t wounded, he’d have fled already.
Rearing back slowly, the Colossi’s head came forwards, the air roaring as its immense jaws rushed towards the Wizard on the cliff edge.
Preparing to fire a desperate spell in a last stand, Starswirl shut his eyes.
But right before his end, as he was engulfed in a blue light that was not his own, they snapped open. He felt a hoof wrapping around him, and the blue light seized him again.
The Colossi’s massive jaws smashed into the cliff edge, the creature slipping to slide belly first into the Canyon’s depths, more like falling into a ditch for its size. No Wizard was dead by its attack.
While the slim Colossi shook itself free of the River and rocks it had dammed and loosened in a landslide, the Tortoise Colossi reared around mid-charge, its slow movements as fast as a pegasi’s flight when it got going, but ponderous when turning.
It sensed the two intruders rescuing the first, but also the two apprentices to their master coming in pursuit of those two as well.
There, a mile down the canyon, a brief flash of blue, as a pair of ponies vanished in a teleportation chain.
Letting out a bellow into the night, the Colossi charged through the canyon, knocking aside walls of rock and forest in its wake.

12 miles north west of the Citadel
‘Colossus Valley’

He had teleported twice before he was released, as Starswirl wearily collapsed on the ground while the two unknowns rushed around him.
“-arswirl! Starswirl, wake up, please wake up!”
Grunting, he looked to see a blue face over his own, to which he remarked blankly:
“Luna?”
As the younger princess nodded, Starswirl noted their attire, no crowns, not even their collars. They must have come here fast. Glancing back, Starswirl saw Celestia running some yellow healing magic over his leg, a worried look on her face as she spoke to him:
“What happened? We got your dream for help, how did you end up against those things?”
“I was-.”
Starswirl cut himself off, as did Celestia, while Luna also went quiet too. The Colossi’s immense roar sounded, as it was heading their way, treelines crashing audibly from afar. Maybe 3 minutes away at most.
“We have to leave, now... There is worse on the way here, I sensed them coming.”
“Sensed, but we came as well, we didn’t see anything else as dangerous as them.”
“Wait… They’re following you, that’s why they came.”
“Who is following us?” Celestia demanded, while Stasrwirl looked around while he spoke urgently:
“Siral, he has beings, living weapons of destruction and evil. Some of them were in Canterlot, they killed your father, have wreaked havoc, and two of them are coming here, they followed you!”
Luna asked Starswirl quickly: “Can we stop the-.”
“NO! That is how I got this way, now we leave! Take us back to the palace!”
Celestia saw how fearful Stasrwirl was right now, as she looked at Luna with a nod, before she remarked:
“Back to the Palace.”
As the distant stone colossi approached, the sister readied their mixed magic to make further teleport jumps than could be done solo. As they were enveoloped in a yellow and blue glow, Starswirl noticed something on the forest mountain ridge above them.
A pair of yellow glows, and a long serpentine shape against the moonlit mountain face.
“Get us out of here!” Starswirl yelled, as Luna and Celestia focused, though they saw it too. But the world swirled as they saw the beams about to hit them, and a strange but foreboding looking grey creature atop the mountain ridge the other creature had flown over. All the while, the charging Stone Giant was still a half mile away.
A pair of yellow beams shot down, as Golmov found them and made an attack instantly. Further back, a grey, stone bodied Earth Pony hung back, peering over the mountain ridge with a small grin on his features.
But as they vanished in a blue and yellow flash, Odi-Viscer’s grin faded. Staring at the now dark base of the ridge face below him, he quietly muttered in annoyance as he leapt down, the massive Stone Giant nearby slowing to a plod as its silver eyes lit up where the Wizard and two Princesses had fled from.
The ape shaped beast, no fur except for his backbone ridge and stone ‘bones’ protruding in spikes and armor plating, landed in a cloud of dust on his 4 limbs, the figure examing the ground where the Colossi’s silver eyes lit it up to be seen.
Overhead, the centipede legged dragon landed in a bitter growl, his gryphon wings retracting as his dragon wings and hands pounded the ground in anger:
“Blast it! They were that close, Starswirl and the two Alicorn brats in one night, we could have solved so many problems!”
Ignoring Golmov’s venting and his vendetta against the Royal family, Odi-Viscer stomped over to quickly grab Golmov painfully by the wing with brute strength:
“Siral didn’t say to attack the princesses, idiot! Just the Wizard!”
Releasing Golmov, Odi-Viscer let the Dragon calm down, as he spat back:
“Hey, we’ll be going after them at some point, I see no reason to hesitate.”
Brushing off Golmov’s good point, Odi-Viscer shrugged as he looked away into the night:
“I don’t know about you, but I am returning to Nokotaford. They’ll be heading there anyway, I was told to keep an eye on anything the Royal-.”
“Not anymore. We must alter our plans. Starswirl’s intervention revealed to Gaudium what happened to his family, he is no longer loyal to the cause.”
Hearing Siral’s voice in their heads, Odi-Viscer and Golmov looked at each other, while nearby the Colossi merely shuffled slightly on its massive feet, blankly awaiting a command.
“He will go, and likely reveal what he has found. As it stands, his truths run even a small risk of rallying both factions against us. We must keep them divided, keep the Nationalists on side, by weakening the Royalist military effort. The attack on Tartarus is happening ahead of schedule. I have sent word to my contacts in the Nationalists, they’re readying and messaging to mobilise the armies that will be there as well. I require all on board with this that can be spared. Iena and Satio shall remain within the Trumane influence, to strike when needed. Ave-Dol will come around, but for now is not to be informed of anything. Gaudium, he shall come around as well. But you two and Teal, you will ensure Tartarus falls.”
“Return to the Citadel, no more spying for you two, prepare for war.”
As Siral’s mental call ended, Odi-Viscer’s grin suddenly returned, the mixed Ape/Earth Pony and stone giant skinned behemoth looking as if he had just come into his own little heaven. Golmov meanwhile, plodded the ground with his feet, as he mused:
“Raiding a fortress, what much is there in Tartarus. Dungeons, vaults, …filled with valuables…”
Golmov trailed off, as the centipede dragon hybrid flapped his 4 gryphon wings with a gleeful look at Odi.
“Can you wait for this to come?”
“No restraint, no holding back... gimme.”
Turning around, as Golmov began to flap his wings and fly off towards the Citadel, Odi basked in knowing there was no more boring spying on his part.
Oddly, he saw the Colossi still staring at him, its silver eyes unflinching. Suddenly growing irritated, Odi looked at his skin’s stone plating parts, remarking suddenly:
“Oh, you think we’re similar do you?”
The Colossi tilted its head, as if understanding. Odi’s face then fell as he began to walk towards the Colossi’s leg:
“Well, one big difference. I can catch a wounded Unicorn. I also doubt you can do THIS.”
His hand wrenched out, claws piercing in a shallow depth to the Colossi’s ankle rocks. But a red glow came from the claw marks, engulfing the entire Colossi briefly.

1 mile away

Flying towards the Citadel in the distance, Golmov heard a rumbling below him, as a slim bodied, 6 legged Colossi walked back to its ‘nesting’ ridge. But further back, a more pleading sounding bellow echoed in the night.
Looking back, wings flapping, the being of Greed stared dumbfounded as a silhouette of a flying Colossi flew up, a red glow dissipating from its body, before coming down, a good number of seconds passing before impact in the canyon below.
A massive crash sounded from a distance as the Colossi broke apart in its few limbs on impact, and further back in the valley, the being of Wrath that felt incompetence from a guard as massive as this was placated.
It was fortunate that the giant could reform its body, slowly, over the next hundred years or so. But it wouldn’t be defending any time soon.
Incompetence was a pet peeve of Odi-Viscer it seemed, even from what could be compared to a guard dog in role and intelligence.
And to think Golmov had heard tales that Gaudium was intended to be perhaps even more powerful, but he could not comprehend what that would entail.
Although by the sounds of it Gaudium wasn’t going along with their plans anymore. What that entailed for the Alicorn was entirely unknown to him, though he was certain Siral had his means of getting things back on course.

Midnight
Citadel, underground dungeons
Holding cell

Restraints covered his horn and wings, heavy iron shackles on his hooves as well preventing him from moving much beyond the small bench in the cell. His mouth was gagged by an iron mask as well, only his eyes able to freely move.
The light brown Alicorn’s eyes flickered to the main doorway, where he saw a presence he hated and feared more than anything else come through.
His scarred visage burned into his mind as a monstrous label to the Unicorn who deceived him and ruined his life.
The cell door shut behind Siral, the darkened cell somehow growing darker with him inside. On the walls, a torch flickered on magically, a silver flame illuminating the cell as Siral came to stand halfway between the cell and the Alicorn youth’s restrained position.
“A lesson I have learned, never admit secrets to an enemy when an insubordinate servant is eavesdropping when he shouldn’t…”
Enraged, Gaudium tried to move, his red eyes flaring while the restraints blocked his purple magic with ease. But Siral got the general idea of what he said.
“You will be my servant, despite your protests to it. Once you are enhanced, the last traces of Gaudium will have vanished…”
Hovering a pair of small vials from his grey cloak, Siral gestured to the one filled with a strange transparent liquid, thick like nectar but clear as water.
“Years of work, until finally I have a potion which can distinguish between memories and skills within the mind. It can grant each or both…”
Hovering it closer to Gaudium’s face, he finished coldly:
“Or remove them forever. And only the one that brewed the potion that did so can undo it.”
Bringing the vial back into his cloak, Siral remarked offhandedly:
“And if it works on you, well… It will work on many others as well.”
Gaudium’s face was stark behind the restraint mask, but it was the second vial of blood, small as it was, that was more puzzling.
Hovering it, Starswirl remarked with a blunt fact about the destiny he’d never remember being told of:
“I will let this in on you however. To truly show how flawed a pursuit of destiny to a slavish degree is, and how flawed serving tyrannical Alicorns was, you will have Starswirl’s blood in your makeup. His legacy, in confronting me who would accomplish more for greater peace, will be to contribute to my greatest creation.”
Yanking Gaudium’s restrained head closer however, Siral admitted with a more airy tone: “But, also my own blood. My legacy as well. The moment you awaken, you will be a servant of my will. Gaudium Valhoof, from this point on, you are gone and forgotten, even by yourself. For you, there will be only MY will.”
With a sudden wave of his hoof and horn, Gaudium felt Siral use magic to put him to sleep, as darkness took him in the prison cell.
As Siral left the prison cell, the Alicorn dreamt of his last memories of Siral, declaring his life as his own ended.
Gaudium never awakened before he lost everything that he was.

Next day
Early-Morning
March 22nd, 71 BNM
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Queen Aurora’s office

Queen Aurora had been very alarmed to hear her daughters had taken off in the night, and had returned very quickly in a dishevelled state, with a very badly wounded Starswirl in tow.
After the Wizard was hauled off to the infirmary, having passed out from exhaustion and blood loss, the Queen turned to questioning her daughters about the details. And very soon after the details of the rescue, and what little they knew of Starswirl’s ordeal in the canyon and mountains, she questioned their sanity.
“What were you two thinking? You could have been killed!”
“Starswirl was in trouble, we had no choice, he called out for help and we heard him through the dream magic he taught us!” Celestia defended, their white and black/pink maned mother now angry at them after the initial relief. Beside her older, pink haired sister, Luna kept quiet.
“He went there without help, from what I hear to solve a problem. He was foolish enough to go without backup, and I see that foolishness has rubbed off on you two!”
“We weren’t losing Starswirl mother! We refuse to let him die!” Celestia exclaimed, to which Aurroa shot up from her desk, forehooves slamming on them as she roared at them:
“AND I REFUSE TO LOSE MY DAUGHTERS AS WELL!!”
The pain behind Aurora’s anger was evident, as Luna also understood. King Nova was still just about half a year dead now, it was still rather fresh in grief for all three to varying degrees.
Staring at their mother, Celestia and Luna waited calmly, before Aurora sat down, the pale Alicorn waving her hoof in a softer voice:
“Go… You best see how the infirmary is handling him. I’m, sorry I shouted, you were right to help him.”
“Mother...” Luna began, but she cut herself off herself. There was nothing more that could be said now, not until things cooled down. Beside Luna, Celestia saw this moment of softness from her mother as a sign to leave her alone for now.
“I’m certain he’d appreciate you visiting in the infirmary, when he gets better.” Celestia offered. With a quiet nod, Aurora offered a smile, rare nowadays, to her daughters as they quietly left the office.
Left alone, she heard the details of some of the attackers and had fretted more than she’d thought she would. The yellow hued monster was there, the one that killed her husband. And a red eyed accomplice watching, all in the company of beasts the size of mountains, at Siral’s beck and call.
Rubbing a hoof through her mane, she couldn’t help but let out a very painful sigh at everything going wrong in recent times. She was unknowing of how things would change in the next few weeks, for better or worse being up to interpretation.

Late Afternoon
Citadel, Underground levels
Forging chambers

News had been sent to the others. Satio and Iena would remain within the Trumane residence and court as chef and courtier/seductress each, whilst Ave-Dol was ordered to stay in her home in the forest.
Elsewhere, Odi-Viscer and Golmov were off on travels, as the Natioanlist armies gathering elsewhere for an assault on Tartarus’s stronghold would need a week or two to gather and move out for the attack. That left only Teal Quirt here with Siral.
But as she saw, and had heard, some aspects of Gaudium’s enhancements gave her pause.
Gauidum was told he would be the most powerful, she felt insecure of her command over the others by authority by this, even jealous of his power. Whiles others had more power, they had less ingenuity, impetus and intelligence than she did when it came to using it. Gaudium had bright, and now he would be as driven as Siral and more powerful than she.
A replacement for her if she falls short even…
Gaudium would have no memories on birth, just basic skills, by way of a potion addition Siral had been working on for years. This gave her the most pause, what was stopping Siral from mass producing enough for more?
She was loyal to his cause, his vision, but of her free will. She was a loyal follower, not a slave like Gaudium would be. She would be better than him in this regard.
But the implications of being able to wipe the minds of anyone, even someone as powerful as Gaudium would be, were unnerving.
She watched from above in the walkways, as the massive vat filled with a murky grey potion brewed ahead of them.
A few servant ponies gathered around as the components and host were dropped inside.

Animals parts were dropped inside the vat’s pool of murky grey ‘base’ potion as usual, these ones a wide selection.
Dragon, Gryphon, Lion, Deer stag, goat, donkey, Bat, Thunderbird Eagle, and all imbued with a hint of captured demon essence as well.
Now, the servant ponies pulled the unconscious Alicorn over to Siral, who then ordered them to leave. With wordless bows, the ponies all left, as Siral remained ignorant of Teal Quirt watching from afar in a walkway further back and up in the chamber.
Taking the vials of Starswirl’s blood and the mind wiping potion, Siral placed the mind potion aside for now on the walkway. Uncorking the vial of Starswirl’s blood, he trickled it almost mockingly over the unconscious Alicorn’s light brown face, speaking to Starswirl indirectly:
“How appropriate, that you help me one last time Starswirl. You’ll contribute more to peace, through my methods today…”
Putting aside the vial, Siral then pulled out a small cutting knife he’d sterilised already, and with a small grit of his teeth, slit a small cut on his lower leg, enough to get a few drops of blood.
Angling them to fall on Gaudium’s unconscious face as well, Siral shook his head while remarking:
“My Seventh… The Oracles spoke in fear of you and the others… You being the greatest. They had that part right. Pushed aside by your family for not being good enough, if only they could see you when you emerge.”
Using his magic to seal the slit on his hoof, Siral then used his black hued magic to slip Gaudium off the walkway, onto the deep pool of potion that slowly engulfed him, the liquid thicker than normal water swallowing the unconscious Alicorn at a tantalizingly slow pace.
Uncorking the vial of mind wiping potion from nearby, Siral looked at it, thinking to himself that he had plenty more, but this was all he needed.
“Gaudium, no more…”
From afar, Teal Quirt saw the vial tip over, the liquid spilling into the potion vat as Gaudium’s body vanished into its contents. That was it then, he was gone.
Siral focused his magic, as he conducted the dark magics as usual to begin the ‘brewing’ process of the transformation. But there was an issue this time.
“So I was right, the mind wipe potion will slow its progress…not too much thankfully. He will be worth the wait.”
The potion was now fluctuating in colours as expected, while the Black Wizard slowly walked along the viaduct walkway that meandered between the vats, gathering all his equipment.
Up in the walkway, Teal Quirt sat back, her scorpion/centaur hybrid wrapping its dragon arms around herself in comforting thought:
“He was working on that potion for years… But Gaudium was known to him for less. He was planning that memory wipe potion before he had us all acquired.”
Seeds of doubt began to enter her mind. She believed in Siral’s vision, his goals.
But now, she doubted his means, all his preaching of unity and trust between each other. There was useful deceit, and then there was removing one’s free will.
Deep down she felt as if a line had been crossed somewhere.

Author's Note

I took inspiration for the Colossi valley from the Yellowstone National Park canyons.
And it wasn't like two princesses teleporting out from under his watch would go unnoticed by a Wrathful spy outside the palace walls. And as he gives chase, Gaudium senses and becomes opportunistic, to no avail.
And because of how things went, and of Starswirl not ending up dead, plans in place already have to be moved up, be it the Tartarus attack, or Gaudium’s enhancements.
In a bid of ironic cruelty, Starswirl’s own blood goes into Gaudum’s enhancements, as does Siral’s. More magic imbued into his new form in the end. But because of the mind wiping potion, his metamorphosis takes longer than normal, about 2 weeks or so. More on that later.
The use of a mind wiping potion sows the seeds of doubt in Teal Quirt’s [Envy’s] mind. And suffice to say they’re not exactly good implications.
As for some upcoming chapters, Starswirl’s leg wound and the amount of dirt/rocks and stuff that it was exposed to in the Colossi chase will give rise to a temporary, but expected hindrance. Infection and Fever, bit problem in medieval times if not careful, or if magic one has is compromised by exhaustion and blood loss.
Next chapter will also see the return of a friend of Starswirl’s, from Everfree Forest’s depths.

The Ronin and the Old Forest

Mid-Morning
March 27th, 71 BNM
Equestria, Midlands
Everfree forest, outskirts

As the Sun’s trickling light crept into the dense covered forest canopy, what few creatures, magical or otherwise, scurried around the undergrowth and canopy, unaware of the building warfare in the mountains far to the north west.
Not all were unaware however. Far from it, the looming shadow of war pressed on the minds of a select few more than anything else of recent.

The tangling undergrowth was nothing to him, the vines and prickling thorns barely moving as he weaved through them with the ease of a snake, and the speed of a rabbit.
Beyond the confines, the snarls and cracking twigs and leaves sounded as a pack of creatures pursued him around the bramble bush forest, through less confining forest on a longer way around.
But he himself was like a ghost as he slunk through the forest, not a thorn grazed his amphibious skin, only the slightest of movement from some vines as they were soundlessly moved by the wind of his swift passage.
Dashing through the narrow confines of the vine and thornbush maze, the Salamander, devoid of his armour and wearing only his longtime sword, dove through the last gap, rolling to a stop in a clearing before him.
Coming to a stop, he saw a Hedgehog give a loud squeak of surprise a few feet from where he landed, as it curled up into a ball to hide from this sudden attacker, and the ones clearly on the way as well.
In the distance, he heard the howls of the Timberwolves, and their frenetic footfalls, before their wooden and green glowing hides burst through the undergrowth, slowing to a methodically walk as they saw Chack standing before them, crouched low, hand on his sword handle.
With a small smirk, he stood up slowly, as the Wolves merely growled in irritation t him:
“A valiant effort, but this time I beat you.”
The pack of Timberwolves slowly slunk past him, ignoring this denizen of the forest that Everfree himself had labelled as not-prey. The Salamander gave a scoff as one of the Wolves brushed him roughly as it passed:
“No dignity in defeat…”
Shaking his head, Chack glanced down at the still cowering hedgehog, one of the Timberwolves giving it a cautious sniff before turning its nose up to follow the others down their usual trail. Casually striding over, the Salamander knelt down, poking its spines gently with a finger:
“A forest path is no place to cower.”
Seeing as the hedgehog wasn’t going anywhere willingly, Chack rolled his eyes before he picked it up in his hands gently, wincing as a few spines pricked him slightly. Depositing it in a small bush’s undergrowth roots, the Salamander went on his way.
After a few moments, the Hedgehog unfurled, its tiny black eyes glancing at the Salamander as he leapt and climbed effortlessly into the trees above, its small nose sniffing in interest before scurrying back towards the bushes it was headed for at first.

Climbing to the treetops, Chack peered out from the canopy, clambering up a branch to sit atop it, a view of the borders of the Everfree Forest stretching before him.
The Forest was massive, and he had been here 4 and a half months, by his counting of the sunrises and sets, and the lunar cycles he glimpsed through the treetop gaps. And yet, like his frequent solitudes in Salaman during his wandering days before Starswirl found him, he was at peace, content. The war in Equestria seemed almost a world away.
Almost.
But there was something off about the forest recently. Being a nexus of magic in its uncontrolled state trailing from the more controlled areas of Equestria, rumblings of what went on outside crept in through whispers in the night from the more magical denizens of the forest, from the lowly parasprites, to the phoenixes in more secluded sections, and to the Forest spirit Everfree himself.
Reclining on the branch, Chack gazed out, seeing the distant snow-capped mountains far beyond Everfree forest’s depths. A single speck flew high overhead, circling slowly, an eagle of some kind.
He relaxed for a few moments, noting the leisurely circling the bird far overhead seemed to take in its hunting.
As he stared up however, something in the back of Chack’s mind made him wary. That eagle was not behaving normally, not out hunting. It was staying in one place too much, watching.
A gust of wind suddenly picked up over the forest canopy, as Chack then saw a large barrage of leaves carried too accurately to be normal high and upwards in a circling manner.
A spy of the Savant, it won’t escape this time.
Everfree’s voice echoed from below, unseen, as Chack saw the flurry of leaves shoot upwards on the breeze, the Eagle so enamoured far overhead in watching him on the tree branch for the last few minutes that it didn’t see the flurry of enchanted leaves come up to reach it.
As if suddenly made drowsy, the Eagle began to circle downwards fast, towards a clearing in the forest not far from Chack’s current tree top perch.
He was climbing down and on the ground before it even reached the tree top level.

Coming into the clearing, the Salamander saw the Eagle cawing angrily as it struggled on the ground. It had fallen into a large maze of thin vines, not thick enough for bigger animals but enough to tangle the Eagle as it thrashed to get free.
The breeze of enchanted leaves and litter from the forest circled, and without warning, Chack saw the Eagle’s eyes flash a bright silver as they stared at him.
“Seems he got careless, sent one of his bird spies too close looking for me.”
“So it seems. Before I free this misfortunate bird from his enslavement, let us see what it, and others like it in service, have to show. Any details on the rumblings of war that have come from the north.”
As Chack approached, a section of tree bark on a large oak behind him morphed into the aged Alicorn stallion head, a few moss sections giving it colour and shape as well. All the while, a faint white magic flowed through the vines the Eagle was tangled in, its thrashings ceasing as its silver glowing eyes lit up like stars.
Staring at the Eagle, Chack felt his mind empty, as the mind of the Eagle, and what it and other spies knew, was shared.

-Allies moving on Tartarus, armies on the move.
-Once Tartarus falls the Royalists will have no more strongholds, and the Nationalists become the enemy too. Scout out Nationalist cities in detail.
-All Seven servants will be under control and perfected, then the time to strike comes.
-The Grey Wizard shall not be an issue at Tartarus, but scout for the last of his allies in the old forest.
-Maintain watch on the Sixth Servant, so she is turned back to service with ease when the time comes, otherwise betrayal is likely.

As has been whispered on the winds and in the trees, war is growing in ferocity once again.
Scowling at this, Chack thought to himself, taking a moment stood back as the vines glowed white again, and the Eagle’s silver eyes faded, revealing a rather bleary looking Eagle looking and struggling slightly now in the vines.
“They cannot seem to make up their mind whether to battle hard of fall back and gather themselves.”
Clearly the Savant is the instigator this time, rather than simply bolstering fighting already going on. He is making his decisive actions now, and the repulsion of his efforts must be in place to meet his efforts head on.
Seeing the Eagle now free from Siral’s enchantment, Chack used his sword to cut the vines loose, freeing the bird to hop for a few moments before wearily taking flight through the canopy above, its freed caw to the air less hostile than before. Hearing this news however, Chack looked down, thinking with some hesitation:
“You heard the messengers… Starswirl is not a threat, I hate to think what has become of him.”
From what is gathered, he faced Siral head on, alone. But he was overwhelmed by some of the servants aiding Siral. Fortunately, his death would have been noticed by those attuned to these things, such as myself. I have not felt it, but I have felt the brewing aggression from the Savant. He is instigating this violence, the catalyst has become the cause now, or he will be once the battle of Tartarus begins.
Chack stood there for a moment, looking down at his Katana sword, his one relic from home he never took off, even as he stripped his armour and clothing for easier comfort in the forest. The sword held many memories, and lessons learned, before and after he was banished for disobeying his later ill-fated master to serve his wishes more efficiently.
“Warriors do what they are told, loyalty is their motivator. While it is not guaranteed, sometimes removing the cause is the most efficient way, or undermining their power. Many Diem I met in Salaman lost and gained their power by the loyalty of their followers.”
The Savant’s power is great, but it is laid upon the foundations of his unique servants, 6 of which exist. Their existence is an experiment to him, what is learned from them bolsters the others to come, and himself. But their unity is also their weakness. Weaken only one, and they all unravel.
“If Starswirl can’t stand against Siral’s creations, how am I to stand against any of them?”
The Wizard charged in without a solid plan, corrupted by his guilt and sense of duty. He engaged them on their terms, their territory. This is a war, and war is not the way of Wizards, is it?
Chack’s grip tightened on his sword, as a small smile came over him:
“No, it isn’t. If one of the Six falls, everything Siral has built becomes weak, or even fall apart.”
His stance slacking suddenly, Chack replied to Everfree, whose Alicorn visage was still shifting slightly in the Oak tree’s bark face before him:
“That still doesn’t mean I can face them and live, even one on one.”
You have less stake in Equestria, you have a serenity and peace to yourself that makes you ideal.
“Starswirl didn’t believe that. He said I was a cruel warrior and not much more beyond an ally. If it weren’t for the prophecy he’d have likely viewed me with disdain.”
Cruelty is a way of life, as much as compassion is, it is only natural, and you merely decided to embrace this. I have existed for centuries in this form, abandoning Equestria’s long history of trying to maintain control, especially in wake of Alicorns following my own ascendance. But the greatest cruelty one can inflict is the loss of one’s self, to be controlled without submission, as the Savant intends to ultimately.
With you, I saw a being that had the serenity, the balance of this knowledge, devoid of naiveté, not plagued by outside ties and possessing an uncorrupted willingness to improve one’s self to be in tune with the world. With you, I saw someone I could act through by your actions.”
“Act through? You don’t mean control I take it?”
Hardly. In the depths of the forest, the alcove you came to when we first met directly, there is the deep well of water you saw. In its depths, there lie the greatest power in the forest, power Starswirl is not yet ready to wield as his own. In its depths, you will find something I can provide, power I cannot wield myself, but power that can be used outside my forest boundaries. Power, to match that of a servant of the Savant’s, before their power, and his own, grows too great.
The Salamander saw the Alicorn spirit’s face vanish, the Oak tree’s bark morphing back to its normal state before his green eyes. Blinking slightly, he stood there in deep thought for a moment, before he turned to scramble up a tree trunk, heading deeper into the forest.
His passage through the forest was much faster than when he’d first come here with Starswirl, as he knew the layout, and could move as swiftly as any animal now. A few months learning the environment had served Chack well.
Before the mid-afternoon, he had passed the path where he and Stasrwirl camped, on the fateful night they both encountered their dreams, and Everfree in each of their places.

Mid-Afternoon
Everfree Forest, Deep chasms
Vine alcove ‘well’

Standing inside, within the very same chamber he’d found that night last November, Chack saw that small pouch Starswirl had abandoned that same day when he stormed off elsewhere was still here, utterly undisturbed. Clearly animals big and small didn’t intrude in this sacred area of the forest.
Ahead, he saw the pool of water, the white ethereal fumes almost like fire as they rose, less bright in the mid afternoon sun beating down through the cracks in the vine structure rising like a dome over them.
Gazing down, Chack slowly placed his sword near the pouch on the stone and vine covered ground, clad nothing as he approached, his black moist skin tingling as he neared the pool.
Taking a breath, Chack felt air rush his system, as he readied for an underwater stint. Unlike non-sapient Salamanders, his kind lost their gills as adults. It meant they could not stay underwater forever, but they could use their skin to ‘breathe’ in oxygen rich water. Given this shortcoming though, he could still hold his breath for a very long time.
Stepping a foot into the water, his tail slinking on the ground behind him, he was surprised at how still it was, yet also its lukewarm temperature for a water body in such a darkened place.
Slipping down, his entire body underwater, he took a gulp, the adjustment to underwater a breeze for him. Glancing around, the white light from above seemed to make the water glow slightly, as below him a long tunnel went further down, the rocks all around reflecting the white glow as it rose from the source further down.
Turning facedown, he swam, his stout arms and legs beating water away with webbed digits to swiftly pass down into the darker length of the underwater tunnel.
After a good number of meters, he found the shaft opened up into a much wider expanse. Blinking slightly, Chack was beholden to the spectacle of what he saw.
A large submerged chamber, with what looked like a starry night sky all around him in a circle. The faint white glow came from all around him in hundreds of small white lights, as the dark blue/grey stone forming the rounded chamber revealed itself to be coated in crystals, most of them dark, some glowing in small fragments.
The water pressure was somewhat hard on Chack, but he was too in awe to care. The very rock that was everywhere in Everfree Forest, the blue/grey Quintessenite, crystallised in this chamber in ways unseen except in a few odd ‘tree’ saplings he’d seen, or a few veins on the side of some caves he’d explored last month.
A few whispers arose in the back of his however, as the Salamander saw one crystal almost winking repeatedly, glowing brighter than the others. Curiously, he swam the 20 metre distance to the glowing crystal, seeing a rather small crystal compared to the darker, but larger ones it was nestled between. Its fierce white glow was unmistakably calling to him however.
Reaching out, as soon as his hand touched it, he felt a rush of energy, a white glint in his eyes that quickly faded. Pulling, the small crystal shard broke away, still glowing as he held it.
Looking at it, the shard was the size of a large wood nail, as long as a butcher knife, but remarkably smooth, the white glow obscuring the blue/grey colour of the crystalline rock it was made of.
His eyes blinked as he stared, mystified by the shard, before Everfree’s disembodied voice in his mind sounded from higher up, unseen but everywhere:
You have what you need.
Not sparing a moment, as he stared around the massive geode cave interior, he swam upwards, the cavern growing darker as he approached the shaft he’d swam through. He kept the strange narrow crystal in hand, its shining blue/grey colour a light in the dark water tunnel he swam in through to get here.
Finally, he came to the mouth of the shaft he’d dived into, and turned to swim towards the shimmering white surface. As he approached it, he felt the crystal growing in his hand, gaining in size.
Stopping short, he saw it was glowing stronger than ever before, and now had expanded to a perfectly round cylinder in his hand, and a jagged spike beginning to extend out one end.
Trusting this strange crystal, he swam up, feeling it change as he broke the surface, as if being taken from its hidden place altered its form forever.
Water splashing as the Salamander pulled himself from the shaft, he gripped the rock and tree root covered surface with both hands, hearing a distinctive clang as something long and almost metallic sounded.
Hauling himself slowly out, Chack saw what the Crystal he’d recovered had changed into.
A perfectly straight sword, and a four pronged cross guard, complete with a knotted bulge on the end to mark the end of the sword from the grip. Feeling it in his hands, Chack felt it was a perfectly balanced weapon, lightweight but not too much, and it felt very strong, whatever the blue/grey metal it was made of was.
Scowling, Chack noticed the blade had no edges, it was a blunt weapon. Swinging it slightly, he then noticed the round ‘bar’ of the sword’s shaft morph, a blade edge emerging to perfectly cut through the air in whatever direction he swung.
A sword that would slice edge on, no matter his swing angle, and remain safe and dull when not in use.
“Very impressive…” Chack mused aloud.
More than that, it will give you the ability to match, even counter the magic of whomever you may face, and more. It obeys your will, and you will know what it can grant you, and its limits. Its power is limited by your resolve.
Looking around, Chack saw Everfree’s Alicorn visage materialise from a set of vines and leaf undergrowth, reaching out from above with a tangled foreleg to touch the crystalline sword with a vine covered hoof, as the sword glowed white for a brief moment, then a faint green, and then faded.
Taking a breath, Chack looked at Everfree’s visage, before he then got into a kneeling bow, asking in a respectful tone:
“What do you wish me to do now?”
At this, Everfree actually recoiled, a wistful look in his eyes as he seemed to speak in an almost windlike voice now:
Me, wish of you? You misunderstand, it is not I who wishes this service to be done by you. I was never who you were learning from, merely one who wished to learn, and become attuned, as you are, though not to my extent of course. No, I was merely the voice, a soul at peace with their place in the world, as you can become.
Looking up suddenly, Chack asked in a confused tone: “But, then who are you really? Who do I carry out this nigh impossible task for?”
A faint chuckle carried on the wind as Everfree recoiled back, and a few hundred eyes in the forest lit up, and a few noises from animals of all shapes and sized echoed in the forest. Everfree replied as he gestured an Alicorn hoof all around:
All you see before you, those with no voice to be heard as forces to battle that would harm their domain, their existence. That, is who you must do this for. Like you, even if you had a façade among a side on Starswirl’s behalf, we have no ties to any of the forces. But their fighting will affect us, it will affect everything.
A rustle of leaves came, as a single breeze carried a forest of leaf litter through the vine ‘cathedral’ Chack stood in, a whisper in the air as Everfree’s Alicorn visage appeared in the white ‘fumes’ of the pool Chack had dove into the crystal cavern depths of:
A single ripple can change an ocean’s state. A single close servant of the Savant is all it takes. Great power requires unity, strength, and foundation. Be that ripple, spread the disunity in the Savant and his followers.
Promise me, promise us, you will not allow such great power to arise, to pose a threat to life’s existence itself. Death is natural, to lose one’s freedom is a tragedy.
Listening to Everfree’s words, Chack’s face hardened, as he stood up, looking around as he saw the myriad of creatures watching from outside the vine walled alcove.
Looking at the sword in hand, Chack then turned to head towards his longtime Katana sword, and picked it up in the other. With a brief pause of contemplation, Chack replied:
Taking on these servants, some of them will be present at Tartarus when battle commences. The chaos of battle may help, if I don’t get killed first that is.
You’ll have your own army, but your enemy is a mere handful. Take out one, and the others will fall. Use any means necessary, sow the seeds of disunity by finding a weakness, and exploiting it. Sow distrust, harm or kill to make them lesser and grief stricken, anything to take down the Savant.
“And of the others fighting?”
If the Savant falls, the greater threat will be gone. What comes after is unforeseeable, but certainly less dire. A better future is better than no future.
Everfree then faded, and fell silent, as Chack glanced around to see the animals still watching him from outside the vine cathedral. The Salamander glanced at the crystalline sword in hand, and then back to his old sword.
With but a thought, he saw the crystal sword shift in shape, to become a sword of similar make to his Katana he also held, the only difference being the round edge that was sharp no matter which way it waved.
Glancing around, Chack saw his eyes drawn to the pouch of 5 memorabilia that lay there undisturbed still, of Starswirl’s encounters before him. An item he felt was not his to pry into more than he already had done.
He had his own priorities now, to succeed where Starswirl had yet to.

March 27th, 71 BNM
Late Evening/Nightfall
Equestria, Midlands
Everfree forest, borders

Donning his dark red armor once more, he looked as if he had never been in the forest at all. What wisdom and abilities he gained were not immediate to anyone who had not seen him in the time he’d been gone.
For the first time in over four months, Chack ventured outside the boundaries of Everfree Forest. Yet he knew where he was headed, north west.
Still, as the forest edges lit up with a few fireflies, Chack paused, looking at the two swords he held, his old plain katana, and the new sword that morphed to resemble his old one.
Glancing around, Chack mused to himself:
“If I have my own army, I’ll be seen. Best I travel alone. It would be too big a…”
Trailing off, Chack had a thought. He looked down at the new sword he held, feeling its power.
“What I will for it to do… I need transport.”
Raising the sword, Chack pointed it forwards, proclaiming as he also pictured the mountain in his mind:
“Tartarus, now!”
Nothing.
Scoffing slightly, Chack swung the sword down and around, as he tapped a small rock impatiently with it, thinking to sit down in an annoyed, but thoughtful meditation. He didn’t see the quick white/green flash behind him.
“What exactly can this thing do…wait.”
As Chack sat, he felt a rock that wasn’t there before where he sat. He had aimed for the ground.
Looking down, Chack saw the rock he’d tapped with the sword had swollen in size to become large enough for a seat. As he stood up, the rock flashed again, and returned to its handheld size on the ground with not even a rattle as it shrank.
Staring at the sword in hand, Chack thought to himself about the limits and uses of it. His mind may give it function, but it had its limits by its inherent magic.
Looking around, knowing he still had to get to Tartarus fast, Chack gave a sniff as a firefly came a little too close to his face.
But as its glowing abdomen passed his eyes, he followed it, an idea springing to mind as he raised the sword once more.

A short time later
20 miles north west of Everfree Forest

The enlarged, Pegasus sized firefly’s wings beat frantically as it stayed aloft, its single Salamander passenger keeping the sword and his willpower active to give it energy to fly on in the night, higher and faster than it could have in its smaller form.
It would be returned to normal size when its role was finished, but Chack needed a ride, and he used what he saw.
Clutching the firefly’s neck for grip, Chack flew on in the night. In the far distance, he could make out a small encampment of an army on the move, heading towards a passage through the mountains, in the same direction he was. Whether Royalist or Nationalist he did not know from up here.
But he did see by the sword’s magic that a few of Siral’s bird and owl spies were watching it, as they undoubtedly were other armed forces converging on Tartarus.
The Ronin flew on, armed and ready, but uncertain as to what the future battle would entail for the future of him, and others.

Author's Note

A chapter devoted to Everfree and Chack, before we get into Starswirl’s narrative again.

The Distant Drums of War

Early-Afternoon
March 28th, 71 BNM
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Infirmary

The infirmary’s Earth pony nurse replaced the dried, hot cloth with a damp, cold one, ignoring the burning she felt on Starswirl’s head and horn as she moved it.
Only the gentle wheezing of the Wizard’s breath gave away that he was alive.
The deep wounds to his back leg had become infected during his ordeal in the Citadel’s stone giant mountains, chased through the night after his near deadly encounter against Siral and his abomination~~.~~
~~But unlike a normal infection and fever, there was a hidden curse at work. The creature, supposedly an abomination of Siral’s, had clawed his leg with a toxin laced slice, be it normal poison, or more likely, dark magic.~~
~~A fever of a few days from just the mud and dirt on his wounds, shortened by his magic, became a test of the Wizard’s subconscious survival instinct.~~
~~Beneath the bed covers, his cut had healed, but was swollen and a toxic looking swelling had formed on his rear leg, some of the fur falling out to reveal pale skin and purple/green blotches on the swelling.~~
~~Whatever the physical struggles against this physical and magical illness from his ordeal, the nightmares he was enduring were an ordeal he had to endure alone.~~

~~Her eyes glowing blue, Luna blinked, before she shook her head sadly. Looking at the infirmary nurse, and then Celestia beside her, the younger Alicorn sister sadly admitted:~~
~~“Whatever is causing this, it is putting his mind in such turmoil that I cannot penetrate his dreams. If I could see his memories through his dreams, we could know how to cure whatever harmed his leg beyond the normal infection.”~~
~~“I don’t know what he was thinking, going alone. Perhaps this will shock him from his mindset that he is alone in his tasks.” Celestia remarked, though her cold tone dropped with each second she saw Starswirl lightly writhing in his bed, whether from the pain in his swollen leg, or the nightmares he seemed to be suffering from.~~
~~“Let us know if there is anything more that could be done.” Celestia softly spoke, to which the nurse bowed lowly, but replied with a similarly soft honest tone.~~
~~“Your majesties, there is not much more that can be done. If he is to awaken, it is under his own power now. I’ve had mages, wizards, and physicians attend, they’ve done what they can, he is battling something they haven’t seen before.”~~
~~With a sad understanding, the two princesses left the nurse to her duties, keeping the Wizard comfortable in his disturbed, slumbering, feverish state.~~

~~Outside the infirmary’s doors however, Luna remarked bitterly to Celestia:~~
~~“Battling something not seen before, I fear that is swiftly becoming a saying for this whole damned war…”~~
~~“All too true sister, much as we wish it were not so.”~~

March 30th, 71 BNM
Dawn
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress

~~Tartarus, the name sent a chill of mystery and fear through the air.~~
~~A single, undoubtedly sinister locale and feature of Equestria even in more peaceful times.~~
~~In the 500 years since Equestria’s inception, after one too many incidents of high magic using criminals or would be warlords both inside and from outside Equestria, the decision was made. A fortified location was needed to ensure these forces, and any that could threaten Equestria and the world, could never escape.~~
~~An underground city, extending to depths unfathomable to all except those that dwelt and patrolled its keeps. More than stone and mountain secured it, the already dense rock nigh impossible to tunnel through by normal means, and a myriad of spells and curses imbuing the many depths with blocks and fields that prevented the prisoners from acting out.~~
~~As more and more Alicorns emerged over centuries, it was inevitable that a few would act out enough to be imprisoned here, and it was then that Tartarus secured its reputation. Not even the mighty Alicorns could escape its labyrinthine depths.~~
~~Over time, the fact that this highly secure location in the mountains existed leant it to becoming a wartime fortress, the prison levels existing below ground level, and the actual garrison and fort structures buried at ground level or above, into the mountain itself. The actual prison of Tartarus was never seen by those who saw the fortress from the outside.~~
~~Only the hundred-metre-tall battlements, stretching up from the already perilously steep slopes and sheer cliff faces that the fortress was built along. Stone as grey and obsidian black as the mountain itself made the fortress resemble a large spiked wall protruding at intervals along the mountain ridge’s face, steep hill slopes making the terrain below it difficult to traverse.~~
~~Between the wall itself and the steep slopes, a crevice had been formed. Only 20 metres wide, but stretching so deep that its depths vanished beyond sight, flooded at their blackened depths. The ‘moat’ of Tartarus it was called, and anyone that could not fly was dead if they fell into its jagged, vertical depths, without exception.~~
~~At the centre, flanked by the greatest of the mountainous towers, lay the outer gates of Tartarus. Over the crevice like moat that divided the wall and the steep incline of the slopes before the cliff like fortifications, a single bridge ran. Wide, made of solid stone and obsidian rock, it was the only way in and out of the fortress. And marking the bridge’s end, was the outer gate of Tartarus. Made of rock and metal, stretching 60 metres tall, enchanted as much, if not more than the lowest dungeons of the prison, it was deemed all but impenetrable.~~
~~The inner gates, inside the fortress, where the legendary three headed guard dog Cerberus dwelt, were of similar make. But those gates were intended to keep the prison sealed. The outer gates were installed when converting Tartarus to more than just a prison, but also a military garrison fortress.~~
~~Other secret passages existed, but they were told only to those who served in the fortress. And their small size made them escape routes, not entry and exit points.~~
~~A fortress to keep other out, just as much as it was designed to those imprisoned already in.~~
~~9 sub-ground level floors of prison cells, each for differing crimes, progressively more secure the deeper they went.~~
~~It was as much a hell to endure as a prisoner, as it was hell to capture from the outside.~~
~~But that would not stop those with interest from trying.~~

Tartarus, outer ramparts

~~Striding across the ramparts, the ‘Warden’ of the Prison and Fortress breathed in the early morning, mist filled air.~~
~~General Slickwing, a lithe bodied Pegasus with a jet black body and mane, was a very intimidating looking figure, shallow faced and compared to a snake by how cunning and patient he was, as well as ruthless when crossed. He had no ties before the Civil War took a turn for the worst, he had only the concern of the imprisoned horrors he and his garrison kept in the depths to heed.~~
~~But the two Princesses had visited last year’s autumn, and even if their father had not died during their visit with the Canterlot strike, he would have aligned with the Royalists anyway. Simply put, they seemed less likely to cause less upheaval across Equestria than the Nationalists. And upheavel was something Slickwing abhorred, a family trait by his and his family’s duty to maintaining Tartarus as a secure location.~~
~~Nopony had escaped Tartarus in 200 years, and he would ensure it stayed that way.~~
~~But the extra garrison troops he had in the fortress’s upper levels as part of the deal to make Tartarus a Royalist fortress were useful in their own right. Before, it had been the infamous Cerberus and usually around 200 elite ponies, but now they had 2000 in the fortress, with message pyres and Unicorn letters to send for quick backup from elsewhere.~~

~~Striding past a drowsy looking Unicorn mare guard, Slickwing flexed his metal armoured wing to whack her helmet, drawling as she shook awake as he passed behind her down the rampart:~~
~~“The fog isn’t a threat, but I expect diligence nonetheless! Even at this unholy hour.”~~
~~“Yes sir!”~~
~~Walking towards the watchtower along this part of the walls, the ground a staggering hundred metres directly below them, or more accurately, the bottomless trench that ran between the walls and the mountain slopes was.~~
~~Approaching the watchtower, the Earth Pony stallion saluted the Warden as he climbed up the stairwell, looking out briefly across the large walls and ramparts that stretched on, the taller towers around the tall main gate not too far from the watchtower.~~
~~Coming up to the edge, the pair atop the tower saluted the Warden as he leant on the wall, gazing out across the valley, the morning mist beginning to dissipate as the sun rose higher.~~
~~“Any word from the scouts?”~~
~~“No sir, they’re running late, even by their standards at some times.” The Earth Pony mare replied, turning from her watch duties briefly as General Slickhooves spoke aloud.~~
~~“Some of the scouts have sighted movement, likely scouts, but there were reports of upturned and flattened trees. Something is coming, that is certain.” The Unicorn stallion, the other watch-guard, replied to Slickhooves, while the General stepped back, glancing up the cliff face to the uppermost reaches of the mountain ridge Tartarus was built into.~~
~~“Let it come. Nopony escapes Tartarus, nopony will get in all the same, and damn me to this place’s lowest levels if they do.”~~
~~Slickhooves was confident in Tartarus’s defences holding, given what they had to imprison inside to start with.~~
~~As he stared up, he couldn’t help but muse aloud:~~
~~“Besides, if all else fails, we have the Telum Caelestis here, before any other place. They won’t be prepared for that…”~~

~~Telum Caelestis, one of many secret weapons to see battle soon. Testing had been done for months, by order of Queen Aurora herself. And all it took to use was a single Alicorn willing to wield its power, or a collective group of ponies.~~
~~A power, that would become the symbol of Equestrian power for centuries to come.~~
~~Heavenly Weapon, for the power it drew from the heavens itself for wielding at leisure.~~

Tartarus fortress
Inner Dungeons

~~A bottomless well, with a single narrow stairwell, was what led to each level of Tartarus. But within that well, wrought iron chains suspended in cables the entire length of the well, a series of moving platforms that were cranked by hoof of magic between the dungeon entrance hall and all 9 levels below it.~~
~~As the doors to the 7th level shut behind the guards, a change in shift, the howls of a few creatures and prisoners as they awoke escaped. The most violent prisoners, by nature regardless of their actual crimes, such as those who always resisted the guards, were kept here.~~
~~Only the 9th level was empty right now, as there were no traitors left alive long enough outside to imprison, and nobody ever escaped Tartarus to be imprisoned.~~
~~With a tug on the chain, the platform was raised up the immensely wide and deep shaft, the bottom seemingly hued in blackness. A few bridges spanned the shaft at the different levels, storage rooms and guard posts held away from the actual cells, but below the 9th level there were depths unexplored, even to this day.~~
~~Offloading, the platform coming to level with the 1st level, more of a holding level than a prison for those of lesser sentences, the guards headed to the main gates that divided the fortress from the actual prison chambers.~~
~~The snarls of the three headed dog, the size of a small dragon, and surrounded in an aura of hidden magic, came as Cerberus slowly watched each and every pony exiting and entering the great gates carefully. A single misplaced individual, and he would spring for the kill or maiming.~~
~~Overhead, the great stone ceilings of the fortress’s upper and ground levels loomed as always.~~

Mountain ridge top, opposite Tartarus

~~Camped out, hidden among the rocks in a way to avoid giving off light whenever possible, the Salamander knew well this was the target. All he could do was wait, and see how battle progressed. Everfree’s enchanted weapon helped him accomplish feats of stealth that impressed him to no end, namely making his encampment out of rock to disguise it without the watchers noticing from across the valley’s gap.~~
~~He expected this battle would be more than a single day in its waging, given how fortified Tartarus was, even with what was being brought to bear by the Nationalists, and in particular from the Citadel.~~
~~But Chack was unknowing that the Royalists had their own secrets that had been delved into and developed in this fortress.~~

Same day
March 30th, 71 BNM
Mid-Morning
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain range
Nationalist Encampment
100 miles east of Tartarus

~~Aubelles stood with the local commander, a stout Pegasus Mare, outside the tent. Perched atop a hill overlooking a narrow valley, the troops of this part of the Nationalist army were camped here for the night, until the call was made to advance. Rows of tents, makeshift workshops and storage tarps for supplies and harvested local wild food, meant the army was more mobile than the metal gear and armor led onlookers to believe.~~
~~“Combined with the Pegasi air cavalry and Earth infantry that arrived with you yesterday from Baltimare, we have 4000 equine troops, not including the support peasantry with us.”~~
~~The bronze armoured Alicorn gazed over the map of the area, nodding at the layout of it, as he regaled to the commander:~~
~~“I leave it to you Commander, make sure we are ready to move within half an hour, the other army groups from the east and north won’t want us to be late. Let the troops know I’ll only assume command when we actually enter battle on the day.”~~
~~“Sir, respectfully, there is somepony coming sometime today who will be assuming command, not you. She wanted to meet you, when you were ready, meet her second…”~~
~~The Commander mare trailed off as she saw the twinge of scepticism enter Aubelles’s eyes, the sandy red Alicorn shook his black and blue mane in a gruff turn to leave, muttering to her:~~
~~“Tell them whenever they arrive, we will have words at their whim.”~~

3 hours later
Nationalist Encampment

~~A hundred metres down the hill ridge, still overlooking the encampment of mostly Pegasi and Earth ponies, the Alicorn saw an underwhelming sight greet his eyes as he awaited his ‘superior’.~~
~~A teal blue maned, white furred Unicorn mare, with vibrant green eyes, striding casually towards a small rock perch near where he stood. Coming to stand atop it, she met his taller stature eye to eye, but she displayed calm superiority amidst a sea of hidden thoughts.~~
~~“Aubelles, a pleasure to meet you. Teal Quirt, I come by high command’s wishes themselves.” Teal Quirt spoke calmly, whilst the sandy red Alicorn held back a scowl with respect for a superior, but only just.~~
~~“You must know my reputation then, lest they send out an uninformed whelp of a mare to be my superior.”~~
~~Teal Quirt’s green eyes narrowed as a coy smile ran across her features, to which the mild venom in her retort could be tasted in the air:~~
~~“Oh yes, popular with the troops, a hero and legend among them. An Alicorn not hiding up in the ranks of leadership or the nonsense of noble ponies, a rare find nowadays. And yet…”~~
~~She cut herself off, before she finished:~~
~~“Your little Salamander friend has been missing since last November. Why you would even take such an acquaintance, a mercenary and non-loyalist to Equestria, is beyond many-a-pony’s knowledge. It is this little factor that makes me question your reputation.”~~
~~Aubelles was quiet, as he spoke bluntly to Teal, turning away to gaze on the encampment tents below:~~
~~“He was my go to swordsmith at first, we became friends on and off the battlefield. Most of all, he was an honourable warrior, and knew to respect power when he saw it, and earn any respect of his in turn.”~~
~~Teal scowled at this, she knew who the Salamander was, what he’d done to her when they met both times long before. But it was the contempt that Aubelles had for her that did her in.~~
~~A little hint of green magic snagged Aubelles’s chin, with a surprising amount of force, as the sand red Alicorn found his head slowly wrenched around to see Teal Quirt, stood on the rock next to him, glaring lightly into his eyes as she calmly addressed him:~~
~~“Your arrogance is as legendary as your battlefield feats. But you are far from the most potent force the Nationalists have. I can say this much, of the things coming from the allied force from the Northern Citadel, you will be glad they are on your side. There is a reason you are second to ME in this coming battle, ALICORN.”~~
~~Pulling away from Teal Quirt’s touch, Aubelles looked darkly at the white and teal Unicorn mare, seeing a shimmering green magic in her eyes that gave him pause.~~
~~“The main reason you are here, and these armies, is because Tartarus will be a harder target to conquer than Canterlot was for me and my own allies. Bear that in mind.”~~
~~Without another word, the Unicorn left, leaving Aubelles staring after her with a blank expression, blinking a few times. He had heard tales of those beings, under the Citadel’s allegiance, responsible for the Canterlot attack.~~

Later that Evening
Encampment, mess tents

~~“Myth, legends, lot o’ strange things up around those mountains, even before the sorcery of the Citadel came there from what I hear. Doesn’t surprise me that they came from there. What brought this on?”~~
~~“Nothing, just curious is all. I hear we may be getting them as allies.” Aubelles admitted, as he ate the rations before him with a few of the soldiers around one of the many gatherings of soldiers eating their evening meal, only a few unfortunate dozens charged with night watch and patrols.~~
~~“Strange and dangerous as they might be, Canterlot n’ all, I’d welcome them. But Tartarus? Now there’s a place that won’t be easy to take control of.”~~
~~“Those creatures destroyed half of Canterlot, they didn’t take control of it.” Aubelles reasoned. To this, the other soldiers looked at each other, before an elder soldier spoke up:~~
~~“Ah’ve been to Tartarus, before the Civil War now or the period before. The fortifications there… They won’t be easily felled; it’ll stand after the battle.”~~
~~“Great, more strength for the Royalists to hide behind then. Want to place wagers on how many weeks it will take to defeat them?”~~
~~A pessimistic utterance from a trooper among them caused some grumbling among them all, even Aubelles.~~
~~While the battle looked to be a long one, it would potentially be the last great battle of the war against the Royalists if all went to plan.~~
~~Of course, history would, and had already shown, that things going to plan was never a guarantee, for better or worse.~~

Next day
Early Morning/Dawn
March 31st, 71 BNM
Equestria, Northern Mountain pass
90 miles north east of Tartarus

~~Hidden at the base of a large vertical cliff face, the encampment had remained hidden, despite the Royalist scouts who had found it the night before and tried to sneak away.~~
~~A small Unicorn encampment, one of Nationalist alignment, brought the captured Royalist scouts to the feet of their commander, a burly Unicorn Stallion of dark blue colour. Glancing at the shivering scouts, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he took his magic to the elder scout, bringing her face to meet his:~~
~~“How many more are skulking about these mountains besides you and your comrade here?”~~
~~The younger stallion, a pegasus, kept quiet, nursing a restrained wing, whilst the horn locked Unicorn mare merely spat in the Unicorn’s face, who quickly recoiled and charged his horn:~~
~~“You’ll pay for that you!-…Sir.”~~
~~The Unicorn soldiers all around fell quiet, as the Commander Unicorn stepped backwards slowly as a grey Earth Pony slowly approached the two prisoners held at the centre of the camp. Devoid of fur, bald and grey skinned, he was a sickening sight to behold.~~
~~His glinting red eyes bore into the eyes of the two scouts, before he turned to face the mountain face that overlooked the encampment, remarking:~~
~~“Surprise is key. Fewer eyes that see what we travel with will mean they are dismissed as paranoid rumour.”~~
~~With a raising of his hoof, he pointed at the mountain itself, as an impossible sight unfolded.~~
~~An entire section of the mountain began to shift, as something that was made of rock shifted from it, revealing a single pony wide gap between its mountain sized bulk and the read mountain, a slope and not a sheer cliff, before them.~~
~~Dark red magic suddenly engulfed the two scouts, hurling the younger Pegasus stallion 10 metres deep into the gap’s darkness, some pebbles still tumbling as the rock face shifted ever so slightly between him and the real rock face it had leant out from. Holding the Unicorn mare scout in his red magic grip, Odi-Viscer slowly shoved her into the gap 10 metres in, squashing right up against the other scout he kept in there.~~
~~As she stared out, she saw the grey Earth Pony stare upwards, and give a single nod, before he began to turn to the others, addressing the orders to wait for the charge command.~~
~~The immense stone giant, resting against the mountain slopes in a way that created a temporary cliff sized vertical rise with its curled up form, reclined back, the brief yells from the two Royalist scouts silenced as the bulk crashed back against the mountain, on top of them.~~
~~Elsewhere in the narrow valley, a few other gargantuan ‘outcroppings’ resided, all having marched from the north with them, mostly at night, to maintain surprise, keeping their numbers and existence as rumour at best, propaganda legend at worst.~~
~~But the Unicorns Odi marched with were all from the Citadel’s domain, and unbeknownst to him, all under Siral’s spell.~~

Elsewhere in the mountains

~~The hordes of blue and white armoured ponies below still marched to their encampment location, coming from the east with all their supplies for war on hoof and hand.~~
~~Thousands of Earth Ponies and Unicorns marched, whilst Pegasi flew overhead, the main Eastern Army on the move, clad in blue and white colours of the Nationalists with banners flying as they marched.~~
~~Far overhead the hordes, a black and gold dragon leisurely flew far overhead, observing these allies he would have on side.~~
~~A few wary glances came from the ponies on the ground at this dragon circling overhead, despite word that he was an ally getting to them before he arrived, one from the Citadel.~~
~~Unlike others from the Citadel, he would not be a commander, but acting in alliance yet on his own. At best, he would be an aerial ally only, while ‘others’ like him would take command in a certain Unicorn’s case, or act as a heavy assault in another case.~~

Evening
March 31st, 71 BNM
Baltimare, Trumane residence

~~“Tonight, we toast. Tomorrow, the last great battle against the Royalists begins. Their last stronghold will fall, that is what we hear from our generals.”~~
~~As the glasses clinked, the lustful light green maned Pegasus, Iena, couldn’t help but have mixed thoughts. She’d heard of a problem at the Citadel, that Starswirl had come to harm them, and Gaudium had been wounded in the process, enough that he had to be put into his changes early to also magically heal.~~
~~But as the servers passed by, over the sound of the clinking glasses and cheers at the nobility sat at the table around her, she saw the fat Minotaur, Satio, she knew, loved, and lived with pass her by, an uncertain look in his orange eyes meeting her blue ones.~~
~~The timing seemed odd, likely Starswirl’s attack had accelerated things. But something else was off, that it was urged by them both to return to the Citadel as soon as the battle at Tartarus was finished, calling in sick before making their way here.~~
~~Something was afoot.~~

Nightfall
Equestria, North Western Forests
50 miles from Baltimare
Lady Ave-Dol’s cottage

~~She sat in her true form, the glowing light blue Windigo bodied Alicorn shape, with a bright orange feathered mane, filling the ambience of the cottage in the night.~~
~~Staring out into the night skies, Ave-Dol had been plagued with her thoughts. She’d received the same message to return to the Citadel when summoned, to be ready to go quickly. She had not received notification that it would be after the Battle of Tartarus was ended.~~
~~But she knew this was Siral’s intent. He was close.~~
~~He was gathering them, after the last great victory between the factions, to have them all in one place yet again. She had heard of Stasrwirl attacking, and of Gaudium being injured and being ‘treated’ by Siral early.~~
~~The news had nearly made her scream with such force to blast her cottage apart. She knew this was the turning point, that she had failed Gaudium. As soon as he had been under, Siral had promised he would never be the same.~~
~~Standing up, she decided that as soon as she arrived, she would begin to make amends. If this was to be their last free will under their so called ‘caring’ master that Ave-Dol had foolishly been tricked by, she would make a stand to undermine what unity he had over them.~~
~~And she knew just who to head to.~~
~~It was good that the others were all either in Tartarus’s intent, or were still spies of the Trumanes.~~
~~“If he asks.. I was spying on the Royal family as Odi was at one point..”~~
~~She stood up, knowing full well who she had to speak to. The one who by history, had known Siral longer than anyone, the one who could stand a chance to undo his evils, or find a way to do so even if he could not himself.~~
~~With a swift teleport spell, Ave-Dol began the long journey west, towards distant Nokotaford. Whatever transpired at Tartarus was forgone to her until she had spoken to Starswirl. Siral was a deceiver, and another side of the story might gain her the knowledge she needed to finally atone for her part in his actions, and her ignorance, inaction [forced and willful out of sympathy] to his hidden evils and ambitions. Siral had taken her sympathy and played her for a fool to his ends.~~
~~But he was the fool, he had ensured Starswirl was in a place she could easily find.~~
~~She revered back to her light blue and blond Alicorn form, knowing full well she could not control the aura of laziness and drowsiness she gave off unless in her true mutated form.~~
~~But perhaps calming others would prove useful for once.~~

Author's Note

Right here, things start to take a great manner of turns, as a large portion of the next few conflicts will be very closely interlinked.
Aubelles will be present, though he is suspicious of playing second fiddle to Teal Quirt, and of what she ‘could’ and is inferring she and others to battle are. Meanwhile, Odi-Viscer brings the heavy forces from the Citadel, whilst Golmov escorts the other armies in their march.
After the battle is over, outcome notwithstanding, Siral has plans to initiate his endgame.
And all the while, Starswirl’s ordeal, combined with the dark magic Siral used and Teal Quirt’s claws held, he’s facing an illness that is not natural.
Ave-Dol will be the first of the 6 [thus far] to begin unraveling the web Siral has spun with them, going to one who would very well try to kill her because of what she is in regards to the prophecy. More on that later.
The Battle for Tartarus will see its own share of unleashed surprises, more on Telum Caelestis later. Amidst the battle, a popular character from the main MLP series, albeit not quite ‘himself’ yet, will make his debut.

Revelations, the Seventh Awakens

April 1st, 71 BNM
Midday
Western Equestria
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Infirmary chambers

As she stood over the Wizard’s bed, the creature’s eyes glowed as blue as her shimmering, Windigo like body, her fire coloured feather mane slumped in her focus.
She delved deeper, into the mind of the Wizard before her.
Slowly, his stirring in his sleep was dimishing, and ever so slowly, the magical toxin from the being of Envy’s scorpion claws was nullified, only a normal fever easily recovered from being left.
Deeper in the mind of the Wizard though, Ave-Dol drew closer to Starswirl’s sub-consciousness.

Ave-Dol felt the writhing curse from the toxins in Starswirl’s body as a green mist in his mind, surrounding her, as a faint grey and blue glow before her showed where Starswirl’s mind center was. Her magic, as she knew it by being with Teal Quirt, swept the toxic green aside in his mind, finding the centre, his inner mind.
As she dove deeper, memories, triggered by what had put him in this state, flowed into her. And she watched, let them flow, as she dove deeper towards Starswirl’s subconscious.

729 years ago, Oracle Mount

“We are merely the highest ramparts of a great structure, and those you view as ‘lesser’, are the foundations and structure that we stand above. Unlike some nobility Unicorns, we must keep in mind that the strongest forces are often the most lowly and base, be they nature’s wrath, or the sleeping giant that is the ‘commoners’. Others will catch up to us ‘elites’ in time.”
Hearing his old friend’s words, Siral nodded with some mild regret, as he then added: “By that time, if you and I are still around, I wonder where we shall a stand compared to them? Perhaps greater than I can conceive if they catch up to us, Starswirl the Bearded and Siral the Savant.”
Laughing slightly, Starswirl took another puff on his pipe, remarking: “Your grandiose predictions of the future can match the oracles at times Siral.”
As Siral shot Starswirl a sour look at deflating his thoughts of potential, as Starswirl blew a magic imbued puff from his mouth, the pipe weed smoking slightly as the puff of smoke spun in the air to reveal a wispy Pegasus shape flying towards the sky, trailing out beneath the hanging half-moon on the horizon.
Staring out, Starswirl heard Siral murmur: “So, did you get asked to be here, or are you here just to catch up like I am?”
“Actually, I was asked for by the Oracles themselves. You were not?”
“No, and I don’t wish to know the future in advance. I make my own future.”

Beings of strife and destruction, borne out of that most destructive desire there is, the desire for power over others. Power corrupts all, corrupting more as it grows in strength.
Creatures bred from the need to acquire power, in a time of greatest turmoil.
The Lustful One: A deceitful tempter, taking pleasure in sowing division.
A dark blue haze clouded the mindscape, a lithe figure slithering like smoke around unseen figures of power that fought soon after her wiles were sown in.
The Gluttonous One: A voracious force, consuming all things like a plague.
An orange haze hid an unseen shape, and fields of crops and even entire crowds were consumed by the same mist.
The Greedy One: A cunning creature, ensuring it gains in any outcome.
Yellow beams pierced the Canterlot Palace’s ceiling, arcing everywhere as King Nova was extinguished within by the creature.
The Slothful One: A careless bystander, apathetic to the suffering of others.
A hidden light blue haze filled the mindscape, and Ave-Dol couldn’t help but realize to her horror that it was her the prophecy was linking to, as her mutated Windigo/Alicorn with phoenix mane appeared in all its glory.
The Wrathful One: A mindless beast, all that breathes is its enemy.
A red hued figure, bulky and brawny and wreaking destruction everywhere, brought down the mountain that Canterlot’s royal palace rested on.
The Envious One: A cold hearted servant, scheming for power and revenge.
A green haze erupted, penetrated by Teal Quirt’s monstrous scorpion claw penetrating Starswirl’s leg in the catacombs, his scream ringing out.
The Prideful One: A scheming master, moulding all things to its own ends.
The purple haze was most dense, the figure hidden, but large. Yet behind it, a black figure loomed, eyes glinting silver, as this being was more controlled by an outside entity than the others.
More so than others, the Prideful One shall be your final challenge in your greater destiny that we see.
Beware the enemies that lay closest to your heart, though not yet enemies they themselves may be.
As the black haze settled, a Unicorn’s face emerged. Siral turned to glance at a figure of Starswirl that materialised, a respectful gaze that slowly morphed with a painful look to his current, scarred physically and mentally look, as an unseen Alicorn showed naught but cruelty.
Geldrath, a cruel Alicorn that revealed the darker side of such power going to the mind, but also opening Siral’s eyes by Geldrath’s own wisdom. When powers exist side by side, they naturally come to blows, given time.
Seek the essences of true Harmony, the greatest power to be had to combat these threats you are to face at the end of your destiny.
A Treacherous One, for you and they to learn of True Loyalty.
A Saddle Arabian mare stood alongside gladiators in a grand arena, cheers filling as she struck down her blood family to serve that which she believed in, a painful choice, her sword glowing a bright red.
A Restrained One, for you and they to learn of True Magic.
A Serpentine dragoness from the far east glowed a fierce golden colour as she released her power against her family’s killer, the Dragon sorcerer's life sucking amulet’s glow diminished as she unleashed her power. Her family’s golden and jade stone necklace glowed a bright pink.
A Glum One, for you and they to learn of True Joy.
A muted Earth Pony, slowly emerged from his solitude of an organ player to entertaining the masses with talents he abandoned out of shame, to bring joy to his lame legged adoptive son that he couldn’t see scared from the world by misguided cruelty. His neck scarf flew off as he danced and played his flute, glowing blue as it did.
A Deceitful One, for you and they to learn of True Honesty.
A bitter Tigress, limping on one paw and angrily warding off any threat, recognised her weakness and shame, and in being honest with herself, opened herself to help from others, and help quell the evil that had plagued her home for too long. A tuft of fur flew off, glowing yellow as it did.
A Selfish One, for you and they to learn of True Generosity.
A Fox, weighed down by treasure so many he knew had died in trying to wrestle from a monster’s lair, saw his father figure and captain gape as he leapt down, his weight on the rope with the treasure used to further make himself heavier hoisting one besides himself to safety, as the cold waters rose up to seize him. His pocket compass glowed purple as he met the icy and monster filled waters.
A Cruel One, for you and they to learn of True Kindness.
A Salamander, wielding a sword, walked alone through mountains, as unseen figures fell before him or retreated, voices of shame following him despite his service. And now, he wandered an unseen deep forest, alone.
Nothing glowed, he had not fulfilled his destiny yet.

150 years ago
Glaceland

Not wanting to delay much further, and not risk having second thoughts and trying to dissuade Siral, not that he likely could have given his adamant state, Starswirl gave a small smile as he turned to leave, a sad sigh escaping his mouth before he spoke:
“It was good to have you with me, all this time. It would have been lonely otherwise.”
“One more reason I had to leave, just as the prophecy warned, less chance of those close to your heart becoming a threat. Like Geldrath told me, and you didn’t.”
Siral’s last words stopped Starswirl in his tracks, the Grey Wizard turning to see Siral already wandering over to the ship bound for Equestria in 3 hours, the Earth Pony captain seeming to take up Siral’s offer on helping load cargo before departure.
Staring at the Black Unicorn vanishing into a few storage buildings nearby, Starswirl looked down slightly, lamenting a lost friend, and the secret he had kept from about one line in the Prophecy.
He hadn’t trusted Siral completely, as Siral had him. Duty had come first, and Siral had volunteered to help him by both coming with him, and now leaving to deal with trouble at home.
Yet a small part of Starswirl wondered if he himself had driven Siral away by focusing too much on the Prophecy, ignoring much else in the world until gathering the 6 exemplars was done.
All of a sudden, the 5 trinkets in his small pouch he’d gathered from Mashri, Hinai, Frello, Nahia and Irvin weighed heavier, despite him now travelling much lighter in company.
Now those 5 trinkets from them would remind him of times when he had Siral on side.
Snorting, Starswirl kept the one hope in his mind that Siral would improve with his conscience and worries sated, while Starswirl would focus on the final of the 6 before returning himself.

Flashes of the Citadel, the catacombs, the forging chambers, a 7th yet to be used.
A Wizard and one fallen so far confront on the bridge that spanned an underground dungeon and lake.

“They know better than to harm me. I have all the home advantages here Stasrwirl, yet even without them you are no match for my power.”
“Power not earned, you’ve become a hypocrite, using Alicorn magic for your own ends!”
“Their power is used more responsibly under my authority, what I disliked was the ambition and arrogance that came with being born with that power, or acquiring it with little sacrifice compared to the great Wizards and Mages of past times...”
“So you are jealous of them, is that it? You make them suffer because you envy their might?”
“Suffering is the greatest teacher there is, be it a long life of work like you and I, or the addition of personal experiences at their hooves.”
Siral gestured to his scarred visage as he spoke, whilst he then gestured to the amulets he wore:
“Besides, why envy those whose power I can now so easily take for myself?”
“And how many more have to suffer and die, Alicorn or not, before your ambitions are achieved?” Starswirl accused, as Siral gave a brief pause before he remarked coldly:
“Equestria, the world, existed reasonably peacefully enough before Alicorns came to be. Does that suffice as an answer, old friend?”
Siral’s venomous answer was all Starswirl needed to hear, as he replied to the Grey Wizard who had been hovering closer on his watery pillar the whole time:
“My old friend is dead. The Wizard before me is as much a monster as the beings that serve you.”
Siral frowned at this, a very small part of him deep down actually hurt by this. A small part, that was buried beneath all his ambitions, desires, and sense of duty to what he must do.
“Your old friend died at that Alicorn’s hooves in the jungle so long ago…”

A jungle temple, as an exiled Alicorn and his demon hordes battled a younger Siral to near death, the jungles strangled by vines and fire as Starswirl and a Tigress raced to his aid.

“And what of the others? I can’t assume they are all so loyal and connected to you in their pasts…”
“Souls impacted by the war, by Alicorns, or by sympathy to these souls themselves. I made sure to find those who would be motivated to aide my cause, even if they needed a little push in the right direction…”

“Every being we meet, we influence their lives. You consider yourself a slave to destiny, you think things will always play out as foretold and you must conform to what you perceive as destined. That is your problem Starswirl, you cannot be a true protector of Equestria if you serve those that are part of the problem itself. Have you not felt what experiments your Royalists are conducting? The slight changes in how the moon and sun move?”

“And if they will not change themselves, and I suspect you came here knowing this, I will ensure no Alicorn sleeps soundly ever again. With the help of all I have gathered, I will make Equestria, and the World, in harmony again, and I will do so, ATOP THEIR BONES!”

Seeing Starswirl barely hanging on nearby, Siral paid little heed to the uncontrollable Gaudium nearby, the light brown Alicorn’s blue wings flaring as his rage finally broke.
“HOW MANY OF THE OTHERS LIVES HAVE YOU RUINED!?”
A burning curse shot from Gaudium’s horn, raw power but not refined, to which Siral dispersed as easily as a cloud of smoke, his form turning to a black vapour before Gaudium before it surged towards the young Alicorn stallion, solidifying into the scarred Wizard’s form before he fired a spell into Gauidum’s face with a few last words, a last bitter insult to Gaudium before he was subdued painfully with a powerful curse:
“Your last free thought will be regret of becoming my enemy…”
Starswirl scrambled away, as the Wizard dealt with the Seventh to be.

Thunder and crashing of the earth chased him, as the night and cold drained his strength as much as whatever poison the Being of Envy had in her claw wound on his leg.
Silver eyes in the night, impossibly high, old and made of stone and mountain, attacked, and only intervention by two pupil Alicorns in the night saved him.

“No.. NOO, ONE OF THEM! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!”
Starswirl’s mind, cleared of the toxin, began to writhe, a storm brewing all around Ave-Dol as memories faded, giving way to more than just dreams.
All around her, blue aura of Starswirl’s mind and magic grew, before she bellowed back in the mental landscape.
“I am not your enemy!”
“You are one of the Seven, Sloth, you let this happen!”

Everfree’s vision flashed in her mind, the future if left unchecked.
The desolate landscape, the shattered moon, friends turned against one another out of desperation as Siral at long last achieved control of a world he would then have to rebuild from scratch.
The Seven beings enslaved to him, beyond choice, his magic and arts making them extensions of his will, devoid of all but the most basic of free will.
Ave-Dol, the dejected looking one among the seven, had no choice, but did not enjoy it.
And nearby, the Seventh loomed in his lithe figure, red and yellow eyes highlighting his shapeshifting limbs, the most perfected of them all, and one who lost his free will the moment he became what he was. He never even got the chance to appreciate, or loathe, his new form with his mind intact, unlike the others.
The first to fall was doomed from his rebirth.

“I REJECT SIRAL, OTHERWISE I’D HAVE NOT COME HERE TO SEEK YOU OUT! And seeing this from your mind, seeing both sides, I do not regret it!”
The swirling tempest seemed to settle all around Ave-Dol, as the world began to shift all around her from the shapeless blue fog.

Starswirl’s dreamscape

Islands floated in the air, some rocky, other coated in grasslands, none bigger than a small chapel.
Coming to stand atop the island closest to her, Ave-Dol glanced around and relaxed herself, finding herself shapeshifting in the dreamscape to her original light blue and blond maned Alicorn form.
Before her, a darker blue form materialised, forming an elder, grey and white bearded Unicorn, wearing a tall blue hat and a sun and moon decorated robe.
Regarding her with mild suspicion, but a much calmer demeanour, Starswirl slowly walked towards Ave-Dol, as a series of stony ‘seats’ formed between them, and a few islands floated by with oak trees growing from beneath them.
Tilting his head in suspicion still, Starswirl gently looked at the stone seating, while Ave-Dol took the signal for what it was. Shuffling to recline her Alicorn form on the surface, sitting on her hunches, she saw Starswirl walk slowly before her, his mind racing, the dreamscape showing a few moving streaks of blue mist as his mind became more embroiled in inquisitive suspicion:
“While you were probing my mind, I saw parts of yours. Enough to get a full picture from what you know.”
As she sat, her form visibly shifted to her Windigo/Alicorn form, her mane turning its fiery phoenix feathered colour as she spoke calmly to the Wizard before her on the rocky island:
“Then you realise what is occurring, even right now. Tartarus is under siege as we speak, but from what I was made aware of, once it falls Siral will make his move against the only other faction with truly notable strongholds. He’ll have all he needs to no longer have to forge alliances after that...”
“No, he’ll simply control them, as he intends with you and the others.” Starswirl finished. As he paused, he turned to face her, as he said scathingly:
“And you did nothing. You certainly lived up to what you were prophesised as. Sloth, standing by while things went awry…”
“The others are victims as much as they are monsters, you refuse to see them as anything but the latter, as you also do with me. I did nothing to stop Siral’s plans, because I cared first about the well-being of those I thought he’d taken under his care, souls suffered by the world in various ways.”
“So, not truly slothful, you merely favoured a select few over the greater many.”
Starswirl’s spiteful retort finally got a rise out of Ave-Dol, as she towered over Starswirl even in his dreamscape, if only for a moment:
“I took pity! They were shunned by the world in various ways, whereas I willingly left it for a life of peace, not powermongering as I came to agree with Siral with!”
She stood fast as Starswirl’s size in the dreamscape grew to surpass her own, as she regaled each one in detail:
“Teal Quirt, your salamander accomplice wounded her decades ago, robbing her of a potential life as a greater magician, and she turned to the Wizard who did help her, one she studied his teachings of and idolised, agreed with. You wonder why she is Envious, she was robbed of what she could have been, and more so with her being the first of seven, later ones to become stronger than she is, even with her being the cunning one of them all.”
“Golmov, perhaps the least sympathetic, but even so his dragon code made the shame he was delivered years ago by losing the crystal heart to a princess unbearable. He greedily seeks retribution as much as riches, to dragons their honour is life, and Siral took advantage of that, even if Golmov let him.”
“Odi-Viscer, cursed by an Alicorn disguised as an elder when he was a foal, he became cursed, losing his fur and being cast out by his paranoid village as a possessed child, living as a feral, violent being in the forests until Siral found him. Odi learned to be more than an animal under Siral, but his rage and wrath are a part of him now because of how life turned for him.”
“Iena, she served her noble pegasus family, using her feminine wiles to encourage unions and agreements, until the very methods that brought great prosperity to her family were suddenly disapproved of, and she was cast away in shame. She revels in using her charms to tear people apart, to let them feel what she was forced to feel.”
“Satio, he was a mere farmer and migrant, forced to give up his land for a noble pony before others because he was a foreign minotaur. Robbed of all he had worked so hard for, from a far off land as well, when all he wished in life was simple pleasures that were denied without good reason besides consuming wars. He became a glutton because of the misery life caused him, overindulging out of fear that it might be wrenched away again.”
“And me, a mere Alicorn who took pity on them, brought in by Siral to console them, keep them in check. I thought he had intentions to help them heal, and I was right. He clearly wanted stable individuals to become his slaves…”
“And Gaudium… I failed him, Siral made me have to choose, and by doing nothing, I guaranteed Gaudium as much more time as a free willed Pony as I could, without him suffering for it until the time came.”
As she slumped down, Starswirl could feel the dejected feelings emanating from this creature, no, this pony that had come to his mind in peace. Had cleared the toxins and magical curses in his body by her knowledge of the one who placed them.
She had also likely risked herself, if Siral had any inkling that she’d come here and not slain him as he slept.
“You made the mistake of focusing on those you sympathised with, unable to see Siral’s true motives… I made the mistake of doggedly pursuing my role in that damned Prophecy, not forging my own fate.”
Starswirl sat down beside Ave-Dol, looking the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid creature in her glowing light blue eyes as he spoke softly, looking inwards as a few wisps of blue clouds before the island formed a memory from so long ago:
“If I’d been truthful with Siral from the start, about the prophecy warning against friends close to me tagging along, whether or not he’d joined me on the quest, I may have been able to help him make a better path.”
“If I’d valued our friendship, more than my role as Wizard, none of this might have happened.”
Before them, a few early memories of Starswirl and Siral’s early days played out, a shy, reclusive black Unicorn Wizard meeting the more famous, 60-year older Grey Wizard. Starswirl was the more amicable, more involved in Equestrian affairs among Wizards, but this was somewhat a front to make his role of Wizard seem more meaningful.
Siral was the studious one, he was withdrawn, but what friends he did have he valued more than gold. Quality over Quantity it seemed.
Starswirl was Siral’s truest friend, enough to follow through time. But the mutual feeling was not powerful enough to dissuade Siral from the feelings of paranoia and fear of Equestrian affairs with the Alicorns, Starswirl’s sense of duty blinding him without him knowing it.
The phrase that time healed all wounds was the complete opposite of what transpired.
“By embarking on the quest, I may well have caused that destiny to occur.”
Ave-Dol regarded Stasrwirl with calm sympathy, but she then turned her gaze outwards, her mind flashing to events happening right now.
“Tartarus is strong, but not impenetrable. But beyond the forces brought to bear against it, what might be used in retaliation, Siral is about to change his tactics.”
“Siral stressed that unity is the key to his, and our strength. He will secure it the moment he has control of all of us. But what he has hidden from some of them will sow enough doubt and rebellion to delay, even prevent his ultimate plans.”
“Whatever happens, to Tartarus or to me, find those Siral purposeful ruined the lives of, reveal the truth. Destroy their unity, and you will destroy Siral’s rise to power.”
“How?” Starswirl asked. Ave-Dol gently smiled, if only at the tragedy of it:
“I did some digging in my ‘time off’, but you and I both know by now that Siral would ensure he could get Odi-Viscer, Iena and Satio, whatever occurred.”

Years ago, in the forest within the Seperatist territories, as the young foal scampered back to his village, the Alicorn shifted his body, the grey robed, black and scarred Unicorn beneath them smiling as the curse was done. The boy would be thrown out like other ‘possessed’ children, and he would come for Odi-Viscer in time.

All it took was a single word of gossip, a single spilled word, but the wiles and methods of the Pegasus mare Iena in the courts and nobility to persuade agreements between her family and others were revealed.
Siral had eavesdropped long enough to know which grains of truth to implant as mysteriously manifested memories within another noble pony’s mind at a party.
That Pegasus mare would be cast out, prey for him to sweep up.

A migrant was an easy target, but he was out of the way, content and alone. A little bit of magical coaxing to the local landlord, and Satio’s farm and home were repossessed for ‘funding’ purposes.
That migrant Minotaur was turned vagabond, and prey for Siral, all too easily.

Starswirl shook his head, as Siral proved he was still all too willing to directly interfere in lives if it suited a greater purpose, prophecy or anti prophecy. He proved it with Mashri in the Romane era, and he merely held off until Stasrwirl was a non-factor.
Beside him, Ave-Dol spoke calmly:
“Find them, if I cannot reveal to them in time. We are not monsters, and neither is Siral. We had no choice, nor did he, in how life shaped us. If you wish to spare Equestria more pain, he must-.”
At that exact moment, a purple haze suddenly descended upon them, as if a tsunami of an outside mind suddenly reached into Starswirl’s own.
Beside her, as the purple haze swelled around her, choking, Starswirl gasped, an image entering his mind as he murmured quietly:
“No…”

Wherever he was, it was murky, wet, cold yet pulsing in warmth. He remembered these words, their meaning, but he could not know how he remembered them. He just, did.
From above, a presence masked in silver light and black shadow called to him, and it felt, right, a part of him he NEEDED.
Surging to the surface, he, for he had no name to go by, felt cold, emptier space. He remembered it as, air.
Breaking the surface, his yellow and red hued eyes beheld a purple glint within their black pupils.
Siral’s pride, the Seventh, had awakened.

Early Afternoon
Western Equestria
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Infirmary chambers

With a scream, the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid was hurled backwards as she was both ripped and jumped from Starswirl’s mind in a flurry.
She felt whatever the presence was awaken, from far away, and that whatever this feeling was always coincided with one of the other 6, her included, being ‘reborn’.
Before her, Stasrwirl’s swollen leg and fever had already begun to subside, but he groaned loudly in his sleep as he jolted awake. His eyes glanced at her glowing blue form, widening at the sight of her.
“I’m sorry…” Ave-Dol quickly whispered, as a loud series of knocks from outside sounded from a nurse on duty now, the loss of focus from Ave-Dol’s magic enough to make her try and barge in to help the wizard.
In a desperate flash of light blue, the hybrid creature vanished.
Bursting into the room, the nurse pony clutched her chest as the Wizard reclined back, a hoof to his head as she fussed over him.
His head pounded as a million thoughts rushed, but he still had recovery to go through, despite now being awake.

Meanwhile
Early Afternoon
Citadel, Underground levels
Forging chambers

Standing before the precipice of the forging chamber, Siral saw the grey coated figure, tall and looming, rise from the concoction with a long slender, clawed hand clutching the stone vat’s edge.
His own blood went into it, as did Starswirl’s, and traits from the animal parts needed to create a perfect being beyond true definition. It existed to be whatever Siral required of it, and nothing more. As he spoke, he addressed the mind of this creature.
A blank slate, knowing basic skills and knowledge, but no motives, no purpose, no likes or dislikes, like an infant in how little life had made an impression on his mind and personality.
Stepping backwards, Siral gazed up as the lanky creature trailed the grey potion where he stood, standing slowly upright with a slight wobble. A serpentine body, but with features that seemed to constantly shift shape, large wings that spread as far down as his long tail.
The long creature craned his neck down, an expressionless red and yellow set of eyes staring into Siral, waiting, as the grey potion kept him covered.
“You will be the tool through which I shall eradicate the greatest threat to Equestria and the world, that which my other servants will not fall prey to, that which the warring Alicorns and their subjects revel in. Your existence, will end all that causes discord.”
Discord.
The word rang in the creature’s mind, and he came to associate the word with his ‘father’s’ anger. Disagreement, disharmony, division, war, Alicorns.
As he stood, the grey potion shifted, and in that moment, the creature glowed a bright black as Siral seized control of this blank minded slave.
The creature’s fur resembled the Alicorn it came from, beige brown, but with a black mane, and slightly blue wings that were now more draconian than feathered. But the arms were thick and scaly, with yellow fur growing out of the yellow scales that ended in individual clawed fingers, while the legs had horse hooves with dragon like claws extending from them like extra digits. The tail became long and spiked red in its scaly appearance.
The head had elongated to a draconian shape, the fur growing from the scales on his face, and from atop his forehead a number of horns of so many shapes extended backwards in a way to resemble a twisting, jumbled cone from the back of his head.
But all over him, in a bid to mirror his master’s utterly scarred visage, the grey potion was melded to a netting like layer over him, like sinister vines choking a tree in a forest, they dug into his body, though he didn’t make a noise.
His multifaceted body now gripped in the vines that made up a netlike second skin, the being turned its gaze off into space for a moment, as Siral turned his own far gaze towards the same direction.
“Yes, I sense it too. One of them is false, she must be first to be brought in line.”
Turning to the creature, Siral ordered bluntly:
“Bring Ave-Dol here, alive, and unspoiled. The others have their roles for now, but she will no longer be a thorn in my side.”
Staring blankly at his master, the creature shifted his shape, taking on the appearance of a beige brown Alicorn with blue wings, unknowingly who he was before he was turned.
‘Gaudium’ vanished with a bright purple teleport spell, hued in dark magic as Siral’s control was total.
Standing on the walkway, Siral reclined back against the nearby bridge wall, throwing his head back as he snorted with a smile to the heavens:
“Finally… Now, their end has come.”

Early Afternoon
Western Equestria
Nokotaford, outskirts

Teleporting in a frenzy, Ave-Dol knew where she had to go. She had to find any of the others, at least the 3 who would be angry at hearing Siral had a hand in ruining their lives before meeting him. She knew who was most likely, the two in the Trumanes, as Odi-Viscer was headed to Tartarus, his exact location unknown to her.
And she needed to move fast.
Clearly, faster than she could in reality, as fate would have it.
As she reached the hills that lay as the last plain eye sighting of the Royalist capital, the same corrupted, powerful presence she felt awaken only a few minutes ago found her.
Unlike her and the others, this one had another mind giving him control over his powers beyond his own ‘birth’ state.
As she readied for another teleport, she felt herself get stuck all of a sudden, the grasses below her feet turning into sticky, tarlike tendrils that clutched and shocked her where she stood.
As her vision was turned spotty by the restraints and agony, she saw a familiar Alicorn land before her.
Gaudium, his eyes red and yellow, with a glint of purple and malevolence behind his pupils that was not his own.
Ave-Dol’s initial desire to plead, to see if Gaudium was still in there, were silenced as his form shifted.
The strange creature too mismatched to be defined lunged forwards, clutching her as one of its hands moved its fingers, snapping the claws and generating sudden bursts of magic as he did so. Each snap held such power behind it, it was unreal.
With more focus, all of this in the space of a second, Ave-Dol heard one last snap of the claws, and she was seized by Siral’s newest servant, to be taken back to the Citadel by force.
Elsewhere, the battle raged at Tartarus.

Mid Afternoon
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress

Mighty siege engines rained stones, solid or magically enchanted, against the fortified walls.
Spells older than most in the battle rippled in glasslike, watery flows, the impacts doing some damage but not quite enough. But marching up the hills, the Nationalist ponies formed their shields to defend against the thousand archers across the walls firing on them with spells or arrows.
Up on high, the message had been received that reinforcements were on the way from both sides. More armies for the Nationalists, but worse yet, moving mountains with another group.
The earth tremors that were beginning to be felt by those on the eastern end of the Tartarus mountain ridge were not from the battle, but from those coming to join that were still remarkably far away.
And amidst the battle, on both sides or on sides yet undetermined, the fight continued as it had for hours now, and hours to come, with hundreds dead on both sides already, and no sign of slowing down.

Author's Note

Realizations for both Starswirl and the sixth being, Lady Ave-Dol, about the whole prophecy mess and those it involved. And at least Starswirl wakes up at the end of this, though what finally triggers his awakening couldn’t be worse.
A theme I wanted to bring back, to really make highlighted here, is that of anti-prophecy. When we are foretold something, subconsciously we steer towards it out of fear of it either having to happen, or trying to undo it by letting it happen to as to unravel it whenever possible. Same with the theory of time portals securing a ‘causal’ loop as seen in Volume 3, but taken in a more philosophical, basic approach.
And we see the birth of Discord, though he is not called Discord yet. Nor is he ‘exactly’ as he looks, but he will be before this story is over. The seeds of his looks further down the line are there, and he’ll self-adopt his name by what few memories he has from his own thought processes, such as the very thing Siral made him for, to undo, Discord itself.
And suffice to say Siral wastes no time putting ‘Discord 0.9’ to work, especially as the connection Siral gave Discord to the others alerted him to Ave-Dol not being in her cottage, where she should be.

Battle of Tartarus, Into the Fray

April 1st, 71 BNM
Late Afternoon
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress

As cloud banks rolled in, the lights of the exchanged spells, enchanted or flaming boulders being hurled between the fortress and the advancing army began to illuminate the mountain valley.
But the gorge that lay between the walls of Tartarus and the mountain slopes remained to be bridged.

“Get that locked in place!”
Bellowing across the ramparts, Slickhooves ducked as a random fire boulder smashed the wall a dozen metres from him, too low to have hit him, but sending shockwaves through the stone and forcefield.
Ahead, earth ponies cranked the pulleys and gears, the massive wrought iron gates of Tartarus sealing shut, and the large metal lined draw bridge pulling up on the chains they rotated.
Down below, peering over the ramparts, Slickhooves retreated as a few stray arrows shot up at him. A few brave archers and spellcaster ponies had managed to venture right to the edge of the crevice before the walls, inside the magic fields of Tartarus.
Further down on the ground, teams of Unicorns, protected by other soldier ponies, used their combined magic to keep ‘doorways’ open at the base of the shield, unable to break it and instead settling for what was the equivalent of lifting up the bottom of a curtain to get through. The respite was that the holes themselves were too small to let anything bigger than two at a time through, a narrow line to be shot at.
But the garrison had lost many archers and spellcasters already, and more were getting through the small holes than were being killed.
They had no choice, a total lockdown of Tartarus.
Spinning to the nearest guard corporal, Slickhooves’s wings flared as he began to dash towards the nearest stairwell tunnel:
“Where the hell are the reinforcements we were promised!?”
“They’re almost here, half an hour!”
Whipping to the corporal pony, Slickhooves darkly muttered as a fiery boulder shattered against the shield, fractures forming as the utter torture of the bombardment began to take its toll.
“They’ll owe us a lifetime for making us endure that much more of this…”
Nearby, a volley of arrows from the archers that had penetrated the shield struck an Earth Pony in the face, as a group of guards he was with cranked levers on one of many vats that had been magically heated by Unicorns to extreme temperatures.
As the massive vats were tipped, a few spells fired from guards set the liquid ablaze.

At the base of the wall, just short of the nearly endless depths of the defensive crevice, the archers and spellcaster ponies stopped short as the multiple vats tipped over, their oil contents set ablaze.
In panic, retreating back before it could land, they scurried out of the narrow ‘doors’ the other Unicorns had kept open in the barrier, as the burning oil loads carpeted the terrain between the crevice and the shield’s edge, and even beginning to seep out.
As a few Unicorns and archers dashed through the barrier, they realised what they already suspected. The Tartarus shield was one way, able to be passed through only from the inside.
As the oil slick began to spread like molten lava down the slopes, storages of oil feeding into the dumping tubes from on high, the forward portions of the Nationalist army were forced to retreat. Dozens were caught before they could flee the oil shower, and many were badly scarred if not killed by the agonising siege defence.
Forced away from the walls, all assault on Tartarus yet again fell to the long range bombarding siege engines.

Tartarus’s interior halls

Having snuck into a stairwell before the lockdown was ordered, after an arduous climb, Chack kept his enchanted sword active, his body invisible to the naked eye.
Dashing down cavernous stairwells left, right and centre, he finally found the main atrium and assembly hall.
There, as ponies strained with it, the gates of Tartarus.
Cocking his head at the sight, Chack mused to himself: “Less intimidating from this side… But if they try anything, it’ll be here.”
Scrambling down the steps, he found a small alcove where he could wait patiently. The gates, and entry to capturing the fortress, would be a key target. If any of the beings entered the fray directly, they’d be here at some point.
As a hundred guards readied many blockades and locks on the gates, Chack peered through the torchlit halls, and the cavernous drop down below at a stairwell.
He heard a certain 3 headed dog snarl from down below, as he recoiled from the banister with a wide eyed expression.
Ground floor was probably the best place to be anyway.

Opposite mountain top, Nationalist command point

Overseeing the battle, it was the messages that arrived next that turned the tides.
Nationalist scouts flew in, the Pegasi having sighted an army advancing by land and air from the west, flying Royalist colours, and coming fast.
The inevitable reinforcements of the Royalists.
But their own reinforcements were inbound as well from the East and North, one a conventional army, the other heavier and less conventional.
But given her command, Teal Quirt made the judgement, the pale Unicorn ordering the commanders:
“Signal the army, allocate two in every three siege engines to be ready to change direction. Our army incoming from the east will assist against the Royalist reinforcements, the other from the North we will allocate depending on the outcome.”
“The fortress is locked down, if we reallocate the engines the barrier will regain strength.”
“And if we finish it, by the time it is down the Royalist army will catch us waiting to surge into it from the flanks. Deal with the more immediate problem, our northern forces will deal with the fortress.”
As her orders went out, Teal wondered what was taking Odi-Viscer and the Stone Giants he was leading so long, or the army from the east Golmov was escorting. They were due in half an hour, they should have come into sight by now.
Within minutes, the number of siege engine locked and aimed to fire on Tartarus’s shield and the gates had begun dropping to a third, and sure enough, the barriers stopped weakening and settled into a steady state. A necessary delay of their siege rate to avoid being caught off guard.
Those siege engines not firing stood ready to rotate and aim at the expected retaliatory army from the west.
Minutes passed, and yet the army did not come.
From the north, more tremors came.
And before long, Teal and the commanders, from their mountain top view, saw a few rocky shapes moving in the distant valleys out of sight, the hulking forms of the reinforcements like the sight of shark fins on sea from behind the mountains they were traversing through, swifter moving by following the valleys, rather than having to climb over the mountains one by one.
To those in the valley itself, these titans were still out of sight, though the faint tremors were felt, lost amid the rumbles of the thousands already in battle.

Western mountain ridge

Peering over the mountain top, the Royalist scouts saw the army having pulled back from the gates, and the majority of their forces bracing to counter their assault from the west.
And from the north, an unbelievable sight were it not seen by many eyes.
A dozen Stone Giants, marching through the valleys to save time. A mountain ridge blocked their way to Tartarus for now, until they reached the front gate valley.
But for the Royalists, they had a clear goal, to keep Tartarus under control. If not the fortress, then the mountain top.
A plan was made, using the maze like nature of the mountain valleys to their advantage.
Behind the ridge, the large army split in half, and made their move.
One half, 3000 strong, ventured east, circling around Tartarus’s mountainous reaches, to catch the Stone Giants from behind and do, something. Those giants were so big that they could only be meant for the fortress, not a mere army.
The other, another 3000, ventured over the mountain, setting up for an initial volley.
Pegasi forces took flight, and set to work.
Those skilled in weather control had aligned in the majority with the royalist side at this point in the war, an advantage that was not to be wasted.

Evening
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress
Valley battlefield

Aubelles stood fast, the bronze armor he wore covered in burn marks and a few flecks of blood. Now that the army was preparing for a new form of combat, he had some respite. The fortress lay before them to the right, taunting them with its barriers now able to cope with only a third of their siege engines firing at it.
For good reason, as the first signs came from the West of something big. And while their own reinforcements were coming in fast, what was the opening attack of the Royalists was something that could only be defended against by bunkering down.
Cries rang out in panic, others in preparation, before Aubelles’s voice joined the ranks of voices, his own magically magnified to reinforce the will of the ponies he fought with, and was respected by for experience, not his Alicorn status:
“Hunker down! Dig in lads, they’re trying to storm us apart before they strike!”
Over the mountain ridge, forced low by winds unnatural by normal weather, a thick wall of black storm clouds surged over the ridge a mile ahead, moving in fast, the air turning thick and fogged by what appeared to be torrential rainfall from the massive storm system being driven towards them.
Surging over, the black clouds drew closer, the ground in the valley darkening as their shadows and the rainfall overcame them. Closer and closer they drew, until they reached the ranks of the army.
Aubelles held fast as the torrential rain and hail began to pummel them, as the air darkened with the purposefully low hanging storm clouds rushing overhead. The hordes of soldiers around him held fast, Unicorns and himself, along with the other 2 Alicorns who had been injured slightly in the initial air attacks on tartarus, formed shield magic to protect from the rainfall.
Darkness washed over the battlefield, but on high in the mountains and fortress, the valley looked as if it had been drowned in a sea of black clouds, white light flickering as a few flecks of lightning and thunder burst here and there.
From behind, a few sieges engines opened up volleys into the black storms, knowing this was a tactic to cover an advance on them. Fireballs of magic and normal variety flew through the air, too big to be diminished by the torrential rain and hail, nor the gale force winds battering the army.

Obscured by the clouds, the unseen hundreds of ponies charged, magic or armor protecting them from the hail and rainfall they were covered by. Lighting bursts lit up the clouds as they charged into the abyss that covered the plains, the 5-minute long charge illuminated by the thunderclaps and their electric sources, and the hail of random hurled siege boulders by the army they were charging towards.
Hooffalls were masked by the thunder and downpour, as they charged. A few ponies were struck by lucky boulder landings, but they charged on.
Soon, they saw them, a horde of dark shapes hunkered in the downfall they engineered by Pegasus magic to cover their advance, and their gallop turned to an all out sprint, their war cries nearly lost in the thunderclaps and downpours.
They saw them too, and the Nationalist lines turned to stand, pikes forming, magic horns beginning to glow, weapons prepared.
But the Royalists had closed the gap enough in the chaos that their defence was not impenetrable.
As the first wave hit, thunder roared overhead as armor and weapons clashed, mud and rain flying as the Royalist charge impacted the Nationalist horde and began to push.
Overhead, sensing their storm was no longer needed, the Pegasi that had been flying around to form it eased up, flying down like vultures in the rain soaked darkness to join the fray.
The dark clouds hung over the battlefield, but they began to slowly bleed off as the two armies reappeared from their masking presence.
Thousands of Royalist ponies fought close quarters against the Nationalists, having punctured into their hordes to throw them off guard, rendering their siege engines and long range weapons useless now.

On the ground, Aubelles fired his bronze magic, a wave sending a trio of Royalist soldiers flying backwards in scorching heaps, as the carnage unfolded around him. Swords and spears flew with magic from both sides, blood flying, curses and screams over the chaos filling his ears. Terror that would grip civilians gave him drive.
Here was where he thrived, but he would have preferred not being caught by a Royalist weather tactic to get here.
Charging through the rain soaked muddy ground, Aubelles summoned weapons from fallen Nationalist and Royalist soldiers alike, his magic flinging them to and fro at his command, while his magic fired at every Nationalist he could find.
“Fight, through rain and fog, day and night, fight for the cause!”
Aubelles roared his declaration to the rest of his kin fighting, as he found a group of brave Royalist Unicorns working as a team to protect themselves and take out many Nationalist soldiers at a rate he nearly was their own.
His own magic flaring, Aubelles surged forwards, hurling a Royalist soldier aside with a swipe as he engaged the Unicorn team, bronze magic meeting their collective purple as it joined one of many illuminations amidst the carnage unfolding in the valley.

Tartarus valley, opposite mountains

Seeing the carnage unfolding below, the commanders had rushed to ready the flag and horn war messaging systems they had as soon as the clouds fully rolled away for them to be able to signal the armies.
In the distance, Teal saw their first reinforcements coming, as the Stone Giants were now only 3 miles away. Turning to the commanders, she decided now was the time to enter the fray herself.
“Assume command, stick to the plan. I expect that these aren’t the only reinforcements the Royalists have for us!”
At her word, and as they rushed to continue the signal readying, Teal teleported away in a green flash, knowing who she had to go to first.

North east of Tartarus, valley passages

Marching slowly ahead of the between 100 and 200-metre-tall giants behind him, 12 of them, along with 400 soldiers from the various Nationalist forces to escort them, Odi-Viscer strode forwards in his bald Earth Pony form. The young stallion and being of Wrath gave no order to halt as a green flash came before him, and Teal Quirt emerged.
Walking beside Odi-Viscer, the Unicorn quickly summarised the battle situation, but she was not at all panicked. The soldiers marched further back, as the earth trembled with the 12 stone giants even further behind.
“How quickly can you get to the gates?”
“20 minutes.”
“Good, we can have this-.”
BBRRRMMMMM!
A colossal bellow came from one of the rear Stone Giants, as all in that valley, and even a few ears in the battle unfolding before Tartarus 3 miles away, heard it. At the rear, a 150 metre tall Mantis shaped Stone Giant had noticed a moving army, and sure enough, eyes in the same valley saw the Pegasi that accompanied them too.
“We’ve been flanked!”
A cry rose from their ranks of 400 soldiers escorting them, before Odi-Viscer turned to nod to one of the Pegasi with them, who flew up to get a bearing on the army they could understand.
“If the giant is alarmed, this might become a problem…” Teal began, to which Odi-Viscer spat angrily:
“Forget the giants, they can handle any army.”
“But Tartarus remains sealed. We can’t let it remain that way, and the giants won’t let us easily capture it without utterly obliterating it. Siral was clear, he wants its insides mostly intact. No Canterlot situations this time if it can be helped.”
Grumbling, Odi turned to hear the Pegasus from overhead, as a pair of the Giants had actually flat out turned to confront whatever army was coming:
“No more than a few thousand, same size as the one before the gates!”
“If we take Tartarus, it makes things easier. Now begins our part Odi…” Teal began, to which the Earth Pony actually smiled widely at the prospect of this. She spoke to the 400 ponies waiting behind them:
“Keep ahead of the incoming army, let the giants defend themselves, but expect to be slowed by them fighting. Stay with them, use them as mobile castles if you can. Tartarus will be open by the time you get there!”
A few cheers went up, as Teal turned to Odi-Viscer with a nod. The pair of them vanished in a green and red flash, while the massive stone giants continued at a slower rate, some of the giants at the rear strafing sideways like a crab as an army of ponies, flying, earth and magic, came rushing over a small ridge, a hail of magic peppering their bodies as the Unicorns led the charge.
The line of giants pressed on, only the rear 4 turning to mildly confront this assault of random pony attackers in the hundreds, like fleas biting a horse.

Tartarus northern mountain ridge

Quickly flying up the shallow slopes of the mountain’s top, Celestia and Luna followed a few Unicorns learned in using the weapon they were heading for. But in the distance, they could see the line of Stone Giants pressing through the distant valley. Some like a Bear, others like Apes, more like a Tortoise, and one like a Rhino, all heavily built.
The surging army of 3000 fighting those at the rear of the line were horrendously outmatched, their magic and weapons barely scratching the creatures as 2 of them completely turned to advance on the army, forcing them to pull back.
Looking on, Luna shook her head with dismay and fear, before she turned to Celestia beside her in the flight, telling her with staunch certainty:
“Go on ahead, I must help them, or they’ll be killed!”
“Luna, no, we have to get-.”
“I won’t be long, but they must see the best way to take out a mountain for themselves!”
With a flash of blue, Luna soared away, down towards the armies being pushed back by 2 of the Stone Giants now. In fear, Celestia continued on, Tartarus’s mountain top looming ahead.
Coming inside the bubble of Tartarus’s shields, let in by some guards who could form holes on the ground, the Royal sister came to land at the alter like structure.
“Your majesty, it will take time to get it ready, allow us.”
Nodding at this, Celestia couldn’t help but be drawn to the southern edge of the alter, to a point that overlooked the valley below.
Wandering there, seeing through the barrier and down the slopes before the steep cliff face of Tartarus, she glimpsed the unfolding carnage below, and could not make sense of such attrition below.
How many hundreds were already dead was what she wondered in her mind.

Tartarus, north-eastern rim

Bellowing groans louder than a thunderclap filled the air as the 2 Stone Giants pressed forwards, Pegasi scattering as they flew about like gnats, trying to find a weak spot in the giants. Below, Earth Ponies had long given up on fighting, and had begun to fall back, while the Unicorns fired randomly at the creatures’ heads.
The Bear shaped stone giant reared up as it charged, and its two forelegs slammed onto the hillside with force to send out a ripple in the ground, a few Earth ponies and Unicorns caught too close actually having their ankles shattered from the impact, and a few very unlucky ones caught underfoot as the other, an Ape shaped Stone Giant, rampaged nearby with forelegs stamping down as if crushing ants beneath its foot.
Flying down, Luna bellowed to the soldiers as she charged her horn, straining at the raw energy she was using:
“Stand together, focus your power on one spot!”
A fierce blue beam fired from Luna’s horn, as it burrowed into the shoulder of the Bear Shaped giant, earning an ear splitting bellow from the 150-metre-tall creature, as it visibly staggered from the penetrating blow to its body.
Sensing the powerful attacker, the Ape shaped giant began to charge at Luna, but as her example showed, its face was bombarded with magic from every Unicorn in range, a few hits focusing on the glinting silver eyes finally making it shriek loud enough to rock the air itself, recoiling as it stopped it charge.
Looking down, Luna saw the soldiers below her get the memo, as cries rang out to aim together on their commander’s mark. Spells, arrows and crossbow bolts enchanted with potions or magic all now flew at specific targets all at once, and now every volley actually did noticeable damage to the Giants.
But a few roars from some other giants ahead alerted Luna to the fact that this strategy had made their half of the army a bigger target. 3 more of the Stone giants had begun to fully advance, leaving seven of them to march ahead with their escort troops having slowed their advance to climb aboard, the seven near 200-metre-tall beasts now walking fortresses themselves.
“Slow them down, go for the leg joints!”
Hearing this, Luna turned to see the ponies working together on the mountain slopes, their fire hitting the knees of the 2 nearest giants with enough force to begin chipping through the massive joints.
But the nearest of the 3 charging Stone Giants had chosen Luna as its target, and she cautiously flew upwards out of its reach. A silver light glinted in the Lizard shaped giant’s eyes, as it stared up at her.
Then, a fierce burning light shot from its eyes, twin beams joining to close in on her. She quickly teleported, reappearing as she saw the white beams pulverise the mountain slope further behind her, sending rocks shattering and rolling down the slopes. Blinking, she had an idea amidst her fearful reaction.
Flying about, she saw the charging Giant coming after her, eyes glinting for another attack from below her. Firing a few blue magic bolts, she couldn’t help but snort as she saw her soldiers follow her example and fracture the leg of the first Stone Giant, slowing it immeasurably, while they turned to focus on the nearest other one.
Below, the Lizard shaped creature’s eyes lit up, as the scorching beams lit up the evening skies to come at her.
From afar, the blue light as she used her magic to deflect the attack flashed, and roared like a lightning bolt. The destructive magic bolt was reflected back, hitting one of the Stone Giants that had been coming up from behind, hitting it in the neck to fully decapitate it.
Roars of victory amidst an ongoing battle filled the air as Luna flew around, trying to goad the Giant into attacking her again. And sure enough, the simple minded mountain creature fired again.
Her first one hit kill was a lucky shot, her reflections were not as accurate afterwards, but enough.
But in the distance, as she reflected another shot to blast a good chunk of another Giant’s boulder shoulder off, as 1 more turned from the fortress advance to aid against this army that flanked them, she saw an advancing army a mile away.
Nationalist reinforcements from the East, normal troops this time.
Sparing a glance at the mountain top, Luna prayed that the weapon would be ready before too long passed.
But from below, a silver light filled her vision, as Luna had become distracted.
Right before she could even begin to think, before it incinerated her, Celestia’s yellow magic flashed and deflected the blast far away, the blast so powerful that it actually hit within a few hundred metres of the 6 Stone Giants still advancing on the fortress over 2 miles away, the blast noise audibly delayed by the distance.
Whirling around, Luna saw her sister beside her, Celestia speaking sternly, but with well-meant warning:
“If only your focus was as good as your quick thinking against these beasts!”
Down below, the army of 3000 surged around, weaving as the presence of two Alicorns with them acted as battle means and motivation. Even with a seventh turning to head towards them, they had downed one, and wounded two others.
Still, as Celestia had joined the fray, she had too seen the reinforcements for the Nationalists that had arrived.

Tartarus Valley, eastern edges

Amidst the flanks of Nationalists and Royalists engaged in the battle, the sight of thousands more marching fast towards the valley was a blessing and a curse respectively.
But the sighting of no less than Six Stone giants advancing through another canyon into the valley basin nearly paused the battle entirely.
The Nationalist armies began to retreat back, towards the advancing reinforcements, with the Royalists having only the choice to chase, take out as many as they could before they regrouped.
Pegasi started up the thunderstorm cover yet again, but the battle was so close quarters it was not as effective as the initial attack.

High in the skies, overseeing the advancing army to aid the attack, Golmov new the other two would be on their tasks by now, to infiltrate Tartarus from the inside, however they saw to do so.
But as he turned to see what he could do next, he saw something with his magic enhanced and draconian vision. The Black and Gold dragon recognised that Yellow and Blue magic reflecting the eye beams of the Stone Giants anywhere.
He would never forget the magic of the Alicorns that humiliated him by actually managing to intimidate him into surrendering the Crystal Heart from his hoard.
With a snarl, he turned, and flew directly towards the battle taking place north of Tartarus, of half the Royalists versus 6 stone giants, with 2 Alicorns in the mix.
“Finally, revenge…”
His body glowed yellow as he beat his wings hard, not quite ready to reveal his true form to the two princesses yet.

Tartarus, fortress walls

Ignoring the oil slicked slopes, the two approached the now desolate grounds that lay before the walls of Tartarus.
Approaching the barrier, ignoring the distant sounds of carnage in the valley only a half mile away, and both of them rendered invisible by their magic to the eyes of the archers who had remained outside the lockdown, the two examined it.
Feeling it with her hoof, Teal Quirt looked at the crevice that lay immediately after it, remarking to him:
“Remember, intact.”
The Earth Pony rolled his eyes as Teal set to work, her green magic forming a shield as she also fired a beam at the Tartarus barrier, turning them both visible as it did so.
Surging forwards, his form altering, Odi-Viscer’s apelike, stone skinned forearms ripped their claws into the barrier, straining as he literally began to slowly tear a hole through it, fighting the barrier’s constant efforts to seal the hole.
As the cries from on high came to fire on them, Odi-Viscer couldn’t help but notice a familiar shape far overhead in the sky flying north, his arms still pulling open their entry through the barrier.
“Where’s Golmov going?”
Looking up as she continued her spellcasting, Teal remarked offhandedly: “Wherever he is needed I presume. Its good he actually has an interest in battles like this besides the looting afterwards.”
“No, but he may like the vaults in Tartarus once the day is done.” Odi suggested, not at all gritting his teeth as he continued to pull apart the hole in the barrier.
“He was, and still is, a dragon by birth, some things don’t change.” Teal remarked, as a stray arrow was incinerated on her shield during her remark.
Arrows and spells continued to rain upon them, but it was not long before Odi-Viscer had pulled apart a hole big enough for him and Teal to step through. Prising it open as far as he could muster, he let Teal leap through, her form changing mid jump to her centaur/scorpion and ape torso form, her claws gripping the crevice walls as she cleared the gap between the shield/crevice edge and the wall.
Leaping through himself, Odi-Viscer audibly yelped as the shield snapping back into place sliced a tiny sliver off the ball of his stone skinned rear foot. Gripping the walls, both of them slowly climbing down to get out of arrow and spell range, Odi looked at his heel, noting the tiny sliver was glowing red hot.
“Probably get cut in half if you’d been slower.” Teal remarked, as she too climbed down into the depths of the crevice.
Down here, the crevice that led into the lowest depths of Tartarus, there were skeletons of ponies who had fallen to their deaths, long in the past, some as recent as the battle today. But they ventured further down, to where even the brightest sunlight wouldn’t reach.
Their green and red lights illuminated the way down the whole time, as they sought the most ancient of passages that would let them enter Tartarus from its lowest depths.
With the battle unfolding in the north, and south of Tartarus, a skirmish was set to begin on the inside between fewer individuals.
But they were also being hunted themselves by Chack, who knew the gates were their primary target.

Author's Note

Opening up the battlefield to a three-way theatre, though stone giants do not a victory guarantee.
Luna, and then Celestia, lead by example while the weapon is readied, though in the process of them helping they’ve attracted the vengeful eyes of a certain greedy individual that killed their father.
Meanwhile Odi and Teal take the planned initiative to open Tartarus from the inside, though Chack anticipated something roughly along these lines as it was.
Speaking of which, later in this battle will see Aubelles and Chack reunited, however that goes.

Battle of Tartarus, War at the Hellgates

April 1st, 71 BNM
Evening
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress, northern mountain rim

The Giant reeled in agony as the multitude of joint effort magic beams penetrated its rocky hide, footfalls crushing entire trees underfoot or sending miniature landslides where it staggered away.
Arrows and weapons fired from the non-magic users into the wounds, what would have been ineffective now like adding tiny needle pricks to an open wound, suddenly causing pain to these immense beasts.
Yet Celestia still noticed that 6 of them had reached the main valley, and distant shots of magic were peppering them from the main battlefields as the Nationalists had fallen back to reinforcements, normal or stone giant, arriving on the battlefield.
A few pegasi had flown in retreat there, to spread word to concentrate fire to even be able to harm the creatures, but them with the normal army was not as easy a force to overcome.
3 Giants were limping, one fully out of action, but two more roiled like angry beasts further back, shoving aside some of the incapacitated creatures to storm up the shallow mountain slope towards the army they came with.
Casting her gaze towards the peak, Celestia flew to Luna as she fired another heavy blast at a slowed Giant far below, calling to her:
“We must go, the weapon should be ready by now, if not soon!”
“About time!” Luna agreed, as she saw the two furthest back giants come to the forefront, beginning to drive their army into a slow retreat west across the mountain front. Clearly the giants and the army had no idea what was atop Tartarus, so focused on seizing its interior.
Turning to make a last pass of orders to the army commanders of the remaining 2000 or so ponies 1000 feet below them, a faint yellow light flashed outside of Luna’s vision. On instinct, the sister flashed her blue magic, and both she and Celestia teleported a few dozen feet away.
A yellow beam, burning and hissing as it seemed to slice through the air itself, arced past where they’d just been flying. The beam burnt into the mountainside, a few of the soldier ponies far below having to raise their shields, magic or not, against a faint shower of dust it threw up from the slopes.
Turning around, Celestia saw their aerial attacker, as something quickly emerged from some cloud banks that had rolled in overhead, large and imposing.
But it was no Stone Giant that emerged.
Erupting through the clouds at speeds unnatural for most dragons, a 200-foot-long dragon, black and night and with glinting golden stripes and an underbelly, roared through the skies above in a dive, his mouth glinting with another intense yellow mouth attack.
Darting sideways, the two sisters split off from each other as the dragon tore through the air between them. But as Golmov tore past the two sisters, he flared his wings out, and purposefully fired his attack from his mouth at the army below.
The sisters could only glance in horror as at least two dozen ponies were reduced to nothing by the energy attack, while the dragon’s purposeful skidding landing on the ground crushed a handful more. Taking flight amidst the purposeful crash landing, Golmov’s face turned as he rose to view the distant Alicorn sisters.
From behind them, a few beam attacks from the two still capable Stone Giants nearly hit them, but Luna deflected them back with her magic. Celestia sternly spoke to Luna, as she wondered why the Dragon was even here:
“Luna, I’ll handle this dragon. Slow them enough and get to the weapon…”
“But-.”
“Do it!” Celestia wouldn’t let Luna finish, as the young white Alicorn princess flew forwards, her own magic shield raised as the dragon noticed her approaching, coming to a taunting hover before her, far above the army slowly retreating as it fired on the 4 wounded Stone Giants and 2 capable ones Luna was helping wear down.
“What do you want!?” Her bark, raised in authority by her royal voice, didn’t intimidate Golmov in the slightest.
“You won’t intimidate me with words Alicorn welp, not this time…”
As battle sounded around them and below, Celestia angrily spoke, gesturing to the carnage:
“Have you anything to do with this? What do you gain from this?”
“My honour, something you took from me when I was a lesser being, along with MY crystal heart! I was humiliated by you and your ponykind, seeing it fall to ruin with me a leading role in it is enough to restore my standing in life.”
Celestia was quiet, as she finally recognised the dragon, the one who so long ago had seized the Crystal Heart for his own, whom she intimidated and humiliated into hiding with words, albeit powerful ones, alone.
“Your greed risked an entire Empire, you had to be stopped.” Celestia spoke, absolute conviction in her voice. With a scoff as he hovered before her, wings beating as his body began to slowly glow a toxic yellow colour:
“You can try and do that again here and now. Though for your sake, and that of your other family…”
A yellow flashed filled the air, and as she stopped squinting, Celestia stared in horror at the creature that hovered in the air before her.
From afar, as she fired off another beam into the eye of a Stone Giant, Luna glimpsed the creature too, eyes fixated on something not even her nightmares could conjure.
Hovering before Celestia, as the army pulled back, the Giants behind and below them pressing forwards slower than before but always forwards, Golmov spread his multitude of legs wide.
His serpentine body writhed in the air as his four wings beat hard, two of them sporting ‘hands’ that began to glow a fierce yellow, as well as segmented armour like a centipede’s that glowed yellow at the rims as he charged his magic.
“Pray that you fare better than your father did!”
Her magenta eyes widening at the hissed curse, Celestia almost zoned out as Golmov fired. The triple yellow beams missed as she teleported far below, but her vision filled with the grief she’d buried and settled with over her father’s death. Grief, turned to rage, as her vision tunnelled upon Golmov.
Hovering just above the terrain, Celestia’s tears evaporated as her horn turned a fierce yellow, before she launched skywards in a meteoritic form towards Golmov.
His own yellow shields going up, Golmov’s multiple legs extended outwards as she crashed into his body on high with a thunderous crack, his legs flailing as they glowed his toxic yellow to fire controlled beams outwards. Not burning beams, but they acted like gigantic tendrils that seized Celestia’s glowing form like a ball and hurled it towards the mountain side far away like a slingshot.
As Luna glimpsed from afar, seeing the creature tear after her sister, she glanced at the state of the army they’d come with. Every Stone Giant of the 6 was slowed, limping for their size, no longer such an immense threat. She didn’t even need to fly down to the army commander to see that they could contain the threat enough.
Turning towards Tartarus’s peak, she glimpsed her sister flying back from where she’d managed to avoid being smashed into a mountain side, slice like shockwaves of raw magic flying from her in a rage fuelled attack pattern she’d never thought possible from Celestia.
But the creature seemed to shrug off every assault, its almost insect like legs and wings firing its own yellow beams, be they burning energy beams, magical limbs to grab, smash or even flick Celestia aside.
Heading towards the peak, Luna knew that if there were any more like that here, the weapon was their only hope.
As she came to land at the ‘alter’ like place, where the Unicorn team had nearly finished, she glimpsed the battlegrounds before Tartarus’s plains.
The 6 Stone Giants here ran amok, as those Royalist Unicorns who worked together to penetrate the skin were too often overwhelmed by incoming charges by regular forces. Siege engines had been destroyed, but they seemed redundant with the Giants here.
Within the carnage, as night began to creep in, the flashes of the magic and fire based weapons on use had turned the valley into a glowing sight to behold, orange and red to match the sunset drenched skies overhead.
A blood red sunset.

Tartarus prison fortress, peak
Evening/Sunset

At a nearby stairwell, a secret, hidden passage that acted as a narrow entry and exit point, the hatch opened up, disguised among the rock and scrub grasses to be indistinguishable.
Clambering out, Slickhooves already saw the Unicorn team readying the weapon, as well as Princess Luna of all ponies standing there, devoid of another Alicorn he was promised.
“Princess Luna, where is your sister?” Slickhooves politely demanded, to which Luna turned her gaze north, to a distant battle of 6 limping Giants pursuing a shrunken army. More specifically, to a pair of battle yellow lights high above, one noticeably brighter than the other, the smaller one often being knocked backwards like a prey animal warding off an attacker.
“We must get this ready as soon as possible, or else she might die.” Luna urged. To this, Slickhooves turned his gaze south, remarking bluntly:
“The Giants there wreaking havoc on the army, if they’re not stopped hundred more will die and Tartarus will fall. They’re priority if we want to win this battle.”
“I will not let my sister fall to that creature if it can be helped!” Luna replied coldly. Sensing the difference in their opinions, Slickhooves grew some nerve and strode up, the black Pegasus giving Luna a harder look than he’d normally allow himself to a princess:
“Forgive the disrespect, but Tartarus is more important to the War than a single Princess.”
“Hold thy tongue Commander!” Luna shrieked, to which Slickhooves had to backstep an instinctive flare of her magic. The Unicorn team of magicians responsible for getting the weapon alter ready nervously shifted in their incantations, while Slickhooves stood his ground.
“If this place falls, then the War is-!”
Rumble…
An earth tremor shook the mountain, cutting off Slickhooves as he sensed something wrong in the depths of the prison and fortress. Glancing to the guards that came up with him to remain here, he turned to Luna one last time as he began to head for the hidden stairwell:
“Your sister is doing the right thing, keeping the worst away while this is readied. If you wish to help, do the same there, and return as soon as this is ready! They are trying to seize the mountain from the inside somehow!”
Slickhooves gestured to the immense battlefield to the south, where the thousands of soldiers on each side and the Giants duked it out, fires and flashes of magic lighting up the already body strewn valley floor.
Glancing out, Luna turned back to see the black Pegasus tearing out of sight, into Tartarus’s depths through the hidden stairwell.
With an aggravated sigh, praying to any gods there might be, she took off, her eyes training on the Stone Giants in particular. As they charged like elephants among ants through the ranks, she tore through the Tartarus barrier and down into the valley’s skies, her blue beam beginning its first burning arc across the plains, slicing into a Giant’s immense shoulder, the bellows of pain joining the multitude of other battle-cries.
Inside Tartarus, a smaller, but no less fierce battle unfolded, though one side was clearly outmatched.

Tartarus interior, prison depths.
Chasm

Far below, in depths unseen, flooded by an underground river that their magic let them endure, the beings of Wrath and Envy had navigated the deepest tunnels from the defensive crevice before Tartarus, and entered the immeasurably deep cavern from its lowest point.
Stretching up like a gigantic natural well, a hundred feet across, the hole stretched down into darkness, massive chains and gears acting as the prison’s elevator system for transporting imprisoned creatures of many sizes, most too big for the service stairwells that ran in a circle up the chasm from the 9th level up to the ground.
Atop one of the levels, as the creatures had gone nothing but up, not once even pausing to release any prisoners as feared, guards inside the prison area fired spells and arrows at the twin creatures, what blows that missed reflecting or clattering down into the endless depths far below perch.
A stoney grey form leapt up, one blow of his arm shattering the loading bridge to send the Earth ponies falling to their deaths far below, while flying up the chasm further, a multi legged creature swiped its scorpion forelegs at the chains that ran up the tunnel. A green glow filled Teal Quirt’s pincers, and with a single snap the chains were cut.
The platform that had been rising above her fell, he sole Earth Pony falling past her screaming, while the 2 Pegasi guards flung themselves airwards to fly up to the gate. The sole Unicorn guard leapt sideways, his hooves grabbing a chain that still dangled in the chasm, struggling to hold on.
Her green magic hovering her up past him fast, Teal Quirt flicked her 4 horned head once, and the chain the Unicorn guard now far below her held onto wrapped around him like a snake, entangling him. He would not fall, but he would be there for a long time.
Finally, Teal Quirt reached the first level, noting the immense doors before her, and the sealed off first level for the least sentenced offenders in Tartarus, most of them war prisoners or thieves.
The darkened caverns, a very slight brown and red tinge to them now that the darkness of the chasm depths had faded somewhat, stood in contrast to the wrought iron gates that were undoubtedly enhanced by magic.
Running her scorpion claws and ape hands over the door, green magic glowing in her palms, Teal stood back as she sensed what they would have to get through. A sound of something heavy landing behind her answered her need.
“It opens into the prison, so pull, don’t push.”
“Do not tell me how to open a door…”
Odi Viscer stomped past, his apelike frame’s stone armour flexing as he gripped the immense double doors, straining to pull them apart. A slight red glow filled his eyes as he strained, pulling hard.
A few seconds passed, as Teal Quirt stood by unimpressed, a single scorpion foot tapping impatiently. As he eased up, Odi-Viscer’s eye twitched slightly at the door, before he grit his teeth and pulled even harder, the enhancements meaning his anger was literally causing him to grow another foot in stature.
Her own green magic affecting the door, Teal Quirt mumbled aloud:
“A few spells, just keep pulling… And…”
The doors actually creaked audibly, as Odi-Viscer felt them give at last. Groaning under the weight of it, he pulled the immense doors backwards, opening them enough to fit his head in the gap.
But roars of outrage, and something else, filled the prison as he slowly pushed the gates shut, forcing a single shoulder against them while turning to Teal Quirt.
Arrows and spell burns slightly scarred his face, and whatever had roared had covered his face in saliva.
She noticed the glow in Odi’s eyes, as she urged him to wait for a moment as she got behind him:
“Go ahead, but remain focused.”
Cracking his neck, a red glow completely consumed Odi-Viscer’s body, his whole frame shaking as he mustered every bit of anger he could draw upon in his current state without becoming blinded by it as Siral warned.
The ground cracked as he lunged at the gate, and whatever volume of roar he let loose was drowned out as he met the inner gates of Tartarus with both fists outstretched crashing into them, blasting the doors off their hinges in a direction they were not designed to turn.
The entire mountain shook from the impact, rocking it from peak to base, as the entrance atrium of the prison filled with screams and roars.
The doors flattened dozens of guards as their immense iron hulks crashed into sentry posts positioned nearby, while Odi charged at the creature that roared as he cracked open the doors first time.
Snarling at this escapee of its ‘den’, regardless if it didn’t recognise it as a guard or a prisoner it knew, Cerberus charged, its mouth and magic enhanced strength and ferocity meeting this creature head on.
Wrenching out his fists, the being of Wrath wrestled with two of Cerberus’s heads in a hand each, full on headbutting the middle head before spinning the massive dog over in midair with a twist of his seized outer heads, the entire atrium rocking from ceiling to floor as the two immense creatures did battle.
The guards fired at the other, but green beams shot out, hitting enough guards that they actually turned to fire weapons at their superior officer. The Envious being’s magic included turning subordinates into traitors.
As they fired on their commanding officer, the Scorpion legged creature continued unabated up the stairwell, knowing the main gates were the key. Far above, all she had to contend with were normal guards, while Odi-Viscer continued to wrestle with the gigantic dog.

Rolling, his stone skinned hands only scratched by Cerberus’s many teeth as they bit down, Odi-Viscer winced as the third head’s mouth engulfed his own, and the 3 heads then pulled, trying to tear his arms off from his torso, likely a favoured tactic of the dog if death was called for.
But he pulled back, his fists and head glowing a fierce red as the 3 heads collided hard enough to stun the guard dog to release him. The jaws going slack, he gripped the teeth of the 2 outer heads, his own massive arms still holding them that way, as he spun around to hurl Cerberus through the doorway he’d crashed through half a minute ago.
The massive dog’s claws scrambled as he whined and snarled, the rear legs slipping over the chasm’s lip before he stopped. Stomping up to the massive guard dog, who was still scrambling to climb back up, the being of Wrath let the dog let out an immense roar at him with all 3 heads as it lunged at him, not quite clear of the lip.
Swiftly uppercutting the middle head, Odi-Viscer roared back as Cerberus tumbled down the immense chasm, claws scrambling helplessly the whole way down until he saw Cerberus scramble to grip the 4th level doorway with its claws and teeth, a painful whimper actually echoing up the chasm as Cerberus clung to the wall for his dear life.
Ignoring the now trapped Cebrarus’s whimpering, Odi-Viscer turned to march back out of the now door-less gates, as he saw Teal Quirt had already gone on ahead of him, a few sounds of magical combat alerting him to some guards still putting up a fight between them and the main gate.

Tartarus interior, main entrance hall

A guard pony was smashed into the wall with a metallic crash in his armour, while a green glow caused a pillar to shatter and fall atop another with a single wave of her clawed hand.
Approaching the massive doors before her, the scorpion/ape/pony hybrid sized up the gargantuan double doors. Knowing what they’d seen outside, she heard the commotion behind her as Odi-Viscer came stomping slowly behind her. Scuttling her feet as she turned, she pointed a clawed lower arm to the door:
“The bridge is up, and even if not the doors aren’t going off their hinges as easily as the inner ones.”
Narrowing his eyes, his fists relaxing slightly, Odi gazed about, his stone ridges ears perking up at a noise:
“We have more coming, higher levels, few dozen, maybe more.”
“Keep them away, I’m going to contact outside, we need one of the giants here to work the bridge and doors from outside while I work on the enchantments.”
As her 4 horns on her head began to glow, a faint green beam engulfing the doors as she focused, Odi-Viscer slowly approached the main stairwell he saw, his heavy footsteps actually cracking the ground as he traversed the stairs.
As the large apelike, stone bodied being of Wrath gazed about, ears alert, a hidden Salamander wielding a pair of swords, one enchanted, gripped the upper column he was hanging onto for dear life, his breathing calm and quiet. Thankfully, echoes of the battle beyond the doors filled the room enough for Odi-Viscer to stomp by 50 feet below without sensing him.
Slowly climbing around, he shuffled ever so quietly down towards the floor, knowing stealth was key to a much easier time for him.

Tartarus, valley battlefield.

A collective beam attack from a few dozen brave Unicorns finally cut through the massive creature’s arm at the shoulder joint, and with a thunderous boom the 100-metre-tall stone giant slumped over in a heap, now missing one of its 4 legs. Rocks and debris rained down on the Nationalist soldiers using it as cover, many fleeing as it crushed a fair number of them.
Surging forwards, as he dove through the dust risen from the collapsing giant, Aubelles’s fired bronze beam hit the lead Unicorn right in the head, but with a spread of his wings and enchanting them with a bronze magic, he gave a flap, and ad hoc pegasi magic sent a hurricane force wind to blow the Unicorns and a few Earth ponies nearby over onto their backs.
Flying forwards into the fray, Aubelles felt a few arrows clang off his armour and magic shields, as he full on tackled a large Royalist Pegasus soldier and reared up, his hind legs glowing a bronze colour in an attack spell.
But he felt a jerk, as his wings were seized by a few Unicorns that noticed him surging into the fray, away from the troopers staying in formations. But not letting them get the upper hand, Aubelles spun, flinging the Unicorns away as their magic grip was turned against them. Whirling around, he stabbed down with his forehooves, the bronze hued magic stabbing into the ground with each stompe like a gigantic tent pike.
Rolling, the Pegasus dodged each blow, before he kicked out violently, earning a grunt from Aubelles. Spinning, the Pegasus bravely thrust his sword out, aiming at Aubelles’s exposed face.
But in a bid of battle rage, Aubelles’s shield flared up, and the sword melted into a puddle of metal within 3 inches of his face, the Pegasus dropping in shock as Aubelles then retaliated, a bronze beam engulfing the Pegasus and proceeding to vaporise a long path into a few dozen oncoming Nationalist ponies up to a few dozen metres behind.
Panting from exhaustion, the Alicorn gazed around before he took flight swiftly, pulling back to the nearest formation. But as he looked, he saw one of the Stone Giants had turned, slowly plodding up the hillside to Tartarus’s gates itself. And only a few hundred brave ponies were there to try and intercept it.
Knowing where he was needed, Aubelles took flight, leading those hundred or so Nationalist troopers escorting the Rhino shaped Stone giant’s 100-metre-tall frame to the Gates of Tartarus, nearly having reached the oil slicked hillsides.
Surging down onto the hillsides, Aubelles carved a line before the advancing Royalist ponies, most of them Earth ponies. As he tore down towards them, a sight made him hesitate briefly, as he saw a large number of them, most Earth Ponies who looked more scared then determined, suddenly turn and try to run.
Simply hovering there higher above, Aubelles saw the Nationalist troopers engage the Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies who had chosen to fight, before he glanced towards the Stone Giant continuing behind them, towards the massive gates.
Having gone into lockdown, very few arrows and spells rained from the walls, and the Giant was about to come up to the barrier unopposed.
Shaking his head, Aubelles soared down towards the fleeing troopers, his horn charging.
Carving another hole across the ground around them, the bronze Alicorn landed before the fleeing troopers, who backed up as he approached:
“Surrender now, you’re smart enough to earn your lives if you knew you couldn’t beat me.”
At their cowering faces, Aubelles saw them lower their heads, removing their helmets to kneel down in surrender, though he saw that many heads glanced backwards, seeing the dozen or so other soldiers who had fought being struck down by the 50 Nationalists fighting them, and the gargantuan creature that only they had been left to deal with hopelessly.
He pitied the Royalists in this battle, at least those that had died.
Forming a bronze shield over the surrendered troopers, Aubelles wandered up towards the soldiers he came with, who divided their attention between the prisoners Aubelles had captured and the Giant rearing back to begin assaulting Tartarus’s barriers.
But two things happened at once that made Aubelles gaze in awe across the battlefield in the valley below, and elsewhere.
High above, a pair of yellow streaks flew, one pursuing the other, to swiftly turn and crash into the mountain slopes half a mile from them to the West, along the mountain ridge of Tartarus. With his keen, enhanced eyesight, Aubelles saw a white Alicorn as the smaller streak, and a creature he’d never glimpsed before attacking her.
“The princess, here?” A murmur rose from him as he gazed, but then as he looked around at the battlefield in the valley, he saw the full extent of the costs on both sides.
Thousands dead from both sides, siege engines destroyed and ablaze, lighting up the red skies of the evening. Of the Five Giants still in the valley itself, 2 were wounded with legs shattered or broken, while the others mowed their way through the Royalist forces, assaulted from above and below by Pegasi and Magicians with Earth pony weapons aiding them. Hordes of ponies clashed among their massive feet, while some Nationalist troopers used the giants as mobile fortresses, raining death upon the Royalists.
But the blue and white of the Nationalists outnumbered the Royalists 2 to one, without the giants too. Despite the magnificent bravery the Royalists displayed, garrison and reinforcements, Aubelles couldn’t help but think of this being the last big battle. But he felt the Stone Giants, and whatever that creature and others rumoured were, was overkill. The enemy had no chance, thus there was no fight, no honour in there being no mercy given against a foe destined to lose.
“This isn’t battle, its slaughter.” He mused, shaking his head. Turning his gaze towards the massive walls of Tartarus, he mused aloud as he heard some Nationalist troopers coming over to help keep the prisoners in check:
“At least there will be a place left standing after these strange creatures are used. No more Canterlots…”
“You have a point there sir, this war’s pointless with no spoils left to be had.”
At the Earth Pony’s lieutenant’s words, Aubelles couldn’t help but nod in agreement, knowing his sentiment of the war beginning to go overboard were not solely his own.
“Spoils, fegh.., things we had no say in having to give up…”
A murmur from one of the prisoners caught Aubelles’s ears, as he saw an Earth Pony, dirt and blood stained on his face, staring at him with a hard expression. Arching an eyebrow, he waited for the pony to finish:
“You preach about this war’s costs while you heartily fight and kill. Too many of us, we had no choice in joining, our livelihoods claimed for ‘the war effort’. My Earth pony kind, Pegasi who aren’t as militant, Unicorns not as eager to battle… Don’t you preach of loss before our faces, while others are still dying for the ambitions of greedy leaders.”
“What is your name Earth Pony? You’re no warrior, what did you do?” Aubelles asked, approaching the weary looking Earth pony of faint yellow colour:
“Stout Shoethrift, I made horseshoes as per my family name… My lordship forced me to fight when my business was claimed to make weapons, an Alicorn grown fat off mine and others land he owned…”
As he spat the word Alicorn, Aubelles knew all too well this pony was one of many across Equestria. Among Nationalist armies he was respected, but outside, his Alicorn status made him beholden to certain ‘higher’ standards his kind were held to.
“Your fighting days are over Shoethrift. And if your wisdom to surrender is as your shoemaking, your talents will be welcomed when peace returns… The same to the rest of you.”
As he spoke to the prisoners, they only half listened, too weary to hear his attempt at making sure they didn’t try to rebel, or saw that they held no ill will towards those who merely were grunts in the army.
DUUUMMMM!
At that moment, as a distant crack sounded between the battling Alicorn princess and the larger, centipede/dragon like creature, the Tartarus barrier fizzled and crashed, the Stone Giant surging forwards to ram it head first.
“Get them away, towards the rear lines. Best not be here when we start moving in. I’ll watch our living battering ram.”
Aubelles ordered the other Nationalist ponies to escort the prisoners, paying only a passing heed to Stout as he was led away, a last gaze at an insight into the toil of the common ponies in this war.
DUUUMMMM!
Another crash, and the barrier fractured like glass, its translucent, smokelike colour giving way under the massive creature pounding on it, as from the inside, faint green microfractures also laced its power. Magic working from the inside to weaken it enough to break more easily.

Tartarus peak

The weapon was nearly ready, as the energy was gathered, but Slickhooves had not yet returned. Having gazed at Celestia battling that creature, Golmov, in the skies and across the mountain tops, Luna resigned, painfully, to having to use it herself.
The mountain rocked as the Giant beat on the barrier of Tartarus, the fractures spreading upwards to their level.
But down below, a mighty crash, louder than the others, shook the entire mountain enough to make Luna wobble on her feet. The barrier shattered like glass over them, as the barrier finally gave out.
“How long!?”
“5 minutes!”
Staring out across the battlefield, Luna knew they may not last as long if anything caught wind of what they were doing.
But down inside Tartarus, the battle changed suddenly.

Main Atrium

The fortress shook as Teal Quirt reeled back from the main doors, the barriers fully shattered from her weakening spells and the Giant’s massive force from the outside.
But at that instant, she heard shaking from upstairs.
Rock and sounds of battle echoed, before a single Pegasus came crashing down the steps into a wall, too fast to recover, as Odi-Viscer’s bellowing roar filled the hallways.
Surging out of smaller passages, a flock of guards fired back as Odi burst out from the upper levels, down into a level further down the stairs from the main atrium beyond where she watched. A black Pegasus in particular gave a wide berth, firing his larger than normal crossbox carefully as Odi-Viscer shrugged off blows from the other guards hopelessly trying to fight him off.
As she watched, a green glint suddenly caught the corner of her gaze, and she heard something whistling through the air towards her. Acting on impulse, her magic teleporting her, she felt the blade graze her cheek as she barely avoided it, skidding to a halt further back from the doors, and her attacker.
Materialising out of thin air, a red armoured Salamadner stood, a normal sword in one hand, and a strange looking green sword of similar shape in the other. The Ronin, Chack, he was here.
“YOU!” Teal hissed, her claws extending outwards and glowing a toxic green, and her four head horns glowing a similar colour.
Beyond the doors, the Giant shuffled, out of sight as it moved to grip the outer draw bridge. Raising his enchanted sword, Chack pointed it at Teal Quirt, speaking calmly with some self-reprimanding in his tone:
“I must be getting slow in my age.”
“You won’t have the chance to get any older once I’ve finished with you…”
Crouching, Teal focused, and with her eyes alight a toxic green, opened fire. Swiftly sidestepping the blast, Chack’s enchanted blade shot out in an arc, slicing into the beam as it fired to then swing towards her as she stopped, a wave of green energy sent back like a hail of darts towards her.
Firing out her magic once again, the hail of reflected magic darts exploding in green aura, Teal then saw Chack swing the green sword in midair, and vanished as the air itself seemed to be cut asunder.
Off to her right, the air ripped apart, and Chack leapt, his normal sword raised up to strike her head.
Scorpion claw wrenching out, she grabbed the sword he held onto before thrusting out her other claw, which he tucked his legs up to avoid and kick away, before he brought the green blade around to point at her chest and fire a beam of energy.
Recoiling backwards, her scorpion feet cracking the concrete as she slid, she stared angrily at the Samurai, who merely flicked his twin blades around in challenge.
“You were Nationalist mercenary trash, why betray your employer? Or did Starswirl not pay you enough to go under cover anymore?”
Teal’s scathing words struck no chord in Chack, who simply readied his dual stance with a plain retort, while further beyond Odi-Viscer hurled a Pegasus guard upwards into the ceiling to shatter a ceiling support arch, killing the guard instantly.
“I came here to kill only one of a select few. And seeing as you volunteered, I don’t think we should waste any more time.”
He sliced the air with his green sword, another teleport ambush.
Spinning around, she saw him fly from above her, swords crossed in an attack, her own claws met, and they clashed.

Lower atrium

The monstrous, ape-like being hurled another guard across the stairwell, shattering him inside his armour, while from on high Slickhooves ran out of Crossbow bolts. Getting desperate, he knew he’d run out of the special weapons he always kept on hand if this dragged on.
Seeing Slickhooves, Odi-Viscer’s red eyes narrowed, glowing a fierce red as he lunged upwards. The Pegasus darted away, the being crashing into the support archway with enough force to send part of the ceiling crumbling onto the staircase below.
A half dozen guards continued to fire, though as the ape/stone creature landed, he swatted them aside as if they were flies. Sparing a glance towards the main atrium, Slickhooves saw a sword wielding Salamander of all things fighting another strange creature, a scorpion/ape/pony hybrid that did battle physically and magically with him.
Turning back, Slickhooves urged his troops:
“Leave it, the creature is mine! Secure the prison!”
Without a word, the guards flew away as Odi tried to seize them, the being of Wrath noticing the Black Pegasus goading him on from a crumbled stairwell. As he turned however, Odi noticed Teal Quirt in combat with the Salamander, surprised she was having trouble with him. He was fast, but he was no match for her raw power.
Taking a step to help her, a crossbow bolt stuck a small part of his shoulder armor, the bolt a magically enchanted one to cause intense pain that would immobilise even a Minotaur.
All it did was make Odi angry at the Warden and Commander that fired it.
“I decide who enters or leaves Tartarus! NOT YOU!”
Hovering backwards after his threat to the much more powerful creature, Slickhooves flew up the passage he and too many now dead guards had come down, as the being crashed his way up in a single leap, tearing and pulling asunder the tunnel that was too narrow for his enlarged form. Red beams erupted from his eyes, which Slickhooves darted up the tunnel in flight, skimming the tunnel walls painfully as he let the creature chase him further up, towards the passage to the upper levels.
He only hoped the weapon was ready by now.

Tartarus, exterior front

At the main gates, another crash came as the Stone Giant had damaged the massive bridge enough to begin moving it, the 100-metre-tall, rhino shaped being craving apart the stone ramparts with ease, as whatever help form the inside had slowed for some reason.
Stood nearby, Aubelles kept clear, while he was there merely to ensure the Giant did its work. Elsewhere, the strange creature continued to chase the White Alicorn princess like a cat and mouse, one clearly outmatching the other in power and determination to kill.
Across the valley, and north of the mountain, thousands still battled thousands on the ground and in the air, pony or Stone Giant, while inside Tartarus, the smaller battles raged as fiercely as the ones outside.
All the while though, atop the mountain, the weapon lay just about ready to use, beginning to power up with the Unicorn team and sole Alicorn princess there knowing the time was soon.
By now, the sun had set, and night had fallen over the now ablaze and roaring plains of the battle. No nightfall would quell this battle.

Author's Note

No non-reflective material can withstand an intense enough laser, or multiple ones focused together. Similar principle applies with magic attacks.
Golmov chose Celestia over Luna, because she was the more directly ‘scolding’ of him enough to make him cower in his ‘lesser’ days. Dragon pride and honour does that to him. Though it quickly devolves into a game of cat and mouse, even he enrages Celestia by mentioning he slayed her father personally.
Clearly Slickhooves would prefer Tartarus to not fall over Celestia living, though things get out of hand before this causes too much of a rift between him and Luna, heat of battle and all that.
An inside infiltration of Tartarus goes smoothly, until a certain Salamander gets involved, and the local Commander tries to lure the more temperamental Being to the roof for a hopeful attack by the weapon.
And Odi-Viscer takes no abuse from any three headed dog and lets it slide.

Battle of Tartarus, Forces of Nature.

April 1st, 71 BNM
Dusk
North midlands of Equestria
Citadel, basement catacombs
‘Leech lake’

Nearby, the newly repaired bridge across the lake was marked with some lighter coloured stone concrete, still being darkened by the moisture in the air.
But in her position, she could only stare in silence, rigid, unable to look anywhere else but at the pair of figures stood before her on the bridge, while she was fastened, upside down, inside the cage. The magical torture device around her neck kept her quiet.
Lady Ave-Dol had all but surrendered to Siral’s means of teaching her the price of betrayal.
The sharp barbed spike, called a heretic’s fork, attached to a neck brace, always poking into her chin, so if she spoke, it threatened to pierce her flesh. And around her neck, like a larger ring stretching out, a neck torture device that pointed similar spikes at her neck, meaning if she moved her head very much, they jabbed into her. And worse yet, every spike tip was laced with a toxic looking black substance that burned on contact, and hurt even more if it touched an open wound. She’d found that out the hard way when she resisted at first after being put here a few hours ago.
As her head rushed after hours of being held upside down, the pair who had come regarded her coldly, though it was Siral who probed her mind, his eyes glinting a silver and black as he did so. Gaudium, whatever he was now, stood by like a statue, following his master as if he were one with him. She feared that was the case in more ways than one.
His eyes stopping their glow, Siral scowled as he leant forwards, his black magic pulling Ave-Dol’s blue, Windigo hybrid head forwards enough to bring the heretic fork harder into her chin, her muffled gasp of pain interrupted as he released her, voice cold but satisfied.
“I don’t need to probe your pain wracked mind any further, you clearly revealed all you knew to Starswirl. But in actual fact, I should be thankful for your betrayal in going to him, you saw into his mind, and in turn, so do I with what you saw, even only glimpsed.”
“You, … I regret, not going, sooner.”
As she strained, the fork digging into her chin with each syllable, the toxin burning her skin more each time, Siral tipped his head in mild curiosity.
“You haven’t given up resisting me, even in this state. Whether or not this is you or my improvements to you, it is impressive.”
“Improvements, you cursed me. As an Alicorn disguise I spread laziness, animals even go so far as to become so sedate they starve to death! AAHHH!”
As she spat her outrage at him, the fork penetrated a little too deep for her pain threshold, and she fell quiet, a few tears falling as she kept her mouth shut.
“As I intended. But very soon, you will understand the role I have planned for you, as well as I do in fact.”
With a gesture to ‘Gaudium’ who stepped forwards once in his lanky, black vine laced form, Siral finished:
“Like him, there will no longer be resistance, only my will. The will needed to get Equestria back on track, out of the hooves of self-serving Alicorns who are unfit to rule, and are unfit to have the power they wield. Which reminds me…”
Turning to ‘Gaudium’, Siral murmured quietly:
“There are Alicorns at Tartarus. I want it done subtly, but make sure that as many die in the battle as possible. Help the others if you must.”
“Understood.”
‘Gaudium’ spoke calmly to Siral, taking a few steps along the bridge as he gathered a black and silver energy in his hands, mixed of eagle and lion paw in both.
“GAUDIUM! FIGHT HIM!”
In a desperate bit, Ave-Dol screeched from her suspended state, the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid wincing as the spike dug into her chin and neck once more. Nearby, Siral shook his head with a mockingly sad smile, before he turned to leave:
“Don’t stress yourself Lady Ave-Dol, he certainly isn’t. This discomfort is only to keep you in place until your final adjustment to my will is done, as with the others. In the meantime, try and make yourself as comfortable as an Alicorn you once were could.”
Ave-Dol utterly ignored the Wizard’s contempt filled words, as she saw Gaudium had paused, turning towards her in confusion, a single eyebrow raised.
“Gaudium?”
“I have no words for traitors, but when you see and think as I do with the others, only then shall we be on speaking terms. I serve the Savant, that is what I identify myself as. Bear that in mind until I return.”
Without another instant spared, ‘Gaudium’, whoever he now was, vanished from the bridge in a silver and black flash, leaving Ave-Dol suspended helplessly in her cage, above the lake, restrained in head and neck.
Along the bridge, the Citadel guards, silver glints in their eyes, began their usual patrols. Inside the cage, she submitted to her fate, she had tried what she could and had failed.
Siral was right, she had not done enough when she heard even an inkling of these goings-on. Her own lethargy helped him, and now she would pay for waiting too long.
And seeing what Gaudium had become in mind, she pitied all the others who served Siral and still had any inkling of free will, even as they reined destruction or deceit upon others in the nobility or on the battlefield.

Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress
Upper passage chamber

Heart racing, Slickhooves heard the crashing of the stone and even metal of the tunnel behind him, as that creature was forcing his way up by leaving a larger tunnel in his wake.
Dashing up the next passage, he saw the last straight flight upwards, 50 metres that led to the top of the mountain, and the weapon platform.
Hooves clacking, he breathed hard before he realised the crashing had stopped. The creature had stopped chasing him. Stopping halfway up the stairs, the black Pegasus turned, quizzically staring at the doorway he’d already put 25 metres behind and below him in the narrow, darkly lit passage.
A few hoofsteps came, before he saw a new pony round the corner. Devoid of fur, grey in skin, and staring at him with a red glint in his eyes that Slickhooves knew belonged only to that monster.
Turning tail, he charged up the stairs, wings extending as he bellowed up through the passage, Odi-Viscer’s eyes and mouth lighting up as he began to charge up the passage, his smaller body less hassle here.
“AIM FOR THE TUNNEL AND WAIT!”
Scrambling, he saw the very faint light of dusk and evening ahead, while behind him a red blaze suddenly lit up the tunnel behind him. Desperate, Slickhooves hurled the shield he carried on his back down the shaft, noting out of horror that the red beam attack melted it before it hit the Earth Pony chasing him. But it stopped the beam from hitting his own body.
He reached the doorway, leaping forwards as Odi-Viscer tore up the passage after him, stone beginning to sprout fast from his body as it also began to change size to a larger shape.

Tartarus, peak
‘Weapon’ platform

Stood in a circle, the team of Unicorns had recited the rituals, and focused their energy, with Princess Luna volunteering as the catalyst. But ahead, the passage had opened up, as Slickhooves tore up in a frenzy, his bellows well heard by them.
Far away, the battle raged, but the fight had come to them.
The air around them shimmered and felt hot with energy, static as one would feel right before being struck by lightning.
Rumbles shook the ground as the Stone Giant rammed on the gate once more, wrenching it free slowly but surely. Further beyond both north and south the battles against giants and their allied armies, and that of the royalist armies, raged on.
Then, the passage cracked, and exploded outwards, a grey stone bodied and fleshed creature bursting from the ground with eyes blazing red like embers in a fire through the dust.
“FIRE!”
Hearing Slickhooves’s roared command, the ritual circled Unicorns charged their horns, as Luna felt magic she’d not thought possible begin to flow around in an instant, her own horn as a focal point, her aim at the creature that waved an arm around to clear the dust.
Then, the first of a new kind of magic was let loose in anger.

High above, the moon itself seemed to glow faintly for a moment, brighter than normal as it had been creeping over the sunset horizon. And the sunset grew slightly darker too, as every sound ceased for a moment atop the mountain.
Then, white light exploded from the mountain, and the moon’s light and the sunset returned to their normal state after the very minor change in brightness to those who watched it.
And as the light exploded, the air roared, a column of light colliding with something that let loose an agonised bellow into the evening skies, the beam carrying it outwards, the beam and whatever it was smashing and carving into the mountain side 2 miles away, incinerating it and turning it to molten rock on the surface.
All battle ceased for the moment the weapon fired.

Meanwhile
Tartarus mountainside

As Celestia crashed into a heap on the mountainside, the yellow beam that hit her arcing off to slice a few boulders off the slopes nearby, she rolled to a stop in a dusty and battered heap.
Golmov crashed down nearby, his centipede legs stabbing the ground as he advanced, 2 of his wings forming yellow glows to match the 3rd in his mouth, as his eyes also lit up in yellow.
Her breath caught in her throat as the yellow light that killed her father was about to be unleashed.
But then a white light from the east, atop the mountain, shook the air with a tremendous roar, snapping the massive dragon/centipede hybrid from his attack to form a wing to shield himself from the blinding light.
Her own vision blinded, she came to as she saw the battle on the plains south of Tartarus had ceased for a moment. Her attacker, Golmov, turned his gaze to the East, but not to where the beam came from, rather to where it hit. A roar that had accompanied the beam’s own immense noise seemed to be his focus.
“Odi…”
A single word, before he turned to give a venomous look at the down Celestia, weighing his options. Snarling to himself, Golmov swiftly took flight, yellow magic accelerating him faster across the forefront of Tartarus’s mountain ridge, past the Stone Giant that had been breaking down the gate and bridge.
Slumping on the mountainside, far from much of the battle, Celestia saw that Golmov swiftly flew past the gate, the Stone Giant there suddenly turning its gaze directly upwards.
Knowing Luna and the mountaintop were the target now, Celestia struggled, but it was a trial for her after she just couldn’t beat that vengeful dragon, whatever he had become. After some strain, she gave up on teleporting, and took flight, wings burning from her exhaustion as she took flight up the mountain slopes.
But to the south and north, she could make out some faint cheers as the Royalist forces began to rally. They had heard faint news of some new weapon that would aid them, and seeing it in action boosted their morale.
It wasn’t long before the Nationalists resumed their fighting, though she noticed more than one of the Stone Giants from the north had turned to begin climbing the mountain slopes.
But inside Tartarus, as she came to the mountaintop, the gates burst outwards, not by the work of the Giant though.

Tartarus insides
Main Atrium

Embroiled in a cat and mouse type duel that was too close to call, Teal Quirt and Chack had both been thrown off balance where they stood as the entire mountain shook with the weapon up top going off.
Parts of the ceiling cracked loose, as Chack dove back into an alcove to avoid falling ceiling tiles. Heading for the front gate, Teal Quirt saw the outer doors wrenched halfway open, the Giant having nearly got them open.
As the rumbles subsided, she got to work, her green magic working.
And yet behind her, she heard the footsteps as Chack came lunging out after her, but the green shockwave that slammed her into the doors like a hurricane force wind dazed her head.
Charging her, Chack lunged towards her, swinging his normal sword in sync with the green enchanted blade made by Everfree himself, but Teal caught both swords in her scorpion claws, as her ape fists came flying at Chack. Ducking one, while the other grazed his face, the Salamander headbutted Teal in her chin, despite her double height over him it hit with enough force to shake her. Enraged, she wrenched the green sword from his hand, and with him holding onto his normal blade she threw him across the atrium, the Salamander skidding to a halt with audible groans of agony.
As she prepared to hurl the green blade away, she felt a terrible pain coarse through her, as green electric arcs surrounded her body, forcing her to drop the sword.
At that moment, the sword flew from her scorpion claw, towards the slowly staggering Chack, using his other sword to pull himself up.
Seething at him, she readied a magic attack, but paused as a silver and black light filled the atrium between them.
A lanky being, limbs from many creatures, and a long crown of animal antlers, flanked by 2 dragon wings and 2 blue Alicorn wings, materialised before her, a single ball of silver and black magic forming in its hand as its long fanged mouth spoke in a strange voice, like Gaudium’s, but laced with something else:
“Time is short, move!”
Swiftly jumping aside, as she also glimpsed Chack scrambling away from the creature in fright, the atrium lit up as the light crashed into the door.
The massive doors at the front of Tartarus were launched off their hinges, shattering and teetering slowly outwards, before they began to groan and fall with an almighty crash onto the slopes beyond, spanning the moat-like crevice that defended the massive walls.
The Stone Giant reeled back from the impact of the door grazing its leg, while a bronze armoured Alicorn leapt backwards with an audible yell, the massive gates barely missing him.
As the doors fell, Chack saw this creature turn its gaze to him. Keeping a grip on his twin swords, Chack fired a blast from the green blade, but the energy beam was coiled around with a black tendril of magic, seizing him like a rope around his wrist before snapping taught.
Yelling out, Chack was fired out through the gates of Tartarus into the battlefield slopes beyond.

Tartarus front gate, slopes

As the gates had crashed down, Aubelles saw the giant reel back, while he himself was nearly flattened by the gates themselves.
But amidst it all, the white flash, the battle only now resuming with a sense of overhanging tension from that light, there was one last surprise for him.
Hurled screaming out of the gates, a green glow surrounding him that protected him on the impact of landing, a Salamander in all too familiar scarlet armour landed in a rolling heap on the slopes, the oil used in the siege to repel the invaders now hardened.
Stunned, Aubelles saw Chack grimace, staggering to his feet, the Salamander he had not seen in months standing in challenge to something coming out of the gates.
Turning around, Aubelles glimpsed a scorpion/ape figure emerge, but the light that had thrown Chack out the gates, over the bridge the fallen doors now formed, had come from an even stranger creature floating out.
At that instant, the skies lit up and roared white again, this time the light streaking south, the piercing light slicing one of the Stone Giants at the forefront of the Nationalist ranks attacking Royalist lines in half at the top, crumbling apart and falling over to the side.
As the strange weapon’s roar and blinding light from above subsided, Aubelles unshielded his eyes, a familiar voice of Teal Quirt of all ponies coming from the Scorpion/ape creature:
“Deal with that Salamander, that weapon must not endure!”
In a flash of green, she was away, while the stranger creature turned to gaze at the Stone Giant looming far above, slowly creaking about. In a silver and black mist, he vanished, but a voice carried:
“You heard your superior Alicorn, kill this interference.”
But the silver and black mist didn’t entirely vanish, it actually shifted in the air, shooting into the silver glinting eyes of the stone Giant, and with a groan, the giant’s joints flared a slight silver all over, becoming possessed by an outside power that wasn’t its own.
Turning towards Chack, who had glanced up at the slowly powering up giant standing by, waiting, Aubelles demanded loudly, his bronze magic glowing as he advanced on Chack, the Salamander turning to face the Alicorn head on, face faltering very slightly:
“You go off for half a year, and now you turn traitor!? Explain yourself Chack, before I fulfil my orders!”
“I am no traitor, but you and everyone in the Nationalists are fools for serving those creatures!”
“They serve the cause, more than can be said of you.”
At this, Chack lowered his blade, gesturing around as the Giant creaked ever so slowly overhead, while sounds of magic firing overhead on the mountain top sounded.
To the battlefields beyond, now made even by this new weapon, Chack gestured angrily:
“All this, even in victory, will be meaningless. Open your eyes to the truth Aubelles, those creatures outmatch Alicorns and harbour ill content to you all. They serve one who is seeking to overthrow the Nationalists from within once the Royalists are beaten, and the Nationalists are still recovering their own losses!”
“Liar!” Aubelles bellowed, his bronze magic firing at Chack in that instant. At this instant, as Chack deflected the bronze blast with his green sword, the Stone Giant reeled down as the skies lit up once more, a white blast filling the skies with light and immense noise once more.
Light consumed them, as the Giant was blasted through the back, its own shrieks filling the air as the beam of light had shot skywards and then arced down to strike down on the Giant right beside them like a bolt from the darkening skies above.

Thrown back by the blast, Aubelles’s bronze shield kept him intact, whilst he saw a faint green shield keep Chack relatively unharmed from all but the bone rattling shockwave.
As the Giant keeled over beside them, silver joints flickering as it was not fully dead, Chack roared out to Aubelles:
“Would I do this if I were not absolutely certain Aubelles!? Would I!?”
“Why should I believe you!? Your newfound allies nearly destroyed us both with that blast near us!”
“TOO BAD IT DID NOT, ALICORN!”
A voice rumbled from the collapsed body of the Stone Giant nearby, which began to glow and actively shift in its silver light, as something rose from within. It was half the size, but glowed more actively a dark black and silver at the joints, body like stone but much more flexible than the form before, and instead of Rhino shape, now there stood a 50-metre-tall shape like the serpentine creature that had possessed it. A long tail, 2 legs holding it up, but the 4 ‘wings’ extended wider out from the body with a black and silver projected energy making the membrane. 2 short arms stuck out form the torso, both clawed and flexing in challenge.
The long arrow shaped head glinted in the eyes, now a red and yellow colour, as it rose up, roaring as its clawed fingers seemed to snap together, and two beams of pulsing purple light shot from them.
Flying sideways, Aubelles barely avoided the beams, as they sliced up and burned twin streaks of black stone into the walls of Tartarus. The hulking stone and magic hybrid turned to face Aubelles, as a purple light built along 2 of the wings as they raised up, and began to streak towards the ground.
Bronze magic shot out, just about deflecting both wings to land on each side of Aubelles, slicing and smashing into the ground like a pair of gigantic swords. Wings spreading, Aubelles flew backwards, firing magic recklessly into the creature’s immense head, yelling to Chack as he came to land beside him:
“What did your new friends do with that weapon! Its turned the giant against me!”
Chack stared at Aubelles, all the while the possessed semi-giant began to gear up for another attack. Jabbing his sword outwards to the south battlefields, Chack exclaimed in outrage:
“That weapon blew apart another giant there! Do you see that one standing up again!?”
Sparing a glance southward, he saw that amidst the clashing armies, the one obliterated stone giant was in pieces still, not moving, unlike the one before them now. Aubelles’s saw Chack’s point, as he turned to face the more versatile creature beginning to charge them, much faster than any of the other creatures, and even leaping upwards like a full size dragon to crash down before them.
“You and every Alicorn here are in danger, and they’ll make it look like it wasn’t betrayal if they can!” Chack warned, raising both his swords as dust rose before them, the arrow headed semi-giant roaring in challenge as Aubelles.
Sparing a momentary growl of aggravation, Aubelles exclaimed: “We’ll have words about this whole mess later!”
“Allow me to deal with something first! Opportunity knocks!”
As the possessed Giant flew upwards all of a sudden, fully leaping over them like a frog, it fired a very large purple beam mid-flight towards the distant armies, its arc going upwards towards the front lines.”

Caught in battle, the Alicorn battled her way forwards, while the male fighting alongside her ensured they maintained a strong position against the newly morale boosted Royalists making a push against them. Dozens of Earth Pony and Unicorn soldiers fired at them, but their shields held firm, even as Pegasi rained arrows and potion bombs at them and against the line of Unicorns and armored ponies behind them they were covering.
But off to the side, a light from the mountain’s direction glinted. But this light was purple, and not as bright. Even so, it was just as deadly.
A purple haze engulfed the pair of Alicorns and dozens of soldiers on both sides, as the beam cut through the front lines of the Royalists, consuming the Alicorns at the forefront covering those falling back from the braver Royalists.

3 miles from Tartarus mountain top

Inside a scorched crater, Golmov excavated through the charred black dirt and rock where he’d seen the first beam hit.
He sensed energy that came from magic exclusive to their essences, unique to each, as he continued to dig with hand, leg, wing or yellow magic.
“Pull yourself out Odi, we have got to get that thing offline before they fire off another, they’ve let off 3 shots already!”
At that moment though, a faint rumble sounded, as Golmov stared back to see a slightly different giant fire a purple beam through the army ranks. And in his mind, he felt a message spread:
2 Nationalist Alicorns dead by opportunity, focus on the mountain weapon
Blinking, Golmov didn’t realise they would be killing Nationalist Alicorns this early, but something else was off. A new essence there on the battlefield, like their own but unique to itself, a seventh.
But at that same moment, cracks began to spread as a grey skinned, stone armoured arm burst from the charred ground, visibly healing from the beam attack that sent him here from 3 miles away. Skin slowly healed, as he was more stone and bone skinned than flesh at this point.
As he pulled himself out, Odi-Viscer’s eyes glinted more red than ever before, as he turned his gaze towards the mountain.
Golmov saw the being of Wrath was determined enough, and took flight towards the mountain himself. He had a feeling the two princesses, if not having fled, were responsible for this new royalist weapon.
At that instant, the white mountain weapon fired again, this time aiming for the Stone Giant ranks to the north advancing on the mountain, a long sweeping arc not outright destroying them but severing the forelegs of two of them enough to render them immobilised.
Charging towards the mountain, Golmov flew on through the darkened evening skies, as the fired of the battlefield raged on. On the mountainside behind him, the ground cracked as Odi-Viscer leapt from it towards the sky, determined to destroy whatever it was that dared try and destroy him.

Tartarus mountain top

The white energy dissipated once more, as the two giants fell down with their forelimbs sliced off halfway up the northern mountain face. With Celestia here with Luna, recharging the weapon was taking less time.
But on high, Slickhooves noticed that the battle was taking a turn, for better or worse depending on one’s view of things:
“The ranks are breaking, the Nationalists are falling back!”
A few cheers went up from the Unicorns helping with the weapon spells, while Celestia and Luna couldn’t help but share a smile that the battle was ended before midnight. Yet the celebrations were premature:
“Sir, we’ve got two from the east, one flying and the other, uh, jumping!”
One of his sentry guards on the upper level called the alert, to which Slickhooves made a snap decision, one which he snorted to himself about considering.
“Signal the armies to begin pulling back to Tartarus, reinforce it.”
At that moment, a scorpion like creature teleported to the cliff edge a few dozen metres away, firing a few waves of green magic at the Unicorn teams, killing one of them and wounding another.
Stunned, they saw the team responsible for the weapon was disrupted. Like a chain, one link had broken, and needed to be relinked.
“Take that thing down!” Slickhooves bellowed, as he pulled a crossbow from his back to begin firing at Teal Quirt, while his guards rushed the creature, magic or not.
Turning frantically to the Unicorns around the alter like setup, Celestia warned: “We must get the weapon ready again, hurry!”
In a bid to get them away, Luna and Celestia formed a joint magic sphere, and unleashing it towards Teal Quirt, they formed a midair tornado that sucked her to land on the mountainside a quarter of a mile away, though not before a green magic tendril shot out like a harpoon to pierce a guard pony and fling him screaming over the cliff edge.
Charging down the slopes, Slickhooves and the other on duty guards rushed to counter the creature, though they knew full well that two others were coming closer the whole time. The main armies and giants may have slowed, but these elites were just getting started.
As the pair of Alicorns focused on re-establishing the delicate spellwork for this immense magical weapon, they were drawn to the personal battle unfolding below, as the strange, smaller stone giant landed as if flying in front of a bronze armoured Alicorn and a Salamander they swore looked familiar.

Tartarus, front slopes

“How easily Alicorns fall, even as they find newfound power in their final era. Those two, and now you and your little traitor you fight with as one in turn.”
“You know not who you are threatening! I am Aubelles the Mighty, and with or without Chack I can beat you!”
“Names are meaningless when all I see is a dead Alicorn and a crushed fish!”
The draconian looking stone half giant glinted its red and yellow eyes at them, as the four wings spread outwards in a challenging gesture towards Aubelles and Chack. Raising his twin swords, Chack glanced at Aubelles briefly, to which the Bronze Alicorn merely cracked his neck, charging his horn.
The wings came crashing down like hammers yet again, as they broke to engage in their own ways. Chack’s enchanted sword cut well enough, and Aubelles provided raw power, but the half giant moved very fast and high, the seventh being empowering it as it possessed what was effectively half a stone giant’s corpse transformed to resemble a form he could use.
All the while, as the Nationalist armies held fast or pulled back, and the Royalists rallied, the tide of battle had turned to focus on the superweapons that now did battle. While the Royalist’s Tartarus weapon was re-established, the beings of Wrath and Greed closed in, as the Being of Pride engaged the only surviving Nationalist army Alicorn and a Salamander who came to kill the 3 others.
All the while, the being of Envy strived to keep that weapon offline, while the two princesses tried to get back the one thing that had turned the tide of battle.
But amidst it all, as that weapon had fired, those who had been watching from afar would recall this as the beginning of events that would lead to an event that would change the world forever that neither side today could truly comprehend.
The moon and sun brightness fluctuation each time the celestial magic such an immense spell pulled was not mere coincidence.
Telum Calestis came with a price.

Author's Note

Ave-Dol learns the hard way how she’ll be spending her time until the time comes to bring all 6 besides Gaudium under more direct control. Not long for her thankfully.
The battle continues on, but now ‘proto-Discord’ has joined the fray, and quickly opportunistic Alicorn killing as ‘collateral’ damage is taken advantage of. His retrofitting of a weapon destroyed stone giant creates something much more nimble but still very big.
[For visual reference, the ‘semi-giant’ proto-Discord/Gaudium creates resembles a 4 ‘winged’ Metal Gear Ray from the Metal gear series, with two small arms on the front like a T-rex’s]
The Telum Caelestis weapon comes online, to Odi-Viscer’s misfortune and enragement, and enough of a concern for Golmov to let Celestia live while he deals with a wounded partner.
Starswirl will reappear in the next chapter, as he does make it to the end of the battle enough to make sense of things. This is his story after all, but just because he had a hoof in events doesn’t mean he witnesses them all first person.

Battle of Tartarus, Cataclysm.

April 1st, 71 BNM
Evening
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Throne room

“Your majesty, I tried to stop him but-.”
“You let the Princesses go on alone!?”
Starswirl’s bellow caught Queen Nova’s attention, as she strove to make sure she received any and every detail from the battlefield unfolding far away in Tartarus. The black robed, pale furred Alicorn saw Starswirl hobble in, a faint wave of blue magic shoving the infirmary maid back in a gentle, but forceful shove. The generals around her backed off as the Wizard came within a few metres of her, to which she stood her ground in her usual cold manner, though she betrayed her own tension at her decision.
“Believe me Starswirl, I urged them not to, but they volunteered for the task of using the new weapon against the army. Even I couldn’t have stopped them.”
“That weapon will not save your daughters from the beings Siral has made to bring about the end of Alicorns forever! And those he enslaved have their own reasons to see Alicorns fall as well, as some of them already did to your husband!”
As he began to vanish in a blue light, Stasrwirl called out to the collection of assembled Generals and the Queen:
“The Nationalists are as much in danger as you all are, they are not the enemy!”
The blue flash lit up the throne room, as the Wizard vanished from sight. Whispers of Starswirl losing his mind began to run rife, and by what they saw, one couldn’t blame them.
“Clearly the fever has made him delirious…”
But Queen Aurora was quiet, it was too specific to have been delusions of conspiracy. Siral, the wizard Starswirl said had been plotting in secrecy.
Hesitating, she turned back to look over more reports from the battle.
But by the delay of even magic messaging, what news they received was not immediate to what was occurring.

Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress
Battle plains

The remaining 2 Stone Giants fired back, but they were badly wounded. Even so, their hulking forms were enough to protect the retreating army.
Nationalist clad Unicorns and Earth Ponies didn’t bother with the siege engines, they were left wrecked on the plains and valley floor, along with remnants of the 3 other Stone Giants on the main valley, shattered by the super weapon or by overwhelming assault.
On the opposing side, the Royalists forces, heavily reduced but still hard fighting, jeered as the Nationalist army pulled back, stray volleys of arrows and spells hurled from both sides as it became clear the main battle was ending.

Valley, southern mountain ridge

Disassembling the flag signals, the Nationalist generals peered out to the mountain itself, where the surprise weapons and Stone Giants to the north were making an effort to salvage something from this siege.
“Letter from Nationalist command, correspondence from the Citadel. Destroying the Tartarus superweapon and possible salvage now priority.”
“Good, if we can’t win the day, a draw where we learn the secrets of that immense power will suffice. Any gains to be had are welcomed.”
“But, with all respect sir, we failed, and we lost two Alicorns.”
“I know. That weapon, turned that Stone Giant it bred from the corpse of another against us. All the more reason to even the playing field later, when we won’t face as much cost.”
The older General’s words were the hard truth of the day. Both sides had fought and lost hard, but the victor seemed to be the Royalists. But for now, their ‘elite’ units did battle while the main armies came to an end of their conflict.
It seemed the strange creatures from the Citadel, along with the 1 remaining Stone Giant from the north, and that strange one just in front of the main gates, were doing their part to destroy that weapon.
But in it all, the deceit of the strange 7th being, masquerading as a possessed semi stone giant, and killing the 2 Alicorns in the main army, had worked. The Nationalists believed the giant had been turned by the weapon, against the Nationalists.
It would only explain why Aubelles was in such a heated battle against it, but the strange figure with the sword beside him was not known, except as a long disappeared Salamander who was a friend of Aubelles.
Much strangeness had unfolded today, and much was yet to come.

Tartarus, peak weapon platform

The shield the two sisters collectively held up shimmered the yellow and blue of their magic, while the Unicorn team around the alter recovered the incantations and magic to get the spell ready once again. The protective barrier glistened as the yellow blasts rained down from above, as the draconian-centipede creature made another pass.
The wind howling as Golmov flew overhead, Celestia glared at the creature as he flew away, the first time she’d ever truly hated a being. Beside her though, Luna strained with the magic to a lesser extent, having not been overwhelming in one on one combat against one of Siral’s beings.
“It’s almost ready, but the army is falling back!”
RRRNNNN
As Luna shouted the words over the shimmering magic barrier and the sounds of battle from those outside on the mountain peak and slopes, the last of the northern stone giants came upon them, its lizard like appearance showing its long, more slender build.
The stone clawed hand rushed towards the barrier, to which Celestia and Luna collectively surged it, the massive hand reeling back as the stone was melted at its touch.
Slumping, the massive giant reared up its stony head, its twin silver eyes glinting as it began to charge a beam attack at point blank range.
With a fountain of white sparks flying off the shield, its twin eye beams began to bore into the shield, the giant’s rumbling bellows rising from its chest as it did so.
Overhead, Golmov caught a glimpse further down the battlefield, as he saw a familiar scorpion like creature finishing off the last dozen guards.

Tartarus peak, slopes

A green shockwave sent Slickhooves reeling back, as another of his Earth Pony guards was hurled skywards and struck with another round magical lightning to roast him alive, like too many other guards against this creature.
A bellowing rumble of the stone giant further up the hill distracted Slickhooves, as he glanced around with a rare look of despair adorning his narrow face, the black Pegasus grimacing as that monster of scorpion and ape like make, shot her hand out to a pair of guard ponies firing at her enough to irritate her.
Teal’s magic formed the rocky mountain ground into a sandlike material, locking the Unicorns in place as she charged them, both her lower scorpion claws locking around their necks while she then gripped their heads in her ape hands.
The claws clenched, and she hurled the heads of both guards far away, incinerating them in green fire as she did so.
Blinking at the sight, as Teal Quirt turned to gaze at him from afar, Slickhooves began to back away slowly.
High above, the wind roared as a yellow glowing creature began to dive towards the guards behind Teal Quirt, Golmov’s centipede like legs clawing the ground with their massive size to send a shower of dirt over the remaining guards and crushing one as he flew back to the skies. As he flew up, the one guard Pegasus he missed began to fly upwards as if to challenge him. But casually, a single yellow beam flew from Golmov’s wing, curving in the air to shoot through the pegasus’s chest and send him spiralling to the ground, a corpse in armour crashing to the mountainside.
As the being of greed flew up and around, he turned his gaze back to the shield as the Stone Giant’s twin eye beams blasted it, the two Alicorns and Unicorn team inside struggling to set up and keep themselves safe.
Down on the ground, Slickhooves sighed, as he picked up a nearby sword form one of his incinerated guards, holding it aloft in challenge to the slowly advancing scorpion/ape creature that was Teal Quirt.

As she advanced, green magic glowing in her claws and hands and four horns, Teal saw a blue glow suddenly appear for a moment between her and the defiant black Pegasus, before a voice like a thunderous gust of wind bellowed at her, and sent a shockwave of blue magic to repel her a few dozen metres back.
“VADE!”
The old tongue, spoken aloud only in the most powerful of magic usage, rang from Starswirl’s mouth as he teleported into battle on the mountainside.
A blue shockwave blasted her back, her green shield flickering as she landed, a claw digging into the ground as she righted herself, already readying her own attack, green still in her claws and hands as she saw Starswirl still keeping his leg she’d cut easy, clearly favouring his other 3 limbs.
“You heal fast…”
“You and your fellow creatures should leave now, before I put you down for good. One shall suffice to end Siral’s treachery.”
“Like your little fish swordsman tried to do? He’s a little busy if you’re wondering…”
Sparing a glance sideways, Starswirl glimpsed down towards the battlefield below, as a half sized giant swung its wings down yet again around a bronze armoured Alicorn and-.
“Chack…”
A green glow nearly caught Starswirl off guard, as Teal tried to sucker punch him with a blasting spell. His blue shield defelcted it off to the side, as he bellowed to Slickhooves:
“GO!”
With a nod, the warden of Tartarus began up toward the barrier sealed alter atop the mountain, as the Stone Giant reared back, recovering after its eye beams had worn off. But constant bombardment with long yellow beams from high above caused the blue and yellow shield of the sisters to flicker.
Inside, the Unicorns rushed the spell almost ready.
Down below however, the Seventh of Pride, and the Being of Wrath incoming, were converging. Unable to fly, Odi-Viscer had only just arrived, as a red hued figure landed on the slopes in a crater forming crash.

Tartarus, front gate slopes

As the semi giant’s 50-metre tall frame blasted by in another leap, purple magic shots rained down on all sides, each shot causing splash like spells to rain out that burned on contact.
Aubelles darted about, his shield deflecting these irritating splash spells, while Chack seemed to use that strange green blade to deflect it with his own, unbelievably, green magic. And enchanted blade to compliment is old one, where he got it was a mystery to be discussed another time.
The bronze Alicorn charged from high, his magic burning across the purple hued giant’s rocky body to leave deep scorch marks. Down below, swift slashes and cuts from Chack’s green blade, his normal blade still sheathed, cut into the creature’s ankles.
Kicking out an ankle, ‘Gaudium’ hurled Chack across the plains, his giant form spreading the stone wings to leap upwards, smashing Aubelles aside and into the far away walls of Tartarus’s fortifications as he did so. Coming down feet first, he prepared to crush the Salamander in a single landing.
Slashing the air before him, Chack was consumed in a green flash as the giant’s feet landed. At that same moment, a hundred metres away, something red hued crashed into the ground on all fours.

Staring across the slopes, and up towards the peak high above that was the centre of the more focused battle, Odi-Viscer saw this new ‘ally’ crush the Salamander in a green crushing motion.
But at that same moment, a bronze Alicorn launched from the walls behind, consumed in bronze light as he flipped in midair, his magic forming a spinning, serrated disc that sliced through one of the semi-giant’s large wings.
“YOU DARE!?”
A bellow escaped the giant’s ‘mouth’, which Odi recognised as Gaudium’s, and something else, like Siral’s own voice coming through as well.
DESTROY THE PEAK!
The voice that all but shrieked in Odi’s own mind was definitely Siral’s however, but that was an order he was all too happy to follow.
As the unknown ally of his writhed, slamming the other wing down to crush the bronze Alicorn that fired spell after spell at the giant head, Odi’s red magic hued as he slammed his two rear feet into the ground, planting himself, as he then stared at the mountain, his eyes turning more red than ever before, his stone growing like spikes from his body as he raised both his grey, stone and flesh covered hands to face the mountain peak high above.
Red light filled his joints, and the earth itself began to tremble around him, cracking under the pressure that built.
At that moment, Chack reappeared in mid air, green sword out from teleporting, launching right at ‘Gaudium’s’ head.

The green blade plunged into Gaudium’s left eye, earning a massive bellow of rage from him as Chack pulled the blade out, landing roughly on the ground far below with some help from Aubelles’s magic catching him. In a blind fury, Gaudium’s stone form swung the last of his wings down, laced with more purple hued magic than ever before.
“Catch it!”
Chack’s bellow came as the blade was about to land upon Aubelles, as the Salamander thrust out the green blade in a bid to slice. But the Alicorn’s eyes glowed a brighter bronze, as he raised his wings, each reinforced with magic armour akin to the hardest metal, and caught the bladelike wing over ten times his size, the ground cracking under the impact. As sparks flew, the giant was then encapsulated in a bronze hue.
Hurling him overhead, roaring at the strain, Aubelles saw Chack leap out, his green sword glowing a brighter colour as he stuck it into the bronze magic hue, some sort of energy imbuing.
As the massive giant was hurled over the Alicorn’s head, Chack swung the green blade in an upwards arc, the blade imbued with magic borrowed from Aubelles’s own granting it extra power. A long energy blade thrust out, and with a swipe, the blade sliced the giant from head to tail down the centre as it was slammed down onto the ground.
Both halves collapsed on the ground, falling by the wayside as the black and purple mist began to fly upwards, forming a smoky figure of a lanky shape and mismatched limbs before them, purple eyes glaring at them for a moment.
But Gaudium turned his eyes towards Odi, who had been charging his impending attack.
“Time for an improvement.”
Before they could stop him, the mist vanished, shooting towards the stone skinned and grey fleshed apelike being they only just noticed now, the source of some of the tremors around them. Further beyond, the armies had been forced back, even if a great number of the Royalists had turned to swarm their way.
But the mist entered Odi-Viscer’s nostrils, at which the red glow seemed to darken, but grow intensity.
Eyes snapping open, Odi’s fiery red eyes now glowed a dark ruby red, and the energy in the palms of his hands began to gather much more readily.
“So ends the Royal line!”
Charging towards the now possessed being of wrath, both Aubelles and CHack were hurled backwards as a red shockwave rippled out, right before a colossal beam of pure red magic fired from the ground, lighting up the evening skies as it streaked upwards.

Tartarus peak

“Sister, below!”
Hearing Luna, Celestia saw a new figure far below, glowing more red than anything she had seen, about to fire what appeared to be a beam attack of immense scale right at them.
Glancing up at the Stone Giant, charging its eyes to attack their barrier one last time, she exclaimed to Luna:
“On my mark, do as I do!”
Right as the Giant prepared to fire, the Unicorn team reinforced the barrier one more time. Yet as soon as it reared its head back to fire its silver eye beams, as Golmov circled overhead the whole time, and Teal Quirt battled what appeared to be a newcomer they didn’t yet know, Celestia shot her magic out to encapsulate the Giant.
Luna followed suit, as the 100-metre-tall, lizard like beast as engulfed in yellow and blue magic, and like a mace, swung around and thrown off the mountain.
Mid-air, the immense red beam met the lizard like giant halfway down the cliff and walls, detonating in a massive cloud of debris and light that sent a shockwave through the air for all to feel.

Seeing the blast, Golmov shielded himself with a yellow aura, but even that didn’t stop him from being knocked upwards a hundred feet.
Far below, as she duelled Starswirl, Teal Quirt saw the red hued explosion’s shockwave in time to dig in her claws and hands, sliding back a few feet as the pulse hit her.
His blue shield holding firm, Starswirl was unfazed by the blast, and used the chaos to survey the situation. Looking upwards to the peak’s ‘alter’, he saw Slickhooves arrive at the alter amidst the chaos, as the shockwave caused the shield to falter for a moment.
Right as the Unicorn team began gearing up the spell for another blast.

“Is the spell ready?” Slickhooves demanded, as he came up to the alter. As Luna and Celestia put up the shield again, the Unicorn mage leading the team replied:
“Charged and ready, it just needs a-.”
“User to release it, yes. That is all I needed to hear. Now, leave, while we have this chaos to our advantage!”
At Slickhooves’s demand, Celestia turned in outrage:
“Abandon the mountain? We can-!”
“They won’t take the mountain, but I will ensure this weapon does one more round of damage before it is ended. The spell can be reused, but I refuse to let Tartarus fall.”
“As your Princess, I order you to stand down!” Celestia barked, unwilling to let Slickhooves go through with what he proposed. Nearby, Luna strained as Golmov unleashed a new barrage of yellow magic on high, having already recovered from the shockwave.
Staring at the princess, Slickhooves saw Starswirl appear, the Wizard having apparently heard it somehow.
“Feel free to tell the Queen I disobeyed orders, but my duty is to Tartarus, even in death. Now GO!”
Wandering over to the alter, Slickhooves placed his hoof upon the ‘alter’, his black wings splaying as he felt the energy he would be a conduit for.
“You’ll die, you’re not an Alicorn, you’ll be destroyed as it goes off!” Luna exclaimed. Slickhooves resisted the urge to rebuke the younger princess, as Starswirl then interrupted:
“You will be remembered for this, all of you.”
As Starswirl’s blue magic engulfed the two Princesses, Celestia tried to lunge to prevent Slickhooves, or any of the Unicorn team left behind, from doing this, while Luna merely looked away as the three of them vanished in a blue light.
In that instant, the blue and yellow barrier vanished around them.

Tartarus lower slopes

Recovering from the shock wave, Odi-Viscer, possessed by Gaudium, reeled down in both anger and exhaustion.
“Again, just another shot agai-.”
A bronze hued metal door was flung through the air at him all of a sudden, as one of the massive wrought metal gates of Tartarus had been hurled by Aubelles right at the stone/ape creature. Like a gigantic fly swat, Odi-Viscer was crushed beneath the massive door as the bronze magic slammed it down atop his form, the only evidence being a small dent in the door’s frame from above.
Further back, as he flew down, Aubelles heard Chack walk over, having recovered from the shock wave himself. The Alicorn looked at the Salamander for a moment, giving a slight scoff at the blade:
“It seems we have a great deal to talk about concerning your absence, and your allegiance to a Royal Wizard.”
Not changing his expression, Chack then stared up at the mountain, suddenly wary as a flash of blue he recognized consumed the top. Turning to Aubelles, he urged:
“Go to your army, warn them, help them. Things could get worse from here on out. Now go, before they turn the weapon on you as well.”
Staring up at the mountain himself, Aubelles then heard the door he’d slammed atop Odi-Viscer audibly move, groaning as the creature shifted off his half buried body beneath it.
With a brief stare at Chack, who turned away to slash his green blade into the air to teleport from here, Aubelles saw a white light building atop the peak before he too vanished in a bronze flash. He didn’t want to be here when that weapon went off again.

Tartarus, alter peak

The white light built, as Slickhooves felt his form about to go. But he would literally give his all, if anything to make it as destructive as possible to the creatures around the alter, and the one below it and anyone aligned with them.
The Unicorn team shrieked as the feedback, a result of there not being enough magical power between them all including Slickhooves to handle it, began to consume their bodies. Electrical arcs blasted them apart as a natural forcefield suddenly expanded from the alter, while Slickhooves’s own black pegasi form was consumed by it. Fur exploded off his body in painless heat, while in a moment he saw his skin peel away to his skeleton, and then that too turned to ash as he was consumed, energy for the last use of this particular weapon.
The spell itself could be replicated, the alter had been a crude means of unleashing it for the first time. Crude, but effective. Later uses would see no need for ‘alters’ or things beyond the ponies involved.
But no event involving this spell, save one that would define history for a millennium afterwards, would ever eclipse the power unleashed in one fell swoop.

Hurling her shield up, Teal Quirt felt like a thousand fires were upon her as she was hurled back, nearly blacking out from the speed and power slamming into her. The scorpion/ape/pony hybrid was thrown backwards off the mountain, a green sphere amidst a sea of white energy arcs that scorched the land and cracked mountains asunder.
Higher above, Golmov punctured the cloud cover as the burning white light hurled him skywards and away, the draconian-centipede hybrid vanishing into the dark late evening skies.
And on the ground, as he just about had the massive gate door of Tartarus off him, Odi-Viscer, and Gaudium possessing him, shared the pain of the force of the blast both heating and pressing the door down upon them. In desperation, they burrowed down, as they were spared the worse of the blast.
Across the peak of Tartarus, as both the royalist army that had stopped short for its own safety, and the Nationalist army now over a mile away, they witnessed the force at work, as a faint shockwave of air hit them even from that far away.
A white blast consumed Tartarus, the bare bones of the mountain like a silhouette among the light, some mountain ridges alongside it being sliced and scorched all the time this went on. Lightning arcs unlike any seen before struck the earth asunder where they fell, and across the night sky, the very stars themselves seemed to flicker, while the half-moon overhead visibly dimmed in brightness for a moment as this cataclysm was unleashed.
As the air and light finally settled, what remained of Tartarus was a daggerlike triangle of a mountain, much of the rest not reinforced by old magic having been blasted away.
The land was scorched black on the slopes surrounding the mountain itself, the damage stopping just half a mile short of the Royalist forces moving to re-secure the mountain. Now, the fortress intact, but empty, surrounded by a recently created no man’s land that still glowed orange hot in the night.
All army members stayed far from the scorched lands of Tartarus, even as the white glow from what would become known as the Hellfire Aurora lit up the night sky.

10 minutes later

Blearily snapping her eyes open, Teal Quirt dragged herself from the crater of rock and dirt she had landed in, wincing at the immense pain she felt in one of her ape arms, likely sprained or worse.
Glancing out to the darkness slowly creeping over Tartarus, now 2 miles away, she gasped as pain finally set in.
High above, a familiar set of mutated wings flapped as he landed, Golmov’s yellow eyes a sight for her own sore green ones.
“Was the weapon destroyed?”
Golmov bitterly remarked: “It took itself out, in a last blast that could have killed us if we were lesser beings. Even now though, I don’t think any of us walked away unscathed.”
“No, and for that reason, more must be done.”
A voice sounded in their heads, as a rushing noise from overhead came with Odi-Viscer roughly landing on the ground from a series of long jumps, having come from the front area of Tartarus. Even in the dim light they saw the burns on his body were healing already.
But as Odi stumbled, a black/purple mist came from his nose, and formed beside him to reveal that same, lanky mismatched being sporting an animal antler ‘crown’, and traits similar to Gaudium. The new being, the seventh they were promised, spoke clearly, though he too had been forced to experience the physical pain Odi had with the blast.
“The Citadel, now. If they are willing to go this far, we shall go further.”
As she stared at Odi-Viscer however, Teal Quirt found herself thinking that something was not right with this seventh being. Something seemed, off about him. But she just could not comprehend what it was, she was so tired right now.
So much had happened today, the battle itself a draw, but one with their abilities tested in many ways. They had proven stronger than any lone Alicorn, but too many surprises had emerged.
Elsewhere, the sacrifices to ensure Tartarus held strong against the most powerful solo beings in Equestria were to be felt in force by the royalty and Wizard, and the Salamander who went to reunite with him after too long.
Secrets would come to a head on all sides it seemed.

Author's Note

The end of the Battle of Tartarus, and a precursor to a greater cataclysm that occurs with much direr effects for the world. Enough said.

Necessary Evils.

Late Afternoon/Early Evening
April 2nd, 71 BNM
Baltimare, Trumane Residence
Main Hall

The party had ended, a mixed bag of celebration/commiseration to appropriately mark the one-day siege of Tartarus the day before.
“A shame by what is heard, but it was foolish to dismiss the Royalists as unskilled rabble. They clearly have a great many secrets and new weapons, ones our own are quickly working to counter, or co-opt for Nationalist use.”
“And I expect no less than absolute commitment to these new developments, especially from you Lord Gauntfell.”
At Lady Trumane’s compliment, the tall light green Unicorn gave a wry smile before he admitted: “Well, my family’s forges didn’t make its wealth off not competing after all.”
The pale yellow Alicorn mare looked deeply into the male Unicorn’s deep blue eyes, as she gave a small, almost dreamy smile before admitting to him:
“Well, it is always a pleasure to see you Gauntfell. There are few ponies who have such manners and charm I’ve seen from you.”
“Thank you my lady. And give your husband my regards.”
As Gauntfell’s deep blue eyes seemed to twinkle, Lady Trumane’s own twinkled a similar blue before she flat out lied casually: “I shall.”

From a balcony further back, the marble white figure of Lord Trumane stared at his wife bidding the Unicorn, Lord Gauntfell, off for the night from the departing arty guests.
And as she let Gauntfell politely kiss her forehoof, she was rather ‘allowing’ in hos far up her hoof he repeatedly pecked her. He only stopped as he got within a foot of her torso, before politely waving and setting off.
The glass in Lord Trumane’s magical grip cracked apart, as he turned to head to his chambers.
Passing a servant, he said warningly:
“Tell my wife I had a matter suddenly come up regarding the Baltimare garrison’s leadership, and I won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Unseen by all of them, as Lord ‘Gauntfell’ turned to leave, he flicked his form when out of sight to morph into a light green Pegasus mare, dark blue magic hued over her body as she did so.
The real Lord Gauntfell, whenever he visited the Trumanes, was kidnapped and mind erased of his visit. He remembered his trip as uneventful, when his guise was used to drive a wedge between the Trumanes’ marriage form one side.
And as she shifted her Pegasus form to her original pegasi form, its lithe, attractive figure for a Pegasus shaping itself, she set to work on a long standing piece of work that was Lord Trumane.
As she masqueraded as a charming stallion, and a sensual mare to each appropriately, her whisperings and magic seeded more doubt, stress, anxiety about the war and each other and their allies.
As she seduced them, she destroyed them.

Late Night
April 2nd, 71 BNM
Baltimare, Trumane Residence
Seperate bedrooms

Wrestling beneath the covers, the marble white Alicorn’s blue mane was dishevelled as he lay beside the light green Pegasus mare in bed with him, both somewhat tired after their evening in and outside this room.
“Must you leave tomorrow?”
“Family business. But do not worry my lord, I will undoubtedly miss you and your more untamed side while I am gone.”
Iena, under the guise of a court maiden mare known as Emeralda Brume, stroked the Lord Trumane’s blue mane with her hoof and wing, humouring him.
“You are a welcome pleasure to be with, certainly after the stumble in the war recently.”
“Shush, remember, there is no war when I am around my Lord.”
As her hoof rested on Lord Trumane’s lips, Teal’s wing tucked the covers further over themselves.
As she nestled closer to him under the bed however, her eyes glowed a dark blue like sapphires, as Trumane’s own eyes glinted the same colour also.
“Forget all those, pretenders, panderers, all those loyal only for their gain, or not loyal enough… just heed me and naught else…”
As she whispered pleasurable words beyond those into his ears, Teal’s voice hissed and echoed slightly in his almost drunken hearing. Her magic worked in his mind and soul, as she weakened his resolve with that most sacred of bonds to be had.
Not even his wife was in his thoughts that night, his somewhat too friendly wife…
All the while, the Being of Lust twisted him with wiles and her sensuality like putty in her hooves, or what she had as her true form.

Late Morning
Baltimare markets

The crowds were angry, and rightly so. Prices for food across the markets were going up in wake of these mysterious degrading of food stuffs.
No amount of salt or magical preservative, not even vaults, was keeping food supplies from vanishing across the city. Bakeries had half their supplies robbed overnight with no sign of break in, and entire grain silos had been drained in a single night over the past few weeks.
But unrest was rife, as what food there was got distributed across the garrison and nobility as priority.
And yet, behind these food shortages was a single culprit, one whose task, compared to others in his ‘ranks’, was both simple and something he could enjoy enough to tolerate the suffering he was causing.

Meanwhile
Baltimare outskirts

The outline of the city and its main castle fortifications was a mile from her on the hill, as Iena waited for Satio to catch up.
The pale green Pegasus stood on the road, waiting patiently as the second figure behind her slumped up after her.
An Orange Earth Pony, and a very fat one at that, slumped up the hill, while she walked over with a helpful smile on her face.
“Tired?”
“I have half a market’s worth of food in me still, I feel bloated.”
As the disguised Satio’s words left his wheezing mouth, Iena laughed lightly as Satio took his time.
“Look, we’ll find a clearing, you can properly absorb it all, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Any idea why Siral called us?”
“No, all I know is Gaudium’s changed, and Tartarus didn’t go exactly to plan.” Iena shrugged, while Satio’s disguised Earth pony body began to glow a slight orange as their section of road entered a more hidden part of the paths, nopony nearby to spot him.
His gelatinous form began to take shape, bloating outwards as Iena grimaced at the sight of the half-digested market and bread stockpiles inside him. She looked at Satio’s translucent, blobl like form now, remarking with a sardonic tone:
“I don’t think eating that many eggs from the bakery, raw eggs, was a smart choice.”
“They’ll be gone soon, and I can manage some queasiness.”
As Satio’s bloblike form ‘slithered’ next to Iena, as he saw her dark blue magic forming a shared teleport spell, Satio asked quietly:
“So, how were the Trumanes last night?”
“…She was a bore, and he has no stamina. Otherwise, they’re doing badly as Siral wants.”
Without another word, as her form also began to shift into a serpentine and two armed form, both Iena and Satio vanished, making the journey north west to the Citadel.

April 3rd, 71 BNM
Late Evening
Nokotaford, Royal Palace

2 days since the Battle of Tartarus, and all it entailed. 2 days of fretting over the future of Equestria. But it was not a loss as feared.
Tartarus still stood, and the Nationalist army and a dozen Stone Giants had been pushed back and beaten, at a high cost. For 4000 dead nationalists and 8 wrecked giants, 3000 army ponies, and a majority of the non-sub level garrisons at Tartarus has been lost. Across both sides, nearly 8,000 died in a single night.
But mourning aside, disregarding the loss of life, what transpired showed that options remained for the Royalists, as the Natioanlists too were on the verge of changing their approach.

Throne room

“Immediately. I want every Alicorn aligned with the Royalist cause to be in contact with me, and trained to use this new spellwork.”
“It will be time consuming to train them all, they also have their own commitments with their often high roles in-.”
“I am enacting a draft all Alicorns, their status be damned. That spell turned the tide at Tartarus, I see no reason to not use it to turn the tide as fast as possible, before the Nationalists find a way to use it themselves.”
“Surely they’d not know how your majesty, after all they were on the receiving end...”
“History shows catching up to new weapons takes much less effort than leading. Which is why I want every Alicorn aligned with me to know how to use this spellwork, no exceptions. If the Natioanlists have these new, creatures, then we must respond in greater kind with powerful individuals of our own. Now go, that will be all.”
The pony servant bowed his head low as he exited the throne room, while Queen Aurora merely looked at the last few letters she had to send. But as her eyes wandered, she saw the stain glass window that held the image of her late husband, King Nova.
In a rare bid of open sadness, Aurora remarked to his image:
“Our daughters are safe. I insisted they move to the Crystal Empire, out of the way of much of the war thus far and foreseeably. They did well, more then I wished them to risk themselves in doing so. But, they almost died to those, creatures, of whom were your killers, the destroyers of Canterlot’s grand castle. Please, Nova, any sign that I am doing the right thing would suffice.”
The stain glass image was silent, leaving Aurora to quietly stare at it, the pale queen in her black dress stood alone in the throne room.

Meanwhile
Late Evening
Nokotaford royal palace
Starswirl’s office

The Necromantium lay on the table between them, as Starswirl had the page opened to a very specific section, one which yielded a secret Chack had some uncertainty about.
“Stooping to Siral’s means?”
“There is no choice, for he made it necessary.”
“It is cowardly, even evil. The mind alone is sacred to the self, but the soul?”
Seeing Chack’s doubts, Starswirl angrily jabbed a hoof onto the table, drawn to the Necromantium book between them as he spoke:
“Siral means to control them all, using that strange 7th you fought as a catalyst, their leash holder so to speak. Once he begins, I will be ready.”
“I will turn the very soul of his latest abomination against him. His most loyal, brainwashed servant will be his undoing if I have any say in it.”
“If you succeed, you’ll kill that 7th.” Chack’s brief reply was far from enough to dissuade Starswirl.
“He is better off dead than a slave of Siral, as are the rest of them. Speaking to one of them that risked herself to inform me is enough to know that this ‘evil’ you decry me for considering is a mercy to them, and to Equestria.”
Chack looked away in deep thought, fondling the green sword he carried in its hilt, gifted of the ancient forest being, once the first ever Alicorn, Everfree.
As they had already discussed their own endeavours when separated, Stasrwirl pointed to the sword:
“But I thought you wouldn’t object to targeted killing of one of them, given your mission from, the forest.”
Chack stared at Starswirl for a moment, before replying bluntly:
“I never said I opposed it, just that it is cowardly and evil. But, War favours cowards and ruthless behaviour.”
Looking down, Starswirl mumbled to himself: “Cruel, just like you Chack.”
“Now, I have a question for you…”
Starswirl opened the page of the Necromantium to a new page, one that detailed spells to simply boost the spellbook’s own magical ‘reserves’ to make advanced magic easier on the user.
“How many have died by your old blade? There is a spell here, to draw power from those it has slain in battle.”
Chack stared at Starswirl, as the Salamander remarked with some of his usual blunt tone to it:
“You really have changed since we met, you would never have considered such methods before. But as you ask, my sword has felled at least a hundred in the civil war, and more before I even met you.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
At that instant, Chack’s old katana blade hovered slowly from his holster, glowing blue as it hovered in place over the Necromantium’s pages.
The katana’s blade began to glow a blood red colour, its ethereal light dripping off like a heavy fog as the Necromantium also began to glow a blood red.
Before him, Starswirl’s eyes turned a blood red, and then disturbingly they rolled into the top of his head to reveal only the whites of his eyes. A strange incantation began to emerge from his lips, as he spoke in a tone of voice that carried around the room like a dozen whispers at once, many of them not like Starswirl at all.
But on Chack’s person, Everfree’s weapon began to vibrate, and even shake, as the forest Alicorn spirit’s voice warned Chack:
This is not the way, there are alternatives.
Chack ignored it, as he reasoned that any help to kill at least one of the seven was welcomed. The news that one of them had come to warn Stasrwirl himself simply meant that ending it was a mercy to them all, despite the crimes some of them committed willingly in Siral’s will.

Author's Note

Starswirl’s delving into Necromancy will have some degree of influence in the initial events. Not as much as he’d like, but enough.

Siral’s Denouement

Denouement: The climax of a chain of events, usually when something is decided or made clear.

Late Afternoon
April 5th, 71 BNM
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress
Catacombs, basement atrium

A circular room, stone floored and with not a single chair or table. amidst the lowest levels of the catacomb basements, held 6 of the 7, as well as their master Siral. He had them all stood before him at attention, watching the potions he was positioning on a magically summoned pedestal before them.
On one of the 6 alters, Lady Ave-Dol’s sleeping, glowing blue Windigo/Alicorn form lay asleep, yet lying back rigid as if in a subconscious alert state.
“It is just two, first is a simple sleeping potion, makes it easier for the second, a metamorphosis potion, to work.” Siral explained passively as he prepared the last of the 6 alter-like beds arranged in a hexagon inside the room.
“Wasn’t sticking us in those giant pots enough of a change for us?” Satio asked nervously, the orange gelatinous, bloblike fat minotaur’s hands wringing while barely reaching each other. The glances towards Lady Ave-Dol weren’t unnoticed by the black, scarred wizard, but it was Golmov that spoke next.
“Yours more than expected given your desire to manage your own changes. What didn’t you put into your self-inflicted brew I wonder?” Golmov cheekily remarked from the back, being the tallest, his centipede like legs shuffling as his wings flexed in a mocking gesture.
As Satio bristled beside her, Iena patted his gelatinous, moundlike form with a comforting hand as she pointed to the odd looking creature stood beside Siral.
“Why is she already here?”
“Lady Ave-Dol agreed to go under ahead of you, to show this will be harmless. She has had the initial sleeping draught hours before, but her changes will have to take place at the same time as the rest of you.” Siral explained, but Iena had other questions still.
“And Gaudium there. What’s he doing here if he isn’t going under like the rest of us?”
“I shall be using my magic in tandem with Siral’s. I merely make a difficult task less of a hurdle. Transformation magic after all, is a strenuous, delicate art.”
‘Gaudium’ replied coolly, not a vein of emotion in his voice as he looked towards a small marked out point that was at the center point of the hexagon layout in the room. But all the time over the past two days they’d seen him, it was not the difference in appearance or abilities that shocked them, but the change in attitude. Gaudium was unflinching, and devoid of doubt or antics that defined him before.
And to others, like Odi-Viscer and Golmov, the raw power he seemed to possess made them wary.
“This whole, ritual, as best I can describe it to you all, will merely enhance what’s already there. More of the same, nothing new.”
Teal Quirt raised an eyebrow, the scorpion/ape centaur hybrid asking the Unicorn wizard:
“I studied at your academy, your teachings, why do I not know this spell of yours?”
“I devised it myself recently, Gaudium’s enhancement was its final test. Now that he’s proven to not have any limitations on his powers, the same can apply to all of you. Whatever your limitations are, known or unknown, this will solve them.”
Not quite sated, Teal nonetheless kept quiet. Odi Viscer however, pointed to the table of potions at the far end of the room, away from the alter table arrangement.
“So what’s the third potion for? I’m not sure I trust it; I’ve never seen a chunky potion before.”
“…That’s a bowl of carrot stew, this ritual will take a few hours and I want to be here the whole time and make sure it goes right.”
Siral’s dismissive tone silenced Odi-Viscer, while nearby Satio quietly muttered:
“Cold stew, not sure even I’d eat it…”
Ignoring the internal pastime mumblings, Teal asked the obvious question:
“But must we all be under at the same time?”
“It is vital, as this must be done all at once. The spell to use once the potion ‘softens’ you up is complicated enough as it is, even with Gaudium here acting as a sort of stabilizing spellcaster.”
“Yes. In case you wondered how I can take control of things’ minds, be it stone giant or even you Odi, well, that was one thing Siral gave me. After this it won’t work on you of course, but you’ll be able to do it yourselves afterwards.”
Odi’s eyes narrowed at the confirmation that the enhanced ‘Gaudium’, this lanky creature with many different animal limbs and a crown of animal antlers, had seized his mind in combat at Tartarus’s final stages. But the prospect of controlling minds was a small benefit that sated the rest.
“Now get ready. If you can be put under as Ave-Dol already is, we can begin in earnest.”
But a flicker of doubt was cast in Teal Quirt’s mind, at the prospect of mind control. She found herself flashing back to her studies at the Savant’s academy. Before she became a royal magician, before she lost her horn at Salaman in the incident involving a certain other Salamander 41 years ago.
A quote Siral himself repeated in his writings before Teal ever met him, which she had suspicions was being breached to some degree.
The memory rattled around inside her head, even as she and the other 5 succumbed to their slumber state after each drinking a sleeping trance potion, joining Lady Ave-Dol in the strange trance/sleep on each of their alter beds, though Golmov’s long centipede like limbs lay limp over the edge, some of their beds having to be resized, and Satio’s having to be reinforced in case he subconsciously absorbed it through his digestive skin.

120 BNM
Equestria mid mountains, former Oracle mount
Savant’s academy, archive library

Her study period, and she had some free time to eat a snack of bread and berries and catch up on some essential reading for her next session with her lecturer.
Even so, she read around out of curiosity, especially of the Academy’s founder, Siral.
Sat at a study bench, a half-eaten berry bowl beside her, young Teal Quirt’s horn turned the page of the heavy tome before her, of Siral’s personal entries behind his exploits in Eauestria shortly before establishing the academy.
After he’d returned from a long journey with another Wizard, Starswirl, after a disagreement.
The passage, a usual note dedicated to something or someone, was instead a simple note that Siral had lived by, one of many nuggets of wisdom Teal found herself agreeing with:
“Mortal beings do not like being pushed about by gods. They may seem to, on the surface, but somewhere on the inside, underneath it all, they sense it, and they resent it.”
And too many times Teal found this saying lined up with Siral’s anti-Alicorn sentiments, at least those that assumed leadership by way of raw power and not earning it.
Little did she know that Siral would later turn to paths that would see him becoming the very thing he railed against.

Present
Late Afternoon
April 5th, 71 BNM
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress
Catacombs, basement atrium

All 6 were under, the tranquiliser potion having been administered to them in , and at this point, Siral’s face turned to a darker grin at the prospect of the next stage finally being here.
“As much as I’d rather not lie straight to their faces, Ave-Dol’s treason made it necessary.”
“In the very least, she was put under with little hassle and removed from her cell.” ‘Gaudium’ remarked at this as he slowly walked towards the centre point, his violet/purple magic beginning to glow in his clawed hands, ready to begin. Siral nodded at this, but knew full well Gaudium’s mind was not his own in this matter.
Now, ‘Gaudium’ was merely an extension of Siral’s will and mind, a blank slate himself. And soon, the others would be too.
Black and grey magic levitated the second potion, to aid in the transformations of mind, and miniscule body parts, to begin. Unlike the other one however, this potion levitated out of its vial and into the air in a large globule, separating into 6 distinct, floating and coalescing balls of potion liquid, a silvery grey colour each.
His black and grey magic working on it, the potion seeped over to the foreheads of each of the 6 creatures now under, as Siral darkened the room with his magic.
“Now, the servants become the master’s will in the flesh, and nothing more.”
As the silvery potion began to very slowly seep into their skin, Siral’s black magic began to circulate over them like a spiralling black and grey mist, as ‘Gaudium’ raised his clawed hands in the centre of the hexagram layout and began to work his violet/purple magic, the ex-Alicorn youth’s strange magic now acting as a conduit, the potion opening the minds of all 6 like visible mists slowly floating into the air like a thin, translucent mist.
“A few hours, but it will be worth it.” Siral mumbled, as his magic began to slowly seep into the mist, held open and accessible by Gaudium’s magic, the mismatched creature’s red and yellow eyes shut in a meditative trance himself.
But magic like this would not go unnoticed by those actively seeking them out.

3 hours later
Late Evening
Nokotaford royal palace
Starswirl’s office

“If I have to deal with another of that infernal Lord Wraithhorn’s anecdotes I shall refuse the next dinner, Queen or Princess’s insistence be damned!”
Starswirl angrily hovered his blue cloak onto a hook nearby, as on the chair beside the desk the Salamander was sat there, peering up from the small book he had been reading. He’d learned to read as a required skill before he met Starswirl or became a master-less Samurai, and only a few years let him learn Equestrian enough.’
“Dinner was good I take it?”
“Don’t get snide with me Chack, I had enough of a blasted headache half an hour into the dinner and meeting to make me feel like my head was about to split open.”
“Well it’s a good thing you did come back, that book of yours began glowing and dimming a few hours ago. I put a black cloth over it, it was very distracting.”
“…And you didn’t mean to tell me anything about that book I’ve, we’ve, used in secret magic, the Necromantium itself, has been acting up of its own accord?”
“Well I would have, but I wasn’t invited to the dinner. And they certainly wouldn’t after I demanded to come in and cursed out the guards when they still refused.”
Ignoring Chack’s remark, a tone of snide derision for his exclusion from the goings on around the palace by his race and/or time spent as a Natioanlist insider, Starswirl hovered the black cloth off the desk, and the entire room suddenly lit up in a sort of pulsating dim light, its colour shifting very slowly across the spectrum too smoothly to really keep track of.
“It is Siral. I set the spell to alert somehow whenever he was up to something, this must be how.” Starswirl’s tone turned dark, as he finally felt his head clearing.
“That thing has been glowing like that for hours now, what is he up to?”
“I’ll find out right now. Get that new sword of yours ready, it can be used to make things easier for me to see.”
Pulling out the green Everfree Sword, Chack felt along its handle to activate just a simple power charging function, as he gently placed the blade atop the open pages of the Necromantium, the multi-coloured glow beginning to shift and produce a few solid images around them, filling the room as Starswirl’s blue magic
As the shapes filled the room, any opportunistic feelings to be had by Starswirl and Chack, namely the former, began to vanish, as what was intended came to full light.

Siral’s mindscape

They arrived in a sort of distorted, fog filled version of the office, as Starswirl and Chack both found themselves staring at a world unlike the real one.
Off in the distance, like a faint star in the skies, a multi-coloured twinkling light shone, and before anything else, the air and fog rushed around them, the world moving.
The Citadel and its valley lakefront flew into view, looming before them as they then thrust their intangible presences down into the earth.
The Catacombs came into view, the vague, mistlike spirits of the guards patrolling the corridors and dungeons, starkly devoid of prisoners today. Every one of them showed the silver light of some form of control from Siral, they were slave to him without knowing it.
But the deepest level beckoned, and as soon as they entered the swirling mist mass that was at the deepest level, 8 minds, 6 dormant, 1 serving and the other manipulating, flew into view.
And of the 1 manipulating mind, Siral’s black and grey laced magic was unmistakable.
But the minds, all of them, were engrossed in their own activities, unaware of the two minds from afar, Chack aided by Starswirl to be here, about to probe inside.
“What is this?”
“Siral’s machinations… And perhaps, knowledge to undo it.”
Starswirl stepped forwards into the maelstrom of mental fog, vanishing inside for a few moments before Chack stiffened his hands into fists and followed the Unicorn into the shared mental storm.
But inside, they saw nothing of themselves, but felt their presences. All they saw, was what Siral imprinted, forced, and even began to remove from the others with the aid of his Seventh servant.
But events years and years ago, of their origins, and Siral’s hoof in them on some occasions, spelt it out clearly.

Odi-Viscer, an angry yet just Earth Pony Stallion, wrath of the Savant.
The Black and white maned Alicorn had seen the boy climbing some trees, rather well for a young Earth Pony, and decided to intervene. The faintest of magic, and the branch snapped under the boy’s weight.
The boy’s crying over a few scraped knees attracted the attention of the wandering Alicorn, who in a bid of sympathy came over and magically healed the bumps and scrapes the boy had, the young black and brown furred Earth Pony foal marvelling at this pony. Big, tall, and with horns and wings.
The kindly Alicorn gave him a last flash of a spell, urging the boy to be on his way before his parents got worried.
As the boy, Grey Gaithoof wandered off back to his village, the disguised Siral teleported away before he could be found.
The boy began to have lashes of sudden anger, blind panic and even spasms at times. It didn’t take long for word to spread of a curse by the Alicorn.
His devoutly Earth Pony only parents, coerced by his village’s staunch opposition to non-Earthers, drugged him and abandoned him in the woods to die, believing him to be possessed.
Years of living in the woods, killing to vent his anger at the world, passed in a blur. Until a Black Unicorn Wizard found him.
He would be essential in destroying what couldn’t be repurposed, and enforcing the will necessary until peace was established.
In the mindscape, cities and entire landscapes were torn asunder by a being tearing it apart, red energy blasting it asunder as impossibly powerful blows were landed upon this threat that had no use to Siral, yet opposed him still.

Satio, a lonely, meek and portly Minotaur male, gluttony of the Savant.
The fat Minotaur angrily vented against the Ponies coming to claim the land he worked to till and farm for his small home, one he as a migrant had worked hard to make for himself.
But they paid him no heed, dismissing him as a migrant who owed Equestria and the local lord for even being allowed to live among ponykind. They mocked him for crying over a little lost land, saying that his portly state showed he didn’t exactly need it.
Satio’s livelihood and source of food taken from him, his once consistent comfort in a lonely but safe existence in a land far from his home country. Hard work he did to make the most of what land he had taken from him.
But as the memories mixed from the two showed, Siral’s magical manipulations of the local lord to take the Minotaur’s land, despite not officially owning it, were key to acquiring the Minotaur in a dejected state with nowhere else to go in the short term.
He would be instrumental in beginning to consume and repurpose what could be salvaged.
Fields of crops belonging to those opposing Siral, those who served any Alicorn, fell asunder upon the ground, as an orange mass advanced like a plague across the lands. Only that which served the Savant’s cause was untouched, as the blob like presence actually stimulated growth if it served the Savant.

Iena, a suave and cunning Pegasus mare, the lust of the Savant.
Her family revelled in their skill in manipulating their way up the court and nobility across Equestria, playing nobility against each other with carefully plotted gossip and information, true and false, laced so delicately to avoid being caught out.
The stallions and mares with the physique in their family to do so, as she did, used their sensuality to their advantage too. And she was good at it, and her family prided themselves on her skill.
But all it took was a single letter to the courts, apparently revealing, with starkly accurate evidence, of every deceit and lie she’d told, using her body and charm to impress it more into susceptible nobility even more so.
And her family denounced her, letting her take the fall for things she and all her family did. That was the unspoken deal her family had, anybody caught out was thrown under the wagon.
In just a week Iena found herself with no home or family, and not a bit to her name.
But the sender of that letter, information inside that had been gathered by watching her closely from outside the nobility after sensing her skills in deceit, found her one night in a brothel, making ends barely meet.
And so Siral took her into his building thrall.
She would be instrumental in weeding out deceit in his future efforts, and being an unseen set of ears and eyes for the Savant, and an assassin if need be.
In her mindscape, Alicorns succumbed to her touch, her voice, as a menacing presence advanced on them, claiming one to destroy or enslave, while she turned and struck down another she charmed, the Alicorns dying in the bliss she put them in.

Teal Quirt, a bitter but wise Unicorn mare, the envy of the Savant.
She studied magic, skilled at it from birth, under the Savant’s academy, idolising Siral without ever meeting him in person, only his legacy in written and built form. She found herself working in the Royal magician guilds, working her way up to full magician level.
Until one fateful trip to Salaman, escorting an Equestrian ambassador. Little did she know she’d encountered an old friend of Siral’s, as she also ran afoul of, to the loss of her horn and much ability to use magic, the sixth exemplary being to come of Starswirl, a Ronin Salamander with a cruel streak.
Effectively crippled, she was ‘let go’ from the Magician guilds.
She’d received a letter from King Nova herself ‘thanking’ her for her service, and apologising. She burnt it within minutes of reading it.
But in all of this, shortly after the Salaman incident, as she recovered there herself, Siral found her, and began to nurture her envy of those with magic power she was robbed of.
She would become Siral’s main enforcer, her shared ideals in hating those with power unearned and beyond what they deserved in her eyes a mirror of his own, and an assassin to boot.
In her mindscape, her mind filled with thoughts of targets. A Salamander, wielding a green blade and a katana sword, lunged at her too slow, her claws and green magic tearing him asunder, before she turned her eyes upon a few unspecified Alicorns in a distant locale.

Golmov, arrogant and proud, the Greed of the Savant.
He claimed the Crystal heart from those weak ponies, but the accursed Alicorn princesses somehow intimidated him, a dragon, into surrendering it. He could never face them again, and what handful of dragons that heard of this whispered of great shame and humiliation on Golmov’s part. Sometimes he contemplated burning the Empire to a cinder to prove them wrong, but it never came to that.
And one day, Siral came to him, finding the dragon skulking in his cave. A kindred spirit who shared a dislike of Alicorns, saying they had no right to rule and take what they saw fit. A Unicorn who had been scarred by an Alicorn in his body and mind, different from Golmov’s scarred pride but just as painful.
He would become the force of the Savant when damage was to be done that left room for salvage to be taken for their own efforts, to seize and still have spoils to build upon.
A fantasy filled the mindscape, as yellow fire and energy rained down upon the Crystal Empire, a leg snatching up the heart. Amidst the raging inferno and energy roiling about, 2 Princesses were reduced to ashes as they screamed.

Ave-Dol, content and pacifist, the Sloth of the Savant.
An Alicorn who chose solidarity and solitude, alone amidst nature. She was an easy target for Siral, as he approached her as a confidant. Passing mention of ‘lost or hurt’ souls he was taking under his care, passing and fleeting passes to strike her sympathetic side, the gentle nurturing side that conflicted with the usual rulership of property and ponies Alicorns mostly did enough to prompt Ave-Dol’s lifestyle.
She came, helping unify through psychological help and pleasantries the others who needed it. An Alicorn that also proved that they could be turned into useful assets if not destroyed.
She would become the pacifying force of the Savant, a means to quell the population by force that had already been conquered, rendered obedient through complacency and pleasant thoughts, and at its most extreme, rendered so pacifist they were incapable of any action and starve to death if not preyed upon.
Thoughts of her restraint in her cage, upon Siral finding she’d gone to Starswirl to try and help stop him, filled the mindscape. Torture and pain as she was restrained from speech, helpless to stop herself from being part of this and giving up as a result.
In the mindscape, thousands of ponies and other beings submitted to the Savant’s will through her, without a fight. No thought of rebellion against the greater good would ever come again. There would be no will but that of the Savant, enforced through his servants.

Gaudium, creative and shy, now an empty vessel to obey the master, the Pride of the Savant.
He was a gifted artist and sculptor, good humoured but maybe a tad clumsy at times. His family had no need of artists, only politicians or military, and so he was shoved aside in an out of town estate.
When his family was slaughtered by the being of Envy in a faux Nationalist attack, Siral rushed in under the guise of an elderly Unicorn who had been confiding in Gauidum about his artwork for a while.
Nurturing his skills, Gaudium was on track, until intervention by Starswirl came. Then, hearing the plans, the short sighted Alicorn let grief at the methods claim his soul, and to ensure he would serve he needed role, he was imprisoned.
And as soon as he was placed in to be enhanced, perfected, everything that was Gaudium was erased from his mind entirely. Skills and basic knowledge remained, but Gaudium was dead in all but body. Devoid of the Savant’s mind, he was a child in his lack of own identity.
The pride of the Savant for a reason, for there was pride to be had in a creature that needed no ‘fixing’, unlike the other 6. Obedient and powerful from the beginning, not a servant as much as an extension of Siral’s will, the will needed to restore the world to balance.
In the mindscape, ‘Gaudium’ acted as the leash holder for the others, while Siral held Gaudium’s control as his own.

There is no self, there is only the Savant.
There is no doubt, there is only the Savant.
The Savant sees what must be done, to remove that which would destabilise the world, that would destroy the world by the conflicts of those poisoned by their own power.
Every Alicorn killed is the world spared another, to slay or enslave one to the way of greater peace and stability is a mercy to them, for they are spared their needed death.
Every single Alicorn, and any who stand with them, is an enemy. An enemy to be slain, or coerced to our will.
Do what must be done, my will.
The Tartarus weapon has shown the lengths they can go to for power against each other, and the world will suffer for such power being used. They know no restraint, no mercy, and so respond in kind.
Only through the will that is the Savant’s shall peace ever return to the world.

“He is insane.” Chack’s utterance flowed through the dreamscape. At this, the unseen presence of Starswirl made himself known at last.
“SIRAL!”
At that instant, the dreamscape shuddered, turning to a lightning wracked storm around them, the other mental presences shifting. A flash to the real world showed the 6 beings on their altar like tables visibly shifting in discomfort, while the 7th in the centre flinched at the interruption. Siral’s expression however, was one of outrage, as the mindscape taking place over hundreds of miles erupted.
“YOU DARE! I will not be undermined by an intervening Unicorn who slaves himself to prophecy!”
“You cannot hide anything anymore Siral. You’ve shown your hand to them!”
“Only so they can be one with me. What makes them themselves shall be gone, as it has been with Gaudium Valhoof. But before that, you will never awaken from this place.”
The stormy dreamscape picked up, as the multi-coloured hurricanes around them faltered and spasmed. Turning around as he materialised, Starswirl found Chack’s presence:
“GO!”
With a yell, the Salamander’s mental presence was catapulted out, right as Siral’s own mental dominace pounce don the Wizard.
As the Salamander left however, the green mist of Envy amidst the dreamscape suddenly emerged, ever so slightly, from the subconscious state Siral had them in.

Midnight
Nokotaford royal palace
Starswirl’s office

Falling backwards from his chair, Chack snapped out of it to see he was back in the real world, but the office was in chaos.
Multicoloured magic flew books and parchment everywhere, as the Necromantium lay open, glowing a fierce blue and black, while Chack’s Everfree sword pulsated green as it exited the influence.
In his own chair, Starswirl writhed about, his eyes flashing open to reveal only whites, deep in a trance that was somehow hurting him.
“Starswirl, Starswirl!”
No amount of shaking Chack did snapped the Wizard from his almost seizure like state, as the Salamander rushed to the door to find some help.

Meanwhile, Crystal Empire
Royal guest rooms

Snapping awake, Princess Luna rubbed her forehead, seeing it was midnight right now. But somewhere far off, something between a dream and an awakened state was causing intense distress and anger to emanate through the subconscious realm of dreams she had a skill in probing.
Knowing she would have to speak to her sister, the night princess settled down again, hoping this was merely a bad dream on her part, and not what she thought it was.

Siral’s mindscape

Starswirl choked as the black and grey mist surrounded him. Siral was the one in control here, Starswirl had merely visited his mind. And yet, he was distracted by the others.
“You’re weak Siral. Unable to deal with Alicorns yourself if you so desire them, and unable to make any allies that you can trust to help you willingly. Face it, you are alone in this quest of yours…”
“I am strong enough to end you, and you will see in death’s realm that I am right. I forge my own future, I do not bow to outside influence or destiny, least of all, yours that would deceive me out of mistrust. We are more alike than you care to admit, we both seek our own ends. But unlike you-.”
The mist tightened its grip around Starswirl’s throat, as Siral’s scarred visage emerged from the fog to leer right into Stasrwirl’s choking eyes. As the fog tightened, the other 6 mists, and the 1 keeping a leash on them for Siral, faltered for the moment.
“I make my own destiny!”
“You are no master worth serving, especially if you ruin lives to acquire them as slaves, as those who have will know starting now!”
At that moment, the green mist became much fiercer, as Siral whipped around to glimpse the chain reaction of his control of the others, save for the seventh, vanish before the procedure was complete.
Around them, as the mindscape began to fall apart, Starswirl began to pull back, at which Siral lunged for him, black and grey smoke like a million knives trying to skewer him following him.
But the dream detonated before they could land.

Shortly after Midnight
Nokotaford royal palace
Starswirl’s office

“Starswirl! Starswirl!”
As the Wizard recoiled up in a cold sweat, the guards that had come to help him backed away, the Unicorn staggering to his feet as Chack asked bluntly, kneeling down:
“What happened in there?”
“He knows, and so does one other. But he’s on the cusp, if he has them all under control…”
Chack however, was not worried. By Everfree’s insight, he knew that seeds of rebellion were planted already. And today, today was what they needed.
“He won’t.” Chack remarked offhandedly. At this, Starswirl slumped back, while the Guards decided to shuffle away, though one asked if they should alert the Queen.
It was best to wait until morning, until they had a better idea of what happened.

Shortly past midnight
April 6th, 71 BNM
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress
Catacombs, basement atrium

The Black Unicorn shuffled to his feet, a massive headache in his skull pounding incessantly.
Turning around, Siral saw that Gaudium, in his multi formed, lanky body, was struggling to keep the others under, as the 5 all actively writhed to get free.
But movement off the 6th made Siral’s heart leap.
Shuffling off her altar, as Gaudium remained locked to his spot, awake, and trying to keep the other 5 from waking up, Teal Quirt’s scorpion claws and ape hands, and all 4 of her face horns, light up with green magic, as did her eyes.
“Stand, down.” Siral darkly remarked, his black magic, having grown less grey each day, beginning to engulf him. Caught in a bad situation, Gaudium, wide eyed and childlike in his own initiative, looked pleadingly to Siral. But a warning glare told him to keep the others under, at all costs.
“You would reveal to us everything and then make us forget everything we were. Knowing all you know, but not rebellious, no personal feelings, just like that, creature you have to keep us in line…”
“Instead, I will ensure we all reduce what you have built, all you are, is gone and forgotten. And then, we will destroy whom you wish destroyed, if only to spite you in not being able to live to see it.”
Siral’s eyes widened, as that little tidbit of pride and ambition was made clear. He felt if he failed to live to see every Alicorn ‘problem’ solved he’d have failed.
But as the green magic built in her claws, hands and horns, she saw black magic fire at her. In a desperate bid, she fired outwards, the green magic crashing into Iena’s altar like table to send the Naga/Siren/Changeling hybrid tumbling to the ground as Siral’s magic crashed her against a wall.
Hovering past Gaudium, who visibly struggled to keep the other 5 under in sleep, Siral’s magic intensified as he pressed Teal’s body harder into the wall of the chamber.
“NO, MORE, REBELLION!”
The black magic engulfed the room, but in the back, as he struggled to keep them under, Gaudium’s red and yellow eyes lit up with fear as he saw one of Iena’s hands begin to move slowly on the ground as Teal’s shrieks of pain filled the chamber.

Author's Note

A domino effect of sorts begins, and all because Starswirl caused Siral to lose his concentration at a crucial moment.
He didn’t make them forget all that was their memories yet, of the other 6 at least. Now, they all know EVERYTHING he has done, to them directly or intends to do, but retain any personal feelings on the matter.
Now the only truly loyal servant he has to rely on in Gaudium, and he’s having trouble in that instance. More will come as more wake up too.

Citadel's Fall I, Insurrection

Shortly past midnight
April 6th, 71 BNM
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress
Catacombs, basement atrium

As the black magic blasted her against the wall, threatening to crush her, Teal gasped aloud as a green burst of her own magic let loose in a pulsing blast, cancelling it out and sending a shockwave through the room.
“You were using us, I trusted you, I idolised you, I thought we had an understanding!”
“If things that must occur are to occur, I must control EVERY asset, even you all!”
“So that is all we are to you? Assets, slaves like Gaudium!?”
Teal angrily fired a green pulse towards Siral, but was caught off guard as he disintegrated into a black cloud that absorbed the green magic, and then shot back to from in a glowing shackle around her ankle. Hurled around the circular walls as if dragged around them, Teal Quirt was slammed into the floor after a half circle around the sealed chamber.
All the while, in the centre, Gaudium struggled to keep the other 5 under sleep, as his purple hued red and yellow eyes showed signs of strain. Purple magic glowed from his multi-animal limbs and head horns, but it was much to manage with 5 beings.
Noticing this, Teal’s eyes narrowed in thought, before she instinctively made a choice. Raising her ape arm, she fired a series of green beams across the room, blasts hitting the walls and a few alter tables. A purple shield protected the 5 still under, Iena herself off her alter table and still unconscious on the floor. But the blast made ‘Gaudium’ flinch, and the shield and control wavered slightly.
A black magic suddenly gripped Teal once again, as Siral angrily hurled her upwards to the ceiling.
Bricks and cement, along with dirt, fell to the floor as Siral crashed the scorpion/ape hybrid upwards into the higher levels, before he surged up in a flash of black smoke.
Straining, Gaudium refocused his efforts on keeping the others under. But at that moment, a dark blue glow began to light up his face as a snakelike being slithered up, delirious, but angry.
Iena rose, gaining full consciousness as Gauidum glared at her, rooted to the spot as he focused his magic on keeping the other 4 under, and also shielding himself.
Narrowing her gaze, the naga/changeling/siren hybrid charged her own magic, looking at Gaudium with venom in her eyes:
“You serve Siral, no mind of your own. If he goes, you’ll be nothing...”
Her magic flared outwards, filling the room, the scales on her lower body seeming to reflect the light like a thousand mirrors as Gaudium was forced to shield his body. But from his form, a purple silhouette of magic appeared, shaped like him, and lunged forwards through the blinding lights to engulf Iena in a consuming black and purple fog.
As she felt her body being almost shocked by the magic, she eyed around the still dormant 4 others, hurling a slicing shockwave towards the purple light pouring like smoke vapour from the being attacking her in the centre, towards the alter that held Satio’s unconscious, orange skinned gelatinous minotaur shape.
As it was severed, Gaudium recoiled, grunting in shock as his eyes flared black, the enslavement of Siral deep in his psyche, and not much else. But this otherwise empty minded being was powerful, very powerful.
‘Gaudium’s’ purple magic flew from his eagle clawed hand, and with a single slash wrought a sliced portal behind Iena on the wall. A purple shockwave sent her reeling through it, but in a desperate bid she hurled out her naga tail like a whip, blue magic engulfing it to extend its reach.
Scales wrapped around Gaudium’s throat, and dragged the Draconeraqus servant of Siral through the portal he’d created.
As their screams left, the 4 remained engulfed in a purple mist, but among them, the orange minotaur stirred, awakened by his fall triggered by Iena’s magic blast.
His vision clearing, his mind filled with all that had occurred, Satio looked around desperately, his bloblike form stirring and shifting as he glanced around at the dorment Golmov, Odi-Viscer and Ave-Dol. His glance looked upwards now, to the hole where blasts of magic and shouts of Citadel guards echoed down.
But it was the diminishing portal before him that Gaudium had been dragged through by Iena that got his attention. The portal shrank quickly.
Hurling out a dozen orange tendrils from his bloblike mass, Satio shuffled/oozed forwards, orange magic glowing on his body as he forced the portal to remain open, his form quickly squeezing through it like an octopus through a tiny hole in a ship. As soon as he was through, the portal remained forced open by his orange magic.
Left alone, the 3 still in the chamber were left dormant, but all beginning to stir. The purple haze over them slowly diminishing as their caster, and by extension Siral, was no longer there to keep it up.

Citadel, upper catacomb hallways

A few guards retreated as the stone and dust rose in the tunnel, and black smoke filled the hallway.
But amidst it all, a Unicorn fired back waves of spells, as a green hued creature fired back, deflecting whatever Siral sent her way.
As the two guards looked on however, the Unicorn, their master, glimpsed them.
At that instant, a silver glint overcame their eyes, and they charged forwards in a battle stance, one charging her horn, the other preparing his crossbow.
The scorpion bodied, ape torso’d creature flared her 4 horns, her face scowling as she saw Siral hover backwards rapidly, while two guards charged her. One fired a crossbow bolt, but her green magic made it melt in midair, and send the molten metal and wood right back to burn into the Earth Pony guard’s face, his screams echoing as the Unicorn mare fired a shot into Teal’s face.
The yellow magic rippled off of Teal’s passive shields, and the being of Envy grew annoyed as she advanced, eying the Unicorn while yelling ahead to the hallway, a black smoke vanishing:
“Coward! Us and your guards serve fight battles you scheme, but cannot handle yourself!”

That same black smoke reached far into the hallways, and inside of a storage vault, a small cabinet of Alicorn amulets was unearthed, each one teleported and engulfed in black smog as sounds of battle filled the distant hallways.

A single swipe of a green hued scorpion claw and she had the Unicorn mare by the neck, before slicing it like scissors to thread.
But the Earth Pony she’d burned with his own molten crossbow bolt then reeled and went quiet. A black and grey smog formed, though she noticed a distinct red glow at its core. And it was too small to be Odi-Viscer’s eyes.
A ringing shockwave of magic nearly burst her eardrums, but not before bricks and debris formed into a solid brick wall between her and Siral plus the blinded guard, and began to barrel towards her.
Caught as it crashed into her, Teal held fast as the solid wall ploughed her down the hallway, crashing her into the wall where it turned to begin going down some stairs. Shifting beneath the rubble, green magic blasting it away, she saw Siral striding forwards in the black magic laden hallway, a red Alicorn amulet, one of a few she’d seen and knew he’d crafted from a dozen of more harvested ones, dangling from his neck.
Beside him, the near blinded and burned Earth Pony fell to the ground, black magic sapping the life and magic from him as Siral’s own body glowed a darker shade, eyes lighting up as the power flowed into him. As she readied to fight however, Siral breathed out, and without a moment’s hesitation, hurled the red Alicorn amulet aside.
Now, Siral began to change, his entire body becoming shadow itself. Beginning to shift, a warning blared through the castle to the guards on all levels to lock down, to subdue the creatures that had rebelled.
“If I must tear you apart, I do so knowing how to rebuild you without the flaws of rebellion.”
“I trusted you, we all did. Were you using us to your own ends!? You’re no better than Alicorns are by your logic!”
“Unlike them, I use what power I am amassing to restore the world to a time when there were no all-powerful beings.”
“If you did, you would have to cast us all aside, reduce or destroy us! You won’t! You’re obsessed with power, even if it kills or enslaves others!”
“I see mistakes Alicorns have made, and I shall relinquish power when it is no longer needed.”
“You even lie to yourself it seems! Looking into another’s mind can show things even they don’t see themselves!” Teal rebuked, to which she followed with hurling her ape hands high up, and sending a maelstrom of green lightning arcs down the hallway, scorching and cracking bricks while forcing Siral to form a small shield around himself.
“You’re as bad as the Alicorns are, drunk on power! I see no reason why we all shouldn’t kill you along with the rest of them! You all cast us aside the moment someone better to use comes along! I was once your trusted second, and now you have a loyal dog in Gaudium to do it!”
As the lightning scorched the hall, stone and debris began to flood the hallway, but as the attack settled, Teal’s eyes widened as Siral’s hovering black mass uncovered itself, flickering with some damage but largely unharmed.
A few tendrils of darkness flicked off some stone debris, before Siral glanced around before curtly staring her down as she stood at the end of the hallway.
“Your feelings of inadequacy, they spoil your judgement. If you had been a loyal servant under my rule, helping reshape and reform the world, you would have risen beyond the power losing your horn robbed you of.”
As she readied a green blast in her scorpion claws, bringing them together beneath her torso to aim as one combined set of claws, she felt something seize her body, as a black smoking hand had formed beneath her like a puddle of shadow to grab her violently. His form shimmering with dark magic, Siral’s gaze narrowed as his voice magnified before her.
“Instead, like the others, I will destroy and rebuild you as more obedient!”
Black arcs of lightning arced around Teal’s body as she was hurled upwards, further into the upper levels of the Citadel, while Siral vanished yet again in a haze of black smoke to finish her off.

Citadel, lower levels
Catacombs, forging chambers

The portal had formed overhead, and a few guards patrolling the lower floor ran for cover as Iena landed roughly, her scaly form rolling to a crashing stop from high above against a wall.
Multiformed limbs clawing the floor as he landed, ‘Gaudium’ stretched up, his purple magic engulfing him as he thrust the aura into the floor. A weblike crack of purple energy flew towards Iena, one she avoided with a deep blue light engulfing her as she began to hover rapidly around the room. Where the purple ‘cracks’ formed, intense heat and blasts erupted like vertical, destructive jets of magical energy.
Fixing on her place across the forging chambers lower floor, Gaudium focused his magic and let loose an area barrage of the attacks, as the floor erupted in numerous cracks of magic blasting in every direction, scorch marks filling the room.
Guard Unicorns took shelter in any cover they could find, whilst the Naga/changeling/siren hybrid shielded herself with her blue magic against the lightning arcs from the floor and air.
But before her, as she lowered her arms, she saw a portal had appeared right in front of her face. And on the other side of the room, Gaudium had a single hand raised to one just beside him, an intense purple beam about to fire.
Ducking, her blue hued naga tail flinging upwards, the purple beam emerged through the portals, but was deflected by her imbued tail. The beam blasted across the room, severing the stone arches of a section of the upper bridge that ran by all 7 caldron vats, as well as blasting a large chunk out of one of the large vats in question, the same one that held the mark of Golmov’s creation.
As the blast and beam subsided, Gaudium readied another beam, but stopped as an orange mass landed between them like a massive blob of gelatinous material. A multitude of tendrils reached out, right as the guards also came swarming from their hiding places, magic and weapons firing at the new mass that had entered the fray.
Magic and solid weapons were absorbed by the orange mass, but the tendrils all reached for Gauidum, glowing orange as they did so.
Ducking backwards, the Draconeraqus flinched as one caught him by one of his many antlers on his crown, grunting as its mixture of burning and surface ingesting fluids disintegrated it, severing him of it entirely as he pulled away.
Satio reformed himself, the large bloblike Minotaur’s orange form hurling the half ingested horn aside from the tendril extending from his body, as he glared at Gaudium, then at Iena with more shared pain and anger. Turning back, his form began to slowly grow, beginning to fill the entire hall with his bloblike body:
“Siral ruined our lives to have us… Never again…”
“You will bow to our will!” Gaudium barked, the draconeraqus firing his magic at Satio. Not very powerful himself, Satio’s power lay in simply being able to assimilate anything that tried to harm him, and send it back. The purple magic was absorbed, and redirected back at Gaudium just as powerful.
Slithering around Satio’s now massive form, Iena’s blue magic seized the Draconeraqus unexpectedly, and hurled him across the room. The blue tendril that held the Draconeraqus, made of energy, sliced an unfortunate guard firing at Satio in two.
But the Draconeraqus formed a portal that engulfed him as Iena swung him, vanishing into it.
From above, he came down, a twin beam of magic aimed at Iena, which she barely avoided with rapid dodges. But as he fell down, she unleashed a shockwave of magic that blew him sideways.
Satio’s large body began to engulf him as soon as he landed against what was his oversized ‘love handle’, the Draconeraqus’s purple magic preventing him from being absorbed too quickly.
But even so, his purple magic grew fiercer, as Satio exclaimed through pain to Iena:
“How strong is he?”
“Just keep eating him!”
“You will bow to the master’s will or be destroyed!”
Gaudium’s purple magic burst open Satio’s side, the gelatinous Minotaur’s orange mass beginning to reform itself as the Draconeraqus then suddenly formed a double of himself behind Iena, and launched her into the place he’d just been getting absorbed by.
As she landed inside his still half open body, what digestion processes Satio had running began to sting her body immediately. As she screamed, Satio’s form shuddered as he stopped digesting, and began to expel her from his body side fast.
While she was all but spat form Satio’s side, Gauidum’s double disappeared, as he began to form a series of portals, and force them onto parts of Satio’s body.
One by one, they formed over small parts of Satio’s massive form and rapidly shut, taking a part of him somewhere else and simulating having sections of body hacked off fast.
As Satio began to shrink, out of pain and losing body mass, Gaudium readied a purple shield, while Iena charged herself deep blue, screeching:
“You and he won’t harm us anymore! You ruined me, you ruined Satio, how many others have you ruined to make you immense servants to-.”
Cutting her off, and even spooking Gaudium somewhat, came a roar form below, from the initial alter chamber to permanently enslave them.
It was a dragon’s roar, as Golmov had finally awoken. A crashing noise came, as the dragon hybrid worked on getting up fast. And at the same time, a panicked series of screams echoed, Ave-Dol’s tone.
But of the noises, of Odi-Viscer, that was the silencer for them.
An undefinably powerful, rage filled bellow filled the catacombs, rocking it to its core enough to be felt through their feet. A noise made only by a demon enhanced, stone giant and ape creature that was once an Earth pony boy, cursed by Siral for his own ends.
Even amidst the pain of Gaudium’s now no longer scissor like portals on him, Satio breathed out aloud, remarking:
“We have to get out of here!”
“Nobody leaves until-!”
Gaudium’s shriek was cut off as what felt like an earthquake began to slightly rock the catacombs.

Citadel, main atrium

As Teal Quirt skidded backwards on her scorpion legs, her green magic hurling aside a row of brainwashed guards that attacked her on Siral’s orders, the Dark Wizard advanced on her, eyes ablaze.
But the roars from below of the rest finally waking up, and especially the most powerful of those Siral had directly wronged to acquire, made both of them pause briefly.
As he sensed this, Siral made a quick decision, and a mental call went out to the valley of Stone Giants nearby as the castle began to rock more and more.
Across from him in the Atrium, Teal’s eyes lit up with promised vengeance for the Wizard:
“My allies against you aren’t hapless guards and a single brainwashed, if powerful slave.”

Same time, shortly past midnight
2 miles away from Citadel

Wrenching themselves from the main valley, two of the larger stone giants, too big to go far but good for defending the Citadel, began to tower upwards 200 metres or more, one a massive bear shape, the other a sleeker, 10 legged lizard like form.
Heeding their master’s call, they ventured to bring under control or destroy the rebelling entities the Master and his closest servant were dealing with, before they destroyed too many of the more mortal level guards and staff present in the future stronghold of Siral’s power.
In the dark night skies, as the Citadel’s many lanterns lit it up from the lake it overlooked, the advancing forms of the massive giants shook the landscape, the massive pair of creatures quickly advancing.
Even so, the earth tremors in the valley were not coming from just those two creatures tonight.

Author's Note

A multi part mini section detailing the fall of the Citadel, and how like a bunch of dominos, the 6 still intact minded servants of Siral release each other and rebel.
Of the 3 who Siral directly interfered and ruined the lives of, it is no surprise to anyone among them that Odi, of wrath, would be the most upset by the revelations Siral’s incomplete mind sharing/brainwashing would give.

Citadel’s Fall II, Anarchic Beings

Shortly past midnight
April 6th, 71 BNM
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress

The rumblings of chaos inside the Citadel could be heard from across the lake it presided over in the valley, let alone the 2 Stone Giants that advanced on the fortress from the north.
A single Owl, its wary eyes scanning across the lake from the tree branch it roosted on, flapped its wings in shock as another tremor rocked the valley. The silver glint in its eyes, like so many birds in the valley the Savant had influence over, was dimmed, as the master was occupied with greater concerns.
Across the lake, a burst of red light was the source of the new tremors.
Yet further south, on a small plateau, a small detonation of purple light escaped into the night sky.

Hidden Labyrinth entrance

Bursting from the entrance, the one-way Labyrinth an exit in this instance, akin to tracing a tree’s branch back to its trunk, the Draconeraqus came to a steady hover high above, as traces of the magic explosion Gaudium was launched by set some of the coniferous forest ablaze.
Surging from the hole, an orange mass like a gelatinous flood poured out, trees it touched melting away in its all-consuming path. Erupting out, a pair of eyes glinted from the orange mass as Satio’s shapeshifting mass came after the Draconeraqus.
Hurling another bolt of magic at him, Gaudium’s red and yellow eyes narrowed as the bloblike mass absorbed it yet again, while a flicked wave of orange magic was sent back his way, the Draconeraqus twisting mid-flight to avoid it as it cut into the night sky above.
As Satio’s form had left the tunnel, Iena’s serpentine form slithered out after him, her dark blue magic charging as she saw Gaudium readying a much bigger magic attack of his own.
“Keep running away, you can’t beat us both!”
“I just needed some room to work is all!”
The purple magic flared outwards, as Gaudium’s clawed fingers snapped. The ground beneath Satio’s massive, bloblike state suddenly was engulfed in further darkness. Off to the side, a massive section of ground had reared up, and as if the ground itself was flicking itself like one would a rug to rid it of dust, the very earth itself catapulted the glowing orange mass skywards, across the lake. A sonic boom, like a whiplash, ripped through the night as Satio went hurtling up and away over the darkened waters.
Satio’s unintelligible yell of panic as he was hurled across the half mile-wide lake would have been heard had it not been for the earth trembling as it resettled, or the rampages going on in the main Citadel, let alone the 2 Stone Giants that had reached the main fortress.
But the crash as he landed on the shores beyond, and slowly slid to sit halfway in the lake, were heard.
As she glanced helplessly at this, Iena turned slowly to see Gaudium hovering to stand menacingly before her, purple and dark magic flowing around his multi-creature featured body. One of his many antlers was still sliced off by Satio’s absorbing tendrils, but in spite of this, he was unharmed.
Flaring out her hands, Iena’s dark blue magic brought some nearby trees to life, some uprooted by Gaudium’s earth ‘wave’ attack against Satio. The roots and branches curved and spiked as they flew towards the Draconeraqus, a thousand skewers at once.
But a purple shield burnt and disintegrated every single wood spike and tree fragment that would have impaled him, as the Draconeraqus then pointed a single finger at her face from his position, and with a single snap, a ball of white energy shot out, before it detonated halfway to create a blinding flash of light.
Recoiling from temporary blindness, Iena felt her throat seize as purple magic engulfed it, and she was dragged towards a wood fragment and dust surrounded Draconeraqus before her. Choking slightly, she felt the earth itself come up, liquefying like mud to engulf her tail and arms before solidifying again, trapping her.
But Gaudium kept a hold of her throat, as his red and yellow eyes turned completely black, and she felt a burning presence in her mind. Her body began to slowly turn grey, as he growled to her as he began a more forceful indoctrination process:
“No more self, there will be only the master!”
Her own blue magic and resistance fought back, half her body turned a dull grey, the rest resisting sharply. Around them, blue and purple swirled, the ground acting up as dust flew around them.
“You’re a slave, he tricked you, just like he did us all! He killed your family.”
“I was created to serve, there is nothing else to me. As there will be with you.”
Straining, Iena tried to find something, anything to resist this Draconeraqus’s power. But this creature had been designed to enslave them, keep them in check, and she had no defence except temporary resistance against it.

Citadel, Main Atrium

Backing up, Siral loomed around, his body engulfed in dark magic. Too many guards to count lay dead around them, as Golmov’s yellow magic and centipede like legs hurled the last one away. And from below, as the last rumblings subsided, the stone floor gave out as a grey flesh and stone skinned arm pulled himself up.
And at their middle, Teal Quirt in all her ape/scorpion centaur shape embodiment.
Outside, Siral knew the two giants were waiting. But he enhanced his voice, magically enchanting it:
“Retreat to lower levels!”
As he reduced his voice, Teal’s venomous tone came across the atrium as she slowly advanced, legs scuttling on the ground as she dragged a green glowing scorpion clawed foreleg to cut a line in the masonry.
“You’ve lost, you have no power against all of us.”
“You’re all doomed without me, without unity. You may be powerful, but separated you have no chance at defeating all the Alicorns, wiping them from history.”
“What makes you think we want to do that anymore?” Teal asked bluntly, to which Golmov eyed up Siral with aggressive challenge, the dragon hybrid’s legs clicking as he advanced, his form as big as possible.
Beside him, Odi-Viscer stretched to his full height, standing unnaturally still as he focused on the Wizard before them.
At this, Siral suppressed a laugh, as he said plainly:
“You’ve seen my thoughts, more than I’d care before you lost all self and drive that causes this rebellion. But I have seen yours, and I see it in all of you 6, bar Ave-Dol. A resentment of authority now, of Alicorns imposing power over you, making you feel suppressed. All I did, was exploit what resentment was already there, enhance it along with your bodies, give more reasons to lend fuel for your dislike of them, your hatred and resentment, regardless of whether I had to directly interfere in your lives before we met officially.”
At this, Odi-Viscer’s eyes turned ablaze, red as a fire’s embers, as he charged Siral at that moment. Spikes extended from his apelike knuckles, his size growth out of rage making his fists as big as Siral’s Unicorn body.
“WAIT!” Teal shouted, but Siral’s body vanished into black smoke, as Odi-Viscer went bursting through the Citadel’s front doors blowing them off their hinges with a red blast.
Yet right outside, as he skidded to a halt, the booming rumble of the 2 Stone Giants drew Odi-Viscer’s attention. Their silver eyes glinting in the darkness as they advanced reminded him of Siral’s magic, the one who took everything he had as a foal from him just to get him later in life as a servant and weapon.
The ground cracked as the stone/ape hybrid leapt towards the nearest giant, his bellow filling the night as red beams shot from his eyes, scorching molten orange slices into the nearest Stone Giant’s head as he landed outside the Citadel walls, tearing across the ground and ripping aside trees and entire hillside rocks as he tackled its legs.
Buckling, the Giant groaned in the night as the being of Wrath began to attack it head on.

Inside the Atrium however, as Odi-Viscer rampaged against his stone giants, Siral’s voice echoed across the darkness filled main hall now, while Golmov’s large form and Teal Quirt’s smaller one stood fast, wary of an attack from any direction.
“But as all your power grows, so does my OWN!”
At that last syllable, the entire atrium turned a complete pitch black, the air rushing around them as reality itself began to distort.

From outside, a sphere of utter blackness, as if a black hole from beyond the stars the civilisations of now were unaware of had come down to occupy the hall. Black and grey magic like lightning flickered around it.
Struggling up the hole Odi-Viscer’s rampage a floor below had caused, bleary and shaken from the levels of hyper violence left in Odi’s wake, to say less of the others, not being one to desire an outright rampage right away, Ave-Dol glimpsed the black sphere inside the Atrium.
Golmov and Teal Quirt were inside, as was Siral. But she sensed Odi-Viscer’s rampage further away, outside the Citadel.
But what really drew her was what she sensed to the south. Iena, and across the lake was Satio. Yet with Iena, a corrupted mind:
“Gaudium…”
With not another word, the Windigo hybrid took off, her translucent blue and white frame passing over the many dead guard bodies and crumbling stone as the black sphere’s lightning arcs took their toll on the support structures of the Citadel.
Darting out, Ave-Dol’s flight turned its back to the shrieks of earth moving and crashing a half mile to the north, as Odi-Viscer’s eye beams had sliced a Stone Giant’s leg clean off. On the dark hillside, he seized the massive leg, and with a heave that roared louder than a thunderbolt overhead, swung it over his own head to smash down atop the same Stone Giant’s head with enough force to send waves across the lake.

Over the sound of all the carnage there, as the waves rippled from the battles, they reached the south end of the lake, where Satio’s orange mass lay semi-awake from his flight.
Disturbed by the ripples, his eyes flashed open, and he felt the water he was sitting in. Vaguely, he recalled his emergence form the caldron at his ‘rebirth’.
Over the tremors, Satio’s massive bulk slid into the lake like a land jellyfish, beginning to glow a brighter orange as it did so, a few ripples of suction forming in his wake as water began to flow into him from all directions.

Meanwhile
Citadel Catacombs
Artefact vault

Some hallways had already caved in, as the fortress shook from the carnage unfolding on the ground floor.
But as he tore through the vault, Tacit Scrivener, a Unicorn stallion vowed to silence out of devotion to Siral, before he got the usual indoctrination, looked for what he knew needed to be salvaged. Around him, others seized the artefacts, in case this room caved in.
As was becoming swiftly apparent, Siral’s strengthening enchantments on the foundations and structures were not enough to endure the wrath of these rebellious creatures.
“Leave the potion crap! Rare items and forged ones only!”
The leader of the Fortress’s ‘keepers’, or the all-purpose housekeepers of sorts who oversaw the day to day runnings of the Citadel, bellowed to the others working to open the many cabinets.
Treasures, mystic artefacts and rare tomes Siral had collected, were tucked into robes and satchels as they tore through the room.
Opening the last cabinet, Tacit’s eyes turned to see what he needed to save.
The cabinet of Alicorn amulets. Oddly though, one of them was missing, a red one.
Shrugging off this, knowing only Siral had access unless he lifted the lock enchantments in an emergency [like now], Tacit unceremoniously swiped all the 19 Alicorn Amulets of varying colours into his satchel, the Earth Pony uncaring of what was the products of 19 harvested Alicorns now his cargo.
Tearing from the room, Tacit nearly stumbled as another tremor from on high shook the Catacombs. A keeper Pegasus fell sideways into the wall, while an Earth Pony stallion used his hoof to shield his eyes from a cloud of dust that erupted where a cave in occurred further up the halls.
“Out the labyrinth, go!”
“But some of them went that way!” One mare cried, knowing not all the creatures were in one place.
“Then they had the right idea, now go!”
Hearing his boss’s words from inside the vault, Tacit Scrivener took off, grunting a wordless command as he headed towards the stairwell.
It wasn’t long before the Unicorn was coming down to the caldron vat hall, one of them broken from a battle now taking place south of the Citadel.

4 minutes later
Hidden Labyrinth entrance

Scowling, Gaudium saw that Iena was still managing to resist his indoctrination, her body only half greyed as a visible sign. Ripping her from the earthly restraints he’d made, he formed a ball of lightning in one hand as he gripped her in a chokehold with the other.
“I should have expected such resilience from any of you, but this is taking too long for the master’s liking.”
“GAUDIUM!”
Turning his gaze, the Draconeraqus saw a blue glowing Windigo/Alicorn hybrid land near the scorched ground along the lake shore, lit up by the smoking and ember strewn trees around them.
Ave-Dol’s face was alight with horror at Gaudium’s state, but more than anything else, she was saddened by it.
“About time. I can deal with more at once this way.”
“Set her free, please!” Ave-Dol pleaded, her light blue magic glowing with her body, her fiery orange mane the only colour difference. Raising an eyebrow as he continued to strangle Iena, who scrambled and flailed her scaly tail and hands to escape, Gaudium replied as if telling the time of day:
“But nothing is more freeing than having no more self to worry over.”
As he raised to thrust the ball of lightning into Iena’s face, Ave-Dol’s light blue magic fired, hitting the lightning sphere and detonating it hard enough to force Gaudium to drop Iena as he flinched. Choking as she did, Iena angrily flung out her tail, hueing it dark blue as it crashed into the Draconeraqus’s torso.
Flying backwards, he came to hover just above the water at the lake shore, a faint ripple going out beneath him.
Thundercracks sounded to the north, as something inside the Citadel wreaked havoc and plunged its innards into total darkness, while further north, white light from the remaining giant’s eyes blazed and writhed as the unseen destroyer began to viciously assault its legs.
Slithering to come beside Ave-Dol, Iena stood firm with the Alicorn hybrid, while Gaudium merely hovered in place over the water’s edge, a purple glow beginning to waft off him like visible fumes from a fire, staring at them.
“Gaudium, what have you become…?” Ave-Dol blinked, while Iena replied coldly, but not insultingly to the heartbroken and fearful Alicorn hybrid beside her:
“I think we all know Gaudium is gone. And we’ll be the same if we let them.”
“Your perception served you when manipulating courtiers and nobility. I doubt the same shall occur when facing me head on.”
“Gaudium, I don’t want to fight you.”
“There is no Gaudium anymore. And if so, you should surrender now, or fear of my power will be the last free thought you have.”
“Its two against one, you can’t take us all on!” Iena countered, her hands glowing dark blue, whilst Ave-Dol’s horn reluctantly lit up pale blue.
Cracking a ghost of a smile, Gaudium replied bluntly: “Two cannot handle all of me.”
As his purple glow brightened, its highlighted at the joints the many different parts of his body had with each other, from his limbs to his tail segments, wings and many horns.
And like a gigantic puzzle, they split apart, attached by ribbon-like wisps of purple magic between them. His head, large wings and limbless torso floated above the other parts as he expanded himself.
Gaping at the disassembly of his body, Iena and Ave-Dol were nearly caught off guard as the Draconeraqus’s many body parts began to spin, purple and black glows taking them as they did so, and fired forwards in a flurry.
An eagle clawed hand flew behind them, a purple beam firing from it at point blank, Iena barely deflecting it, right as a dragon leg came and magically booted her midair in the side, sending her reeling away.
Ave-Dol weaved as the lion arm fired waved of purple beams at her, while from overhead a hammer blow from the black hued dragon tail came crashing down, the ground cracking and turning to a mudlike quicksand as it also shook beneath her feet. Leaping skywards, Ave-Dol fired her magic, stunning the disembodied limb.
But out of nowhere, whistling through the air, the Draconeraqus’s torso and head section came, wings hued black and purple as they sliced the air like gigantic, energy hued scythes. Slicing waves of magic tore apart the ground, water and waves crashing where Iena and Ave-Dol deflected some into the lake.
But around them, his 5 disembodied limbs delivered energy blasts, clawed attacks, kicks from all directions, and heavy hammer like blows from the tail.
Ducking as another donkey leg came at her head, Iena’s eyes went wide as she saw many of Gauidum’s mixed deer and jagged Unicorn horns atop his head crown detach, and fly towards them like a spikey hailstorm.
Her light blue shield deflected them, but as the number of projectiles suddenly increased, both Ave-Dol and Iena found themselves cornered, while all the time Gauidum unleashed a cloud of purple magic over the entire shoreline, as both noticed the ever so slight creeping of greyed out fur and body parts on them the longer they fought Gaudium.
Every second they fought him, he crept further into their subconscious with slight indoctrination.
Even as the water in the lake began to retreat very slowly from the shore, as something glowing slight orange began to expand at the bottom of the lake, their thoughts were on this seemingly inevitable loss at the hands of one they once thought of as ‘kin’ under Siral.
As the battle raged, a distant red explosion beyond the Citadel went unnoticed.

Half mile north of the Citadel
Lake shoreline

The massive foot of the 200-metre-tall, turtle shaped Stone Giant came crashing down on top of Odi-Viscer’s form, crushing him into the ground.
But the Giant audibly groaned as it felt its foot being raised, and the joints in its leg began to glow red as they also began to fracture and turn hot in a few seconds. Beneath its foot, Odi-Viscer stood on his rear legs, red highlighint every joint and wrinkle in his hairless body, the stone parts like boney armoured plating over half his exposed skin. Like an ape, his forearms raised the massive weight over his head.
But as the ground began to crust and move below his feet, it became obvious that as he grew angrier, more than he had ever felt, he grew larger.
Stone and clawed hands gripping the Giant above him, Odi-Viscer ripped deeper, and with a roar that was drowned by the sound of shattering stone, he ripped the Giant’s leg in half up the middle from below. An unearthly shriek filled the night, as he strained to fully rip off one of the leg halfs, finally wrenching it free and using his rage fuelled magic and strength to hold it together like a 40-metre-long club.
Swinging back, Odi saw the Stone Giant reel back its half shattered leg, lumbering it around to meet his massive swung leg half in a parry. But Odi’s red magic held his leg half together, as the Giant’s leg half shattered entirely, earning a weak bellow from the Giant as it slumped down.
Crouching, shuffling he massive leg half to hold in the middle, the being of Wrath leapt skywards, higher than even the Giant itself stood at full height, the ground shattering beneath his feet as he did so. Now looming at 4 normal pony heights above all others, he quickly shuffled the leg half in midair as he came to the end of his rise high above, shoving himself in mid jump to place the leg half end first vertical.
Right as he began to fall, he placed his feet on the end of the leg half, and kicked with enough force to send himself further up into the air. But the leg half tore downwards, slamming end first into the weary Stone Giant hard enough to impale it through the spine, paralysing it as Odi-Viscer began to fall towards it from half a kilometre up.
Surrounding himself in red energy, Odi’s roar was lost over the immense explosion as he all but bombed the Giant’s head and the mountainside below it.
Rock fragments flew in all directions, the red light and shockwave lighting up the night as if sunset had arrived for a brief flash once more.

Citadel
Sub-dimensional magic realm

Inside the dark sphere that occupied, and was slowly tearing apart the Citadel’s main atrium, Siral brought them both here to a place where he had more knowledge and skill in operating within.
The sub realm, where teleportation traversed in an instant, where vanished items went until summoned again, where magic itself was given form.
To those with eyes, wherever they entered, they arrived in a distorted version of their immediate surroundings where the laws of physics were hung out to dry.
Swirling fog all around their surroundings beyond a mile away, the floating ‘islands’ of ground, Citadel masonry, tapestry and floor tiles gave away what features of the Citadel made themselves known here.
But Siral’s magic on the Citadel manifested here as its enchantments for defence, its structural reinforcement to give its walls and towers durability beyond their material. Glass pillars, with swirling black and grey magic, the grey being older magic, when Siral had not fallen as far. Glass pillars that represented the foundations of Siral’s fortress enhancing magic.
Hurtling backwards, Golmov’s spiked wings caught one of those glass pillars to stop himself falling away in the zero gravity, his yellow magic firing back at the black smoke in this strange realm.
There had been no time to marvel at this unnatural environment, not when Siral had brought them both here to deal with them in an environment where he had the advantage.
Glancing around, Golmov spied Teal Quirt, clutching onto a floating island in a way that appeared upside down to him a hundred metres away. Space here was much bigger than the sphere in the real world atrium made itself appear to be.
All around them, like black snakes that flew through the air, Siral’s magic sought and hit them, burning cold each time. Golmov and Teal desperately fired yellow and green beams to wipe these attacks whenever they came, but they came in greater numbers each time.
Seeping out like leeches from many of the hovering ‘islands’, Siral stared at them both, speaking in a voice that reverberated:
“BE MY SERVANTS, OR BE HARVESTED. YOU WILL FULFIL YOUR DESTINY!”
“Destiny you forced on us by exploiting our state, or a state you created!”
“I HAVE BEEN THROUGH TIME, TIME IS THE GREATEST TEACHER, THEREFORE THERE IS NO GREATER AUTHORITY THAN MY OWN!”
As he spoke, at the far end of the mysterious shattered realm, a whirlpool of dark black and grey energy began to form, sucking everything towards it, a few islands of castle masonry and flooring being sucked in.
A wind picked up, as Teal sensed this whirlpool was Siral’s indoctrination going full force. Before her, and before Golmov, she saw dark smoke coming streaming off their skulls, as immense pain coincided with it. No subtlety, Siral was sculpting their resisting minds, and in this realm, to fall into that whirlpool of Siral’s power was the end of their free will forever.
Glancing around, Teal saw Golmov desperately hanging on to the glass pillar of magic that supported the real world foundations of the Citadel to give it strength. The Dragon knew how to unleash raw magic in powerful attacks and change his shape, but he was not skilled enough to truly escape. And she couldn’t see herself escaping this place either.
All she could ponder was what sort of damage this darkness sub dimension’s real world ‘entrance’ was having on the Citadel, likely tearing it apart and creating a need to repair its main atrium.
But as she glimpsed the pillar Golmov clung to, Teal grew an idea in her head, as her green magic began to build in both claws. Knowing she had one shot, she let go of the floating island, both of her clawed hands charging green magic along with her ape hands and 4 head horns, aiming directly at the whirlpool that was Siral’s mind warping magic at an inescapable level.
“You fool, you let go!” Golmov bellowed, but further away, Siral merely grinned in his many watching forms, as he also sensed Gauidum having success overwhelming the others in the real world.
Charging a magic attack, no doubt to attack his mind as she was about to be sucked in, Siral casually strengthened the fields around the ‘whirlpool’ as Teal was slowly pulled towards it, aiming her beam right at it.
Black magic sifted and smoked as it attacked her mind, making her wince as her body was also badly scratched and burned, the scorpion/ape hybrid drifting closer and closer to the mental oblivion’s event horizon before her, a few castle ruin filled islands falling into its suction.
Sparing a glance towards Golmov, as he was still clutching to the magical support spell that manifested as a glass pillar in this realm. She knew she would have only one shot.
She only hoped he was smart enough to move when the time came.
She may not have power to overcome Siral’s magic over them, but she knew the real world could interfere with him. And if Odi hadn’t come after them by now, she would do it.
And here, there was manifestations of critical structure support in the real world she could attack more easily than in the real world. And with it, a secret desire to bring down all Siral had built was also available to her.
As she fell towards the mental event horizon Siral sucked her into, she strained as dark magic siphoned her mind, filling her mind with demon enhanced whispers, submission and threats common in them. But never once did her charged magic, focused in four limbs and four horns together falter in its buildup.

Author's Note

Gaudium proves he can handle more than one at once if he divides himself up, even as Satio seems to be building himself up for something.
The red gemmed amulet being separated and discarded will prove its means of not being buried in the ruins, and recovered and sent out as a one off artefact for many years to come.

Citadel’s Fall III, Siral’s Damnation

Shortly past midnight
April 6th, 71 BNM
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress
Sub-dimensional magic realm

As the wind rustled around her in the realm, Teal Quirt’s energy spell charged in her claws, hands and 4 horns reached critical mass.
Behind her, the gaping maw like a vacuum sucking black hole that was Siral’s indoctrination spell manifest, tugged at her stronger than before.
Dark magic burnt and consumed her, as she felt her form being pulled into the looming abyss of Siral’s mental consumption and enslavement in this realm. Before her, clinging to a magical presence that acted as a real world magical support beam spell for the Citadel, Golmoc shook off waves of dark magic moving in on him as Teal was on the verge of being lost.
But as her body built up a green energy, Golmov’s eyes widened in anticipation, the draconic creature leaping away from the pillar he clung to in order to fly as hard as he could away.
Hidden across the realm here, Siral’s blackened eyes widened too, realizing what Teal had been building to as she let herself surrender to his pull.
Black smoke trails that were his grip flew towards her like a dozen lightning bolts, but as they closed in, every joint on Teal Quirt’s scorpion/ape featuring body glowed a toxic green, as the air around her became electrified and emptied of all energy.
Then, as she shrieked in rage and defiance, she flung her ape hands in both directions, the explosion of her energy being directed into two distinct plumes.
One shot straight into the gullet of the metaphysical black hole that was Siral’s indoctrination, a rumble of pain and shock reverberating around this strange realm.
At the same time, the other beam blasted through the realm unconsumed by any indoctrination presences.
Glass pillars, metaphysical presences from the enchantments Siral placed to structurally strengthen and support the Citadel, began to crack, and some even shatter entirely by the force of the green waved blast.
As green light engulfed the realm, everything turned a blinding light once again, as the sub dimensional realm that Siral brought them to, began to shatter, as their master and one who brought them here received this high powered attack spell at point blank range, shattering his concentration in supporting their presences in this strange side realm of magic.

Shortly past midnight
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress
Main Atrium

The Citadel shook even before the dark sphere consuming the entire main atrium faded, and blasted out a large amount of black smoke before vanishing entirely.
Glass windows shattered all over the hall, and from the outside the entire Citadel looked as if it had pulsed outwards from the inside.
Inside, as the black smoke faded, the large centipede hybrid dragon lay crumpled against a shattered pillar, slowly shuffling to his feet as a scorpion/ape centaur shaped creature stood strong in the centre, slightly knelt and coiled in writhing green energy.
As the castle’s many fractured stone supports crumbled, the entire place rather structurally unsound now, the black smoke surrounding them in the Atrium began to dissipate.

Up in the tallest tower, an astronomy viewing room, a black smoke swirled into existence, its essence reaching out across the night skies beyond, vanishing as its reach and power extended far beyond and out from the Citadel to the vessels it sought to shelter it.
Tiny presences across so many hosts, each alone going undetected.
Out in the forests beyond, birds and owls Siral used as proxies, as familiars and eyes across Equestria, glinted their now blackened eyes briefly before reverting to normal, only to quickly take flight in any and every direction.
A precaution, nothing more.

Citadel, Catacombs lake chamber

A dark smoke vapour filtered down the deeper depths, searching.
A thousand voices from the labyrinth and in secret depths of the Citadel replied, hungry for violence and discontent in any way, shape or form.
Invisible, a wind picked up, ripples going across the underground lake’s waters as a thousand presences, a thousand demons harvested to use as assets on Siral’s part, congregated in the darkened prison lake bridge for their role.
They were hungry, they sensed a soul on the brink of losing their mortal body, a powerful soul. It did not matter if they had served him for the convenience of food, of habitat safety, he was fodder like any other corporeal being was.
But as his very essence in his ‘recovering’ state that he sent down here rallied them, their initial desires of preying on a weakened master were dashed.
“I learned from Geldrath’s mistakes in using demon-kind. I shall not be victim to you in the end, but a beneficiary.”
“Even after death, you shall have no command but mine.”
The Savant’s shattered presence through the castle dimmed torches, as the entire upper castle audibly shook and cracked under tremors and impending collapse.

Citadel fortress
Main Atrium

Gaining her final bearings, Teal Quirt felt how drained she now was, the attack she launched having severely damaged the magical support structure spells that helped hold the Citadel’s form together, along with seemingly crippling Siral.
Wherever he was.
All around her, she sensed him, his essence, his presence, but he wasn’t attacking yet.
Outside the Citadel’s now weakened structure however, distant rumbles came from the south, as the battle with Gaudium heated up all of a sudden.
But a red glow from the shattered atrium windows outside was proceeded by a grey creature bursting through a half collapsed wall section up high, and landing with a crash close to the ‘throne’ in the atrium.
Bigger in size than he had ever been, standing 4 Alicorns tall, Odi-Viscer was now entirely monstrous, the stone protrusions and bones having grown over most of his grey skin like an exoskeleton on a beetle, some even protruding like blades from his elbows, knees and knuckles. Only the non-vital areas of his ape shaped body were devoid of such stone armour.
“Where, is, Siral..?”
Answering his growl, Golmov shuffled up from his shattered pillar, gesturing with a wing:
“All around us, he’s up to something…”
As she quelled the green glow in her claws, Teal remarked bitterly:
“I hit him with enough to kill anything else… I don’t think this is over yet.”
“And that seventh slave of his is still out there, with the others he’s trying to bring in.” Golmov remarked, thinking of the distant echoing battle taking place to the south, which had oddly begun echoing louder all of a sudden.
Cautiously, Teal looked around at the cracks across almost every wall and pillar in the atrium, as she summerised:
“What I unleashed took its toll, a few too many more fights and this whole place will come down.”
“Let this place fall to ruin, anything to do with Siral I want dead or destroyed…”
Odi growled, unable to bring himself to a calmer state at all.
Over the winds passing through the now crumbling structure of the Citadel, barely intact, a ghostly whisper carried as a few swirls of black magic visibly distorted the air:
“That would include you all in turn…”
Looking around, the three beings heard the voice from everywhere, and as he went on, Odi scanned the crumbling atrium and castle behind with his keen senses, whilst Teal’s claws and hands were ablaze with green magic. Golmov meanwhile, had hued his wings yellow, watching for an attack.
“While my moulding of you was interrupted to my suffering, I ensured my goals before anything else. Rebellion is the first thing to prepare against for any competent leadership. You are all my servants, like it or not, you cannot escape what you are. Vessels, avatars of my will.”
“What, like Gaudium, that Alicorn whelp?” Golmov spat, his teeth in a snarl at the insinuation being made by the disembodied Unicorn wizard.
“The Alicorn stallion is merely the only one who was perfected. He shall never stray from my will, for his mind is my mind. All that was him is gone, I ensured that was so from his rebirth, learning from shortcomings with the others such as you all.”
“So we were naught but experiments for you? If each one got better, why not be rid of us and just make more of him? Frankly I don’t know whether to be insulted or relieved at being the first of seven!” Teal accused, her face alight with hurt and anger. She was the first, and by extension the ‘least’ perfected in Siral’s eyes.
“Yes, but you all know this, you’ve seen my mind, you know of that accursed prophecy that drove Starswirl’s actions, and mine. One that foretold of seven that would spread great upheaval through the lands. But it occurred to me, that upheaval often comes when a time of great change occurs, especially change necessary to escape the clutches of a crumbling, tyrannical rule.”
“The only upheaval that will come will be from tales of horror spread about what I do to end you.” Odi-Viscer’s voice was laced with venom as his red eyes glinted, his fist thrusting out to grab and claw at a stray black magic vapour passing near him in the atrium.
“You are doomed then. You rebelled after our plans came to light, our capabilities. Given time, both factions shall come after you all. And in quelling you, they shall have to gain great power, power which shall corrupt them. You saw such power, power that will be adopted by Alicorns by their natural skill for powerful magic. The weapon at Tartarus.”
They all recalled the devastation unleashed by that spell from Tartatur’s peak, one which drew on the very celestial heavens themselves for a virtually unlimited power, the only true limit being how well the caster ~~could handle it.~~
“Without my leadership, without unity, you are ill equipped to counter this. In the end, what occurs depends on your desire to live.”

1-mile south-east, lake shoreline

~~As he fired another round of purple magic waves at Ave-Dol and Iena, Gaudium’s head veered towards the Citadel, as a ringing warning in his head alerted him to his master in mortal peril.~~
~~The Draconeraqus powered up his magic, ready to snap his fingers to teleport.~~
~~But as he readied to teleport, a draining, even slightly burning tendril latched onto his red tail.~~
~~Snapping his gaze around, the Draconeraqus saw the lake waters retreating ever so slightly, as something massive surged out, glowing bright orange.~~
~~Satio, in a massive shapeless form, surged out, an orange bulging, writhing form with uncountable number of tendrils extending from his form. Waves soaked the shoreline of the lake, as the orange glow from his massive body lit up the shoreline in a bright orange glow.~~
~~“Release me!”~~
~~A humming growl, a clear denial, came from Satio’s shapeless mass as the tendril tightened around Gaudium’s donkey leg, the Draconeraqus’s purple magic unable to free himself from its grip as the massive blob creature began to pull him into the lake. As Gaudium fired wave after wave, he found his magic was being slowly drained, as Satio’s orange mass began to take in a stream of purple light inside himself.~~
~~As the entangled pair ventured into the shallows of the lake, Ave-Dol took flight, her face gaunt with fear as she saw Gaudium writhing against the draining magic.~~
~~“Ave-Dol, take him, he’s distracted!” Iena screeched from the ground, her serpentine form slithering to the lakefront as she saw the writhing creatures out in the lake sending waves her way.~~
~~A light blue magic sphere hovered before Ave-Dol’s face, as she saw the orange mass that Gauidum battled with begin to slowly sink into deeper water, the Draconeraqus tangled in a creature’s slowly consuming embrace that was now the size of a large mansion.~~
~~But as she readied to increase the sphere and hurl it, she saw Gaudium’s gaze turn skywards, and his eyes lock with hers. Red and yellow, with a tint of blackness in them that wasn’t his own. They gazed at her and narrowed in anger.~~
~~Hesitating, Ave-Dol’s expression turned sad, the sphere before her horn diminishing slightly.~~
~~Seeing this, Gaudium writhed again in the many tendrils of orange, gelatinous mass engulfing him, and took a deep breath before firing a maelstrom of purple magic into the mass.~~
~~The orange mass that was Satio audibly screeched in pain as the lightning bolts electrocuted him, and the purple magic he’d absorbed flowed back as Gauidum turned Satio’s own magic against him. Right as they were about to vanish under deeper water together, Gauidum broke free of enough tendrils to then see Ave-Dol still hovering above them, the sphere dimishing entirely as her face fell in sadness.~~
~~“What are you doing?!” Iena’s screeched echoed in the night.~~
~~Gaudium’s own expression hardened in focus, as a smile crept across his many horned head’s features.~~
~~“Pity, that was always your weakness Ave-Dol…”~~
~~His red and yellow eyes then turned bright white, and a pair of burning white beams fired skywards from his eyes.~~
~~Caught by the beams, Ave-Dol spiralled to the ground, her Windigo/Alicorn’s glowing blue form smoking as she crashed, her scream lost as the fighting continued.~~
~~Satio surged upwards once again, his form resembling a gigantic orange jellyfish if anything, as more and more tendrils now shot out, and Gaudium felt the burning of his ‘surface digestion’ eating away at his purple body shield even more now.~~
~~Expanding his shield, Gauidum began to slowly slip out, as he turned to fire his eye beams at the small part of Satio’s massive form that was underwater.~~
~~But from behind, leaping from the water as she swam, a dark blue hued, serpentine shape slammed down onto his back, Iena’s clawed hands wrenching his head back as the eye beams shot skywards.~~
~~Grappling with Gaudium, Iena saw the water rushing up to meet them as Satio growled to her mind as he pulled them all underwater:~~
Whatever happens, keep him as still as possible!
~~The water rushed around them, as the dark lake water, lit up by Satio’s orange mass and the smaller lights from Iena’s dark blue magic and Gauidum’s dark purple, engulfed their forms.~~

~~Shifting, the burns on her shoulder and chest aching and smoking terribly, Ave-Dol saw the roiling water before her, out on the lake, erupt in surges in water and light, as massive detonations and surges of magic and movement went unseen from her view.~~
~~“I can’t, he’s not…”~~
~~As her voice trailed off, she turned her gze northwards, to where the Citadel had been plunged into darkness, not a single light from it. Only the fires on the hills north of it, where silhouettes of two destroyed Stone Giants, gave its outline shape in the night.~~

~~Writhing underwater, Gaudium’s neck had formed a set of gills, as had Iena as she clawed and held him as much as she could. As she strained with her magic to calm his erratic mind, she felt more tendrils from Satio’s massive form snake around the Draconeraqus’s long body.~~
~~Straining, Gaudium fired his eye beams, but his magic made them curve around underwater to burn into Iena’s back, the changeling/siren/naga hybrid screeching as she held on through the pain, sending her claws, hewn with dark blue magic, plunging repeatedly into Gaudium’s back.~~
~~All the while, Satio slowly engulfed the draconeraqus, the latter’s magic giving slightly as the parts of his body engulfed began to ever so slightly dissolve inside of Satio’s all-consuming innards.~~
~~Deeper into the lake, the hulking mass ever so slowly assimilating the draconeraqus from the tail up in the dozens of tendrils extending from his body. The being of gluttony’s mass slowly engulfing pride while lust fought hard to stop the draconraqus from focusing on escape, even if she was being badly burned from her back in the process.~~
~~Elsewhere, their master, having only Gauidum as a loyal servant still, went unaided in his weakened state by the draconeraqus that desperately tried to escape his assaulters.~~

Citadel fortress
Main Atrium

“If the Alicorn race endures, you shall die by their fear of power greater than their own, and the lands shall fall victim to their infighting that great rival powers inevitably come to. But if they fall, you shall endure, and the lands shall be free of tyranny. You shall be free, to reshape the world as you see fit.”
~~“Not true, we can go to them, expose everything you are and what you’ve done!” Teal Quirt bellowed back, though she didn’t notice that Golmov’s eyes narrowed at the prospect of going to the Alicorns.~~
“You would be fools to consider that they would even let you live after what you all have done to them, when they find out what you are.”
~~Slowly stomping around, Odi sensed with his red eyes, his gaze suddenly turning upwards towards the ceiling, as did Teal Quirt’s. Golmov saw this too, as all eyes turned upwards.~~
“As long as Alicorns live, you will never be free from danger, and those who you have your own grievances against shall live unpunished while you suffer in silence. As long as any of you live, I shall endure.”
~~“Enough of this, you won’t be around to see that future, whatever the outcome!” Teal rebuked, her green magic flaring up as she sensed a focal point of Siral’s presence, higher up in the castle.~~
~~The entire Citadel seemed to creak as Siral murmured the last few words weakly, at which point, they definitely came from up above.~~
“As long as even one lives, I will always control you.”
~~Enraged, Odi-Viscer crouched, and with a red hue engulfing him, he leapt upwards, a few pillars cracking as he smashed into the ceiling, beginning to claw his way through floor after floor, heading to where he knew where Siral was.~~
~~Down below, Teal engulfed herself in a green glow as she flew up, yelling to Golmov as she flew up:~~
~~“He’s escaping, get outside!”~~
~~Surging out, Golmov’s wings wrapped around himself as he slipped through one of the blown out windows, into the night sky.~~

Citadel, upper astronomy tower

~~The black smoke materialised, solidifying itself as the Black Unicorn, his body horribly scarred from injuries long past, sat on his hunches inside the observatory.~~
~~Breathing softly, weary and tired, Siral felt his body emanating the black mist of his very magic, his eyes black entirely.~~
~~All around him, he felt the nipping of a few demons, their eyes and teeth around him as they gathered. But Siral was focused, he had summoned them here.~~
~~Each one siphoned a part of his magic, his essence, and with each one Siral felt his physical body diminish.~~
~~Before him, the floor cracked, as a grey hand burst open the masonry to clamber the massive beast up to stand before him. Red eyes burnt into Siral’s own blackened ones, as the being of wrath beheld his master seemingly wounded, wasting away by visible bleeding of dark magic, demons whispering around him.~~
~~His foot claws scratched the floor as he slowly advanced, while outside the yellow light of Golmov’s form was followed by an entire wall of the tower room being ripped asunder, and cast down far below onto the mountain slopes the Citadel was built into.~~
~~As the last, the one who broke away first, hovered up behind Odi-Viscer, Siral spoke weakly as he seemingly bled dark magic:~~
~~“I can admit one mistake, I underestimated how powerful you would all become. I can take pride in that at least…and in the fear it causes Alicorns now.”~~
~~Surging forwards, Siral choked slightly as Odi-Viscer’s massive clawed hand engulfed his neck, beginning to squeeze tighter as his red eyed burned brighter. Behind him, Teal’s green eyes showed her contempt for him, as she made not one move to stop this, while Golmov flew around the tower passively, watching this exchange.~~
~~“They will come for you, you have two choices, to destroy Alicorns before they destroy you, and everything else. With us united, we had a good chance. But you cripple that with this rebellion…”~~
~~As he wheezed through Odi’s choking grip, Teal noticed the dark magic he was bleeding off like smoke from a fire, her expression turning suspicious.~~

1-mile south-east, lake shoreline
Underwater

~~As half his body was engulfed, Gaudium felt his body going into shock, his magic being overwhelmed by Iena grappling and attacking his mind and body while Satio engulfed him.~~
~~Struggling, the draconeraqus finally held nothing back, as his entire body glowed a bright purple for a moment, and blew apart.~~
~~Thrown backwards underwater, Satio’s giant, jellyfish shaped form was blown apart, orange parts littering the lake as the orange glow from his body diminished noticeably. Hurled backwards in the other direction, Iena writhed as her head pounded from the shockwave and heat.~~
~~Up on the lake surface, the entire surface of the lake rose up, as the purple explosion blasted a gigantic plume of water upwards.~~
~~In midair, reforming from the explosion by a large volume of water glowing purple and soaring upwards, Gaudium rematerialized from water, his body transformed back from the state his self-destruction changed him to.~~
~~Down on the shore, Ave-Dol saw Gaudium was visibly tired and disoriented, as the Draconeraqus began a frantic flight to the Citadel.~~
~~Out on the lake, as an orange mass floated to the surface, it slowly took the serpentine form floating there in one of its tendrils and began to drag her to shore.~~
~~By the time Satio had flopped Iena on the lake shores, his orange gelatinous minotaur body collapsing from exhaustion and shock, Ave-Dol saw the Citadel’s uppermost tower, like a needle from the mountain slopes, begin to glow a bright red.~~
~~“Odi…”~~
~~Her fearful murmur wouldn’t reach anyone besides Satio and Iena, as she was too tired herself.~~

Citadel, upper astronomy tower

~~Holding Siral in a chokehold, Odi-Viscer was ignorant as Teal suddenly spoke up:~~
~~“He’s right. Killing him would mean we have to face all we’ve been involved with alone.”~~
~~“You cannot seriously be considering leaving him alive are you?!” Golmov spat, as he flew in closer to cling onto the side of the Citadel’s tower, his head peering in, mandibles clicking angrily over his draconian teeth.~~
~~“Let them come, my future is my own.” Odi growled, as his eyes and mouth began to glow a bright red, lighting up the whole tower.~~
~~As Siral’s face was lit up, he repeated:~~
“As long as even one lives, I will always control you.”
~~Teal stepped forwards, her cry to halt his attack lost as the noise and blazing force engulfed the tower, and Siral:~~
~~“Wait!”~~
~~Red light erupted from Siral’s eyes and mouth, and inside the blinding light, Siral’s body was disintegrated, stripped away by flesh and bones until nothing remained.~~
~~As the light vanished, Odi’s hand was smoking hot from his attack, the Unicorn he’d held gone.~~
~~In the distance though, a Draconeraqus flying towards them suddenly erupted in purple light as a howl of rage and grief left him. After that, the being of Pride went spiralling to the ground, as if shocked by something.~~
~~Taking off, Golmov tore after the falling Draconeraqus a quarter of a mile away, while Odi seethed at the Citadel’s tower edge, still larger than Teal nearby.~~
~~But the scorpion/ape centaur shaped hybrid was unnerved by the whispers from the demons now fleeing the tower, the very faint ‘scent’ of Siral’s magic on all of them.~~

Dawn
April 6th, 71 BNM
Citadel, deep catacombs, hidden storehouses

~~They had taken shelter here, away from the upper levels, as word spread from above that the fighting had stopped for now.~~
~~Lower staff, all non-guards that had been spared from the massive death toll among the garrison here as a result. Bookeepers, housekeepers, the day to day workers, all had taken shelter in the lower levels.~~
~~Those lucky enough not to be caught or trapped by or under corridor collapses that is.~~
~~Around him, other staff kept silent, as every crumble from above, every faitn tremor from the now weakened foundations of the massive Citadel above them was like the sound of death upon them.~~
~~Tacit Scrivener was silent as usual, though now his vow to silence seemed unneeded, but his mind and face were gaunt, worry etched onto him as he wrote into his journal entry for today.~~
April 6th
-They have the citadel, the creations have murdered my master, and now they fight each other. I only hope the tunnel remains unharmed in their infighting, the surface entrances are watched.
~~The satchel of Alicorn Amulets lay beside him, though he still was fearful of what might happen if Siral found out one of them, a red one, was missing.~~
~~Unbeknownst to him, that red Alicorn amulet lay in a corridor just below ground level, and would be one of few escapees from this place.~~

Meanwhile
Citadel, main atrium

~~Golmov had been quick to find Gaudium earlier that night, but the death of Siral had put Gaudium into a slump of sorts, no magic attacks anymore.~~
~~Restrained by Golmov and Odi-Viscer’s magic, Gaudium wriggled slightly, the Draconeraqus straining to break free.~~
~~Nearby however, Ave-Dol pleaded quietly with Teal Quirt as she walked forwards on her scorpion lower body:~~
~~“Please, he’s not to blame, Siral is gone, we-.”~~
~~“He’s too dangerous to be left as he is! I will ensure that Siral cannot control us anymore.”~~
~~“Like he said, there is nothing of Gaudium left, his mind is entirely Siral’s.”~~
~~As she came to a stop, she declared to Ave-Dol beside her with utter determination:~~
~~“So I’ll destroy it.”~~
~~“No, you can’t!”~~
~~“Restrain her!”~~
~~Teal’s bark came swiftly, as a quick flick of her green magic sent Ave-Dol tumbling backwards, while Iena and Satio gripped her, though the naga hybrid and blob-like minotaur had their own misgivings about this.~~
~~Striding up to Gaudium, his magic weakened by the twin restraints of Golmov’s and Odi-Viscer’s own magic, Teal wrenched out her scorpion claw to reach up and grip Gaudium’s neck, pulling his head down to her own.~~
~~Gripping his head with both ape hands, the four horns on Teal’s head lit up, as did her eyes. And despite Ave-Dol’s pleas in the back, and the looks of horror from Satio and Iena, she fired her green magic from her eyes, directly into Gaudium’s eye corners.~~
~~Her magic sought his mind, Siral’s toxic thoughts, and she found them. Her green magic flared up as it illuminated the room, burning Gaudium’s mind to its core.~~

~~To an outsider, and to those much later in history, Teal Quirt’s magic worked its way and attacked the front of Gaudium’s mind. A lobotomy and exorcism all in one.~~
~~Gaudium’s body visibly stiffened, his wriggling suddenly stopping after a few moments before Teal’s magic ceased.~~

~~Sensing the Draconeraqus’s newly limp state, Golmov and Odi-Viscer’s magic released him. Gaudium, now shattered in mind, slumped forwards on his dragon and donkey legs, eyes dull and unfocused as he showed he was still alive at least.~~
~~Sensing into his mind, Teal snorted as she replied with contempt:~~
~~“There, now he is free. Now he’s the husk Siral turned him into.”~~
~~Breaking from Iena and Satio’s grip, Ave-Dol flew over, the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid teleporting to Gaudium’s side, her hooves clapping his cheeks as she pleaded with him, turning his head in his unfocused state:~~
~~“Gaudium, Gaudium, its me, Ave-Dol! Please, do you know me?”~~
~~As he looked at her, Ave-Dol saw only emptiness, like the sort of blank stare a small child with have, not a single thought process visible behind it. The Draconeraqus now had no memories, no mental abilities, a blank slate.~~
~~Turning to Teal, Ave-Dol stood up, angrily remarking: “Why? Why did you do that?”~~
~~“He was a slave of Siral, nothing more!”~~
~~“He had a name, and now you took even that from him!”~~
~~“He lost that as soon as he went under lady.” Golmov remarked bluntly, the dragon having no sympathy for the Draconeraqus. Turning to look at them all, Ave-Dol couldn’t bear to look Teal or Golmov in the eye, but as she turned to Odi-Viscer, she heard him remark with poison in his voice:~~
~~“You knew, and you kept quiet.”~~
~~“I, I had to, for all of your-.”~~
~~Odi slowly walked towards Ave-Dol, his claws extending as his red eyes burned high above hers. Trying to maintain peace, Satio spoke up now, the gelatinous Minotaur speaking loudly:~~
~~“We need to think of what we do next, without killing each other!”~~
~~This sliver of sense amidst the aftermath of the horrific mental neutering on Teal’s behalf fell upon open ears, as Odi backed off, turning to walk away to somewhere else in the Citadel’s fractured structure for now.~~
~~Golmov spread his wings, as he spoke to Iena now:~~
~~“I will take over your watch of the escape tunnel.”~~
~~The Dragon/centipede shaped hybrid took off through the hole in the Citadel’s main doors, while on the ground, Teal Quirt grabbed Ave-Dol in her scorpion claws and spoke with a cold bluntness to her voice:~~
~~“You need to calm down and reconsider where you stand before we do anything more. If you care about Gaudium so much, I suggest you take him somewhere to watch over in the meanwhile, before we decide our next course.”~~
~~Releasing Ave-Dol, Teal ignored the look of scathing betrayel and disgust on the former Alicorn’s face. Turning to Iena and Satio, Teal Quirt ordered them:~~
~~“Check out the lower levels, there may be non-guards hiding somewhere.”~~
~~The scorpion/ape hybrid crawled off through the same tunnel Odi-Viscer vanished into, while in the main atrium Iena and Satio could only share a look of uncertainty. The naga/siren/changeling hybrid of Lust laid a hand upon the blob-like form of Gluttony, while she saw the being of Sloth trying to get any sort of recognition from the now lobotomised being of Pride.~~
~~In defeat, Siral was tearing them apart.~~

Author's Note

At his most powerful, tapping into their minds in that dreamscape, Siral is also at his most vulnerable, and Teal Quirt exploits this to decisive effect.
But in the end, Siral is slowly bleeding off his essence far and wide, tiny amounts undetectable by anyone in the air, in demons, in birds, just in case.
His biggest defeatist accomplishment however, was sowing doubts into the minds of the other 6, as the 7th becomes subject to their mercies.
And before Gaudium can become Discord, any and all traces of Siral, who has replaced everything in his mind, have to be erased, violently by Teal’s methods. Lobotomy/Exorcism methods won’t be easy on his mind, leaving him as mentally incapable of everything bar basic bodily functions such as walking or moving his eyes and head.
Suffice to say this treatment of someone they knew before he was turned divides them.
And all the while, the layman workers of the Citadel become trapped as this all goes on, and as the Citadel slowly becomes a fractured, precarious and unstable building just waiting to collapse, as it will soon.

Citadel’s Fall V, Dissolution of Sins

Sunset
April 6th, 71 BNM
Citadel Valley, Citadel fortress
Upper towers

His wings rattled the air, while Iena’s magical ropes kept her secure against the tall tower’s walls, her other hand scything out large blades of dark blue magic to try and slice off any part of Golmov she could.
As his long form dove again, Iena fired off stinging and slicing spells from her free hand, as her claws and magic kept her naga/changeling hybrid body from falling away from range of Golmov. Sweeping past, his wing clipping a smaller tower’s roof in a way that chipped some roof tiles loose, Golmov grimaced as he felt a few of the slicing spells cut his skin and scales.
“I have no time for this, I will not be undermined by a former pony!”
Taking flight skywards, Golmov spread his 4 wings, hybrids of his draconian ones and new formed Gryphon wings with claws on the mid joints. Rolling as he looped around, Golmov’s magic surged outwards across his entire body, glowing bright.
At the same time, his mandibled mouth opened wide, fire surging from it. The yellow magic coaxed the fire out, engulfing his wings in its blazing light and devastation.
A massive trail of fiery clouds engulfed the skies where he flew, the former Dragon combining his newer magic and old strengths to terrible effect.
But Iena would not be intimidated, as Golmov surged towards her, massive claws outstretched. Extending numerous whips of dark blue magic, she leapt from the castle tower as his fiery wing melted and shattered its upper floor, before hurling out two whip spells to latch onto Golmov’s centipede like legs. His momentum yanked her along, the Naga/Changeling hybrid reeling herself in on the lines as her body sprouted more whip spells, the ones already latched on beginning to shock Golmov.
Grunting quite loudly, Golmov knew she was going to try and puncture him mid flight, but knew how to counter this. Pulling up, Golmov’s magic enhanced wingbeats took them upwards into the darkening cloud banks hanging over the Citadel’s sunset lit grounds.
Up in the clouds, Golmov whipped around, sending Iena yelling out to fly around him by her own whip spell. Seizing the ship spell, Golmov focused, and the whip spell turned yellow halfway along its length, at which point Iena realised she couldn’t break free.
Still in the skies, his wings blowing some of the clouds away as he span faster and faster, Golmov’s yellow eyes lit up with glee as he saw Iena strain harder and harder against the forces acting on her.
As the clouds pulled back, Golmov let the Naga/Changling hybrid go, the air snapping like a whip as she was launched southwards, screaming out as she had been electrocuted by the rebuked whip spell upon being launched by the spinning attack.
Cracking his neck, Golmov began to fly about the clouds, searching for the next one to deal with, Ave-Dol or Gaudium.

Meanwhile
Main courtyard gardens

The fire in the sky began to dissipate after Golmov vanished skywards, but for Teal Quirt, it was not her focus right now.
Green magic flew towards Satio in a hail of beams, the massive orange form rising up in a corner below the Citadel’s courtyard walls. The attacks were absorbed, forming ripples on the growing blob surface as it reared up to crash atop Teal Quirt like an ocean wave.
With little regard for the power she’d need, the scorpion/Ape hybrid’s hands and claws extended with a green burst, an umbrella like shield forming beneath Satio’s massive bulk as it began to engulf it and the gardens. But the massive shield, even as Satio’s consuming body began to drain its user’s magic faster than normal, began to fold upwards, curving slowly inwards like a reversing flower unfolding, until the vast orange bulk was engulfed in a sphere the size of a small manor house.
On the ground, as she strained with the immense magic requirements in wake of Satio’s body growing with absorbing the very magic holding him, Teal slowly brought him to hover around high above her, his shapeless eyes swivelling to glare at her from inside the now ball entrapped bulk of his body.
“No power of your own, only what you eat… At least I have great power that is my own… If we didn’t need to band together I’d see no need for you…”
“And given your rebellion and others, once Gaudium is under control, we’ll ensure wherever you run off to, we can bring you back for good…”
As she finished the last sentence, her magic flared one last time, green engulfing the shield trapped blob creature as it shot skywards to the south, arcing through the skies to come to a hard landing in the distant forests south of the lake shoreline.
Panting from exhaustion, Teal suddenly saw a yellow magical tendril peak out from the low lying sunset clouds, as Golmov’s massive form hurled Iena’s through the skies, before the whiplike magic strand flicked her loose, hurtling in roughly the same direction as Satio.
“They deserve each other…” Teal grimly remarked, but a shockwave from higher up the mountainslope caught her attention.
Turning around, she saw a light blue portal fading far overhead, as Odi-Viscer’s body slammed into the mountain slope, and a certain being of Sloth banking away in flight to a safer distance. The Citadel shook, as a few ramparts that had been shaken loose by her accidentally fracturing the castle’s magically enhanced foundations began to crumble.

A few minutes ago
Opposite lake shore

As the smoke and dust subsided from Odi-Viscer’s attack, Ave-Dol turned to see the wide eyed Draconeraqus peer around from a tree, clearly bewildered and fearful by the wide red and yellow eyes he had.
“Listen to me, you have to get out of here, now! You need to be safe, don’t make me go through all this for you for nothing! Go!”
Blankly staring at her, Gaudium only responded with an uncertain nod as he began to run, the Draconeraqus’s wings beginning to flap, the process of flying still somewhat foreign to him despite bodily instinct.
Behind him, as he tore off through the forests, keeping low as he flew and ran when he got too low, Ave-Dol’s light blue glow of magic accompanied her charging forwards, engulfing Odi-Viscer’s recovering body in a locked embrace as she powered them across the sunset lit lake waters.
He ran, into the forests and mountains far beyond the Citadel.
He ran, from beings, a place and a threat to him he was not fully certain of. To where, he was entirely uncertain.
But with his shattered mind, he would not recall this, unable to process it for long term memory still after being magically lobotomised less than a day’s length ago.
The Draconeraqus fled into the mountains West of the Citadel, the forests hiding him as he flew beneath the tree canopy. The first to flee the Citadel.
He would also be the longest lived by far.

Flying across the lake, her magic barely holding Odi-Viscer as she flew, she finally felt her hold on him snap as he span around mid flight to grip her like a vice, their flight beginning to drop quickly.
Right before they collided with the shoreline trees before the Citadel’s entry road, in a desperate bid, a light blue portal opened up behind the stone grey behemoth and the Alicorn/Windigo hybrid, as they powered through.
High above the Citadel’s upper mountain slope, a light blue portal materialised, Odi-Viscer and Ave-Dol plummeting out as the stone giant/ape shaped creature violently punched her away, his red fist nearly shattering her light blue shield as it cracked the air like a thunderclap.
As she went tumbling away, Ave-Dol saw Odi-Viscer in freefall before her, but his gaze was suddenly turned mid fall, 5 seconds from the ground, by something his red hued eyes seemed to train on, far away on the lake’s opposite shoreline.
Flying forwards, Ave-Dol proclaimed vehemently, a rare case of anger as she hurled a magic hammer like blow towards Odi-Viscer:
“You are a victim as he is, leave him!”
As her blow came down however, Odi-Viscer replied with a red glowing elbow coming around to shatter her magically formed Warhammer. But before he could do anything, he saw a light blue blast fire from Ave-Dol’s horn, through the mist of her shattered ‘light’ hammer.
Caught in the chest, Ave-Dol’s attack sent the being of Wrath hurtling to the Ground, her own wings catching the air as a massive crash rocked the mountainslope, a small landslide triggering where Odi-Viscer landed in the treeline above the Citadel’s now delicate structure.
As she hovered in place, a few crumbling tower ramparts on the Citadel echoing in the night, she heard an enhanced yell come from Teal Quirt as she came to hover in a magic assisted flight above the Citadel:
“We need them alive Viscer!”
Glancing between her distant form and the crater in the forest slopes where Odi-Viscer was, Ave-Dol then turned in horror to the sight of Golmov diving out of the clouds, coming right for her from the north.
But on the ground, a series of massive red cracks suddenly split the mountainside like shattered glass, as an earthquake began to build.
“NO! I, STAND, ALONE!”
As the bellow rang out, its tone grew more and more powerful in bass and volume, until it reached critical mass along with the massive amount of rage fuelled magic Odi-Viscer was putting out.
Turning slightly from his path to capture Ave-Dol, Golmov roared out across the grounds:
“Leave him, he’s too unhinged!”
Turning tail, the centipede like dragon flapped his wings to head north, to which Teal Quirt audibly roared in anger herself before she vanished in a green teleportation flash.
Turning her gaze towards the fracturing mountainside, Ave-Dol flew down, her light blue shield protecting her from the worst of Odi-Viscer’s now growing shockwaves of red energy.
Behind her, the first of the large towers began to finally crumble, as the entire mountainside began to heave, buckle, and even shift as entire sections began to slide around, thrust up and away by the red cracks erupting them outwards like hundreds of small explosions.
She landed upon the cusp of the crater inside the forest slopes. A bright red ball of energy pulsated like a heart, sending the fractures across the mountainside enough to launch large sections of rock into the lake, draining it as it displaced more water each time.
“I won’t leave you either!”
“Then you’ll die like everything else that lives better than I, starting with those who Siral feared...”
Inside the red sphere, Ave-Dol glimpsed Odi-Viscer’s massive form flex its large arms, before a blinding light left him with a roar of anger that defied comprehension erupted along with a single, massive shockwave.
Her blue magic formed a bubble around her, but she felt everything rush and burn as the energy slammed into her, consuming her and the mountainside around her.

Shortly after sunset
Citadel Valley, south lakefront

The red light of the late sunset was eclipsed by an even brighter red sun atop the mountain.
The blinding red explosion consumed the mountaintop above the Citadel, as an entire half of the mountain fractured and burst outwards by the extreme energy released by Odi-Viscer.
As the final parts of the mountain were ejected into the lake, damage was done to displace massive amounts of water, the lower river flooding and bursting its banks five fold as the output of the Being of Wrath altered the valley’s layout vastly.
As the rocks began to settle, the ‘valley’ of the Citadel was now much narrower, what was one a rearing up mountain ridge reduced to a more shallow, rubble constructed hill line, only a few skeletal towers remaining of the Citadel itself, some magic structural spells barely intact enough to save them from being crushed by the massive landslides and upheavals of rock that had consumed the Citadel.
Clambering to sit upright, Iena’s body dropped its dark blue shield, the only thing that saved her from dying on impact. Slithering to an upright stance, she saw the red glare of the explosion, and the distant rumbles and landslides now consuming the Citadel, and hung her head.
Off in a distant clearing, a recently deforested area, a large orange mass slowly oozed into a taller lump, shrinking as it did so. Out of the mound of gelatinous mass, a shiny skinned Minotaur with a large amount of fat on him simply stared in awe as he began to make his way over towards Iena.
Hearing him come over, as she turned to face him, she admitted softly:
“We have no more place here, Teal and Golmov fled too.”
“What of the others?”
“Odi-Viscer will walk that off, but Ave-Dol’s got enough to worry about with Gaudium… We’re better off leaving as well.”
As she turned to slither however, Satio asked quietly:
“What about us? Should we split up?”
“Why on earth would you think that? We both wanted to leave, and we both have somewhere we can go to, hide, anything we need to do.”
At Iena’s proclamation, Satio shuffled slightly, uncertain before he answered with similar uncertainty:
“We’re going back to Baltimare?”
“They’re right Satio, things will get worse across Equestria, for us in turn. If we can weaken the Nationalists, as the others likely go after Royalists, we’ll be safer.”
“So that’s it, we’re going to go about our plan as before after all this?” Satio remarked bluntly, to which Iena softly spoke, gesturing to herself and him in turn:
“Word will spread of what we are, and we have to make sure we’re ready when trouble comes. Shaping the leadership for our safety is the only way, I don’t want to run for the rest of my life.”
Slowly walking to come alongside Iena, as her body was engulfed in a dark blue glow, he remarked with a small smile on his face:
“If we do have to run, you’ll have me at least…”
Looking down, Iena gave a small sigh as she smiled, laying a hand on Satio’s fat orange thigh before teleporting them both south-east, a long journey to return to Baltimare ahead of them.
And from there, what had already been sown would be reaped before long.

Northern Citadel Valley

They were 3 miles away, but even from the mountain ridge they stood upon they could see the Citadel being claimed. The landslides filled in and displaced the lake in the valley, a few sizeable floods further south in Equestria would be the consequence of that.
But hardly anything of the Citadel’s above ground structure remained, only a few stronger tower structures jutting out of the churned up rock and ground remaining, poking out of the ground like old bones.
His magical enhanced vision fading, Golmov turned his large form to the smaller hybrid beside him, shaking his head as he ruffled his 4 large wings and centipede like legs, the 200 foot long dragon passive as he spoke:
“Gone, all of it.”
“And Odi-Viscer is clearly a rogue now… It was a fool’s hope to keep him in check after his outrage against Siral, he’s more a weapon now.”
“At least he will not go on another rampage for a while, not after a blast like that.” Golmov pointed out, to which Teal nodded in agreement before turning her gaze to the north, thinking aloud:
“It changes nothing, we have our priorities anyway. We can go it alone if we are careful. If all Alicorns are not destroyed, they’ll destroy us in time, that power they’ve unlocked will only grow easier to use. And knowing they may well turn on each other after death isn’t something I’ll settle for.”
“I want those arrogant ruling classes to see the frauds they are. Not gods, for they can be killed. We’ll remind them of that.”
Golmov’s yellow eyes narrowed as a slightly gleeful smile crept across his mandibled mouth, remarking to Teal Quirt as he slowly shuffled to peer his long head around to stare the ape/Scorpion hybrid in the face:
“If only you were born a dragon, you and I would have got on well before Siral had we met.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. But we have to hit them where it hurts most…” Teal disregarded Golmov’s sadistic pleasantries, borderline flirt even. As she put an ape hand to her chin in thought, her scorpion claws raking the dirt in thought, it was Golmov who spoke, his yellow eyes narrowing as he spoke up:
“I know just the place, one left relatively untouched by the Civil War.”
Turning to him, her green eyes alight, she scowled at the prospect:
“A gambit to draw them out. But remember, we work together on this, are you clear about that?”
“Like glass, Teal.”
The pair were gone a few moments later in a flash of green and yellow, heading their own way to plot, to determine their next move.

2 hours later
Late Evening
Citadel Ruins, mountainside

Her eyes fluttered as she awakened, her joints aching as she saw she was buried under a large pile of rubble. Her body, as she noticed, had lost some of its light blue glow.
Shuffling, Ave-Dol’s magic began to move some rocks off of her, but as she moved the first, clearing her line of sight to the surface, something moving made her stop.
Her magic transformed her back into her light blue and blond maned Alicorn origin, as she stared out at something shuffling from further up the slope.
An Earth Pony stallion, bald all over, and a sickly grey, but with burning red eyes.
Odi-Viscer was weary as he staggered about, but as he stared around, Ave-Dol saw some stone spikes beginning to protrude through his shoulders and back ever so slowly.
Slowly he walked, so close to her hiding spot beneath rubble at one point that Ave-Dol had to hold her breath and still all movement, and suppress her magic somehow.
But as she began to suppress her magic, she recalled a curse Siral had put on her in her origin form. This time, it would be a blessing.

Unaware of Ave-Dol hiding within metres of him, Odi-Viscer scanned the ruins with bleary eyes, his shrunken form pushing aside a protruding stone tower staple as he looked around with bleary vision.
As he came to a stop however, his shoulders began to ever so slowly slump, and a light blue glaze shimmered through his eyes as he turned to face something slowly crawling from the rubble behind him.
Ave-Dol slowly rose to her full Alicorn height, her magic acting like a gentle breeze over him as she slowly approached Odi-Viscer, cautious as he seemed to grow slightly, stone and bone spikes growing as his spine also shifted to slowly begin turning him into his ape shaped true form.
But his red eyes remained calmer than normal, though they still regarded her with a hard look. Reaching out a hoof as she came to him, her lethargy inducing magic aura calming his savage state he felt all the time now.
Sparing a sad smile at him, Ave-Dol remarked with her deepest sympathies:
“I understand your hurt, your pain, but this isn’t the way. You may think you are just this now, but you can be more than this if you’re willing to try.”
As his eyes lit up a slightly darker shade of red, Ave-Dol paused, before she lowered her hoof, and her form began to shift to her Windigo/Alicorn form, the lethargy inducing magic vanishing.
“I won’t try to stop you, it is up to you from now on.”
Before her, Odi-Viscer’s body morphed, stone overtaking half of his body as it grew to triple her height, his red eyes burning like twin suns as he reshaped into a more upright, ape stance. As he looked at the being of Sloth before him, submitting to his actions to show she cared, he began to charge his fists, curled on the ground, in red energy.
Staring for a moment at her, as her light blue eyes met his, he raised a fist, eyes blazing as they prepared to fire his beam attack once again, though admittedly less fiercely than before by his exhaustion.
But to her relief, she saw his form shrink slightly, and his shoulders slump as the red energy faded.
Blinking a few times, the being of Wrath slowly back stepped, before he finally turned his back, and looked to the south west. His red energy charging, he leapt off the ground with enough force to crack the rock beneath him, soaring up and away as he began to trek across Equestria, away from the Citadel, as fast as he could muster.
Watching him leave, Ave-Dol could only sigh as she looked down in disappointment. He spared her, but he didn’t want her help.
“Gaudium…”
A single word left her mouth as she turned her gaze west, across the forests not hit by the displaced mountain forcing the lakewater out.
In time, this valley would have no lake, only a steep river, and the displaced rock and terrain would be grown over, a shallow hill hiding the catacombs of the fortress that had once stood here.
Ave-Dol took flight west, knowing Gaudium’s currently simple mind would take her order to run and hide as far as he could to heart.
She searched for the Being of Pride, as the others scattered to their own ends.

1 hour later
Night
Citadel Ruins, Catacombs
Ruined hallways.

Behind him, the tunnel had collapsed, as Tacit Scrivener had heard the cries of the 3 following him silenced under the collapsing roof of the catacombs.
Overhead, the rumbles had long ceased, but the mad dash down into the Catacombs had made him lose his way, and now he was alone. The Unicorn Stallion’s horn illuminated the dark corridors and stone walls, down here only slightly cracked from the cataclysm having unfolded above.
While the landslides had taken out the upper structures, the lower catacombs remained intact, secured by rock it was already burrowed into.
Slumping beside the wall of the hallway, Tacit opened up his journal, noting the panicking sloppiness of his writing in today’s entry.
-The earth is trembling, the whole mountain is collapsing, claiming the citadel. The creatures have vanished, their fighting sending this place to ruin. We must escape, the main entryway is lost. The tunnel in the deep, the labyrinth is impassable when entering, not leaving.
But as he looked out down the hallway, Tacit found himself wondering what tunnels were still intact, and which weren’t. He would have to find his way through the Catacombs, knowing the fear of a cave in was always present.
He kept the satchel of Alicorn amulets with him, only a single red gemmed one missing. They felt like weights however, yet his service to Siral was what compelled him to keep a hold of these valuable artefacts.

Later that night, unseen in the shadows, tiny presences gathered unseen, a larger, overarching presence whispering in the darkened catacombs, weak for now as it gathered itself.
Only the solitary Unicorn stallion making his way out provided a living ‘beacon’ to rally towards for sustenance.

Sunrise
April 7th, 71 BNM
Northern mountains, 50 miles west of the Citadel,

The Draconeraqus was hidden inside the small cavern, a few vines slinking into it the same way the water trickle came down.
Cuts and bruises from his mad dash marked his body, as his red and yellow eyes flickered open, blankly staring around in minor confusion.
He recalled running, somepony telling him to run, somepony light blue if he remembered what colours were.
As he stood up, he tried to think, his mind an utter mess, devoid of much at all. A light blue figure telling him to run, others that were angry at him, others that wanted him controlled, it was all a bad dream to him.
But one quote, one line, seemed more real than anything else. A fragment of a speech his unknown creator had given, it stuck out like nothing else. Unbeknownst to him, it was one of the first things ever spoken to him when he was reborn, wiped of his mind.
“-all that causes discord.”
“Discord… Discord.” The Draconeraqus wracked his mind, that word, that name, the only thing that seemed to stick in his mind better than anything else.
He timidly stayed hidden, only that name, Discord, as his safety of knowing something. To him, that memory was more real than any other, so it was truth in his mind.
Gaudium was gone for good.
Discord remained hidden, scared of this unknown world, but as he began to flick his clawed fingers on his eagle hand, he saw sparks of magic fly.
Sat alone in the cave, he began to collect himself, the unknown world beyond a place too intimidating to brave just yet, not before he knew himself and his body better.
Discord made his home in the cave for a while, as his brethren made their mark on Equestria in their own ways.

Author's Note

End of the Citadel fall arc, and now we can get moving to the consequences and fates of each of them, as well as tying up loose ends.
But from here on out, the story’s focus shall be from the ‘protagonists’, aka Starswirl, the royals and to a lesser extent, Chack, as his kindness epiphany is still to come.

Starswirl: The Lie that is Destiny.

Mid-Morning
April 10th, 71 BNM
Citadel Ruins, mountainside

5 days since its fall, and the Citadel was unrecognisable. Quite frankly, the entire valley now looked as if a giant hand had crashed into one mountain ridge and ploughed it across, making the lake empty and render the valley into a narrower state, only a wild river left now that was slowly forging its new path.
Flying overhead, the Royalist scout pegasi had taken their search of the ruins, of this newly formed shallow mountainside.
Aside from telling cartographers that this Valley would need remapping in time, there was nothing that could be truly discerned of what exactly happened here, apart from utter devastation of the Citadel. Only a few fragmentary structures poked through the hillside.
Underground was where the only intact structures were, and within them, the number of surviving ponies was about to dwindle to zero.
But that did not mean the Citadel’s ruins were unoccupied.

Meanwhile
Citadel ruins, underground entrance labyrinth

Tacit Scrivener would have moaned in hopelessness at the sight that befell him this morning, though the state of his situation had long grown old over the past 2 days.
The labyrinth’s entrance, so close to the exit, had caved in. He was trapped. He’d found out as such when he finally summoned the courage, and enough knowledge of where was caved in and where wasn’t.
And all the while the whispers, the presences, had made him scared to remain in the Citadel right up until his advance through the labyrinth. They were sinister, not his master Siral, but his demon hordes he had under his service set loose in wake of his death.
The Labyrinth was only a maze trying to enter, but exiting the Citadel it was a straight shot, like tracing a thin twig to the trunk of a tree. But that ease was rendered pointless by the collapse of the tunnel shortly after the last fork in the road if coming the other way, where magical diseases, demon hives and plummets to dark abysses awaited.
The Unicorn had slumped beside the caved in wall, only the faintest of flickering lights from his horn illuminating him inside the tunnel.
Wearily, as if it were a last comfort, he looked over his journal entries, one per day since the Fortress fell 5 days ago.
7 April
-I feel something following me, it beckons me to rest, to, surrender. I must get out.
8 April
-The tunnel is shut. I have seen no one else, my magic can light my impending tomb for only so long.
9 April
-The presences return, the voices. They're calling out to me in the dark when I wake, when I sleep. My hours awake grow shorter each time I rest.
Lightly stroking his journal with his hoof, Tacit’s ears slumped, wondering why him of all those to survive.
As the whispers grew in the tunnel, Tacit scrunched his eyes shut, the gnawing whispers echoing up the tunnel as always.
Yet suddenly, they ceased. His eyes flickering open slightly, Tacit’s unicorn magic light shone down the tunnel.
The magic light he shone revealed nothing in the tunnel, just the wet dripping echoing in the darkness from a small stream that had formed overhead in the ruined hillsides.
With a sigh, he dimmed his light, turning away as he resumed his biding of time. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw somepony in the tunnel.
Barely illuminated by his magic light now, a Unicorn, black as the darkness in the tunnel, and sporting familiar scars and grey eyes.
Breathing turning shallow, Tacit flared his magic light again, only to see the elder black Unicorn vanish. But the silence reigned in the tunnel.
Timidly, as he dimmed the magic light, he noticed something that made his heart stop. The Unicorn silhouette returned as the light only barely lit up the tunnels, an outline at best. But on the ground, what looked like shadow and black smoke began to slowly seep towards it, as if it were gathering the dark forces to itself. The grey eyes twinkled in the tunnel before dimming entirely.
The demonic whispering returned, as a new voice gave them purpose, gave them order.
Servite dominum tuum.
Servite dominum tuum.
As the chanting echoed more and more, growing clearer with each moment, Tacit Scrivener hung his head, uncertain of his fate.
Opening his journal, he used his magic to write one last entry.
-The master has found me. My time is done.
Slowly shutting the journal, Tacit glanced up.
Grey eyes stared into him from the darkness, as he felt the choking pull of the Savant’s magic consume him.

Beside him, the satchel of Alicorn amulets was consumed as well, their magic bursting from them to dissipate throughout the Citadel like the finest of mists in the air.
As the fine powder smoke of the reclaimed Alicorn magic spread through the darkened catacombs and labyrinth, the colours they once had slowly turned grey, then as black as the darkness that now filled the underground chambers.
The Savant lay in waiting, growing, regaining himself before anything else.

April 13th, 71 BNM
Early Morning
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Barracks, sparring ground

Swinging his swords, both his old Katana and the new green one forged from Everfree’s gifted tool, Chack focused his mind on improving his dual wielding.
The news had come, and of them all, Chack didn’t quite know what to make of it. Being from Salaman, he didn’t feel as much of a personal stake. But given he’d faced some of the beings now running loose out there unseen in battle, he was loathe to take this as a blessing.
The wooden post thudded as Chack’s blade slashed it again, the Salamander backing up as he calmed his breathing, turning around while slowly spinning his blade in his hand to a backhand slash, deep in thought.
Thinking it over, he recalled the one his knowledge, and magical weapon’s insight, told him of the being of Envy, that strange centaur shaped hybrid with a scorpion’s lower body and an ape torso with draconian limbs, and 4 Unicorn horns as a headdress of sorts.
Trying to imagine her, one who had an odd and unexplained disdain for him, Chack hurled both his swords around to double slice the wooden post.
Chack.
As a voice suddenly interrupted him, an image of a wooden formed Alicorn face seemed to emboss itself on the wooden post, as Chack’s shocked expression was coupled with both his swords barely stopping from hitting the post, quivering as they were within a few inches of it.
At seeing Everfree on the post, Chack cautiously lowered his swords, blinking a few times before asking himself more than Everfree’s image:
“I might not be getting enough sleep…”
You are correct, but this is real regardless, to you at least. To others you would appear to be speaking to a normal wooden post.
Giving a slight snort, Chack turned away from the post, sheathing his normal sword and shrinking his green magic sword to its small cylinder shape:
“What do you want? Siral’s gone, they’re running amok, unorganized and more easy to pick off when found.”
But they have yet to be found. It does not take an Alicorn turned immortal forest spirit to see that they are waiting for something. At least, the ones with more sinister intent. Some of them are more peaceful at heart, but what ones aren’t are too great to ignore.
“Believe me, if I knew where even one of them was I’d be leaving to get them. I failed at Tartarus because it wasn’t one on one, but if I can just find one alone…”
At this, Everfree’s visage on the wooden post narrowed its wooden eyes, as the voice rang in Chack’s head as he began to walk over to a nearby bench, wishing to polish his armour.
The Being of Envy. You notice her more open disdain for you compared to the rest.
“If I can get any of them to fight me one on one long enough to finally end them, it is her, whomever she is.”
As he grabbed the polishing kit, Chack’s eyes suddenly narrowed slowly, as he turned to look at the wooden post, and Everfree’s face within it:
“You know where one of them is…”
Not the one you seek, but Gluttony and Lust. They travel together, but only they have travelled near enough to my domain when they fled for me to track them. Eyes and ears among the birds of Everfree serve this well.
“Where?”
Baltimare. They have been there in secret for a while, before the Citadel’s fall, and for nearly all the time that has passed since. As to why, I do not know.
“The Nationalist capital right now…”
Chack mumbled to himself as he thought about this, while he looked down at his green cylindrical tool, pondering this news.
“I promised Aubelles we would have words about everything anyway. I know he will be there if anywhere.”
It wasn’t long before the Salamander was off to his quarters, readying for a long journey.

Late Afternoon
Royal palace, entrance grounds

Walking alone the paved ‘driveway’ of the palace, the road where the carriages normally pulled up, the blue robed Wizard and the dark red armoured Salamander spoke with a friendly atmosphere.
“Do have safe travels. From what I gather those two are not quite as dangerous as some of the others, but do be careful not to underestimate them.”
Starswirl’s words were received with a slight laugh from Chack, who merely remarked to the Wizard:
“I guess it is fortunate they all decided to split up. Besides, if they’re anything like that one, Sloth’s being wasn’t it? The Windigo looking female… I may not need to kill them.”
“True, only one to ensure Siral can’t have all of them as the warnings showed, prophecy or from Everfree.”
“Well he won’t be around to complain if I do have to off them, will he?”
“No, no.” Starswirl said quietly, thinking on Chack’s words for a moment. He seemed very puzzled as Chack then turned to extend a hand, his semi fin/fingers extended out as he politely remarked:
“Goodbye Starswirl. Until we meet again, hopefully not too long, Baltimare’s a rather stuck up city since the Nationalists moved in if the peasants there are correct.”
Snapping from his thoughts, Starswirl extended a hoof, shaking with the Salamander right before letting go. Shuffling his bag of equipment for travels, the Salamander pulled out his green cylindrical weapon from Everfree, beginning to charge it for the travels.
“I meant to ask, why is it exactly that Everfree chose you for this role as, a soldier basically?”
“The Everfree forest has no stake in Equestria except for the larger scale threats. I’m a foreigner, so I am similar in that regard. His words, not mine. I say for the best, given how busy a Wizard of the Royalists likely can get.”
“Too true…” Stasrwirl remarked quietly, as he saw Chack begin to glow green, before giving a swift low bow as the green light from his tool engulfed him.
In a green flash of teleportation, Chack was gone, making his way east to Baltimare, Nationalist territory.
But as Stasrwirl turned, he was deep in thought, putting a hoof to his head as he thought over everything. Chack’s conversation had put things into perspective, and Starswirl required some time alone.
Without a word, the Wizard began to walk away from the palace, into Nokotaford’s town centre.

Next day
April 14th, 71 BNM
Early Morning
Nokotaford, blue lion tavern

Starswirl didn’t return that night, and wasn’t found until the next day.
The guard ponies found him, a dishevelled robe with a crumpled heap of a Unicorn lying in the back alley, many bottles around him. He smelt horrible, of at least half a brewery as one guard remarked when they recovered the Wizard from his own mess in the back alley.
It didn’t take long for them to bring the badly hungover Wizard back to the palace, neither did it take long for word to spread to Queen Aurora of this ‘episode’ of the high ranking Wizard and confidant she had. At this point, given how news of the Citadel would have been thought to be good news in her eyes, this was deeply troubling.

Mid-Morning
Queen Aurora’s private quarters

Her magic sitting Starswirl on a nearby couch, the Unicorn Wizard still very unsteady and sporting a large headache, the Queen sat down on a cushion behind her private dining table, her expression nearly as black as her usual attire:
“I cancelled my morning meetings to sort this all out, just for your information. What is this all about Starswirl? I realise you are stressed about a great many things relating to this, prophecy, and long history. But you have never taken to drinking yourself into a deep sleep that not even sailors could muster before now.”
His blue magic flickering as he kept his concentration up, Starswirl took out his normal pipe and weed, his utterly self-ruined state being tolerated this once by the stern queen as he lit it up, puffing slightly as the magical pipe weed calmed his mind.
Looking down, he simply remarked:
“How much more was a lie I lived my life in heed of?”
“Pardon?” Queen Aurora sat back slightly, her annoyance and worry giving way to a perplexed mood at Starswirl’s utterance. The Wizard continued, puffing on his pipe every sentence:
“That Prophecy warned of the beings… I received that vision from the Forest spirit I told you of, the one Chack has recently been contacted by to leave, tracking two of them in Baltimare. But those visions told of them all united, under Siral…”
“And now that Siral is gone, you doubt that foretelling?” Aurora suggested, beginning to see exactly what had riled up Starswirl enough to prompt a drinking episode even a drunken wretch would be unnerved by.
“Those beings, they weren’t what the Prophecy stated. Hell, one of them even came to me begging for help before this whole rebellion, one of the Beings! They rebelled against their master, they haven’t actually done anything yet without Siral ordering them, and I doubt they’d do anything he wanted after he was outed…”
“If Siral had not been turned, ruined, none of this with those seven would be happening. If he was not what he was, he wouldn’t have engineered this second phase of the Civil War. The first part that ended in an unsteady truce, that was not his doing. But this section, the devastation, Canterlot, Tartarus, Baltimare, all of it, he was pushing the pieces, manipulating or outright acting through them…”
As he paused, Queen Aurora looked down slightly, her face going hard as a memory of the rumbles and screams of Canterlot’s attack echoed in her mind, of the hum of the yellow beams of the attack that killed her husband, the crash of the palace being taken down the mountainside.
“Siral was my friend… And had he not heard the Prophecy, he wouldn’t have been curious to come with me. Had the prophecy not been heard by me, I wouldn’t have left, and in turn he wouldn’t have. They would never have been turned into those monsters. Siral would never have turned as he did, and this Civil War may have ended with that truce and so many would still be alive, your husband included…”
As he spoke, Aurora was somewhat shocked, even in her colder state since her husband’s death, at how bitter Stasrwirl’s voice was becoming now.
“If those Oracles had never spoken those accursed words, spelt out my destiny for me and made me feel I had to, none of this would be happening. The very idea of a potential threat put me, and Siral, on paths that would see him changed, and this happen.”
“And for what? The lessons I picked up from the 5 I have met before Chack have so far proven ineffective or inapplicable in this whole mess. I do not blame Chack for not being an exemplar of Kindness anymore, I see no gains to be had when it is a mess I am responsible for in part…”
“Starswirl…” Queen Aurora began quietly, but she was cut off as Starswirl finished his rambling, his voice turning cold as he spoke more to himself now, hooves trembling as he finished his self-loathing rant.
“But the worst part about all of this is, to me, is that after all this, knowing Siral was just as much a victim of this, LIE, I foolishly followed as destiny, that I do not feel worse. He was one of my oldest friends, even before the Prophecy, and I didn’t trust him enough because of a single line the Prophecy said warning of close help… Should I not feel more pity for what has become of him, what his servants he created did to him, servants he would never have been compelled by paranoia and a desire for safety in power to create were it not for that damn prophecy?”
Looking at Queen Aurora now, the Wizard she’d known for being wise, calm, and at times grumpy and withdrawn, looking utterly lost and ashamed:
“What does that say about me as a pony? I lost my closest and oldest friend in following a destiny I was told, not made myself, he was victim of it himself, and I don’t feel sorry for his fate…”
Staring at Starswirl, Aurora’s expression turned softer, as her now even rarer occurrences of feeling sympathy for others began to surface. But even with her sympathy, she couldn’t fully break from her abrasive nature:
“We all have things to mourn Starswirl, you are not unique in this regard. All your situation has over others is in the details.”
The Wizard said nothing as his head was low, looking at the floor as the Queen then spoke softer now, recalling:
“I try to keep in mind myself, even if outwardly I am admittedly colder since Nova’s death, to remember the times I had with him.”
“I am certain Siral was a good pony once, nopony is born evil. You don’t know whether to mourn because of what he became, or because you feel you did it to him. Grief and guilt are separate things after all, but they can lead to each other if you let it take hold.”
“I can’t give you the answers you want, only you can know that. But just keep memories of Siral from how he once was, and accept that at least now, he is at peace.”
Queen Aurora words rang in Starswirl’s head, but the Wizard slowly looked up at her with a small smile as he did try to keep in mind:
“If only he was still around as he once was, your husband too. I expect they would have got on rather well once Siral got over his initial antisocial behaviour.”
“Tell me more.” Aurora offered with a small smile, sitting back on her own seat as Starswirl sat back on the couch, talking of his times with Siral, before the Prophecy. By the time that came, when Starswirl was 150 and Siral was 90, they had been through much already, more peaceful times, better times, times determined by themselves and not by prophecy.

729 years ago

12th March, 800 BNM
Evening/Nightfall
Oracle Mount
Monastary mountainside

“By that time, if you and I are still around, I wonder where we shall a stand compared to them? Perhaps greater than I can conceive if they catch up to us, Starswirl the Bearded and Siral the Savant.”
Laughing slightly, Starswirl took another puff on his pipe, remarking: “Your grandiose predictions of the future can match the oracles at times Siral.”
As Siral shot Starswirl a sour look at deflating his thoughts of potential, as Starswirl blew a magic imbued puff from his mouth, the pipe weed smoking slightly as the puff of smoke spun in the air to reveal a wispy Pegasus shape flying towards the sky, trailing out beneath the hanging half moon on the horizon.
Staring out, Starswirl heard Siral murmur: “So, did you get asked to be here, or are you here just to catch up like I am?”
“Actually, I was asked for by the Oracles themselves. You were not?”
“No, and I don’t wish to know the future in advance. I make my own future.”

Author's Note

A transitional chapter, also insight into an epiphany moment from Starswirl about the whole joke of a Prophecy, and how by its very existence it screwed up so much.
This is an overall warning theme of this story, warning against predetermined destiny, how it corrupts free will and behaviour of otherwise decent people, or ponies in this case. An Anti-prophecy message, as not everything has unfolded as predicted, some things not useful yet, others not happening as predicted at all.
But as for the Seven, the first to be tackled as to their fates will be the beings of Lust and Gluttony.

Baltimare Affairs: High Society.

Mid-Evening
April 18th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, port district
Mermare’s dive tavern

The bustling noise and music that filled the tavern seemed blurred to Aubelles, despite only having touched a single mug of cheap grog. But in this tavern, as per the letter’s instructions, he’d disguised himself so as to appear as a bronze Pegasus.
Opposite him, Chack finished his story, laying out the strange green tool on the table between them. The Salamander’s tale was odd to say the least.
A forest spirit, and more on those beings in disguise that had ill intent towards Alicorns as a whole, among other things, and that they were on the loose now without their master at the reigns. Worse, that two were here in Baltimare for some reason.
“Neither you nor I are drunk, so I’ll assume this is the truth. It isn’t like you to lie, or at least, not lie in such an extravagant manner of tale…”
Chack frowned at this, before the Salamander shifted his brown cloak over his smaller frame, remarking bluntly: “You know damn well, as I’ve said before and at Tartarus, I wouldn’t do this if I was uncertain.”
“Even so, why should I help you? After you betrayed my trust?”
“A lie of omission, you didn’t need to know, but I let you know at the battle when the time came. It was you who said to me when we were first partners that loose lips can sink ships.”
“Aye it was, but if we are to be partners, I must ask if this truly is a threat against both, because I still do not support who your ‘master’ is with.”
“Believe me, Starswirl is unbiased, but he sees more benefits to being where he is. I on the other hand can be in Nationalist territory without much word spreading.”
“Only because I put in word that you died in battle during the Tartarus siege, saving my hide…”
“You what!?” Chack nearly exclaimed, to which Aubelles remarked coyly while sipping from his grog mug:
“Of course I could reveal that-.”
“No, no. Actually, anonymity is good for me. I guess I owe you that much..”
Aubelles gave a small flick of his eyebrows as he drank, stating with an air of victory over Chack:
“Yes you do. You stay dead for convenience, and I ensure you don’t withhold any truths I must know anymore.”
As Chack lightly scoffed at Aubelles’s subtle manoeuvring to have him by the balls, the Salamander had to admit to himself that Aubelles could have taken this much worse.
Putting down the grog mug, Aubelles turned more to serious matters:
“So, who are these two?”
“Unknown, except that they will target Alicorns in Baltimare, or already are. One who uses lustful desires against themselves through her manipulation, another with a gluttonous hunger who absorbs magic and anything else for his food. Unfortunately, they are the only two of the seven that neither me nor Starswirl have actually seen, save for uncertain mental visions…”
“That is not exactly the best description, if they can shapeshift as much as rumoured.” Aubelles remarked, the disguised Alicorn flexing his wings in frustration. Around them, the tavern was more lively than their conversation at the table in the corner.
“As far as I am aware, all the Alicorns currently in Baltimare except myself are nobility, courtiers. If the female one is after them, she will be in among the courts. As for the gluttonous male, who knows…”
Chack thought for a moment, as Aubelles looked at the Salamander with some well founded concerns:
“And what of their magical power, if they are like the others, they are dangerous.”
“As long as even one is killed, the overall threat is gone. We may not even need to kill them, perhaps threaten them for the others, like the dangerous ones at Tartarus.”
At Chack’s words, as Aubelles wracked his mind, the disguised Alicorn suddenly had a brainwave.
“Wait… There has been some discourse, rumblings and subtle betrayals and harmful gossip floating around the court in past weeks. Especially vicious in the last week. If we find the source of that gossip, we find her.”
“And find her, the male may come to aide a friend. A good plan…”
“One that requires me, an Alicorn, to be bait.”
“You proposed the idea Aubelles, and being indebted to you I can only recommend it.” Chack’s coy remark was stated with narrowed eyes, as Aubelles gave an aggravated sigh.
“Fine. But this may well be for the best anyway, given the timing. I’ve had to deal with the courtiers inviting me, a hero of the commons as they say, to their frivolous meets and dinners. I’ve got another invitation tomorrow night…”
Leaning forwards, the Salamander pocketed his green weapon, asking briskly.
“Could you perhaps help me get into the residence without sneaking in?”
Aubelles’s eyes lit up slightly, as the Alicorn gave a small, sinister smile:
“Of course, they’ve had a surprising number of new staff rehirings if talk around the city is true.”
Scowling slightly, Chack remarked: “You’ll enjoy that role of mine for certain, but it does highlight something afoot there.”
“To both of those things, it certainly does.” Aubelles took another swig of the grog, while Chack leant in, beginning another train of conversation:
“Now, about the court members themselves, what do you know of the frequenters…”

Next day
Early Evening
April 19th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, uptown area
Trumane manor
Main ballroom

The musicians played, the buffet table was stocked, and the fading sunlight glistened in through the large pane glass windows of the manor ballroom.
Noble ponies, mostly Unicorn or Alicorn, mingling with the lesser numbers of noble Pegasi and Earth Ponies, filled the room with chatter and laughter as they recalled events.
“-even with the draw at Tartarus?”
“I believe that while it was a draw they couldn’t afford it as much as we could. Believe me, as well as believe that we already have some spies and defectors from the Royalists willing to pass on the secrets of that, super-spell, they unleashed against our armies.”
“And no more word from the Citadel, a shame considering what came from it in regards to living forces. A cataclysm buried it, nothing much else is known.”
As conversations muffled the air, a few choice ones reached the ears of Lady Trumane, her magically heightened senses hearing it all as she listened in for the usual gossip.
“My Lady Trumane…”
“Lord Pearlhoof, welcome. But where is your wife? She and I have not spoken in a while. Do not tell me she is still in mourning…”
“She shall recover, but she is in no condition to attend, despite us living in this city.”
“Give her my well wishes after tonight, I insist. It’s a tragedy to lose one’s child in miscarriage, especially an Alicorn…”
With a swift bow to her, Lord Pearlhoof respectfully ventured off to rejoin the party, whilst Lady Trumane ventured around, her light yellow body suddenly enveloped gently with Lord Trumane’s white wing:
“Tonight seems to be going very well.”
“As if it would not?” With a small laugh following this rebuke, Lady Trumane lightly kissed Lord Trumane on the lips, the Alicorn couple pulling back as they both gazed over the party itself.
Glancing around, Lord Trumane noticed something that made Lady Trumane’s eyes narrow very slightly, as she kept her smile intact:
“Is that the Earl of Pambarley? I thought tales of him ascending to Alicorn status were false…”
“False they were not it clearly seems… Well, no sense waiting around, you and he have likely much to speak of since you last met. I’m afraid I have others besides him I feel wish for my company.”
With a departing nuzzle, Lord Trumane ventured over to the newest entered Alicorn, while Lady Trumane turned around to head into the mingling of the various guests.

Meanwhile
Trumane manor, kitchen levels

“Those drinks were to be refilled and served 5 minutes ago, pick up the pace!”
A call from up the stairs of the kitchens echoed into the busy level, as Chack shuffled his way through, making sure the serving smock he wore on his smaller body was kept stain free. All around him, the staff busied themselves, serving staff and cooks busy at work, and washers making progress on the used plates and cookware.
Keeping one of his webbed hands in his pocket, he fingered the green tool inside, as it began to glow a slight green, unseen inside his pocket. Under his breath, as he shuffled past one of the cooking mares, he murmured:
“Find the being, one of the two… Where are they?”
As Chack shuffled through the throngs of staff, pretending to be retrieving an unspecified serving dish, the cooking staff worked away feverishly.
At the rear of the kitchen, the so called ‘dessert’ staff worked feverishly on the various whipped creams that were going into many of the treats that night, by magic mixing or by hand mixing in one certain Minotaur’s case.
“There, that’s the lot. Unless some of them want fourths or so on I think this will suffice.” The lead chef, a Unicorn stallion, came over to look at the trio of mixing bowls full of whipped cream, hovering them over in his magic to the waiting pie and cakes that had just finished cooling enough from the ovens.
As the others left, Satio heard a call from over by the bread bakers, asking for his help in unloading a large tray of bread rolls from the stone oven.

“Come on, he has to be here. He said Satio was a Minotaur…”
Looking around, Chack saw only one Minotaur working here, a rather fat one, but sporting a pristine brown coat atop his fat form. Staring for a few moments, Chack shook his head, remarking to himself:
“No, too obvious, he’d never-.”
“HEY, idle workers can be sacked workers very quickly! I want those serving tables restocked 4 minutes ago!”
Snapping from his thoughts, Chack rallied to a queue of servants picking up serving trays of drinks and small cakes, along with large plates of food to restock the buffet available to the party guests upstairs.
“You, fishface, take the buns to the serving table and then come back for the drinks.” The head waiter, an irritable Earth pony stallion, passed by each pf the new waiting staff with orders, and remarked this to Chack as he passed.
Bristling under the insult, Chack kept quiet as the chefs carried over trays of food, in his case a tray of bread buns to restock the buffet. The fat Minotaur lumbered over, sparing a few apologetic remarks as he shuffled through a pair of rushing soup chef ponies, bringing the tray down to Chack’s level as he deposited it in the Salamander’s hands:
“Careful, they’re hot…”
“Thanks for…” Chack began sardonically, as the tray of buns came close to his outstretched hands, stacked high to the point where they’d block his head as he carried them.
But the world slowed down as the green tool in his pocket began to pulse, and he sensed it. Gluttony, in the Minotaur.
Staring at the minotaur, Chack blinked for a few moments, wary, anticipatory.
Then the tray touched his hands, and the surprising heat made him remember where he was.
“Ah-ah, ah..!”
“Warned you, now get moving before Raimsleigh has your head for being slow.”
As Satio wandered off, the disguised being was ignorant of the mesmerised, even perplexed look Chack shot him as he shuffled up the stone steps.
Said Salamander turned his gaze back to where he was about to enter the party fray, blinking a few times as he mouthed, hidden behind the tall stack of bread rolls:
“Too obvious, plain sight, genius or lazy..?”

Trumane manor
Main ballroom

“-cannot stress enough how charming it is that the rabble adore you so, even worship at times. As if you were one of them.”
At the seemingly dismissive tone from the noble Unicorn mare, Aubelles bore a grin and replied coolly: “I’d hesitate to call them rabble, not after seeing how much they can pull together when they need to, battle or work.”
“True, though I expect you know better than us in this regard, first hoof experience and all.”
Giving a courteous head bow, Aubelles let the noble Unicorn mare return to her gossips, as his left eye twitched in annoyance at yet another rather air headed noble pony. Most here were Unicorns or Alicorns, with the odd Pegasus and earth Pony here and there.
Looking around, Aubelles saw Lord Trumane further away, speaking to a younger Alicorn he didn’t know himself. But as the bronze Alicorn enhanced his hearing with magic, he overheard some snippets he felt were useful:
“-young mare kicked out, clearly she was driving a wedge between the Lady and Lord.”
“-oh but the food drugging, horrific what happened to Lady Pearlhoof 3 days ago, losing her child. I am glad those two kitchen ponies were executed for such heinous crimes…”
“Commander Aubelles?”
Snapping from his subtle eavesdropping, Aubelles saw Lady Trumane of all Alicorns standing before him, to whom he politely bowed while replying coolly:
“Lady Trumane.”
“An honour to have you here, respected among the commons and the nobility.”
“Yes, perhaps some more than others…” Aubelles mumbled, though as Lady Trumane spoke, he couldn’t help but notice a Salamander among the serving staff, shooting him a flick of his head as he turned from depositing the large plate of bread on the buffet table.
“Truly you are honoured, especially after your heroism at Tartarus in wake of the surprising resistance the enemy put up.”
“Urm, if I might my lady, there’s an urgent matter with that Salamander I brought, I think he’s received some news I might want to hear…”
“Ah, so it was you that brought him here. Perhaps a replacement for the Salamander mercenary you had ties to before he died at Tartarus? Surprising, considering what other rumours there are from my friends…”
“Sometimes gossip is nothing but rumours, but I will be back soon…”
Aubelles politely shuffled past, making his way over to where he saw Chack about to enter the kitchen doorway.

As he was about to enter the kitchen stairwell, Chack was stopped as a tray of drinks were all but shoved into his hands, the wine goblets filled already as the head waiter pony addressed him boredly:
“Ah, there you are. I need you to bring these drinks out, they’re draining us dry.”
“But I need to-!.”
“Get moving..!”
With an urgent hoof wave, the waiter saw Chack off, the Salamander letting out a miniscule snarl as he turned around, a polite, grit-toothed smile on his wide amphibious head as he walked out, drinks tray in hand.
As he walked, one glass being taken by a Unicorn mare dressed in dark blue after he politely offered it to her, Chack saw the next glass hover off his tray in a bronze glow, as Aubelles lowly spoke:
“Busy?”
“Spare me your enjoyment. I found one of them, he works in the kitchens.”
“The male? That was fast.” Aubelles seemed surprised by this, though it was cut short as Chack finished up.
“Yes, but he seems approachable, docile even. What about the other? Have you found anything out?”
“No, but I’m following gossip. If she uses desires against each other, gossip is her weapon. So I’m going to Lady Trumane, she knows anything to be known.”
As he nodded, Chack spoke before moving off to offer more drinks up:
“Remember the spell Starswirl passed on to me. It is meant for my blade but you can use it. In case she tries to sway you.”
“I’ve been using it since I got in.” Aubelles replied smoothly, as Chack headed off, his acting as a serving waiter impeccable as a visiting Alicorn couple called him over for some wine goblets.

Finally, Aubelles returned, apparently speaking lowly to his temporarily provided serving Salamander:
“I apologize, just some news from the local garrison I asked to hear of. Nothing to worry over, mundane matters.”
“No apologies are needed for devotion Aubelles. And please, you may call me Pristana if you wish. If anything, both me and my husband trust you as a, forgive the term, simple pony to judge. Naught hidden to be worried over.”
Smiling through the faint superiority jab, Aubelles bowed, flaring his wings slightly as his horn shone in salute: “Of course Lady, Pristina.”
With an almost flirtatious laughter, ‘Pristina’ Trumane gestured for Aubelles to follow her, as a few of the nobility waved lightly for a word with her and the reputable Alicorn commander she was making talk with.

Later that evening
Trumane Manor
Staff exits

“We’ll be underway when you get there Satio, we’ll have our fill before you clean house. See you there!”
Satio gave a polite wave as the other staff ponies left through the gates, the manor security guards letting them out with wordless glances. They knew these staff, even the handful of non-ponies hired out for exotic skills, including himself, a Minotaur.
Speaking of exotic skills however, a newcomer was venturing up to him.
Wiping some dust off his semi wet skin, Chack strode past Satio while gesturing up the darkened, oil and magic lamp lit street:
“You heading to the tavern as well?”
“Yes, why would I miss out on its good grub?”
“Why indeed? See you there.”
Chack bid the Minotaur a brief farewell, heading down the road himself too. Keeping his eyes glancing back, the Salamander knew to keep a close eye on the Minotaur tonight, now that they weren’t embroiled in catering to a party.
“I just hope Aubelles finds her…”

Early Morning
April 20th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, uptown area
Trumane manor
Main ballroom

Last night passed in flashes, as he felt something akin to intoxication building over the course of the evening.
He saw a few hushed arguments, a few aggressively leaving Alicorns from the party, but otherwise all was well.
Especially when Lady Trumane, Lady Pristana Trumane, was around.
She whispered into his ear a few things, compliments, rumours about the other Alicorns. He didn’t even realize that some Alicorns had such thoughts, such intents, such desires in one case.

He recalled Lord Trumane himself offering him a place in the guest rooms for the night, a courtesy gift to him for his service to the Nationalist cause. How could he refuse a gift from the defacto highest ranked Alicorn in the Nationalists, especially after such a night.
Clearly the Lord Trumane appeared very drowsy, bags under his eyes evident as the Alicorn slowly left down the same hallway to his quarters.

He dreamt of her, of Pristana, her sumptuous light yellow form, curvy wings and beautiful flanks and horn. Her eyes glistening with their chocolate brown shades, and a hint of dark blue behind them.
Dark blue, that colour puzzled Aubelles. As did her coming into his room in the night, whispering unintelligible words of sweetness and desire into his ears as he lay there, sedate.
“Such a strong stallion you are…”
Things became truly dreamlike as she pulled the covers over both of them.

Guest bedrooms

Awakening groggily, Aubelles felt himself inside a soft bed, part of his right forehoof numb as he’d clearly slept with his weight atop it.
But alas, as he pulled, he felt not his weight, but somepony else.
Cautiously, as he pulled back the covers, and saw Lady Pristana Trumane laying there, bereft of even the sensual night attire she’d entered in during his dreams.
Not dreams, memories.
Dawn had barely broken, and her soft snores were undisturbed as Aubelles slowly slid from the bed, his bronze magic shifting a pillow to take his place where she’d had a hoof wrapped around his torso. As she lightly seized it, he carefully used his magic to gather and oh so stealthily slip on his dress armour’s bronze design, as he also slipped out of the doorway.
Pausing outside the now shut guest room door, Aubelles was completely over the hangover he may have had, any shock about sleeping with Lady Trumane while her husband was here overtaking it.
Manipulation is her tool…
Aubelles’s eyes widened, as he turned his gaze towards the door, remarking quietly to himself:
“The eyes have it.”
Dark blue eyes to be precise.
Slowly at first, he made his way to the end of the hallway, before taking off into more of a gallop.

Lord Trumane’s bedroom

“Lord Trumane, forgive the intrusion, wake up!”
Aubelles had entered the bedroom of the Lord, using his military authority to bypass the two guards outside the door for now, and had begun to quickly awaken the sleeping white and blue maned Alicorn.
“Whuh? Who are you, how dare you enter my quarters unannou-Aubelles?”
“Your wife, she was with me this morning. I apologize but I fear something is wrong with her…”
Staring at the Alicorn commander with utter confusion, he spoke with rising annoyance:
“What on earth are you blathering on about? My wife has been away on her own business for 4 days now!”
“Then who exactly snuck into my guest bed last night after the party you both organized? Whom did I awake to this morning?”
“I organized it, she wasn’t involved!” Lord Trumane rebuked, shooting out of his bedsheets at the accusation, even outlandish and adulterous claims Aubelles was making.

Further down the halls, awakened by the lack of a warm bodied Alicorn beside her, Iena’s eyes snapped open.
“They don’t wake before me. He resisted!”
Scrambling from bed, the disguised creature kept up her appearance as Lady Trumane as she quickly dashed out the hallway, towards her ‘husband’s’ quarters.

“I should have you arrested for such outlandish claims, Alicorn be damned!” Trumane jabbed a hoof in Aubelles’s face, to which he urged the Lord:
“We have to expose her before-.”
The doors flung open however, as the guards let Lady Trumane stride in. Turning to see her, Lord Trumane began in shock:
“Pristana, is this-.”
But a single wave of her hoof, with suspicious dark blue magic coming from both it and her horn, sent Lord Trumane passing out onto his bed behind him. The guards came from behind her, spears and horns alight as Aubelles backed up to the window, whilst Lady Trumane’s own eyes flickered the dark blue colour of the enemy, Iena.
“Strong stallion, and clearly resilient somehow. Now, make this easy for everyone...”
“Not likely, creature. Your friend will likely be at the mercy of mine already, the Minotaur. And he’s not as willing to act as you are it seems…”
Iena’s own eyes narrowed, still maintaining her Lady Trumane disguise as she turned to the guards:
“Leave us.”
The guards exited the bedroom, shutting the doors behind them as Aubelles and the disguised Iena stood their ground before the bed, Lord Trumane still out cold.

Meanwhile
Early Morning
Baltimare, port district
Waterfront

Satio sat on the edge of the stone waterfront, the slightly grimy waters of mid tide a few feet below him as he ate the small basket of bread he’s sneaked from the bakery they’d all but raided with their appetites and wallets last night, though half of it was on Satio’s part.
The Minotaur relished the morning mist, as the distant masts of moored merchant and fishing ships in and around the bay contrasted with the stone buildings on the shore, fortress or normal.
A few slapping footsteps sounded behind him as a familiar Salamander came to sit beside him:
“Come out to see the sunrise too?”
“Nursing a headache more likely…”
“Funny, you didn’t drink much yesterday.” Satio remarked, to which Chack remained quiet, mumbling something Satio didn’t catch under his breath about needing to keep his senses alert.
Sat beside the portly minotaur, the Salamander grumpily nursed his head in a faux headache, all pretend, as he remarked:
“So, how did you end up out here of all places? I got traded as a servant, how about you?”
“Same story, but cooking, not serving.”
“Any previous masters you feel like speaking of? I could go on about my own if you wish to compare…” Chack began, clearly harbouring some discontent with some previous superiors.
Reclining slightly, the Minotaur began to reminisce: “Well, first I guess there was me moving to set up my own little farm, but largely I just got cheated out of my land and I found my way here.”
“Go on…” Chack asked.
As Satio began to regale in limited detail, Chack secretly stroked the green tool, and his normal sword, hidden inside his sort of robes he wore on him, watching, trying to catch him out, interrogating him. One slash hopefully.
But he was worth interrogating while he was alive, before Chack had a chance to be rid of the problem of there being seven alive in one quick stroke.
He was unaware of Aubelles’s current standoff, nor was he concerned. He had Satio right where he wanted him.

Author's Note

In the gossips overheard at the party, among some of Chack and Aubelles’s displeasure at what they must contend with, there are tantalising hints of what they’ve done in the past week while infiltrating, such as Lady Pearlhoof’s miscarriage of her Alicorn child, and the kicking out of one of the Lord Trumane’s mistresses for seeding distrust.
Worse, Iena has taken to exercising control of the staff and Lord Trumane in Lady Trumane’s recent absence on business. More on that next chapter.

LUST: Iena the Manipulative.

Early Morning
April 20th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, uptown area
Trumane manor
Lord Trumane’s bedroom

They were alone, Lord Trumane unconscious in his induced slumber. Iena, in disguise as Lady Trumane, calmly walked towards the Bronze Alicorn stood opposite her in the bedroom, warily looking at the pale yellow Alicorn he saw before him with distrust, wariness, even outright revulsion.
“What’s the matter? You seemed to enjoy me last night…”
“I wasn’t in my right state of mind, you know that all too well.”
“Hmm, true, my spell didn’t have the effect it usually does on stallions, or mares when I need to sway them. What’s you’re secret?”
“Self-control.” Aubelles retorted, to which ‘Lady Trumane’ visibly laughed under her breath, slowly walking over to the bed, rubbing a hoof teasingly over Lord Trumane’s slumbering face:
“Everypony has their limit, be it torture, seduction, money, everypony has those little parts of themselves that can be twisted in order to bend them to your will, magic to help or not.”
“And what was his limit? What did you do to get Lord Trumane under your thrall?” Aubelles asked darkly, the Bronze Alicorn heeding the disguised Alicorn mare before him carefully as she turned to him with a coy, but careful look of her own:
“Whisperings here and there, sweet words, truths ever so slightly altered. Outright mind melding magic shows its signs if done too strongly for me, but before Siral I had my ways. He may have ruined me to get me, but he made my talents much more effective in the end. Too bad he can’t be alive to see it now.”
“What have you done?” Aubelles probed, eyes narrowed as she seemed to slowly walk towards him, his own magic shields raising slightly to her visible disapproval:
“Come now Aubelles, we don’t want to make a scene here do we? Think of the scandal.”
As she passed, she seemed to whisper in a way that echoed in his ears:
“Think of the gossip of you being found in Lord Trumane’s bed, and MY loyal husband having found me weeping of a beastly night encounter with you. You would be carted away to the axepony’s block…”
On the bed, to Aubelles’s vision, she cast some dark blue magic. And before his very eyes, Lord Trumane transformed into an exact copy of himself, fast asleep on the bed. Yet as Aubelles looked down while Iena slowly circled him, still disguised as Lady Trumane, he transformed into Lord Trumane, his bronze fur turning white, his mane turning light blue.
As she came full circle around him, ‘Lady Trumane’ narrowed her eyes at Aubelles in challenge, as she whispered sweetly to him. Resisting, Aubelles heard her voice beginning to hum almost as she spoke, like an echoing noise in a massive hall:
“Envision it. You, an Alicorn ascended from a Pegasus, becoming the great Lord Trumane. All you must do, is give up all you are to me, and become all he is.”
“Lord Trumane is a stubborn old fool, not seeing the way things are going. If we stopped the war now, then his Nationalists will still have gained more than the Royalists, they will be victors by being more powerful. But they can only do this if the highest among their Alicorn leaders undergoes, a rather sudden change of tactics.”
“Why should I trust you? What have you done with Lady Trumane?” Aubelles asked, his words slow and slurred at first. Wheeling around to walk away from him slightly, Iena scoffed as she replied more coldly:
“You really think the real Lady Trumane would have even given you a sideways look like I did last night? She was as bigoted, if not more, to what she called the ‘soldiers’, barbarians that serve a noble cause she called them. And an Alicorn like yourself mingling among them willingly unlike others that stayed at Officer levels, she viewed you all with contempt…”
“As for her fate, she left the day after I got back from the Citadel’s downfall. The wedge I’d driven as a sultry ‘mistress’ made me look like a scarlet mare of sorts. And what I propose for you, I already did with her. The fools kicked out their own Lady Trumane thinking she was a glorified concubine, though the spell I placed on her made her think she was who I masqueraded as too.”
“And in case she did come to, it is all too common for mares in such professions to fell victim to very undesirable folks, especially if arranged with word of her reputation spreading.”

5 days ago
April 10th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, lower docklands

The Pegasus mare ran for her live, her wings having had their feathers cut off, along with her dress. Running for her life, she dove into a nearby alley, only to see a dead end. Desperately trying to fly, she flapped her clipped wings hopelessly, as the noises behind her caught up.
The first rock hit the wall as she turned to try and block the rest, but she saw angry ponies coming around the corner, the same ones chasing her, rocks hurled by hoof or by magic coming at increasing numbers. More rocks flew, and more hit her on the forearms as she backed up, eventually too many hitting for her to properly protect herself.
The pained screams came from the alley as the angry mob continued stoning her to death, but given her reputation, nothing was to be done by any authorities that heard.
Watching from afar, Iena gave a small smile in satisfaction, before she flew off from her perch, her changeling/snakelike body shifting to a green Pegasus as she did.

Present
Early Morning
April 20th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, uptown area
Trumane manor
Lord Trumane’s bedroom

“But now, my need to keep Lord Trumane in the dark can end. If you join me…”
“Why would I join you?”
“To be at the top of the social ladder, to have the position a Stallion of your quality truly deserves, unlike the silver spoon borne lumps that call themselves Alicorns that still regard you as lesser than they. Aubelles the Mighty… Aubelles the strong… Aubelles the War Hero. What have any of them done besides dictate and parade about while hard-working, strong ponies like you and others, Alicorn or less, suffer for their gain? Even when you became an Alicorn they regard you by your origin still…”
“You don’t know me demon…” Aubelles growled to Iena, at which she put on a mock-hurt look, while she seemed to slowly move around to his side, tilting her head while putting on a playful smile, though he could see a hint of the cautious dark blue in her eyes:
“I can see it in your eyes… Underneath your glamour, your reputation, you are just as bitter as any pony who works hard, rises up, only to still be regarded as less then you feel you should be… I understand that feeling too well. I manoeuvred the courts, the nobility for my family. I brought them great sway, and when the time came that Siral secretly outed me for my manipulations, they used me as a scapegoat despite knowing I did it for them.”
“But now, now I can be what I wish, do what I wish. And I wish, to entrench myself and those I feel deserve to be as well, in places where we are safe, secure and powerful. But…”
As she stopped, she came up to Aubelles’s side, her hoof ever so slowly touching his broad shoulder while he stood rigid, watching her carefully, his bronze horn still glowing strongly as he warily regarded the advances she made. But she could see it, his stern expression faltering ever so slightly.
“Only if I have what I need. I have placed myself, but now I need another, as I have seen that my ‘Lord’ cannot be what I need as he is. He must be replaced, and only I and as I feel is best, you would know.”
“And what of your friend? The other like you who is in the kitchen staff?” Aubelles rumbled, as he slowly turned to her, his expression softening ever so slightly. With a small smile, she remarked offhandedly:
“He is more of a backup, content where he and I stand. Besides, what I need, what you can do with me, cannot be done by him. His new form makes my magic less effective on him, he is too different from normal beings to alter, to disguise, unless he does it himself.”
“So why not ask him to do it?” Aubelles asked suspiciously. As she hovered ever so slightly, she came to hover right I front of his face, her now clearly dark blue eyes growing wide in their pupils, staring into his own as she spoke:
“I need someone who has ambitions, somebody not so easily pleased. He is a dear friend, but he is simple in his wants and needs. While endearing, it is not, suitable.”
“So what would I be? A trophy? A slave?”
“No… You would be my Lord, a worthier lord than the one lying asleep on the bed right there.”
“I see you for what you are, who you are, who you deserve to be. You are more of an Alicorn, nay, more of a Stallion than any of the gelded mules who parade about the ballrooms too often.”
“Stay with me, become Lord Trumane, and I your Lady. We can rule the Nationalists, stop the war while they are ahead and still make sure they are the more powerful faction. We can live powerful, rich, full lives.”
“Stay with me, love me, and together we shall become the greatest Lord and Lady that Equestria has ever known. The Royalty shall be made redundant in our presence, by our name being uttered. Be with me, and I shall make you the greatest Alicorn Equestria has ever known, unquestioned and sung about for centuries.”
“It would be easy. Seeing your wife almost fall victim to one as ambitious as Aubelles, would galvanise Lord Trumane, and after this experience, he would become a far greater Lord than he was before. All you must do is accept that you would give up all you are, and accept all you would inherit and become.”
“But I made myself, my reputation would be gone, tarnished.
“You would be somepony else, and it would no longer be your concern. Why hesitate?”
“My pride, my honour.”
“Nopony would know but I and my other friend… And we would have no gains from outing this whole scheme. It would be easy… And all you would need to do, is be yourself, while under a new identity. Lord Trumane would be a changed Stallion after this incident I could so easily arrange, so you would not change your beliefs, your ideals.”
“Only betray them to supplant my way into power…” Aubelles remarked, to which Iena frowned slightly, her disguise of Lady Trumane flickering slightly as she drew the curtains of the room now, casting the room into a slight darkness.

“Aubelles, if you did this, while you would be supplanting another, you could be yourself. In the end, you would still have stronger morals than any of those noble Alicorns and ponies who look down upon you.”
Slowly approaching Aubelles’s, his bronze glow dimming slightly as her own dark blue magic dimmed to match his, Iena’s form shifted before his eyes, to reveal her origin. A light green Pegasus mare with a complimentary figure.
As she strode up, Lord Trumane shifted in his deep sleep, rolling onto his side with a snore. Ignoring this, advancing on Aubelles in the dimly lit room, Iena slowly came up to stroke Aubelles’s glowing bronze horn in a longing manner, her expression a mixture of pleading and temptation:
“Be with me, Aubelles. And you and I can become greater than either you, the Trumanes, or even my old leacherous master Siral could have ever envisioned. That, I promise…”
As she slurred the last word, Aubelles’s resolve broke, his bronze magic fading as he saw Iena transform one more time before his eyes. Her dark blue eyes remained, but her head grew a pair of siren ear flaps, and her body became serpentine with changeling armour atop its back, two forelimbs with clawed, webbed hands extending out before the naga shaped creature.
The Being of Lust slowly slithered to come level with Aubelles’s taller head, as she lightly gripped the back of his neck and mane in one hand, while stroking his chin with the other:
“That, I swear…”
“And, what of your friend? What does he gain from this?”
Slightly giggling at this, Iena pulled Aubelles closer to her head, remarking coyly as their heads drew closer:
“He is content with what he has. Though I see why he wouldn’t be. He has all he wants while remaining low key, a backup, somepony else who worked hard and was ruined by life’s unfairness as well.”
“But, he will have to learn to share, from time to time…”
Aubelles’s eyes widened at this slightly, as he whispered drunkenly as his bronze magic finally faded:
“You two are-?”
“As if it would surprise you. Promiscuity is an unspoken commonplace among the nobility, they are just hypocritical of it.”
He could feel her breath on his lips as she whispered slowly to him, the room growing dark as her deep blue eyes filled his vision and dreams.
“Monogamy is easy to manipulate, which is why I see it as a weakness…”
Aubelles shut his eyes at last as she slowly moved them to the bed, this time not bothering to disguise herself at all, slithering herself with Aubelles in her grip. On the bed, Lord Trumane was hovered in a dark blue hue slowly over to a large couch beside a dressing screen, still deep in slumber.
As he was pulled onto the bed, Aubelles’s horn flared a slight green, as he began to encompass Iena in a seemingly comforting glow, which seemed to cause her pleasure of some sort.
“Finally holding up your end are we?”
“In a way…” Aubelles remarked, as they pulled together into a less disguised session than last night’s. He pulsed her body with subtler flashes of green, while she worked her own magic on him in body and otherwise.
He only hoped the spell, as many times as he subtly used it, would work.

1 hour later
Morning
Baltimare, port district
Waterfront

“-and then they figured I would be best as one of their bakers. They said they’d rather end up with more than they need anyway.”
“And you knew that was a veiled insult at your size?” Chack asked, an eye ridge raised as Satio sat beside him on the Waterfront edge, throwing a few mouldy bread bits into the water below for some fish that had gathered. Sighing slightly, Satio gave a small smile as he gazed down at the fish, remarking:
“Yes. But I don’t really care. I’m happy as I am, and as long as there are ones out there that do accept me, few or many, I can live with it.”
“Is there anybody out there who accepts you?” Chack asked probingly, his webbed fingers stroking the green handled tool hidden inside his robe inner pocket. The brown furred Minotaur’s orange eyes flickered slightly as he gave a small smile:
“One. She’s in the city, and what a beauty… But she and I can’t really be together as much as I’d like. She’s in a higher position than I am.”
“Do tell…” Chack asked, intrigued as he turned to face Satio slightly now, the Minotaur throwing some mouldy crumbs down to the fish, who swam about as they fell in the murky water. Out in the harbour, merchant, fishing and a few naval sailing ships still lay moored.
“Well… She’s a little less, laid back then I am, and more easily insulted. But by gods can she read you like an open book… Guess that was why she could see past all of, this to begin with.”
As he grabbed his fat belly, jiggling it slightly for emphasis, Chack gave a slight huff at this display, remarking loudly:
“Looks can be deceiving, too often true…”
“I’m not sure exactly why you came out here and were willing to sit with me, talk a bit, but thanks. I don’t really have many friends, not ones who will talk with me one on one. Thank you, but I think I should get back to home now.”
“Why, will she be waiting there?” Chack remarked coyly with a smile.
With a slight self-deprecating chuckle, Satio turned to leave, remarking back with a wave goodbye as he got up to begin walking down the waterway wall path:
“I doubt it, she’s likely busy.”
Chack’s next sentence came out much less humorous however.
“Manipulating noble ponies while disguised, I’d wager. Which makes me wonder how you tie into what you are both doing here…”

His back turned to Chack, Satio’s orange eyes widened suddenly as he stopped, as he heard Chack stand up himself, the Salamander still staring out at the harbour and not him from a few metres away.
“Forget the last hour of conversation I endured to find out anything I could about you… Let’s not waste any more of my time or yours. What are you really doing here? Why did Siral ask you and the other, the female, here?”
“How much do you know?”
“Start talking, and you’ll know if I didn’t already know by how patient I am with this.” Chack warned, as he visibly pulled out his normal katana, magically hidden away and shurken until now. Turning to see the Salamander wielding the sword, Satio gave Chack a blunt look of reluctant anger, replying calmly:
“You don’t want to do this, it won’t end well.”
“I faced down one of your friends at Tartarus, and others. Others more inclined to try to kill me than you seem to be. Don’t doubt my will.”
Looking at Chack, Satio kept his calm, though Chack noticed a nervous shiver building in Satio. He was no combatant by nature, nervous, easily stressed, which explained his gluttony to an extent. The Salamander threatening him couldn’t be any more different.
“I didn’t want to do this myself, much. I only wanted to help her, I, I made her a promise when she helped me become comfortable with who I am, and when I did the same when she changed, as I did.”
“Then talk. My goal and Starswirl’s only needs one of you, among seven, to work. One, that is all.”
“Starswirl? Of course, it had to be this whole thing. You aren’t going to even give whoever it is a chance, are you?”
“They’re innocent, exploited by Siral. Why are you doing this, what did any of them do to deserve execution?”
“They became too powerful to be left alive as a collective.” Chack replied calmly, sword still lowered, but ready.
“If you say that about all of us, why not try and take us all out?” Satio gestured to the sword with his forehand, the fur on his body visibly turning a shade of orange as he finally began to drop the façade.
“Truth be told, I feel that would be best, if you are all anything like I’ve already seen from the others. Teal Quirt, Odi-Viscer, Golmov, Gaudium, if I recall correctly. You are simply one of the easier targets.”
At this, Satio asked in a soft tone, the Minotaur sighing as he asked:
“I, I don’t know where those four are, nor another, Ave-Dol. But, the other here, Iena… I can’t tell you. I won’t. I promised to help her, and to remain undercover. I won’t break that promise.”
“Even if it involves killing two kitchen staff ponies, at the same time as a Noblepony’s wife, Pearlhoof’s, was drugged and lost her child, shortly after eating their food.”
“Iena asked me. She said, it would mean no new Alicorns to worry about until things were better secured. The staff took the fall, but they were bad ponies anyway.”
“That is why you are dangerous. Because she is, and you follow her like a lovesick cow.” Chack remarked, filling in the last gap he needed in judging Satio’s true character.
“I won’t let you kill her.”
“I already have somepony looking for her, turning her wiles against her, with magic to help him enough. She may already be cornered if he finds her fast enough.”
“You can’t! I won’t let you harm her!” Satio loudly exclaimed, advancing on Chack as he turned a brighter orange, some of his fur turning into a jelly-like skin as he stopped short of Chack, who pulled out his other green sword as a few distant onlookers saw the strange confrontation turning more violent on the docks.
“Tell me where the others are, even just a suspicion, and I’ll let you and your whore be left alone!” Chack hissed to Satio. The Minotaur paused, as he weighed his options, wracking his mind hard.
“I can’t…”
“So tell me why I shouldn’t have her killed by my friend or me to ensure one of seven dies, given how harmless you are?”
Satio was quiet, the Minotaur turning a full bodied orange now, though still Minotaur in shape:
“Because I am one of seven, and you can kill me. Just not her…please.”
The orange skinned, portly Minotaur dropped his stance, turning to face away from Chack, towards the harbour. Chack meanwhile, stared at Satio, as he looked down at his green, enchanted blade, among the two swords he wielded.
“You are dangerous because she is dangerous.”
An audible slash was heard as Chack’s green blade seemed to rip into the air itself, a rip in the air revealing a glistening green portal, and what looked like a bird’s eye view of Baltimare.
Right as he turned to try and seize Chack, he saw the Salamander give a satisfied grin as green magic sprung from his sword, enough to engulf Satio’s Minotaur shaped form, and hurl him through the portal.
“She’ll know of your offer when her time comes!”
The portal snapped shut, right as a few onlookers gazed on puzzled or fearful, Chack charging off into a nearby alley in a bid to make a set of elaborate moves to blend back into the public, hiding his weapons and reverting to his kitchen staff attire as he began to make his way towards the palace.
As Chack ventured through the city, he placed a hand on his enchanted sword, with a single calling spell.

1 minute later
Nokotaford, outskirts

Starswirl teleported yet again, knowing he had a lot of ground to cover very quickly, and he drank a stimulus potion for good measure.
The magical message Starswirl had Chack send whenever needed had all but shot him out of bed.
“I can end this nightmare before it begins…”
The Wizard made his way frantically to the East, having left without word or warning from inside his quarters that morning.

Meanwhile
Baltimare Harbour

The Natioanlist naval ship, a caravel class, hoisted the anchor in beginning to make preparations to set sail for the usual patrols of the harbour mouth. The crew of pegasi and earth ponies worked hard, the cool morning air refreshing to them.
But on high, an orange glowing figure seemed to be falling from high above, higher than any birds seemed to fly, as a green flash from up on high seemed to spit it out from the sky itself.
Looking out in the distance, the faintest scream could be heard as whatever it/he/she was, as its shape seemed to morph into a more bloblike form, before crashing into the sea waves like a massive boulder.
Shrugging at the odd sight, the sailors made the choice to begin their patrol by heading out to the landing area and sending down search spells from the crew’s one Unicorn, their captain.
But underwater, the orange creature that fell was recovering, already beginning to move along through the water, shifting and growing as it made its way unseen back towards Baltimare’s city docks.

Author's Note

Aubelles confronts Iena and her schemes, her methods, and she knows what buttons to press. Though him entirely falling for her methods is yet to be seen, despite her luring him to bed for the second time, the same morning he just woke up from her disguise giving herself to him.
Meanwhile, Chack takes the more direct approach with Satio, though makes short work of getting him out of the way at least. He’s not the bigger danger in intent, clearly. Satio is a willing slave to Iena, and Chack knows enough tactics to know which to go for.

LUST/GLUTTONY: Decadent Battle

Mid-Morning
April 20th, 71 BNM
Baltimare, uptown area
Trumane manor
Master bedroom

Bursting into the bedroom, as the maid was being consoled by one of the guards, the other guards saw the dead body on the bed. A bronze Alicorn, lying there, unconscious and dead to the world. Aubelles was dead.
"Search the grounds, find Lady Trumane, she was in here last with Lord Trumane, they must know what happened!"
As the guards left, the head guard scowled at all that was going on today, before storming out himself.

Trumane manor
Main gardens

Striding out in the gardens confidently, 'Lady Trumane' and 'Lord Trumane' waltzed out through the paths of flowerbeds.
As she nuzzled his neck, the disguised Iena remarked coyly to her 'husband':
"Have you fully accepted?"
"Yes. Just this little stroll to calm myself before we both plunge into what is to come." Aubelles remarked, the disguised Alicorn sparing a glance back towards the manor towers, asking once more:
"But, what of the real Lord?"
"Hmm, I had some confidence that you would see my way is best. So, this whole time, he's had a toxin in his body. He would have died about, 15 minutes ago..."
"What!?" Aubelles suddenly turned stern, stopping their walk as he pulled away from his 'Lady'. Surprised, she spared him a wary look:
"It is done. He is dead, in your name. And you assume his in life by my side. I thought we had agreed to this?"
Hesitant, Aubelles turned away, as he replied:
"I could still out you, come clean..."
"My love... You would choose a path so much less easy then what I offer you if you did that. And you are much too intelligent to make such a foolish move."
"Do you always lock in those you ensnare like this?"
"Only when I am certain they have chosen my way. And in return, you have gained so much...and I in turn."
"I, this is..."
"Everything you ever wanted?" Iena approached him gently, her Lady Trumane disguised lips drawing to his own as she breathed the words to him.
"Yes... But something doesn't feel, right..."
"Let me, you are strangely resilient to me reading you mind, your desires. All the more reason you are so alluring to me."
"I offer only my best at whatever I do."
"That you certainly..."
Her eyes narrowed slightly, right before she kissed Aubelles yet again, as she noticed a faint green twinkle from his horn.
"What is that spell you have been casting this whole time?"
"Uh, just... I actually can't..."
"It is not your magic, let me clear it of you..."
With a flare of her own dark blue magic, Aubelles's horn was cleansed of the green magic spell he'd been using.
As soon as she cleared it however, green electrical arcs consumed her, earning an unearthly shriek from her as she recoiled back. As if snapping from a trance, Aubelles backed up sharply, alert as he saw Lady Trumane before him writhe and change in appearance. His appearance altered, no longer disguised as Lord Trumane, reverting back to his bronze Alicorn form, combat ready and smiling at the deceit on his part:
"You've been entrancing me the whole time, but so have I, and you fell for it..."
"What did you do to me!?" Iena screeched, punching the ground with a hoof as her green magic writhed at the disruptive curse she'd unwittingly stockpiled upon herself.
"It wasn't easy to do. Subtle, repetitive even as you bedded me, you made it hard to focus at times. But like enough pinpricks to a waterskin, you took one too many and shattered yourself."
"This magic was not you own! WHO!?"
"There they are!"

Glancing around, both saw the guards swarming from the manor, the leader calling out to Aubelles in particular:
"What is going on here, what have you done to Lady Trumane!?"
"Open your eyes, she is not your mistress!"
At Aubelles's words, Iena reverted at last to her light green pegasus origin, the mare stumbling as more green magic consumed her body. Now, as she glowed, more magic altered her, as her control was lost.
Her flanks became serpentine length, her forelegs two arms with claws, her head reptilian with black Changeling and green Siren features, a mixture of changeling, Siren and Naga with fierce blue magic burning in her eyes.
"There is the one responsible for the death of your Lord, and your Lady!" Aubelles roared.
But as she saw the guards point their spears and magic at not just her, but Aubelles too, Iena cracked a small smirk:
"We found you dead in the main bedroom minutes ago! Explain that!?"
"She disguised Lord Trumane, not me! She wanted me to take over, I stopped her!"
"Deceit from both! You collaborated with her more likely!" The guard captain accused, at which Aubelles balked, before turning his furious gaze towards Iena, who merely smirked with her teeth bared, hissing at him:
"Ruin somepony else in defeat if you can..."
With that, she darted off in a slithering fashion, her dark blue shields and serpentine motions dodging the spears and magic hurled at her, before she sprang over the wall of the gardens, into the streets beyond. Green magic arcs writhed around her as the disruptive micro curses still affected her, and as she landed in the streets horrified cries went up at the sight of her.

In the markets just outside the manor's garden walls, foals and fillies ran for parents, as older ponies recoiled in horror at the sight of her as she slithered through the streets. As she slithered, Iena couldn't help but feel her determined frown fade, replaced by shameful tears.
But as she heard more cries, and the sight of a bronze Alicorn taking off from the gardens in pursuit of her, she scrambled into an alley, her heartbeat racing. Slamming into a wall in her panic, as her teleporting earned her more green curse magic holding her back from doing much magic, her distress rang out in a frantic scream.
And that scream was heard by more than was realized.

An unseen energy reverberated from her with her gasps of pain and panic. She felt something in her, something buried, hidden, primal.
Spreading across the city, an unseen shockwave of dark magic, faint but detectable to those who knew how or were attuned to it, shot out.
Waves of distress, danger, panic.

Baltimare town outskirts

A blue flash inside a grain storehouse's alleyways signalled Starswirl's appearance, but as he panted at this rapid teleportation's toll, something alerted him.
A dark energy had rung out, riddled with distress and fear, and anger. A call for help.
"A call for aid, one of them..."
The Wizard turned his gaze towards the barely discernable waterfront buildings, where he sensed something else.
"Another one is here... and Chack!"
He vanished in a blue flash, heading for the impending danger he sensed out in the bay.

Baltimare harbor

Chaos unfolding outside the Trumane manor was becoming second fiddle to something greater.
The sound of bells from out on the water echoed, as the bay was now clear, no more morning fog to obsucre any ships out on the water.
One grizzled sailor stallion looked out to see the merchant ship capsize far away, slowly sinking all of a sudden without warning. Nearby it, one smaller dinghy sized boat was dragged under as if yanked from below, a splash of water violently rushing up in the distance as it vanished.
Over the bay, sea birds flocking about began to fly away in flocks, away from whatever it was.
He could only look on as more sailors like him saw the sight, and something began to create a wake beneath the surface, heading for the larger docks, before the wake suddenly vanished.

Baltimare main docks, waterfront

Chack glanced down as he dashed across a raised waterway, heading for the commotion that had begun unfolding in the direction of the garden markets near the manor area.
But stopping, he felt his green sword heat up slightly, as he saw its glow become pronounced, like a heartbeat.
"She's calling for help..." He murmured to himself, but as he glanced up, he sneered before dashing off still in the same direction:
"So Aubelles succeeded at least in outing her."
Leaping across another wharf, Chack ignored the few pony heads turning to him as he ran across market stalls on the fishing wharfs. But as he heard a few screams, he stopped, leaping down to land on all fours on the ground, a few ponies paying his twin sword armed state less heed.
Out in the bay, rushing towards the boatyard 200 feet from them, a small dinghy sized ship was being rapidly folded in on itself as it sunk, and was violently ploughed through the water. In a crash of wood timber and sailcloth flying, the boat was all but launched into the boathouse.
Ponies began to flee, but whatever was surging under the water to slam the boat there had already begun moving.
Chack saw a faint glimmer of orange beneath the disturbed water, and his face turned set as stone.
Up on a roof, Chack glanced to see a blue flash, and a familiar wizard catch his eye.
"Find the other!" Chack bellowed, as the waters near him all but exploded.
A massive surging shape rose from the water, glowing bright orange as molten rock while it engulfed the docks. Tendrils shot from its writhing mass in all directions, striking and destroying building walls and melting structures where it touched, dissolving them in its acidic, consuming touch.
Unseen screams made Starswirl aware of this consumer's glut for carnage, but it was a green shape, an energy sphere, that it had engulfed around that made him worried.
Pushing off from the shore, the gigantic mass, like an orange jellyfish almost, split in two. One half took Chack, engulfed in his green shield, off the docks and hurled him out into the bay as if launched from a catapult, all but spitting him from its innards like the green marble he appeared as on launch.
But the second half took the shape of a soft bodied Minotaur, pounding and writhing its way up the street, acidic burned footprints in his wake. Without pause, Starswirl charged his magic and gave pursuit, not seeing any creature move like this in his life.

Sensing the Wizard trailing him from above on a floating magic platform he flew on, Satio paid no heed to the Unicorn. The part of him that took the Salamander that tried to get him out of the way had a simpler task, to pursue him out in the bay. But now Iena was in danger.
"I'm coming Iena!"
Charging up the street, his hand and footfalls burning wherever they touched, he felt a few fired spells from the Wizard up on high, as well as a few odd city guards attacking him.
Tendrils sprouted from all over his orange hued minotaur body, seizing anything he could. Food cart fruit and vegetables, a living chicken, even a bag of unused plant seeds. He absorbed them directly through his skin as they were sucked inside him. His body grew, but he used the orange energy and fired it back.
One blast hit the nearest guard, and all but disintegrated half of the small house behind him too. Other spells, all of them dissolving or disintegrating whatever they touched, made glancing blows or misses wherever they went.
Coming to a halt in the middle of a street, the orange hued Minotaur hesitated at the sight of the dozen guards before him, spears and horns at the ready. Further back, coming to leap off his hovering magical platform, Starswirl bellowed:
"Surrender now, before things grow worse for you!"
"If I do not get to her, they will!"
Satio bellowed back to the wizard, before his body began to expand all of a sudden, inflating into a sphere of orange mass before turning to a swarm of locusts before them, swarming from the street and visibly taking lots of small bites out of anything, even the building roofing around the street.
As the swarms took flight, the guards flailed as they shot magic and spears, while one guard visibly yelled as he threw away his spear, the weapon being eaten by a few of the slower orange locusts.
As Satio took flight, Starswirl's powerful shockwaves of blue magic buffeted the swarm, too disperse to be truly harmed. At the sight of the wizard having come to Baltimare of all places, some guards recognised him as the royalist aligned Starswirl.
"What are you doing here Royal scum!?"
"Dealing with the same menace that plagues you now. You can take our allegiances to their conflict at a better time!"
Without another word, Starswirl flew off on his platform, the wizard flying high up over the city to try and see where the threatening creatures were. On the ground, the guards shared a wary look between themselves, but it was silently agreed that there were more dangerous things than mere Royalists here today.

Baltimare harbour

Swimming to the surface, his shielded form having been hurled halfway across the bay, Chack broke the saltwater's surface with a dizzy head.
"Salty, as long as I'm not in too long..."
While his gills allowed for him to survive underwater, like all Salamanders, the salinity of seawater meant to do so for much more than a few minutes would be unhealthy, lethal after too long even. But with what was pursuing him the saltiness of his surroundings was the least of his concerns.
Swimming fast, his swords trailing on his belt as he swam briskly towards the nearest ship, he saw the distant surge of water as the part of Satio that he had broken off from himself gave chase.
Like a gigantic whale, hued in orange and surging towards him, it was not fully Satio, but an animal like copy of himself bent on pursuing the Salamander.
Diving slightly, Satio dove out of the water, landing roughly on the deck of the Nationalist naval ship.
Approaching him, the captain, a clean cut Unicorn stallion, demanded of him:
"What the devil is that out there!? Who are you?"
"A monster, and dead if you don't help!" Chack quickly rebuked, rushing to the edge of the ship's railings as he saw the whale sized creature still heading right for them. Pulling out his green sword, Chack saw the Unicorns on the ship already rushing to the railings and pegasi flying up, crossbow and spears being hurled at the creature along with spells. But as it drew closer, the groan of its hunger and power rumbling the entire ship, Chack let loose only a single swinging blast from his green sword, only to see it dissipate on the creature's hide.
Surging forth in a spray of water, the orange glowing bulk smashed into the ship's stern, veering the ship around, one of the largest in the Nationalist navy, as if it were a log in a pond. Unicorns were thrown about, and an anchor came loose and smashed across the deck, nearly crushing one Earth pony stallion who dove to cover from its impact on the bow.
"Cap'n!"
Looking around suddenly as seawater flooded the deck from the violent move, Chack saw one of the younger deckhands scrambling away as an entire section of the ship's bow gave way, collapsing into the water as it had seemingly been dissolved at joints. The captain clenched onto the rigging that came with it, scrambling up as the whale sized creature began to circle, a long drawn out rumble echoing in the waters around them. Almost like a stomach's growl.
For a brief moment, it vanished under the water.
But like a geyser it emerged right beneath the severed stern segment in the water, engulfing it as its bulk seemed to morph like a set of blunt jaws, crushing and absorbing the wood and unfortunate crew. Up it rose, blotting out the sun on the horizon, a devilish orange hue, and a thousand tiny tendrils from its sides.
As it rose up, Chack glimpsed the creature's bulk, as did the sailors on the ship, and they saw the horror within.
Remnants, traces, barely visible inside, of buildings, wood, and what looked too eerily like parts of what were once ponies to judge as anything besides that horrible truth. It consumed like the most ravenous of creatures, and withstood even their best weapons.
Seeming to hang in the air, its bulk began to come down, first crashing into the large main mast of the ship, splintering it with sounds like lightning bolts going off.
Leaping and darting towards the bow, Chack braced as he saw the massive form slam down onto the ship's stern end, and the Salamander was catapulted into the air, along with countless articles of debris from the ship.
Flipping in the air, Chack kept his weapons close, but he glimpsed enough of the now sinking ship to see what was writhing in its remnants. Orange tendrils yanking sailors here and there, and anything from the ship's cargo. An appetite that extended to anything it could ingest.
The sea greeted him, and as he was slammed down into the water, he felt rigging grab his ankle and drag him underwater, before he quickly untangled himself.
Able to see through the waters, Chack warily saw the sinking wreckage of the warship, and the massive orange bulk moving through it.
It snatched barrels and sailor ponies as it burst through, living or dead, before it began making a line towards him.
Underwater still, he gripped his green sword, the glow intensifying as his challenging words to the incoming monster magnified underwater:
"Damn you! You're whorish friend will have nothing to mourn!"
Right before Satio's animalistic double tackled the much smaller Salamander, it dove upwards underwater, before diving right on top of him, a green shield bubble protecting him from being fully absorbed as the whale sized creature's forest of tendrils gripped and slashed at the shield, dragging them both deeper under, down into the bay's lower depths of 200 feet.
Down, deeper they went, the pressure building on Chack's shield, until the bay's seabed came rushing up to him. A dust cloud billowed up as Chack was crashed down into the silt, the whale sized creature swimming over his head and blowing up a much greater cloud of silt underwater.
Flickering from the shock, Chack's shield gave out, and water came quickly flooding in all around him. Taking a breath, the pressure much for him, he knew he could endure saltwater much longer than this creature might let him live if he was overpowered.
Locking his webbed feet onto the seabed, the silt obscuring the sunlit bay waters around him, Chack pulled out his second, personal sword, only the green glow of his enchanted blade lighting enough of the silt masked depths for him to see.
All around him, orange light reflected, and the hungry grumbles of the whale sized creature echoed.
Steeling himself, his gills flickering in irritation at having to use saltwater, Chack readied his stance as he sensed the first attack attempt.

Meanwhile
Baltimare, main aquaduct bridge

Flying overhead, Aubelles ignored a few panicked onlookers in the streets below as he searched.
"Where is she!?"
Glancing about, he'd lost sight of Iena as she fled through street after street. Taking a sweeping glide, he came upon the main aquaduct that serviced Baltimare, the bridge structure taking water that had flowed from the hill based lake a dozen miles away into the city's mill areas.
Flapping his wings, he hovered to a stop over the running waterway, 50 feet above the city ground below, eyes alert.
Glancing around, he saw a flicker of scales, and he tore down towards one of the water wheels that fed off the bridge's smaller outlets.
But coming around, he saw nothing, just a faint dark blue magic smoke evaporating before his eyes.
As he looked about, a mocking laughter took his attention, while he flew up and alongside the aqueduct bridge:
"Your little trick you put on me hasn't weakened me entirely. But deceit can involve more straightforward means..."
"Like illusions?" Aubelles accused, as he shot his bronze magic at a flickering serpentine tail from behind one of the arches of the aqueduct bridge. It too vanished in a puff of dark blue smoke, after which Iena's voice carried on the air yet again:
"Strong and smart. A shame, you would have made a perfect partner..."
"Despite all I've heard of you and your ilk wishing death on Alicorns? You arranged even an unborn one's death!"
"Not all. Every kind has its useful ones, and lesser ones."
"And you decide that I take it?" Aubelles spat, flying up to the top of the aquaduct bridge, his hooves balancing himself on the edge of the bridge's waterway wall as he landed.
"I consider myself a good judge of character. My skills would not work if that were not true." A mild laugh preceded this remark, carrying on the air as Aubelles flapped his Alicorn wings in aggravation, his sword hovering out beside him and at the ready.
"You misjudged me, I didn't fall for your seductions."
"Only because I didn't anticipate you putting pride aside enough to accept whoever provided you that unique spell. So I suppose there is one thing we can agree on."
As he stepped, Aubelles felt a shiver all of a sudden, as he saw a dark blue smoke surround him, and swirl before him.
"Though if I might, Aubelles dear... You might have wanted to do that curse to me more before turning on me. It does not exactly last forever..."
Materializing before him, Iena's face was first, her siren ear flaps flickering slightly as the rest of her serpentine body and lithe arms came into being. Her lower naga body coiling into the flowing Aquaduct water slightly, she put a thoughtful hand to her chin as she regarded Aubelles's sword out stance before her, both stood atop the Aquaduct bridge now, the sound of soldiers in the distance and more chaos unfolding.
"What is the matter, do you not find me alluring like this? Do you not like what you see?" She gestured to her body, to which Aubelles rebuked:
"Somepony might if it were not belonging to one so evil inside. I see nought but a murderous temptress."
"Two can play at that. I see an Alicorn who is now guilty of killing Lord Trumane and Lady Trumane in collaboration with me. If you did have the capacity to kill me, you would do nothing to salvage your own reputation..."
"Words and deceit are your weapons, I doubt your combat can compare..." Aubelles smirked, his bronze horn glowing as he fired off a barrage of spells at her. Slithering and using her own dark blue magic, she deflected the blasts before she charged her throat, and with a strained facial expression, unleashed a screech that would put a banshee to shame.
The water in the aquaduct rocked as the scream shot towards Aubelles, the force of the magical scream enough to blow him backwards. The Alicorn collided with one of the waterwheels, his shields protecting him but breaking the wheel off its hinges, sending it crashing to the ground.
As she slithered towards the edge of the Aquaduct, a hissing grumble from the skies alerted her to Satio's presence.
A swarm of orange locusts flew towards her, but were shot off course repeatedly by a powerful Unicorn floating on a magical platform, almost as if standing on a blue hued coin floating in midair. Sensing her partner, she glanced down towards the streets below as Satio's locust swarm form seemed to gather like a waiting cushion.
"Yes, together..."
Leaping off the edge of the Aquaduct bridge, Iena winced as Starswirl's magic shot out, catching her tail in midair and hooking her, pulling her skywards. But the locusts swarmed around her as they came up to engulf her, her own body glowing bright blue as it changed shape.
Slipping from Starswirl's magical grip with a scream of pain from the magical feedback it gave off, the mixed form of Iena and Satio's conscious half gathered into herself, a massive whirlwind of dust thrown up as something burrowed into the ground where they merged in a blinding flash of light.

All around the tunnel mouth in the streets, as the surrounding mill area had been cleared swiftly, guards readied, as the first tremor came.
Flying over to hover to a landing atop the Aquaduct, Starswirl scowled towards the hole, and then warily towards the harbor where he sensed another and Chack in battle unseen.
Flying up to land beside the Wizard, Aubelles landed roughly in the flowing waters, his own flanks and fur drenched from landing where the water wheel had collapsed into on his impact.
"We're allies against these demons, do not get used to this Wizard." The Nationalist Alicorn growled to Starswirl as he stepped to the edge of the Aquaduct bridge, to which Starswirl grimly replied:
"I might have to, if the ordeals they cause us endure..."
More tremors rocked the ground, as a few shouts rang out. Out on a section of street, a part of the streets collapsed in a small crater, as one of the guards was violently dragged underground by an unseen being, a grumbling hiss escaping as the guard was silenced beneath the disturbed stone and dirt beneath.
All of a sudden the Aquaduct began to crumble, an entire section of its viaduct structure beginning to crumble and collapse into a slope, the water sloshing like a shallow waterfall all over the place as Aubelles took to the air, and Starswirl backed up to the non-collapsed section.
Bursting from the ground, coiling around the still intact viaduct support structures, a new creature emerged. Reflective orange plating covered its coils, but dark blue glows permeated its scales. From its mouth, a pair of long, arm-like pincers dripping orange acid flailed, as a mouth, circular and riddled with teeth, clicked and hissed as its serpentine length came to rear up over the Aquaduct's length, towering over Starswirl as it did so.
But its dark blue eyes focused on Aubelles up above as its back opened up, revealing a few dozen small demon-like pegasi flying forth on clouds of dark blue smoke, skin a mixture of scales and digestive orange flesh of Satio, nestled in the crooks of her back, cackling menacingly.
But as her voice hissed from the monstrosity's mouth, as if one of the great Tatzlwurms had sprouted two gigantic mandibles and grew orange armour plating, it was clear that Iena was in charge here:
"I shall destroy what cannot be mine, feed his hunger and my own scorn!"
Rearing her monstrosity's head upwards, a dark blue haze erupted from her mouth like a volcanic vent, as its sprang forth to spread like a fine mist over the city.
Not giving her much chance to let loose this mysterious substance, Starswirl and Aubelles both fired a blue and bronze beam each, stopping the toxic fumes.
The worm hybrid's fumes stopped, as it glared at them with its miniscule dark blue eyes. Down below on the ground, guards opened fire, but found something odd.
Magic was absorbed, while the solid objects passed straight through. Yet she could exercise her bulk as if she were there.
A semi ghostlike monster, absorbing the only thing, magic, that could touch her.
Hissing, the worm lunged, Aubelles taking to the sky as the first of the demon-like pegasi spawn tore off after him, the rest following suit. On the Aquaduct, Starswirl teleported away as the monster's 100 foot long bulk smashed the bridge structure into collapse, while she writhed about to find him, her tail swinging out to slam down on a mill building, one guard caught in the attack.

Across the city, as one half of Satio did battle underwater in the bay with Chack, the fumes released by the hybrid of Iena and his more conscious half took effect.
As they fell, riots began to break out, food stalls raided, grain stores stormed, as ponies across the city began to gorge themselves on anything edible to their mind.
Yet all the while too, there also erupted too numerous to count acts that would begin a day of reckoning for Baltimare. A day to become known as the day Baltimare descending into debauchery and hedonism in gluttonous and lustful ways.
And on the same day two creatures who would become known by their association with these acts waged their battles too.

Author's Note

I will admit this has been the most tricky for me to formulate, as Lust and Gluttony were always going to be somewhat less immediately connected to the actions of Greed, Wrath, Envy and Sloth, and eventually Pride/Discord. But I wanted to emphasise their unity too as they unfold these evils on Baltimare.
But Iena's skill is ensuring she has something gained before things heat up. Her gains, Aubelles's reputation has been permanently tainted by her because he let himself be lured in and pulled out, unaware he had to fully commit if he wanted any semblance of his old reputation intact. Even as he outs her, she has her own thing to rip from Aubelles in revenge in case he pulled out, so is her cunning in getting what she wants.
Satio meanwhile, proves he's devoted to Iena, but not beyond splitting enough to deal with one who threatened her and tried to get him out the way. And enough to find his way to her and merge with her to give her combat-esqe magic she lacks. Iena's skill is deceit and illusion, not raw power, that is Satio's department.
Not so much raw power as simply absorbing anything thrown at him.
And all the while, those trying to take down Iena and Satio find their situation, and Baltimare, truly falling to a rather decadent situation.
Lust and Gluttony's beings get their reputations not necessarily from what they themselves do, but also what they force the city's citizens into behaving like. Gorging and ravaging abound. The sacking of Rome but with more gluttony and implied orgies, or worse.

LUST/GLUTTONY: First Blood.

Late-Morning
April 20th, 71 BNM
Baltimare

Jeers and cries, riots and looting, the decadence of a city's deeper, base desires had bubbled forth.
The foul vapour cloud that was spewed by a creature further north in the city had seeped over the cityscape like a toxic ashfall, fading as its effects took place. A magical pheromone mix, triggering the most basic of carnal desires in the ponies of Baltimare, bringing satisfaction to those who fell victim, and horror to those who managed to resist.
Shops and food halls, markets and stores were looted, raided of anything edible. Breweries trashed, taverns turned into even greater dens of sin and decadence then they normally were, or would even like to be.
Depraved acts were glimpsed in most city blocks, with cries or the sounds of feasting, drinking and mating, all that most primordial seeping forth.
The Glut and Lust of Baltimare laid bare for all to see.

Baltimare harbour
Underwater

Water swirled a hurricane of silt into the surrounding depths, the whale sized creature pulsing its orange hued mass in aggression as it surged forth, tentacles extending from its rear to make it all the more resemble a monstrous hybrid of whale, octopus and jellyfish.
Swimming into a flipping motion, Chack lunged out as he avoided the mass, and the flurry of tentacles charging him, while his green enchanted katana sliced the creature in a long slash as it passed, snipping the end of a small tendril off as it stormed away into the murky waters beyond. He stabbed with his normal Katana as the creature's bulk seemed to be nearly passed, but as he imbedded the sword into the creature's hide, Chack yelled out as he was yanked along.
Water and silt flew by, the force of their speed a strain on Chack as he held onto his imbedded sword. But not wasting his time, Chack used the katana as an anchor, standing atop the creature as he repeatedly stabbed down with his other sword. Groans louder than a waterfall echoed in the dark waters, and Chack could taste the strange orange liquid, blood perhaps, that spilled forth.
As he stabbed however, the orange liquid filling the depths began to tingle, and burn his skin. Through tear and rage filled eyes, he suddenly went wide eyed as he saw his normal sword being slowly sucked inside, as well the his feet beginning to be absorbed, as if sinking into mud by what he felt.
But the pain from whatever dissolved things inside the creature made Chack rip his feet clear, his feet irritated now from what were effectively stomach acid burns. Here, the saltwater was useful in washing it off.
But as he saw his sword handle vanished into the creature, himself letting go, Chack's expression turned dark.
Yet moments later, anger gave way to alarm. He braced as he felt the creature suddenly flip end over end, its many tendrils slamming into the water before Chack was catapulted onto the seabed, the creature's hide and two miniscule orange eyes glaring at him as it righted itself, using its formed fins and body to propel itself off, back into the dark abyss, for another attack.
Tumbling end over end to an upright position, Chack's gills fluttered in irritation, the saltwater making his eyes turn red by now. Glancing at his as the orange glow began to move for another attack from beyond the silt veil, he saw the enchanted blade glowing green still. But his normal katana was inside that creature's digestive hide.
Utterly hissing now, Chack glanced at his enchanted blade, trying to think of any magic he could use it for. As he thought, and a rumble from beyond came to signal another underwater charge, his mind wandered to some time a long while ago, 2 years before he was exiled by his master, Daimyo Jaien, and 22 years before he met Starswirl in Salaman, a time that seemed so much longer ago then the 41 years it actually was.

63 years ago
134 BNM
Salaman, Daimyo Jaien's palace

"You may want to slow down Kai, you'll be sick..." Their trainer and mistress, an elder female Salamander, urged a slightly larger samurai student among their training group. Normal training to maintain their skills, and now was their normal meal break.
"I cannot help myself if training makes me hungry."
"Is that what I think it is?" Chack suddenly asked, pointing to a small section of the fish platter that been brought out. Leaning in, while Kai finished his mouthful, the other student with them, a young female trainee, remarked:
"Pufferfish?"
"Prepared properly, there was some leftover from yesterday's feast."
"I've never tried it myself..." Kai remarked, as he took a small sliver in with his bowl of kelp noodles. Warily glancing at the fish, Chack replied: "I prefer my fish not one day old."
"Suit yourself..." Kai shrugged, while he offered some to the female, and their mistress, who both politely declined.

THE NEXT DAY

"He'll live. The Blowfish he ate wasn't toxic, some rat based disease got in to many of the food stores."
"Good. He fights as well as he fills himself, it would be a shame to lose him." Chack replied, as he finished sewing up a hole he'd found on his robes. Beside him, the female paused in relief, before she and Chack shared a good laugh

Present

"Posion..." Chack mumbled, as he looked down at his sword. Thinking over any spells he knew, he gripped the sword in concentration. Its glow seemed to fluctuate, while under his breath he murmured:
"No, not strong enough. Won't work, no, will help him... Yes..."
His sword now took on a slight hue of yellow marks before reverting to its green form, and Chack looked up to see the creature charging him head on. Swimming downwards, he barely missed as the creature's massive bulk flew over him, while he swam straight up, stabbing his sword into the creature's hide and holding on for his life.
Surging the blade, Chack saw the spell disperse, as the creature absorbed the curse like any magic through its skin, the yellow hue flickering out inside its massive orange outer later into nothing.
"Too short!"
Sensing the spell, the animal, Satio's primal instincts manifest, spun around as it swam, a tentacle wrenching inwards like a scorpion sting to seize Chack in its grip, the Salamander yelling underwater as he pulled the sword with him, hurled backwards to then be enclosed behind the creature as it swam, tentacles compressing all around him.
Burning bubbles filled the air, but Chack thought quick, and slashed his sword out to rip a hole in the water, seeing daylight, and leaping through, slipping from the tentacle trap he'd been compressed into.

Baltimare harbour, shipyards

Sailors had abandoned the shipyards, as the sounds of rioting, looting and the city being sacked from within out of widespread debauchery echoed further away.
Further into the city, a strange blue haze lay over where the majority of noise was coming from. But that was another place to ignore for now in Chack's mind.
Over the harbour waters, a green rip in the air formed, before seawater came roaring out like a pipeline let loose. Plummeting out, a Salamander gasped as he fell the 50 feet, splashing down in the murky depths near the shipyards. Out of the hole, a single orange tentacle was dragged, and its small end was snipped off as the portal shut, a waterfall no longer appearing in midair.
Tumbling in the water as he righted himself, Chack swam more calmly, precious moments of calm after that. But he saw the small orange tentacle snippet land nearby him, writhing as if a worm cut in half. Forming itself into a fishlike shape, its eyeless shape began to swim about, until it suddenly made a beeline for Chack.
Not at all willing to endure a moment more of antagonism, the Salamander sprang forwards in the water, grabbing the fish as it had approached him. Ignoring the burning as it tried to assimilate his hand, he surfaced, and hurled it right at the shipyard dock support, as well as his enchanted weapon. No longer a sword, it turned instead into a large throwing knife.
The fish slammed against the pole, before the knife skewered it. A leftover trace of the yellow spell engulfed it, making it writhe in agony before Chack swam forwards, grinning savagely as he gripped the knife and ripped it out.
Seeing the now dead fragment of the being of Gluttony slide from the pole and into the water, unmoving, gave Chack some rise of satisfaction. But out in the waters further out, he heard the rush of water.
Glancing around as he trod water, Chack saw the bulge of surging water, and an orange glow coming right for him amidst it.
Pulling himself to swim with his back to the docks, Chack looked down at his sword, then recalled his old sword being ingested.
Growling in aggravation at his choice, Chack began to swiftly paddle out, then sideways.
Out in the shipyard waters, the creature turned towards him in a wide arc.
He heard the water behind him, the rumble echoing in the water. Right as he felt the rush of something on the end of his finned tail, Chack charged his sword with the spell, and stopped swimming, his entire body glowing a faint green now.
His world became orange, as Satio's animal form was upon him, front opening up to smash two lips of sorts over him, the Salamander being pulled inside his gelatinous skin very fast by not resisting. He didn't even have time to yell.
Having sucked down the Salamander, the beast began to swim out of the shipyard immediately, though taking a noticeably slower pace now.

Meanwhile
Baltimare, main aquaduct bridge

The guard stared at her, the Unicorn stallion slack jawed at the sight that had plagued his mind, as the blue mist had taken him somewhere.
She saved a hoof at him in an invitation, eyes half lidded while her enchanting voice echoed in his mind.
"Come join me, show me a little funnnn..."
The Guard dropped his spear, slowly walking towards the rock pool in which the beautiful mare lay soaking herself up to her neck, the water giving off seemingly warm fumes.
He stepped into the pool, feeling weightless as she rushed over to smother him, as he threw out his own forelegs to receive her.

Back in reality, one of the many 'minions' the fused worm creature unleashed cackled to itself as the guard went screaming down the half wall deprived water well, pleasure turning to fear as he realized the deceit a second before he landed head first at the well's dry bottom, no more cries heard.
Overhead, as more spells flew, the blue haze that had fallen on the city was plaguing everything that could feel emotion or desire.
Galloping around a corner, his blue magic firing at a dark blue changeling type creature flying over the thatched rooftops around the water mill, with the aquaduct bridge looming behind him, Starswirl felt the mist focus on him, as whispers plagued his mind:
"You strain for no purpose Wizard, it is easier to relax, live simply, indulge, give in to what your heart says is best for you. Give up your quest, you deserve better than to live your life in service of others, to fix errors that were not your own. I sense you doubt your prophetic reason for your long travels..."
Before him, one of the mixed Changeling and demonlike figures landed in the blue haze, shifting into a serpentine shape with Siren ears and facial features, and changeling armor on her back to compiment her clawed hands.
"Doubts, yes. But after everything I've been involved with, I won't bow to your wiles as others may do so."
Regarding her as she frowned at his retort, he added with some blunt, personal honesty:
"And frankly, with you being part Siren now... Just know that I have had enough of them for one lifetime..."
In the distance, a changeling-like minion was blasted apart as some guards pulled their senses together and fired as one, but all it did was shower more of the intoxicating haze over their plaza they were gathered in. Shifting her coils, she gave a small smirk as she remarked softly, her smoky magic forming a mini figure of him that followed her longingly before dispersing soon afterwards. An illusion to emphasise her point:
"Siral was right on one count, you were stubborn. But anypony can be swayed from their ways."
Stepping towards her, Starswirl ignored the battle taking place beyond, as a bronze Alicorn flew high in the air to avoid being snapped by one of the small minions, his bronze magic blasting it down to collide and disperse against the giant fused creature's body. As the serpentine creature roared, Starswirl spoke sternly, reasoning with her:
"Which is why I offer you a chance to help me. Your other allies are incredibly dangerous, but they need not die, none of them! I used to want at least one of you dead to avoid the future foretold, but now I see how blind I was. Help me stop the others, undo Siral's evils, this doesn't have to end in violence! Do you really want THIS to be your legacy?"
As Starswirl gestured with his hoof, Iena glanced around, her smirk ever so slowly vanishing as she regarded the misery from the battle, and the chaos Baltimare's citizens, good or bad regardless, descended into by her magic bolstered by Satio's magic power.

The hybrid creature roared as Aubelles came down, a magically levitated spear plunging deep, but not deep enough. Dark blue magic, highlighted with orange, wrenched out the spear and hurled it towards a fleeing pegasus guard, barely missing him.
The Bronze Alicorn suddenly was grappled from behind, a changeling-shape minion gripping him and dragging him to crash down atop a market building's thatched roof, straw tumbling as the pair nearly went through into the attic.
All around, the blue haze was prominent in the city, and as the minion grappled to restrain Aubelles, he struggled to angle his head to fire a straight beam shot from his horn. But to little avail.
Over him, the massive creature roared, almost a cackling roar, as it reared back like a snake with its main large mouth and 2 smaller snakelike necks and heads.
But it hesitated momentarily, glancing about as if troubled by something. Sparing a moment or so to look at the haze all around them, it forgot about Aubelles for a moment.
Headbutting the minion as it too seemed to suddenly ease up, Aubelles blasted it apart as he then fired another beam at the hybrid. The beam grew in size as he fired, powerful enough that it made Aubelles scream from the heat.
Scything upwards, it burned the main body, and sliced off one of the smaller two side heads from the left side, earning an outraged shriek from the creature, its tail crashing about in pain, destroying a plaza statue behind it before it lunged for Aubelles's rooftop.

As she looked away somewhat, Iena held her arm in one of her hands, shaking her head slightly as she weighed her options seriously. Starswirl's expression softened as she spoke with uncertainty, head turning slightly towards him.
"I, I don't know what else I can... I, ARGH!!!"
"No, NO! NOO! We cannot exist safely until this war is over, until Alicorns are no more!"
"You're talking about genocide! What has come over yo-URK!"
"It is my nature. OUR natures. We cannot fight what we are, who we are."
"No, what you've been turned into. Siral's magic is still corrupting you, I can help, if you let me!"
"Your promises are lies, as they were from the start! We will not fall to your lies as Siral did!"
With his eyes suddenly widening, Starswirl's horn blazed with blue light, destroying the minion masquerading as Iena's naga form before him.
The lunge was swift from the now one 'armed' serpentine creature, the monster that was borne of Iena and Satio's fused power. Having used his magic to leap faster then any normal pony could, Aubelles was sent crashing into a half smashed stone street, caught by a glancing blow by the massive fused creature's hide as it tackled the building he was on. The massive creature's serpentine shape smashed another building, the bakery's destruction sending embers from its fires over the ground, starting a small fire on the houses nearby. Snapping its gaze towards the Wizard's direction, it began to burrow, excavating another hole in Baltimare's mill areas.
"The Wizard..."
This hiss carried to his ears as Aubelles pulled himself up, having been forgotten yet again, limping on one leg as he glanced about, seeing the carnage of rubble and guards unconscious or worse. Elsewhere, he hard riots and unmentionable crimes he knew were caused by its almost pheromone and starvation inducing fumes.
He himself felt it, starving, and a heat in his lower regions. But his anger at the creature, fused of one who played him even as he played her, and another who consumed all and served her blindly almost.
Taking flight, the bronze Alicorn pursued from above, a faint dust cloud rising where the fused hybrid burrowed towards the collapsed water mill and aquaduct bridge beyond.
Elsewhere, changeling-demon creatures flittered about the haze, now turning a darker blue, nearly black even. As they flew through the streets, their ethereal blue/orange smoke growing darker, the noises of rioting, looting, decadence and indecency seemed to only grow in all corners of the city's affected areas.

The creature crashed through the nearest mill, before it visibly dove further underground, its tail vanishing deeper into the earth.
The tremors made Stasrwirl know what was coming but as he hung his head, he scowled at what he had to do.
"If I must resort to taboo methods, I will."
Focusing himself, Starswirl began to chant a dialect under his breath, his eyes glowing his usual blue as his horn did as well.
But then blue became purple, dark magic seeped into Starswirl's horn.

Last Winter
19th December, 72 BNM
Equestria, western mountains
Tartarus fortress, archives
Forbidden section

That most forbidden and legendarily dark of texts, the Necromantium, lay open at Starswirl's hooves as he poured over its pages.
After Canterlot's fall, the beings now on the move by Siral's means, he felt indebted to the now Widowed Queen Aurora, and her two daughters, to find any means he could to bring an end to those creatures and their master.
But on this page, a subsection of manipulating the soul, drawing out their essences, he found a text he was sure would be useful.
But the most direct means of controlling another if to know their True Name. To find one's True Name their inner spirit must be glimpsed. Only another can name it, and to utter it once gives complete power over their soul so long as the wielder desires.
-Your own mind must be stronger then the one you utter the True Name of, lest you risk your own mind collapsing.
-A soul already under manipulation by another means is easier to probe. See pages on subservience spellwork and brews.

Present
Meanwhile
Baltimare, main aquaduct bridge

Dark magic consumed his vision, his horn, his mind.
He felt their presence, the dual minds of Iena and Satio. But he felt a part of Satio's mind split between this majority of him, and a more primal part that swam with a recently filled belly full of Salamander, though it seemed to be under stress as it swam erratically, and Chack's presence didn't diminish inside its form.
But from below, like a shark breaching a seal, he sensed that of the two minds inside the creature, Iena's was intact, focused, while Satio was merely serving her.
He focused, he gazed into her soul, so intent on him as they burrowed closer that her dark, Siral tainted mind after her moment of sudden doubt. He saw past the dark magic of Siral's influence, though as he found it, he saw her soul was damaged, altered forever.
"A damaged soul is easily read. OBEY my will in your name!"
In a tongue that came out as a harsh, unspeakable whisper, in a dialect that only the caster and the victim could understand, Starswirl found Iena's soul, her True name, and grasped it to his will.

Snapping his eyes open, the tremors still coming, Starswirl teleported a few metres as the ground exploded beneath where he was moments later. Rearing upwards, but coming to a slow stop, the serpentine creature began to vibrate, before it began to morph, slowly deforming and turning orange. From within, a dark blue form burst out, her eyes dead set on Starswirl, strained, betrayed, outraged. But she did nothing as she hovered in place, the naga creature coming to slowly hover down towards Starswirl.
Behind her, the orange mass that was Satio joined to her reshaped into a bulbous, fat Minotaur shape, staring in horror at Iena's state. Looking at Starswirl, Satio bellowed:
"RELEASE HER!"
"No, I am trying to help her, but this is the only way I can begin. You are all corrupted, and I won't let anyone more die if-."
Starswirl was cut off, as his attempt at mercy was silenced by the actions of an unseen 'ally'.
A bright light, bronze and burning white, illuminated from behind Starswirl however, and out of instinct, the Wizard ducked with some magic to aid his speed. As the beam of burning light shot towards Iena however, Starswirl's horn was still ablaze with dark magic, stopping her from reacting as he eyes pleaded her body to do.

Satio's cry of anguish was lost over the noise as the beam burst out of Iena's back, drilling through her torso and launching her backwards to smash into the water mill's water wheel, fully shattering it now.
The orange hued, fat Minotaur rushed to the water mill's small reservoir, as Starswirl's horn faded its dark magic out of shock. Staring at the sight of Satio scrambling with orange magic and his hands to wrench debris off from the waters, he whirled around to see Aubelles landing, panting hard with a smoking horn.
"Whatever you did worked, now we just have to-."
"I had her subdued, she was harmless!"
"She was a menace and a snake to all she spoke to! Like you said if Chack's right, they're better off dead!"
Blinking slightly, Starswirl turned around in shock, as Aubelles shuffled past. The Alicorn charged his horn, bellowing to Satio:
"Surrender demon!"
As Starswirl stared at the scene, and Aubelles threatened the back turned Satio, he heard the noises of decadence and gluttony across the city beginning to diminish.

Across the city, the minions spawned from the joint magic of the two detonated in wisps of smoke, as the blue/orange haze began to disperse, revealing what Baltimare had become today.

In the water, as he pulled aside a last piece of debris, Satio paused as he saw Iena's unmoving body, her fingers still as a scorched black hole was burned right through her stomach and out the other side.
Angered at the beast's ignorance, Aubelles fired another burning spell. Satio's body absorbed it by his passive magic, but his grief made him lose focus.
Staggering, Satio felt the beam penetrate what was his shoulder, but no sooner did it hit, the gelatinous bloblike flesh began to regenerate. Satio's orange eyes burned, as he morphed himself so he turned into a single large mass, his face dematerialising out to face Aubelles and Starswirl further behind, a large orange sphere of a destructive spell forming as he concentrated his body's magic into a single attack:
"Why her!?"
Right as he prepared to fire, while Aubelles raised his shield and Starswirl began to probe Satio's mind to find his soul name, a stirring from behind him made Satio suddenly drop his spell, body changing form to stoop down to Iena's body. Starswirl heard it, a faint croaking that was Iena trying to speak:
"I'll get you safe... I promise..." Satio murmured.
"You're not going anywhere!" Aubelles bellowed, while Starswirl saw the dejected expression in Satio's eyes as he engulfed Iena in his orange magic, slipping her into his body in a way that was delicate compared to anything else.
"Wait, I can-!" Starswirl began, but Satio was on the move, the orange blob mass surging forwards, a single tentacle knocking Aubelles aside with a whiplike hit, and forced Starswirl to move out of the way.
In a reckless charge, Satio's gelatinous mass surged through the city, itself the size of a large whale, harnessing and absorbing all he could. Buildings, ponies, carts, goods, he burned a trail of destruction and consumption in a straight line through Baltimare faster then any pony could gallop.

As he used his magic enhanced vision, Starswirl saw Iena inside being flooded with orange light, as what Satio consumed was being turned into energy to help her.
"Come on, he's done too much!" Spreading his wings to take off, Aubelles was stopped by a hoof from Starswirl, his eye twitching at the Wizard's initial presumption to order him around.
"No. He is leaving, we cannot do anymore." Starswirl remarked bluntly, still spiteful of Aubelles for taking the lethal initiative. Not yet lethal, but it wasn't hopeful.
Scuffing the ground, Aubelles replied coldly: "That snake, ruined me. Her schemes have tarnished my reputation, I cannot be who I once was anymore, word will have spread. As will what has happened here."

Baltimare harbour, shipyards

The whale sized detachment of Siral groaned as it turned towards the shorelines further away, though it shook yet again as a pulse registered from inside itself.
Up in the city, the larger mass of Satio engulfed the buildings before the waterfront, many ponies having see it coming and smartly run from the dead straight path. Blasting through into the waters of the shipyard harbour area half a kilometre away, the larger form called the smaller, primal part of Satio back to his main part, to help aide the one in critical condition.
But as it flexed its tendrils to swim fast, a green light pulse burst from its hide, and then another, and another.
All the while, green electrical arcs filled its body, as did a toxic green and yellow fluid filling the creature. Groaning, its natural orange fluid filling the water, the animal minded part of Satio bellowed as its side split open, and something swam out from the midst of its massive gaping wound.
Leaving a trail, the animal part swam desperately, limping slightly as it met up with the larger mass.
Surfacing a way's away, a Salamander flopped himself on boat slipway, his skin covered in slight boils and burns as his green shield, what protected him from being dissolved much, finally faded. In his hand, the enchanted sword shrunk to its storage, message scroll sized form. But in his other, with burnt marks and even a few holes in its blade and handle, Chack had recovered his old sword.
Rolling over, he glanced at the sword with a seething look, bluntly remarking to himself:
"Decades I've had this, now look at it!"
Staring out at the harbor, he couldn't help but give a grimace of satisfaction as he saw Satio's large form fully rejoin with the part he'd set upon him.
"Give it time..."
"Chack? Chack!"
A flap of wings caught his attention, as Aubelles came flying down onto the slipway, seeing the Salamander and his current state.
"What happened to you?"
"I'd rather not say for now. But the large one won't be a problem, now that he took in the part of him I poisoned."
"We dealt with the other, in which case that was two today..." Aubelles remarked. At this, Chack flopped onto the slipway, the Salamander's beady eyes shut as he nursed a headache:
"I need a drink. Water. Saltwater isn't good for me at all."
Noticing Starswirl all of a sudden, clearly having come with Aubelles and having overheard this, Chack called to the Wizard as he slowly walked on the docks, staring out at the harbour:
"You asked for one, you got two. Just like you said was needed."
"Yes... What I thought was needed..."
The Wizard couldn't help but stare back at Baltimare's state, the smoke from fires that had crept up in riots and battle being put out, cries of anguish and confusion filling the air instead of the debauchery that plagued it before.
But somehow he felt the most regret over the creature, and the one he had in his grip, fleeing to places unknown, the former unknowingly harbouring a toxin that was now slowly weakening and killing him.
As Chack spoke to Aubelles about his tarnished reputation, of trying to salvage it somehow, Starswirl wandered off, wanting to walk the abandoned shipyard streets to clear his head.

Baltimare, shipyard alleys

It was a few minutes later, as he wandered the streets in a daze, that Starswirl suddenly felt a pain in his head, and his heart.
He knew the feeling, that sensation when one of the five of 6 that had proven themselves as exemplars of virtuous traits so long ago, as the Prophecy stated.
But this was almost lamenting, but maintained the virtue.
Loyalty, to the end.
Then, the vision came swimming to his mind of another's final moments.
But he sensed something else dying as he received this.

621 years ago
9th February, 692 BNM

30 years since her redemption in the gladiator arena, since she met those two travelling wizards from Equestria. 30 years since the most daunting test of where her home was, her heart, her loyalty.
So long ago, so far in the back of her mind, yet as her life faded it was but one of many things she reminisced on.
A simple raid north of Haybrianne's wall in the Shetland islands, to quell the barbaric northern pony clans that the wall had been built to keep out of the controlled south. But the Empire was losing funds to support, and the call for more troops to repel barbarians made Mashri volunteer herself on a few raids.
And now here she lay, bleeding out as she urged a young centurion under her command to flee without her so he could live. A Chamois centurion, who respected her, a Saddle Arabian Horse, simply for her service to the Empire.
Laying down on the grass as she rolled over, the arrow sticking out of her thigh imbedded in there, Mashri shut her eyes as the barbaric Shetland pony's axe came swinging at her neck from in front and above.
In death she served, loyalty boundless even as the Empire began its process of falling apart at last, growing too big to support itself.

Present day

She lay suspended inside the Being of Gluttony's embrace, his attempts to heal her in vain as he swam underwater with her inside him, his power diverting to her healing process.
Twitching, pain and emptiness in her chest, the Being of List, Iena, sighed and fell still.
Unaware of Iena's death now, Satio swam towards a shoreline, a sandy beach with rocky alcoves along it, even as the slow acting toxin he'd was only now aware of began to eat away at his insides.

Present
Baltimare, shipyard alleys

Hoof flying to his head, Starswirl gasped at this implication.
He felt the being of Lust die, and at the same time, he saw the Exemplar of Loyalty, Mashri, in her final moments of life that he never saw.
Sitting down, Starswirl held his head heavily in his hooves. He felt confirmation of what Siral had set out to do, to create counterparts to, outright rejections of the 6 he'd sought in the prophecy.
And as one's natural counterpart died, Starswirl received a glimpse of a past not of his own. The last moments of his destined exemplary beings.
Taking this all in, Starswirl simply sighed. It was all he could do, all he could say, about all that was happening. So much pain across many sides, for what?
It all seemed to come back to that prophecy, to that fateful day where seeds that split apart Starswirl and Siral were seeded.
Taking out his pipe, and setting ablaze some of the weed, Starswirl puffed it erratically, soothing his nerves and frayed tension from so much. He'd not had a proper rest since the Citadel's fall, not one well slept night or stress free day.
Scuffing the ground with a hoof, snorting to himself, he mumbled bitterly to the skies that broke the cloud banks overhead in a contradictory bright sunny sky of midday:
"What next? What does fate have for me to next spit in my eye?"
Nobody answered, just the silence of the city still reeling from shock of today's events.

Shoreline, 10 miles from Baltimare

Having placed her on the sandy shores, Satio now only stared at her body, the naga bodied female gone, dead before he could get her to here where he could help her without interruption.
The waves slowly lapped at the shore behind him, as he slowly sank down in a literal slumping mass of boneless flesh.
Staring at her, Satio suddenly backed up as he saw her body beginning to melt away like candle wax.
Her body turned grey, like the liquid in the cauldrons of Siral's from which they all sprung.
Her body melted, but inside, a shape was left, a body.
As the grey liquid faded, evaporating or sinking into the sand, Satio stared in mourning at the dead light green Pegasus. In death it seems, they would all revert to what they were, before Siral turned them into his creatures.
Slowly moving his mass, his will less stable by his grief, he stared at her, a large orange blob with a pair of orange eyes, simply staring down at the dead Pegasus mare on the sandy shores.
Turning his gaze slowly up the shore's nearby dunes, Satio began to slowly slither, like an immense slug, up the dunes.

The work was easy, but the grief made it unbearable. His orange form ate or displaced enough sand and soil in a hole atop the sand dune.
Later, a faint aura of orange magic flared, seeming to solidify the sand dune so as it would shift at a much slower rate than normal.
Then, he turned to retrieve her body.

Late Afternoon

Once he buried her, the blob creature stood over the grave, his magic having solidified its top, and marked it in letters only magic would reveal, that here lay Iena. A single word, it was all Satio could muster.
Hours passed in his vigil, before at last, the massive orange creature slowly turned into a flock of orange locusts, and gently took flight into the skies. Nowhere in particular its destination, just away from here.
As the locusts flew, they nibbled anything they could. Satio's grief gave way to hunger, a way to cope.
Yet all the while, the toxin Chack put in his body made him much less able to take in anything he ate.
The Being of Gluttony, poisoned and dying from the starving curse and grief, surged into mainland Equestria to wander.

Author's Note

One down, and another soon to follow.
But taking the concept of virtues and sins as counterparts, I linked each Harmony exemplar to their counterpart when they die, revealing the last moments of each. Not quite the correct terminology, but the traits of each make them counterparts:
Loyalty and Lust, Magic and Gluttony, Laughter and Wrath, Honesty and Sloth, Generosity and Greed, Envy and Kindness.
Of course, kindness to be is still alive in Chack, and he hasn't even shown kindness truly yet. It won't be the same for all 6.
As for Discord, Pride, he's messed up more than the others, so patterns apply even less in his case when the time comes.
But at the core of it is Starswirl's struggle with events unfolding, how they all seem linking back to the one moment in life when he had the prophecy revealed to him.
As for Iena's freakout however, Siral's control is still there somewhat, in all 6/7 of them. And he's not completely dead in the Citadel all this time.

GLUTTONY: Satio the Voracious

Early Morning
6th May, 71 BNM
Eastern Equestria
Coltchester

Satio awoke, and upon rising from his crafted den in the hill slopes, he felt pain in his gut yet again. Pain from his unknown disease, building ever since 16 days ago, as well as pain he couldn't heal easily.
He had the dream yet again. Of him going berserk, terrorising the towns, consuming all in his path. A nightmare he lived, a nightmare he was.
His orange form, a large mound of gelatinous flesh, had the eerie yellow and green glow in the centre, like a disease. He knew the key to illness was to remain nourished.
The unquenchable hunger he felt was proof of that.
He needed to feed again.
The emptiness in him, it made him not bother to form his shape into even a semblance of the Minotaur he once was.
Yet as he gazed out of his small cavern he'd made with his magic to sleep in, the orange hued, shapeless mass cast its twinkling brighter orange eyes downwards.
The pain was not just from whatever he was diseased with, for there was pain of loss that was only two days old now.
He shifted his massive form to squeeze out of the crevice cavern, bursting apart to form into the swarm of tiny orange locusts to swarm and fill the sky, heading east.

A few miles away, the bare bones structure of what had once been a thriving town named Mareberdeen lay. Entire fields of wheat stripped bare, markets ransacked, and grain stores emptied, massive holes burrowed in them.
Most disturbingly, entire housing structures were gone, a strange dissolved state on many giving the impression something had tried to liquefy them. And by the sounds of cries from the towns, there were many ponies missing who fell to the same

6th May, 71 BNM
Mareberdeen, church grounds.

"It came, swarms, but as it bit everything, it felt soggy, a burning watery touch from a thousand mouths. A plague, it consumed everyone it touched, and then vanished as swiftly as it came."
The priest pony was shaken as he spoke, while the Unicorn mare before him offered a sympathetic hoof on his shoulder.
Casting her eyes to the wreckage, the Mage Unicorn, Meadowbrook, could only stare at the half dissolved ruins of one side of the church.

2 days later
Nighttime
8th May, 71 BNM
Gaitmore Town

The Royalist aligned town, a farming community and market town, became a hell this night.
The screams from the town alerted him, and as he rushed out, the Alicorn Lord Ridegait's eyes wide as he saw chaos unfolding in the town. Beside him, his wife,
An orange haze covered the town as fires raged, and shadows of ponies rushing through the streets, fleeing, or being caught by the flames.
But as the lack of the smell of smoke reached his nostrils, he realized this was no fire.
At the end of a street, stretching out from his manor, he saw local police Unicorns and Earth Ponies hurling spears and spells at something. But an orange arm of some sort shot out, snatching them an dragging them back, as the orange glow drew closer.
Then, it surged, engulfing the houses at the end of the road, vapors giving off as all it touched seemed to melt, or vanish into its bulk. Inside itself, a fierce yellow and green light glowed within its orange mass, like a fire in its glow, but like a massive liquid body moving through the street, alive, pulsating, and growling in insatiable hunger.
Lady Ridegait gasped, begging Lord Ridegait:
"We must evacuate the town, the ponies can't-."
"Its too late, we must leave, the town is lost. Get the children, have them ready to go as soon as possible!"
As Lady Ridegait rushed off, the Alicorn mare's frantic paced hoofsteps fading as she ran into the house, Lord Ridegait couldn't help but gaze out as the mass surged across the town, behind it, a burnt and dissolved trail of destruction. Like a gargantuan slug, it consumed all in its path.
Yet launching from it, swarms of orange bugs of some sort, that ate furiously at a rate that would put parasprites to shame.
"This is no Nationalist attack..."
At this word, he recalled what he'd heard, of a series of attacks in the night like this. An all consuming force.
Without another word, he rushed inside to his office.

As the groans from in the city began to spread, Ridegait magically summoned a piece of parchment and quill, and began furiously scribbling, enunciating to himself to try and drown out the sounds of carnage further beyond:
"Dear Mage Meadowbrook, I plead for your help. My township, Gaitmore, has been attack by a menace that consumes all, glowing like an orange fire. The same sort of attacks that have happened across eastern Equestria to both Royal and National aligned towns. This matter goes beyond our warring factions, but I will contact the Wizard Starswirl, as I know those of greater magic studies do not divide as much as Equestria has now..."

The guard pony screamed as he was snathced up, pulled into the alley. Moments later, the orange mass oozed forwards, joining more as it surged down the streets towards the largest house in the town, the Ridegait residence, home to the local Alicorn lord and his family.

Ridegait residence, main entrance hall.

As the carnage raged in the town, Ridegait swiftly finished the rest of the letter, teleporting it off the Meadowbrook's tower in a flash of his magic.
Lady Ridegait stood there with their young son and daughter Alicorn, and a few guards ready to flee too.
"I have them, let's get out of here!"
As they rushed to the back entrance however, they found the door stuck. Straining desperately, they saw something horrific.
Outside the windows, orange light, and nothing else, the dark of night now gone.
The door began to melt, as orange liquid oozed inside through the cracks.
Standing back, the young Alicorn children cowering behind their mother, the guards warily standing ready with spears and magic horns alight, while Lord Ridegait could only blink out of fear as his mouth went dry.
Overhead, cracks appeared in the ceiling, and orange liquid drops fell. One landed on a guard's face, and he yelled as it burned him like boiling hot water.
Yet as the cracks increased, Ridegait glanced over at his family and guards, rushing towards his wife and children as the roof finally collapsed, and the orange mass that had engulfed the house fell into the entrance hall.

Outside, the massive orange bulk sunk down as it penetrated the inner rooms of the house, consuming it in its digestive bulk, flaring as it felt more powerful magic users consumed.
But as it moved, the toxic yellow/green glow didn't fully diminish.

3 days later
11th May, 71 BNM
Mid-eastern Equestria, along Royalist/Nationalist territorial divide.
Equestria, Neighagra falls
Meadowbrook’s tower

The tragedy that befell Gaitmore town, including the death of the Alicorn Rdiegait family, was merely the most recent. Now, two highly skilled magic users met to determine a solution.

"You made it then?" Meadowbrook asked, lowing her hood from her yellow furred face. Beside her, Starswirl sat down on the seat at her kitchen table, face gaunt:
"As soon as I heard what was happening. But before we begin, I know where this creature came from, I know its weakness."
"How?" Meadowbrook was surprised, though she made no complaint about this news:
"Baltimare, the sacking of its city, its fall, there were two creatures there. This menace is the one that survived after it fled, the other died from its injuries." Starswirl explained a short summary of the events he'd witnessed 3 weeks ago today. But on hearing this, Meadowbrook sat down beside Starswirl, her face and brows furrowed in thought:
"So what is driving it?"
"Hunger, nothing more. Its a gluttonous creature to its core now, a shapeshifter and a powerful being that puts Alicorns to shame." Starswirl murmured, a small hint of that blasted prophecy creeping to mind, despite his loss in belief of it.
"Surely any creature would be filled after all it has consumed." Meadowbrook reasoned, quizzical that it was only hunger driving this creature.
"No. Not with the poison its been infected with. One of my, allies, he struck it in its core, now a poison is slowly harming it, weakening it. It eats more than it needs to, because the poison is consuming and wasting him away from the inside, like a parasite. The creature would not have the sighted yellow and green light form inside its orange mass if it were healthy."
At Starswirl's explanation, Meadowbrook's eyes became alight at this fortunate news, as she gave a small sigh of relief, before remarking to him:
"So its dying?"
"In time it will, when even it eating every second of every day is not enough to calm its hunger. Its pain from the poison makes him animalistic in intelligence, he'll seek food rather than safety if he gets too hungry."
At this, Meadowbrook had an idea, a small smile of thought about the simplicity of the solution coming to mind:
"We could starve it then, but distract it the whole time. Does it consume all, even magic?"
"Yes. Any magic attacks it absorbs, unless struck from the inside. But my ally barely survived being consumed in order to escape after poisoning it."
At Starswirl's doubtful remark, Meadowbrook gave a small smile, as she glanced away towards another room, remarking offhandedly as she spoke:
"I, have something, more a few things. They're not weapons, but they are powerful with magic. Enough for him to come after them and give chase."
"And all we'd have to do is keep him occupied. He'll be going after truly large or powerful things to feed his deteriorating body now. Wise..." Starswirl couldn't help but share Meadowbrook's optimism as she got up, the Unicorn mare wandering over to the other room.
Following her, Starswirl saw her open her storage closet, where a few jars containing artefacts she kept lay before them.
Eight of them.
As she looked at them in their jars, Starswirl beside her remarked:
"So, which ones to take?"
"All of them. I only need to use each once to get his attention, and if I'm carrying all of them, he'll focus on me." Meadowbrook spoke plainly, as she began to magically open the jars, the artefacts inside hovering out around her as she walked over to a nearby table.
"You realize the dangers of this..." Starswirl remarked, to which Meadowbrook remarked with a small smile of anticipation as she began to store the artifacts inside a shrinking pouch:
"You expect me to not protect innocent ponies... Many of the villages and towns its attacked are farming, markets. The sort of ponies this war has drained, a war they themselves have less stake in. Somepony has to help them as fast as possible."
"You always did vouch for the little ponies..." Starswirl remarked, with not an ounce of contempt in his voice. If only Siral had been as humble as Meadowbrook. She protected the lesser ponies by helping them, not by attacking those higher up.
But getting out a map, Starswirl then added:
"There are armies on the move, they'll be useless or worse, food for the creature. But they can clear out towns that are near attacked zones. So, if we track its movements, it seems to making its way slowly north."
On the map, a small graphite stencil hovered in blue light, tracing a single line, before it circled the towns in its general direction. One was the biggest however.
"Reignborough, that's right on the border of the territories. My money would be on that town." Meadowbrook remarked, looking at the map carefully as Starswirl then added, his caution evident.
"Rightly so, and the armies have the same idea too. The Royalists, begrudgingly, let the Nationalists send a contingent to aid in holding it off."

2 days later
13th May, 71 BNM

Clenching his stomach that morning, Satio slowly gave up sustaining his minotaur form. He had the terrible night again, about consuming and terrorising, when all he did in the days was live in isolation, dwelling on his loss, trying to find a way to move on.
But by now he knew. He had done it in his sleep.
"Is it really me if I did it in my sleep?"
Satio tried to placate himself, but the doubt was there.
All the while, he felt a dark presence in his mind, something that awoke soon after he went to sleep, soon before the nightmares began.
His stomach wracked with more pain, as he felt whatever was literally eating him from inside cause him agony once more. By now, he suspected it was more than just grief.
"I'll see if I can sneak into a town tomorrow. Reignborough seems big enough to have medicines I could use."
As fate would have it, he would visit Reignborough tonight.

Nightfall
Reignborough town outskirts

The creature had performed as predicted, as Reignborough was the largest farming and market town in the vicinity. But on the outskirts, tonight, two small armies gathered to ward off the creature.
As they stared out over the hill, the lights of the orange creature's bulk obscured the spears and energy being hurled at it, the armies drawing its attention from the town.
"We best hurry. This first one will get its attention." Meadowbrook replied calmly, as she fished out the first of her 8 artifacts. This one was what looked like a candleholder, but instead of a candle, it held a single gemstone with a slightly bright white glow in its centre. Intrigued, but wary of the danger they were to draw in, Stasrwirl asked:
"What does it do?"
"An eternal illumination artifact. A light spell of any brightness, for however long, forever. You will want to shield your eyes being this close, we will need to really get his attention..."
Meadowbrook placed a hoof on the gemstone, as she began to murmur under her breath the simple incantation, a comparable term to describe how bright:
"Sol..."
Even with shut eyes, Starswirl saw the darkness brighten, as if daylight struck. Meadowbrook unleashed the Lantern of Starlight at its full setting, with only raw daylight being brighter, yet with only a heat like a campfire being given off.

The orange blob groaned as he scorched/dissolved another hurled boulder in half with a flung tendril. Concentrating, it formed a globule of its own material and shot it towards a group of Nationalist pegasi flying overhead. The blob consumed them, before it came swiftly hovering back to recombine with the main blob. All around him weapons and magic fired at him, as he shifted to rise up and engulf another group of soldier ponies, these ones Royalist.
But at that moment, the starlight skies suddenly turned brighter, as a light as intense as the sun all but blinded them from the western hills. It was a silent light, as yells and recoils of pain and blurred vision plagued the armies.
As it turned to the source, the small orange eyes of the creature narrowed at the brightness.
But in its primal hunger, it sensed great power. Food.
As the light faded, the orange mass began to slither away to the west, leaving the stunned army groups of the Nationalists and Royalists, who had come to deal with him, stunned and relieved.
Both armies dispersed before any disagreements could erupt, they'd had to deal with enough today, lost too many each.

"He's coming for us."
"Now we make a run for it." Meadowbrook replied, as Starswirl turned tail for a swift gallop. Stopping him, Meadowbrook pulled out from her pouch another artefact, as she placed the Lantern back inside. Oddly though, she pulled out a duplicate for herself:
"Here, take this. We can't let him lose us, so we'll fly slow enough for him to keep up."
His blue magic pulling the saddle over his back, Starswirl remarked to Meadowbrook as she did up her own:
"You know I can fly with my magic, you can too."
"I know, but these artifacts being used are better bait."
Glancing back, seeing the orange hulking mass slithering fast up the fields, now only half a mile from them, Starswirl found himself agreeing. He turned to Meadowbrook, suggesting as she and he incanted in their minds to fly:
"West, to the river. There are fewer ponies there, and less for him to consume."
Both Unicorns took flight, though not at a speed the massive orange creature slithering across the plains and hills couldn't match.
And so it went on like this, both Unicorns luring Satio onwards, the latter consumed by his sleepless hunger and darker instincts brought up by his internal poisoning.

6 hours later
14th May, 71 BNM
Early Morning/sunrise
Hounduin river, the whitecrest rapids

Pine tree forests on both sides of the river flanked its whitewater depths, the wide river jagged with protruding rocks too hard for the river to wear away entirely despite its best efforts.
But as both Unicorns came to land, they saw that the orange glow that was Satio's form, slowly melting his way through the forest, had fallen behind slightly.
Taking out her 5th item, the Scope of Acuteness, Meadowbrook had a look through. To her vision, she saw through enough trees to see the massive orange bulk of Satio still coming after them, thouhg noticeably slowing. The yellow and green toxic energy inside his massive, shapeless blob of a body had increased if anything.
"The toxin is truly plaguing him. Even eating a forest as he burns a path through isn't enough."
"Only raw magic would give him a chance now." Starswirl murmured, at which he nervously looked at the pouch Meadowbrook had strapped to her robes. The grey bearded Unicorn glanced ahead, as he replied to her with a surprisingly sombre tone:
"I don't think this will end in a battle, but a whimper."
"Yes. I sense it too. Its dying. You said an ally infected it. It must have truly taken its toll by now. 24 days you said... I cannot help but feel sorry for its suffering, eating to try and stop its starving state. If only it hadn't attacked anypony..."
"There are a lot of 'if only' things in this world Meadowbrook. Take it from a Wizard whose felt fate's sting enough, there are too many things that go wrong in this world that are a product of somepony's poor choice."
Starswirl's rather bitter remark was in contrast to Meadowbrook's more sensitive demeanor to all things, but before them, the pine trees burst out of the way as a seemingly tired bloblike creature slumped before the river, merely staring at them with its blank, minuscule orange eyes from its mound-like body.
Cautiously, Meadowbrook donned the Belt of Appendage around her waist, while Starswirl readied his magic. On the other side of the rapids, Satio's massive shapeless bulk just sat there.
But from his bulk, blobs shot forth like hail, glowing orange as they flew at them.
Her magic getting to work, Meadowbrook's Belt split up into many tentacle like arms, the fabric of the sash-like belt flicking out to deflect the incoming orange blobs. To her alarm, she saw each deflection eat away at her belt sash on each hit.
Beside her, Starswirl's blue shield held, the orange blobs congealing on the front in an attempt to consume him. But on the ground, the other blobs that had been fired and cast aside began to form, and advance on Meadowbrook. Scrambling back, her magic firing at the blobs, Meadowbrook lashed out with her belt 'arms', and laced them with burning magic. But as welts appeared on the rocky ground before her, as she also took flight with her saddle artefact, the orange minion turned into a gigantic leech of sorts, as thick and an arm and very long, leaping up like a spring to penetrate her shields and wrap around her ankle.
Burning into her skin, she screeched at the pain. But before she could fall, a fierce blue blast shot the orange creature free of her leg, whilst Starswirl then took a nearby rock, larger than the orange minion itself, and slammed it with the rock, sending the minion careening into the raging river. Nearby, Meadowbrook slammed onto the ground, the Belt around her waist breaking as some of the dissolving orange mucus from Satio's minion snapped the belt itself.
On the rocky ground now, the sun rising on the horizon, Meadowbrook gasped as she pulled out another artefact, this one a mask. Hurling it at Stasrwirl, she had him put it on, where a set of magical beams then shot out of the eye sockets onto the burnt, semi dissolved fur and skin on her leg. The healing took effect immediately, while she fished out her last artefact, one she'd hoped not to have to use. Taking the Hammer of Adherence, she magically pulled together the Belt of Appendage to repair it, the hammer hitting lightly in a way to magically repair it.
"Where is he?"
"Here he comes!" Starswirl warned, as he readied a spell. On the other side of the river, as they had frantically warred with the shot minion, the main mass that was Satio surged into the raging river, water spraying up as he surged forwards. The Green and Yellow glow inside his massive orange body seemed to crackle with toxic energy, while Satio's bulk growled like an enormous stomach.
As he looked at the incoming creature, Starswirl had a thought, but after a moment's hesitation, he furrowed his brows, warning to Meadowbrook.
"Fly up, we can't let him tackle us! I have something that will stop him, it worked on another like him, made it obey me!"
"Why didn't you say so before? What do you-..." Meadowbrook began exclaiming, but cut herself off as she saw a glow of purple/black dark magic begin to emanate from Starswirl's horn as he focused, a dark chanted language in his voice as Satio came closer.
"Dark magic... You didn't..." Meadowbrook breathed, but Starswirl was ignorant, as he began to search for Satio's soul name to control him.
But at that instant, a black glow erupted from within Satio's enormous bulk as he charged, one which made him quiver with strain as an unknown presence used his body to burst into Starswirl's mind:
No trick shall work twice while I am within them, old friend!
It was Siral's voice, burning into Starswirl's, as a crack of black lightning threw Starswirl onto his back, electric arcs consuming his body as he lay on the river bank. Running over, Meadowbrook helped Starswirl up, before she saw Satio charging them fast, the mansion sized creature almost upon them. Taking the Wizard in her grip, she flew up with her Saddle artefact's powers, as Satio slammed, or more staggered into the small treeline they'd been standing by on the riverfront.
Flying higher up, Meadowbrook felt Starswirl awaken, the Wizard croaking:
"The river, make him go upstream, tire him at last, the poison in him..."
Slowly hovering over the river, Meadowbrook, and Starswirl as he regained his full composure, simply waited as Satio roared, charging towards them upstream, the massive creature's bulk forcing its way through the lethal rapids while taking up half the width of the river itself.
Charging, Satio's orange eyes blazed at the enticing sight of two Wizard level Unicorns and at least 8 artefacts of great power on the female's being.
But as she saw, as did Starswirl, the orange, miniscule eyes on the similarly orange being widened briefly as the yellow and green light arcs within itself suddenly seemed to spread and fracture like broken glass.

He felt it, the burning, it peaked and then, he felt nothing. Weakness, then nothing. He didn't even feel it as he began to collapse, but he gave a small groan at how it ended like this.
Groaning, Satio lamented Iena, but knew he'd be joining her now.
The toxins in his body finally overcame his food consumption for energy to fight it. He had been starved at the pursuit of a meal potential enough to feed him for days on end, weeks maybe. Instead, eternal rest took him in its arms.

PG BRK

The massive, shapeless orange form began to slow, as the yellow/green light from inside its mass finally flared, and spread like a bolt of electricity bursting inside him at long last.
Stumbling to a halt, the creature let out what sounded like a guttural moan, weak and draining, as it then began to slump down, its orange glow fading fast.
The rapids overcame the creature as it slumped down, and without hesitation, the orange mass that had been Satio began to be slowly carried down the river, away from the two Unicorns who hovered above its raging rapids, simply staring on.
As Meadowbrook began to fly them overhead, releasing Starswirl to also fly alongside her with his own saddle artefact duplicate, she noticed Starswirl grip his head all of a sudden, as if a sudden pain set in.
"What is it?"
"This again, he is dead."
Down in the water, the orange bulk began to diminish in the rapids, as Starswirl's mind wandered. The two Unicorns flew to a nearby shore higher up the river, where keen eyesight by way of magic would reveal the deteriorating body of the Being of Gluttony.
Staring as they stood on their little rise, Starswirl recalled the second of his exemplars he met, of memories he never knew. It was exactly the same as happened with Iena's death shortly after Baltimare, a glimpse of the final moments of their opposite, their corresponding exemplar of harmony. In this case, gluttony opposed magic of spreading, not consuming.

141 years ago
212 BNM
Imperial Pandina, Ghungyin Province
Hilomeyan Mountains, Chihon plateau
Xangalii temple

She had lived a long life, a good life. 421 was no age to scoff at, even if the newly emerged Alicorns and the already long lived Western Dragons and Fire Drakes could live longer.
The great master Hinai had reached her end, she knew it, she felt it in her bones, and she accepted it. She would go her way.
The elderly Eastern Dragoness with golden scales and jade green stripes knelt down, her movements slow as she came to a comfortable position. Beside her, a young male Eastern Dragon, green and black striped, helped her as she shuffled herself, his face concerned until she gave a sigh upon finally settling.
"You will carry on my work? Pass on the wisdom I have taught, as those elders I found did unto me?"
"Yes master..."
"Good, good. I am ready. You have been a wonderful student Xiang, and you will teach the others well. I am proud to have been your teacher."
"Thank you, such words are a great honour."
"One well deserved. Goodbye, I go now, to where, only those I go to join know. Many old friends, good friends, and family I've too long lost, missed."
As she spoke, the faded yellow scales of her long, serpentine body began to glow brighter, highlighting the green and red stripes along her body as her magic began to flare up one last time.
But as she breathed calmly, she flashed a small smile to Xiang, the younger Eastern Dragon bowing low, but keeping his mournful face hardened as she faded. A gentle flurry of gold glowing tree flower leaves began to swirl, picked up on the winds atop the plateau, blowing through the shrine hill's grounds that they stood upon.
In a noise that seemed akin to a massive breath being let out, Hinai slowly turned to golden light, her bright pink eyes glowing amidst the golden colour before they too began to fade.
Then, as the swarm of golden petals danced about her, obscuring her, she melted away, a forest of more golden lower petals adding to the small storm gusting atop the shrine hill mount. Then, they were gently carried away on the mountain breeze, passing out into the twilight sunset lit skies over the mountains.
On the mountain top, Xiang looked down at the spot where she had just sat, a single golden petal laying there on the ground, slowly fading its light.
With his own green magic, he hovered a small mound of dirt up, and after excavating a small hole, buried the flower petal. He then knelt down in a respectful bow, a sad smile on his face as he flexed his wings while looking out at the golden/red sunset.

14th May, 71 BNM
Early Morning/sunrise
Hounduin river, the whitecrest rapids

Down the river, grey liquid from Satio's melting, dead body stained the white and bluish-brown the potion grey he'd been changed in. Now, a single body of a rather portly minotaur floated facedown in the river, the rapids rocking it as he was carried further downstream, often times being submerged by the currents.
In time he would be picked off like all dead bodies were in nature.

Both the Mage and Wizard stood atop the riverside rise, having seen the body that had been what the being was built around be carried down the current, presumably to a grave.
Facing Starswirl now, giving a sigh at the relief, and possible sadness for the creature, Meadowbrook demanded coldly of Stasrwirl:
"You have been tampering with dark magic?"
"True name spells, nothing else yet."
"Yet? What else have you delved into? You know that knowledge is forbidden by age old rules of law." The Mage strode up into Stasrwirl's face, to which the Wizard gruffly replied:
"Rules went to the dogs when the war started."
"We mustn't discuss this here, we have to say that the creature is no more, and they can rest easier. But we will discuss your apparent hypocrisy Starswirl, believe it."
Without another word, Meadowbrook then magically snatched the duplicated Saddle artefact from Starswirl's neck, and placed it within her Pouch of Duplicana.
"I can't believe you Starswirl... You preached against dark magic, and yet here you are."
"Do not question my resolve, only my methods have changed." Starswirl growled. At this, Meadowbrook turned away to take off with her saddle artefact, remarking darkly to him:
"Is that not how your old friend Siral turned out in the end, changed methods but the same resolve?"
Without another word, she took flight, leaving Starswirl stunned for words. He shook his head, murmuring to himself:
"I am nothing like Siral, nothing!"
Yet as the last of the dark magic flickered from his horn, of the true name spell he was about to unleash finally fading, he found himself unable to say that anymore.

Author's Note

A rather subversive chapter, as Satio's final fate is more of going out with a whimper, rather than a roar. His consumption of towns merely delays the inevitability of the poison Chack's enchanted blade gave inside part of him, constantly building until it overcame whatever energy he could take in by eating.
A rundown of my interpretation of Meadowbrook's 8 items. None are weapons per say, though could be used for attack somehow. None are lethal by design. But they all have uses for normal ponies too.
-Lantern of Starlight. Campfire level heating, plus light brightness from candlelight to sunlight level.
-Mask of Curation. Heal any injury or illness on anybody EXCEPT the user.
-Hammer of Adherence. Repair any object, attach/'glue' any object to another.
-Scope of Acuteness. Can see immense distances, in the dark, and at closer range, even see through solid objects.
-Saddle of Nimbus. Manipulate/walk on clouds and fly like a Pegasus.
-Belt of Appendage. Can form into extra limbs depending on user's focus.
-Broach of Hermesia. User can message another fast, be it in mind or in visual form before them, instantly, no matter where they are.
-Pouch of Duplicain. Stuff items inside, and as well as store them compactly, can duplicate them. Duplicates always of lesser quality, worse as more duplicates made of 'origin' item.
And yet as he's shown to be willing to use dark magic means so forbidden in wake of these creatures, Starswirl gets an opinion that doesn't approve of his methods. And this is a moment of self doubt for Starswirl at a time when there can be no doubt.

The perils of shadowed schemes

15th May, 71 BNM
Early Evening/Sunset
40 miles east of Las Pegasus, mountain ranges

Flapping his wings hard, the Dragon furiously tried to get away, as he glanced back his large head to the red light growing behind him.
A red beam arced through the skies, slicing into his tail and wings and sending him spiraling down to the earth, landing in a mighty crash and shower of dirt and rubble as he landed in a small streaked crater. Flowers and scrub land grasses flew as he came to a halt, his wing bent at an unnatural angle, struggling to get up.
Behind him, a crash sounded as his marauder landed on his feet, stomping towards him.
The 70 foot dragon cowered, as he pleaded:
"No, wait, you got my friend, let me go! I don't wanna die!"
A red glow intensified as the ape-like creature advanced, his eyes like burning embers as the air seemed to simmer in the heat they gave off. Backing up, the dragon cowered as the stone clawed, bald grey skinned fist gripped his broken wing enough to make him scream.
The other fist slowly shot out, grabbing the dragon by the chest scales and pulling him down. Getting right in the dragon's face, Odi-Viscer glared at him, the red in his eyes fading as he slowly pressed his now free first away from the dragon's wing, and slowly brought it to hover before the dragon's lower torso as he gripped it with his other hand.
Staring quietly, the dragon cowered before this creature shorter than he was, itself only 20 feet tall when stood up. But as the red glow slowly returned, Odi-Viscer's teeth baring as he snarled, the dragon whimpered briefly.
The fist thrust forwards, into the dragon's chest, glowing a fierce red as they burst through the scales as if they were parchment. A howl of agony filled the air as Odi-Viscer began to eviscerate the dragon, echoes carrying over the air as he did so of death screams and mutilation.

Hours later

He never kept track of how long it took him to calm down from his enlarged state, but the Earth Pony didn't really care enough to even begin trying as it was. He liked the rush, the thrill, the satisfaction. But it was never enough, it would never be enough, not with Siral destined to always live on if even one of the seven lived.
And Odi Viscer felt owed too much justification for payback in life to give up his own just to spite Siral, if what spell he said held true.
Nursing a headache, Odi-Viscer regarded the fallen dragon nearby with disdain. The bald grey earth pony was dwarfed by the dragon, though such difference was far less pronounced if he was in his true form.
Slowly walking, the Earth Pony youth left the dragon, one of two he killed, behind, the path ahead beckoning north, where he saw mountains that might earn him solitude for a longer while.

3 days later
18th May, 71 BNM
Early Morning
Frozen North
Draconian Wastes

The Dragoness winced as her mate was flung onto the cave floor in a flourish of yellow magic, magic powerful enough to affect dragons much more then most magic they ever heard of or encountered.
Inside the cavern, Golmov grunted back as his two clawed hands set to work prising more of the gems from the walls of the cavern:
"I told you to stay down, you need not cause yourself harm in a fight you cannot win. I'll just take my gems and be on my way."
"I worked hard to find those gems, they are MINE!"
"What did I just say about challenging me? Female, could you please knock some sense into your lead headed mate you somehow let sire eggs with you? Before I have to really put him down..."
As Golmov set to work on prising a particularly large emerald from the wall, the dragoness stepped forwards cautiously, urging her larger mate to hold back as she growled at Golmov, who turned towards her slightly, his larger height easily greater than any of theirs.
"I don't know how you can use magic, but you must get out now! I refuse to let you take our home?"
"I have no interest in your home, it is not a place I seek to live in. If it was, it would be mine already, and you'd not be here to irk me so. I just want whatever valuables you have, only the highest quality gems."
"Take what you want, I don't want you near here or my eggs for a moment longer then necessary!" The Dragoness screeched to Golmov, as she looked anxiously towards the nest further back in the cavern. Following her gaze, Golmov saw the nest as well, before the black and gold dragon merely replied:
"Don't be so rude... I may not be so generous in my behaviour as I am now."
As she stared at him, she noticed the emerald Golmov had taken from the wall, to which she began to earnestly plead with him:
"Wait, not that gem. It was given to me by my mother, you mustn't take-."
"But I like it, and I want it. So I will take it as mine."
"No, you have no right!" The Dragoness protested, while her mate stormed forwards, the larger male growling as he came to just a head under Golmov's impressive height.
Unimpressed, irritated even, Golmov's yellow magic glowed yet again, as he began to change. The clawed hand that held the precious large emerald became an extra wing with clawed fingers, as did the other, and his body became longer, lined with centipede like legs and thicker armour plates, his head becoming lined with mandibles and more horns.
Horrified, the dragons backed up from this longer, more dangerous looking monstrosity, itself over 200 feet long, larger than most dragons bar the oldest ever got. Looming over them, as he flexed his four wings, Golmov began to slowly shuffle past the two dragons, rumbling as he exited the cave:
"My power is my right. Now, I think I've taken what treasure I wish from this rathole you call a cave. Thank you for your generosity."
Spreading his four wings, the monstrous creature took flight, as the dragoness huffed slightly while going further into the cave, nuzzling her eggs in a bid to calm herself down. Behind her, the male dragon glanced at how half of the treasure in his hoard, small and sparse by the location's difficulty, was gone, and so effortlessly.
"He took all the good gems..."
"I don't care, as long as he's gone." The Dragoness replied, coldly spitting the rebuke as she curled around her eggs. The male Dragon could only swallow his damaged pride, knowing the only consolation he had was that he was robbed by no ordinary dragon.

1 day later
19th May, 71 BNM
Mid Afternoon
Cloudy marshlands [later to become Cloudsdale marshes]

Standing among the wreckage, Golmov saw the scorchmarks his magic and dragonfire left across the marsh and plant covered grounds.
A scorched black Alicorn and a few Unicorns, the former clearly a high ranking commander. But it was what he had been doing.
The Alicorn's horn still glowed a faint white, and staring skywards, Golmov saw the moon poking over the horizon."
"The moon shouldn't be there yet..."
Golmov saw the Alicorn horn's glow fade, while he gently pawed at the body for any sign of activity with a free wing claw.
The monstrous being of Greed knew Teal would wish to hear of this, once Studlington town, if he recalled, went well.

1 day later
20th May, 71 BNM
Early Afternoon
Western Equestria, Royalist territory
Studlington town, market square

Teal Quirt found another target, this one with multiple ones to be had.
She gazed across the markets, the run down state perfect for her needs. Ponies scraping by, making a living, while further beyond, the clearly more lavish manor estate of the Alicorn family, and those visiting them tonight, loomed over it all.
Her green magic set to work, as she murmured to herself:
"Tonight is as good a time as any. It will not take much to stoke what already festers in the poorer pony's minds."
A green haze began to slightly sprinkle over the markets, and as she glanced at the market square, she saw a few ponies, Earth, pegasus and Unicorn, begin to cast their wary eyes down at their less then savoury looking food they were dealing, and then cast their envious eyes towards the manor.

4 hours later
Nightfall, Studlington Manor

With the riot, complete with all breeds of pony and armed with weapons, advancing on the manor, the guards rushed forwards to quell them. But a blast of green magic from the Unicorn at the front hurled them backwards, knocking them out as they collided with the gate pillars.
Her green magic set to work as the crowd held back, the green haze she'd cast still hanging over all stallions and mares involved. The wrought iron fence glowed, as did the gate, before metal loudly groaned in the evening air right as it was bent and snapped, falling down to clear the path. With her hoof pointing forwards, Teal Quirt spoke in the magical tongue to emphasise her orders to her thrall.
"In carcerem omnes Alicorns."
Around her, the riotous mob of ponies surged past, her toxic green magic hovering over them all like a fine mist, while the guards inside the manor raced to stop the incoming riot. But the hail of novice level magic and farming tools overwhelmed them, as the throngs of ponies surged into the manor ground.
Even as dozens of their own were stunned or killed, the riot pushed in, wooden doors crashing down as they stormed the manor. She stood back, using her immense magic to cast a large green haze over the manor itself.

Studlington Manor, dining room.

Inside, the dinner meeting of the Royalist aligned Alicorn families went well, as 8 Alicorns gathered to discuss matters of the war effort, of developments in the east.
But as the sounds of rioting echoed from downstairs, guards rushed in, exclaiming for them to leave.
As many Alicorns began to charge their horns to leave, a green haze overcame them, burning them as they tried to flee.
The doors then burst open, as the first of the hordes of peasant ponies charged in.

Minutes later

Stepping over the body of one guard, the light green Unicorn mare ignored the peasant ponies ripping and chipping away the gold leafing on a nearby mosaic wall carving. She pressed on upstairs, her hoofsteps confident and precise, while a few ponies carried out priceless works of art, pillows, and all manner of looted items from the manor.

The dining room doors opened, and the sight of the dinner table stretching before them, Alicorns held at spell and spear and pitchfork point and wary as they sat all too satisfying for her.
Striding to the head of the table, the doors creaking shut behind her, she kept her green magic up, the glow encompassing all of the peasants holding the Alicorns at magical or sharp weapon point:
"You all have eaten well, dining off the labours of those beneath you in power, wealth, and in your mind, rights, for too long. Now look at you all, cowering beneath the retribution that was too long overdue."
At the head of the table, one of the Alicorns, also a decorated General, bore his gaze into her own, the Alicorn not intimidated by the peasants, nor this Unicorn mare with a cracked horn that seemed to have them in her strange green magic thrall.
"You will not get away with this, no Alicorn will bow to savagery."
Unimpressed, Teal Quirt scowled as she backed up, taking a breath as she nearly spat to him, losing her composure for a brief moment.
"Bowing is far from what I want from your kind, I already know I am better."
Her horn lit up, but in a green aura, her true scorpion/centaur like form glowed green like a spectral form behind her. Flexing its claws and arms, it formed into a long single, thin line of green magic.
Green energy shot up the table at neck height, as the peasants stood back and away from the attack. The General was the last, as the hisses of severed heads and cut off screams proceeded his own neck being sliced.
Turning from the table, as the smell of burnt flesh from 8 dead Alicorns filled the air, she ordered the peasant ponies as they began to file out:
"The family here had their children upstairs, 2 Alicorn children. Bring them down."

The burning pyre in the main courtyard blazed in the night, as looters smashed the manor house's windows and robbed it of its riches left, right and centre.
Walking away from the burning pyre, Teal Quirt gave a smirk of success as she looked skywards.
Up there, in the stars, the twinkling lights, distant supernovae, glowed slightly in the night. 8 supernovae twinkled out as they faded, but two smaller supernovae shimmered beneath them in the night sky.
Looking down, the horns hovering before her eyes in her green magic grip, Teal Quirt stared in a small grinning manner at the two hovering Alicorn horns she'd taken from the two most recent tonight.
As she laid the two horns out on the ground, the obviously larger 8 Alicorn horns she'd claimed tonight revealed the barbarity of her actions tonight, aided by her thrall of disenchanted peasants in this resource deprived Royalist town.
A green magic drilled into them, as their leftover magic shimmered faintly, as she magically pulled a piece of string through the 8 Alicorn horns and 2 juevenile Alicorn horns.
Soon, she hovered the necklace around her neck, magic hiding it from view as she gazed on at the very sparse funeral pyre.
"No marked grave, as they deserve." Teal rumbled to herself, as the chaos she'd unleashed here tonight festered in the looting and pillaging.

It was soon afterwards, as she was slowly walking through the moonlit gardens, away from the looting of the manor house, that a yellow light shimmered before her.
Appearing before her on the cracked stone path beside the flowerbed, a ghostly yellow copy of Golmov appeared, a sort of phantom messenger from him by his magic. His centipede like form with 4 wings and arm claws on two of them stood before her, though she kept her Unicorn origin/disguise intact.
"I made good progress. 10 in one night. The stars given out by their deaths let you see I presume?"
"As they always do. I have my own kills to my name."
"Yes, but only 1 so far, both on battlefields. For a dragon with a grudge against Alicorns and a dislike of ponies, you seem to be steering from them more then I would expect." Teal Quirt paced past Golmov's messenger spectre, as he turned to her, remarking darkly:
"We discussed this. I have some particular ones in mind before others. But the one I did kill, he was using that sun and moon based spell, I sensed it."
"Their power is growing, and no Nationalists have perfected the spied uses of it yet. Good work on removing one learning how. Too bad Iena and Satio couldn't be helped..." Teal Quirt paused her pacing, unnerved by news of more users of the spell unleashed at Tartarus as a new superweapon.
"They fled, they made their choice to not stand with us. Besides, it is not enough, for either of us. Besides, I only want a select few Alicorns of highest authority at my mercy, briefly."
"You are like Odi-Viscer in that respect, except his intended turned out to be Siral disguised years back. Speaking of which, I assume you haven't seen head or tail of him with you being up north?" Teal Quirt asked bluntly, as she took a few pebbles in her green magic and began skipping them across a nearby pond. Continuing, as a sound of a crowd of looters roaring from inside the manor echoed into the gardens, Golmov's yellow specter messenger began with some gleeful news:
"No. But I have heard tales of some dragon clan further south while I was 'raiding', near Las Pegasus to the south, that attacked a pony on the road. An earth pony that killed 4 of them with his bear hooves on separate occasions, after turning into a monster of unknown type. Most recent was 5 days ago."
"I almost pity them. More to the point what is Odi-Viscer doing that far south? Las Pegasus? What does he hope to find there?" Teal stopped briefly in genuine thought. At this, Golmov shrugged many of his centipede like legs, remarking off handedly:
"Solitude I'd wager. Not that you intend to let him?"
"Not if he can be useful. We need a way to draw out as many Alicorns into the fray as possible. What we have already planned won't deal with them all, but it will create opportunities if it works." She gave a small smile as she thought of their intended plan, what they both knew of it.
And what she alone knew of it.
"Yes, they'll squabble for the power vacuum. So long as I get what I want." Golmov's remark was simple, as he folded the two upper wings with the gripping claws together in stubborn thought. Arching an eyebrow, the disguised
"Taking many dragon hordes by force hasn't sated your greed Golmov?"
"I want what belongs to me."
Golmov's sudden darker tone wasn't surprising to Teal Quirt. This was an especially sore topic of his history for him, and she needn't press further for now, nor bring it up. She was certain he'd do so with their big target upcoming.
"And you will get it, but remember to be ready. I have one more city to stop in before we can do it. We need her to go where we need her after all." Teal Quirt began, as she chucked another stone across the pond, this one skipping three times. Behind her, Golmov grumpily remarked:
"Do not stall, I want them for myself sooner rather then later."
"I have no intention on delaying that which I would happily see be done. Remember, be ready when I contact you."
With a nod of his head, Golmov's spectral messenger form vanished in a flash of yellow, leaving Teal Quirt there alone in the garden, as she hurled the last pebble, this one not bouncing as it splashed into the water with a loud plop.
Taking a turn on her hoof, she vanished in a flash of green, her horn casting a green glow over the air as she vanished.

As the peasant ponies finished looting the manor house, they slowly stopped carrying their crates and piles of treasure and luxuries. Staring around at each other in horror, one pony mare quietly asked as a look of horror overcame her:
"What, what did we do?"
"I wanted it deep down, but, I'd never..." Another whisper carried in the courtyard.
Eyes were turned towards the burning pyre, as a few horseshoes fell from the lower ashes of them. Horseshoes adorned with the seal of the Alicorn family and other visitors, as well as that of the two children Alicorns living there.
Regret mixed into all who saw the remains of the 8 adult and 2 juvenile Alicorns that had been slaughtered and burnt, their home looted by them, who were 'nudged' by a malevolent soul bent on exacting revenge on those she felt surpassed her or were too alike those who cast her aside.

Same day, nightfall
North midland Equestria

A serpentine bodied creature with mismatched limbs sat before the fire he'd created, the flames a magical purple as they gave heat and light with no smoke.
Warming himself, the Draconeraqus coiled himself up, resting contently in the cave.
"I don't know why I'd ever want to leave..." Musing quietly to himself, the Draconeraqus laid back on the ground, before he looked up towards the cave's mouth. With a wave of his finger, a boulder rolled across on its own, blocking the entrance from any intruders.
Still, as he laid down to sleep, he tried to use his magic again in a new way.
On the wall, as the purple flames danced over them, a few cave drawings scratched from chalk began to come to life, moving of their own accord. Ponies running about in lazy circles, nothing more.
Eyes drooping, Discord lay to sleep, unaware of the doings of his brethren.
But as he fell asleep, he couldn't help but look at a particular cave drawing he'd animated. A light blue, very lanky pony of some sort, with wings and a horn, and a ghostly, wisp-like mane and tail. Like an Alicorn and a Windigo.
He didn't know why he drew that, she just seemed too real not to draw.

21st May, 71 BNM
Mid Morning
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Queen's study

"21 Alicorns dead, 11 of them Royalist. Explain to me why this is happening despite your commitments to stop these demons?"
Queen Aurora's dour, perhaps even toxic tone bit deep into Starswirl's soul, but he held fast. He leant forwards over Aurora's desk, a hoof waving in emphasis as he began:
"If I might remind you your majesty, two of the creatures are dead already, and frankly we cannot figure out what they are doing until they make their next move."
"So we just wait?" Aurora asked incredulously, the black dressed Alicorn Queen indignant at the suggestion Starswirl was making. Backing away, Starswirl began to pace, remarking bluntly:
"They are the drivers of these events, we can't determine their actions until we know more, and until we know more we can only react. Ever since Siral's fall their quests have become murky, I no longer know what any of them desire."
At this, Aurora scoffed, openly standing up and straining not to yell too loudly:
"They desire violence and death, to Alicorns especially. One attack on our territory killed 10 Alicorns. 10! They are turning our populace against us, and with the war still ongoing, we cannot let these creatures go about unchecked! I consider it fortunate that the Baltimare chaos has turned the Nationalists into infighting by the power vacuum left by the Trumanes' deaths."
Whirling to face Aurora, Starswirl's tone became more irritated if anything, tired of being doubted, both by himself, and by those he swore loyalty to.
"You think I'm not trying your highness?! I've spent decades preparing for these threats, prophecy be damned if it is or isn't entirely true. I know enough about them, they will keep pushing. One of your Alicorns killed was trailing the solar and lunar spells in the northern marshes, and was killed! That alone says they can be harmed, because they fear it!"
Aurora was quiet as Starswirl turned to look right at her, his brows furrowed in a stern look that made him seem older than he actually was, more bitter and world weary:
"And I already have spell work of my own that can bring them under control. But I urge you to wait. I have gone above and beyond my ethics in serving my cause, your cause, delved into magic I otherwise would not."
"So forgive the curtness your highness, but do not lecture me about a lack of commitment. The deaths of those two has only strengthened my resolve..."
As he finished, Starswirl stared at Queen Aurora, who merely looked down in thought. At the doors of the office, the two guards nervously exchanged glances.
"Your words, discourteous as they are, have truth to them. Go, I'll discuss this with you when news is not so recent and alarming. We'll let cooler heads prevail when we next meet."
"Wise as always, your highness.." Starswirl replied, giving a respectful bow. Soon afterwards, he was heading out of the office door, while Queen Aurora put a hoof to her forehead in aggravation.
Shuffling his way past, as a few messengers and advisors waited patiently for the dark mooded Wizard to pass by, Starswirl knew he had to keep up his work.
Meadowbrook may have disapproved of his methods on ethical grounds, but she hadn't seen as much as he had, what could be about to be unleashed.

Mumbling to himself as he walked down the corridors to his private offices, Starswirl mumbled:
"All Five are dangerous, they're all dangerous, all of them. They....wait."
Starswirl paused on the stairwell, as he recalled somepony he had dreamt of, who visited him, warned him.
"Ave-dol... Another chance for the prophecy to be wrong..."
The Wizard continued down, with renewed ideas about the problems facing the immediate future.

Meanwhile
Mid Morning
Mid-northern Equestria
Mountain range

Gazing helplessly about the mountain ridges stretching before her, Ave-Dol hung her head slightly, her light blue magic sending out faint shockwaves, searching for him.
"Gaudium... Anypony? I must find them... Iena, Satio, I'm so sorry..."
The light blue glowing Alicorn/windigo hybrid stood on the mountain ridge, unknowingly over a hundred miles from Gaudium, or Discord as he called himself now in his quiet existance. As for the others, she mourned the loss of Iena and Satio, hoping they had peace now.
The rest however, she knew them too well. Gaudium was safe, but Odi-Viscer she fear for, and Golmov and Teal Quirt, she feared what they planned to do. And she felt helpless against it all.

Author's Note

A transitional chapter, as we get into one of the pivotal moments in the story, where a great many changing events occur as rapid consequences of each other, and plots come to light.
Each of the 4/5 remaining beings of Sin is up to their own thing, though clearly Teal Quirt and Golmov have something in the way of a plan in the works, about to be unleashed. That on top of Golmov's systematic theft of dragon hoards and dealing with a practicer of the moon manipulating magic. And on top of Teal Quirt's systematic executions of Alicorns across Equestria, especially at organised events. As for Odi and Ave-Dol, one is merely a walking angry traveller, the other is trying to find Gaudium, and perhaps later any of the others.
Though in Ave-Dol's case, somepony else has thoughts of seeking her out.
But I can say this much, in the upcoming arc, Queen Aurora will get much more storytime, as well as a known setting that has been saved for this upcoming arc.

Royal Crisis, Ultimatums

29th May, 71 BNM
Early Morning
Fillymore village

"When did it start?"
Starswirl's pointed question had its reasons before him and the Earth Pony farmer. All around the village, equipment lay unattended, ponies lay about, loafing around and doing barely anything as they sat in a mixture of drunken and sleepy states. Even Starswirl had to shake off some drowsiness from time to time as the farmer explained:
"Hard to say, but nearly a week, 6 days ago. We don't get many travellers who stay more then a night or two, but there was a mare, some Alicorn, she kept to herself. Talk is spreading, there's something odd about her to the village elders."
"In what way?"
"Almost as if she casts a spell wherever she goes. Enchanting them, they can't stop but slip into a dreamlike state, sleepy on too many jobs, ponies utterly unconcerned to work."
Mouth thinning at what he was hearing, Starswirl carefully asked yet another query:
"So what's stopping some others from falling to this?"
"Nothing. I left for about two days for some mushroom shipments, those two days it felt like I'd been sobered up."
It was at this point that Starswirl's eyes lit up slightly, though he kept it hidden. The Wizard maintained a stern expression as he saw one drowsy looking, lazy Pegasus offer a stare at him from atop a village rooftop. Many ponies resembled dozing sea lions in their lethargic states around the village right now:
"So why was a mage or wizard not contacted until AFTER four of your elders died of old age inexplicably in the night 2 days ago?"
At the Wizard's rather blunt question, the farmer Earth pony looked down, his grey and brown mane scruffy as he ran a nervous hoof through it:
"We were, uncertain. We have not had good history with magic users, not since they come and take any children who are born Unicorns, serving the war they said on too many occasions."
Ignoring this plight of a village in wake of the Civil War for now, Starswirl pressed the issue:
"But where is this Alicorn now?"
"We don't know exactly. She drifts in and out, living in the small forest nearby. She's almost like a ghost at times."
"Light blue fur and wings? Blond mane?" At Starswirl's guess, the farmer's expression changed to surprise:
"How did you-."
"Just a lucky guess. Thank you." Starswirl nodded to the village chief, the Earth Pony nodding as he left too, walking to the run down, harvest starved market areas.
Sparing a glance towards the small woodlands beyond the village's farmlands, Starswirl knew he'd found her.
But he was perhaps too late to find her before worse actions began to take shape.

Same day
29th May, 71 BNM
Midday
Crystal Empire, main palace courtyards

From up on the balcony, as she glanced down at the courtyards and gardens below, Princess Amore felt a sense of pride in the relative peace the Empire enjoyed.
"I almost feel guilty for how peaceful this place has been in this war..."
"We do our part, paying taxes to fund our royal allies, though we do maintain neutrality when it comes to battles."
"And providing sanctuary to Aurora's daughters to soothe her nerves." Amore remarked, though with a hint of melancholy to it. Noticing this, as befitting his role as a member of the Crystal Empire's council, head in fact, Sombra noted this to the Princess:
"Another blessing to the empire, even if the reasons they are here are more sinister then many would prefer."
As Sombra remarked, he couldn't help but approach the balcony edge where Amore stood beside him, looking down on the Crystal Heart's courtyard below.
The heart pulsed silently, but it was what happened with a group of young foals and fillies in the courtyard below.
The two Royal Princesses played with the foals, a rare period of downtime from their often busy lives. Celestia had a radiant smile as foals played with the moving images of ponies she created out of whisps of light coloured energy, ribbons and swirls of light cascading like streaks as the wisp-like ponies galloped ahead of the cheering foals who tried to catch them. She even leapt in to jump about with them, decidedly behaving younger then one would expect for one who was nearing 40, even for an Alicorn.
Lune meanwhile, was more subdued, as she sat with a group of fillies, a book open as she read to them of the constellations and her love of the lore around astronomical names.
But as he stared down, Sombra still couldn't help but look skywards, with a frown, before Amore sensed his anxiety:
"You are still wary of the strange signs from the skies?"
"Yes. The night lights, the aurora, it has been faltering and swelling. Ever since the Battle of Tartarus, that new powerful magic out faction has developed, something is going on in the world that we can't see."
"One problem after another. Take it from somepony who knows Sombra, being a ruler is far from glamorous." Princess Amore replied with a forced grin, before Sombra gave a small laugh, replying with a reply:
"The beauty of some Alicorns would beg to differ, and you."
"You flatter me Sombra, but what of the sisters? I know you sometimes have a glance towards Celestia from time to time, whenever you are not holed away in your studies or duties. Don't think I haven't seen it." Amore pointed out coyly, as she turned to leave the balcony, a messenger pony bringing the day to day paperwork to her waiting in the hallway.
Sombra said nothing, as the dark Unicorn cast a glance back down to the courtyard, glancing at the royal sisters and their foal/filly entourage. But as his eyes turned darker with a hidden desire, craving almost, he found his gaze shifting between Celestia, and the Crystal Heart.
Shaking his head, the dark Unicorn turned to leave, shaking off these strange feelings he was sometimes getting out of nowhere.
Such tranquillity was so easily shattered however. And not just by the looming signs of the aurora borealis not showing up on a few nights when it should.

29th/30th May, 71 BNM
Midnight
Crystal Empire outskirt mountains

The summer part of the years meant that, this far north, even midnight held a small degree of sunlight just barely poking over the horizon. A faint band of bluish light hung over the east, but the kingdom below remained bathed in the lightest possible darkness.
Staring out at the dimly lit kingdom below and in the midst of the grassy plains, courtesy of the crystal heart they harnessed, the black and golden creature, centipede legged and with a serpentine body of 4 wings added on, stood like a marauder. The ex-dragon's greedy yellow eyes narrowed at the distant sight of that gem, contempt on his scaly face at the thought of what was his being out of reach. His gem, his crystal heart.
"Be calm Golmov, you will reclaim it. Just be ready where you arranged, and I shall fulfil the more delicate parts we need."
"And what if she does not come? The Queen will not be lured here so easily, not when the armies of the Empire are bolstered by the heart enough to not need much in the way of new defences."
"Which is why, like you with the Heart and your pride, I shall make sure the stakes are personal enough for her to come out."
"And will you tell me what those stakes are before we do this?" Golmov asked, to which Teal Quirt merely offered an offhanded wave of her gorilla arm, replying coyly:
"It will be as much a surprise to you as anyone else. Unlike all others however, you will enjoy it. Now please, you do want this right?"
"For too long I have wanted it..." Golmov rumbled, as he spread his 4 wings to take flight, heading into the wastes further north.
Watching the dragon-centipede depart, Teal Quirt turned back, her scorpion/ape bodies centaur shape standing more upright as she gave a small smile at how everything was going.
"Things are coming together."
She vanished in a faint flash of green light, her sights set on the empire.

Minutes later
Midnight
Crystal Empire, Royal Palace
Guest rooms

The guards patrolled the hallways, unicorns, pegasi and earth pony alike, on high alert.
But one guard, patrolling an upper corridor, noticed something off with one of the guest rooms. The door was ajar.
"Princess Luna?"
The Guard's gruff inquiry met silence, as he peered into the room.
Upon seeing the interior, he saw the wide bed's covers pulled back and dishevelled, no signs of movement anywhere. The only movement came from the fluttering of the curtains at the balcony doorway.
Fluttering as if wind were on them.
Rushing forwards, the guard Unicorn's magic wrenched the curtains aside, revealing the opened doors and the slight scrapes and scratches on one window pane, showing something broke in, and took her.
More cries came from elsewhere, as Princess Celestia's screams came from the next door room.
As he made a mad dash to the room, the guard slammed into the door, finding it inexplicably sealed. Inside the room, a green light flared underneath the doorway, as Celestia's screams suddenly vanished.
The door rushed open, and the guard glimpsed a strange looking figure he could barely get a good look of vanish in a green flash, the flash of white fur of the Princess, and the blue fur of the other princess, in its grip.
Chaos engulfed the castle as the alarms were raised about the kidnapping of the two Royal princesses.

It was not minutes later that the bedrooms were swarmed, overturned to find any other hints about what took the sisters. But stood by the doorway, Princess Amore was mournful, and angry, as she whirled to the nearest guard, the same one who had witnessed Celestia's taking and found Luna's room empty:
"How could you let this happen!? The Heart should block even Alicorns from such entry!"
The guard nervously gulped, but a dark, rich voice interrupted with a bitter tone:
"You must forgive your guards, this was the work of no ordinary creature. Which makes it all the more dire..."
Turning to see Sombra approaching, Amore flicked some of her dishevelled red mane aside as she remarked with a calmer demeanour, the guard she'd near shouted at slowly backing away to his duties in searching for clues in the room.
His black mane and grey coat contrasted with his green eyes, though she had noticed the faintest hint of red creeping in at times, and slightly sharp teeth that were not always there. Even so, he was a welcome sight:
"Do you have any theory of what it was?"
"I sensed a presence, it was one of odd, powerful magic. Pure, yet dark, corrupted would be the best way to describe it. Unlike anything I've felt before."
"I sensed it too. Too late to stop whatever it was..." Amore remarked with regret, to which Sombra began to offer:
"It will not have got far, so there is still time."
"Your majesty! From the Queen!"
A messenger madly dashed down the hallways to them, panting wildly as the maid pony carried a message scroll in her side bag. As the maid came to a halt, exhausted from the pace, Sombra levitated the scroll letter from her bag in his black magic, handing it over to Princess Amore for her to read.
"She knows. They want her to come, and bring the Crystal Heart with heart with her, alone."
Sombra's eyes narrowed at this, as the guards began to slowly cease their search. Clearly this was a ransom kidnapping of both Princesses. As Amore read Queen Aurora's letter, her face became more and more grim, shaking her head as she rolled it up. Clearly sensing the same unease, Sombra remarked bluntly to the Crystal Princess:
"It is an obvious trap, and if it was powerful enough to take two Alicorns from under our noses..."
"I know. But Aurora's letter is clear, she won't let them take what family she has from her."
"So did she say what we can do? The garrison?"
"Nothing, until she gets here and readies the exchange."
"There must be something..." Sombra mused, to which Amore could only offer her doubts:
"But why now? The heart has its power, yes. But these extremes?"

20 miles north west of the Crystal Empire
Crystal Caverns

In the dark depths of the caverns inside one of the far north's mountain ranges, the strained cries of two Alicorns sisters echoed from the depths. In the chamber, blue and pink crystals poked out of the ground like old bones, while the Being of Envy stood before her charges.
Straining, Celestia and Luna were helpless as the green magic from this horrific creature forced the crystals to grow around them, restraining them uncomfortably as the cocoon of crystal slowly engulfed them.
"What do you want from us!?" Luna screeched, appearance dishevelled as she yelled. Turning her gaze, Celestia saw the scorpion/ape hybrid merely flick her fingers together to entice the crystal growth to go faster.
"Me? Nothing. But others, you have your uses. Everypony does."
"You think you will get away with this!? Others will come for us!" Celestia barked. Before her Teal Quirt merely shrugged as she focused her magic once last time, her 4 horns that adorned her ape-like head like a headdress lighting up as she remarked with an almost unconcerned tone:
"You'd still be in your beds if that weren't the case..."
With a last scowl at Teal Quirt, Celestia was frozen inside the crystals, restrained, able to see out, but helpless to do anything. Even her horn was blocked. Beside her, Luna struggled as the crystals solidified around her at last, the younger Alicorn sister frozen in place by the magic draining crystals.
Staring with satisfaction at the crystal prisons, Teal Quirt cast her gaze upwards to a large crevice higher in the chamber, her voice carrying:
"Now all you need do is wait where we arranged. Then we'll both get what we want."
Out of the crevice, scuttling on many legs, the centipede/dragon hybrid crawled from his hiding spot, landing as he fell to tower over her in his full sized 200 foot long form. 4 wings folded inwards, Golmov's mandible flecked mouth clicked in disdain as he saw the two Alicorns before him.
"Keep them unharmed, you'll get what's deserved and more."
"Don't lecture me, I know the plan."
"Be ready then, when the time comes. You'll be told when that is, but you'll likely know it anyway."
With that last sentence, Teal Quirt slowly scuttled up the crystal caverns, her green magic levitating her up through the caverns towards the cave mouth.
Left with the two princesses, Golmov turned his burning gaze towards them both, expression hardened, yet gleeful in anticipation:
"You do not recognise me, do you? Perhaps your father might, if King Nova were still alive that is. He died a brave fool, not fearing me. I see now where you got it from..."
As he murmured this, he began to shift his form to his old dragon form. As he changed, Celestia and Luna's outraged expressions turned to horror as they realised the dragon before them was who he was.
"Yes. You humiliated me, robbed me of the crystal heart, that which is mine. You will learn that pain and more soon enough..."
As he spoke, he leant out one of his clawed wings, poking the two crystal prisons as if tapping glass, while he slowly morphed back to his centipede-dragon shape.
As he burned his gaze into her and her sister, Celestia's eyes flickered in her restrained state, burning as they beheld their father's killer, and with the other, co-killer.

100 miles north east of Las Pegasus
Nimbus mountains

Night before

The red flashes of lightning lit up within the confines of the mountains, the flares visible from Las Pegasus. Something raged in the mountains, some sort of storm, but red lightning was not normal by any means, not was it a signifier of anything good.
Such fears were well founded, and accurate.

Word spread to Las Pegasus, and the military garrison called upon any who could deal with this mystical threat. But no army could deal with it, especially as it had been confirmed by a few daring spies as a creature seen at the Battle of Tartarus.
So the task was left to the elites, and more specifically, ones who could use newfound power to great effect alone, power to deal with this threat.

30th May, 71 BNM
Morning
Nimbus mountains
Inner valley

The valley was charred, scarred with craters, trees felled, the land scorched black. Nothing alive, save one creature, roamed here. It was as if anything living had suddenly been wiped out.
The culprit of this, and the one responsible for the red energy flares last night, had awakened groggily from the mountain stream's side a few minutes ago.
No birdsong, no sounds of forest life, as the charred state of the valley, the desecrated landscape, held only the sounds of the trickling stream, and the grey being that sat among the ash and debris covered slopes.
The bald Earth pony stallion, his skin a pale grey, sat on the stream edge, one of his hooves turned into a bony/stone skinned claw of sorts. The living weapon that was Odi-Viscer merely focused on the hunk of half charred wood he held in his other hoof, itself split apart into bony clasping digits to keep it steady. With his clawed appendage's very sharp edge, he gently shaved away at the wood's burnt outer layers, a pile of shavings beside him as he quietly carved the wood into shape.

Flying through the early morning clouds, an Alicorn mare pumped her wings as she came to a stop, twisting to land atop some cloud banks hanging low in the sky, peering over the edge as her 2 flanking, elite pegasi landed beside her on the cloud banks.
"There it is, the monster. Disguised as a pony, just as the one who came to this place was said to be."
Nimbaa Flintwing was a lesser member of the Las Pegasus nobility, and she had always been more inclined towards the meritocracy of the military then the prestige pandering of the gentry Alicorns had a natural leg up in. As such, she now ranked as a General in the Royalist militia, though not for front line battles, but rather home defence.
And taking the most dire matters into her own hooves was something she prided herself upon.
"Keep your eyes on him. I want him still when I charge and fire."
"Yes General Nimbaa."
As the Alicorn mare went into a slightly hunched, sitting position, the sandy red Alicorn's horn began to glow very slowly in a white light not entirely her own, as she mumbled a magical language under her breath. Beside her on the clouds, her two elite Pegasi kept their eyes on the Earth pony down in the charred valley below.
Many seconds passed in silence, but as one Pegasi glanced upwards, he sore he could see something akin to an aurora borealis beginning to form overhead, barely visible, almost like a ghostly copy of it.
Her eyes ablaze with the white cosmic energy from the stars and world, Nimbaa kept her horn focused, concentrating the energy she gathered.
"It did damage before... This time, you won't be ready for it."
As she spoke, her two elite Pegasi guards gave some coy smiles, though these faded as the energy buildup in her horn began to emit quite a fair amount of heat and light, enough where it began to get rather blinding.

The ground suddenly seemed to light up, as if noon was fast approaching.
Pausing as he finished half carving the intricacies of his wooden owl's wing, Odi-Viscer's expression turned puzzled as he stared up towards the clouds overhead in the morning skies above the valley.
A strange sight was before him, as he saw not one, but two bright specks within the clouds, as if there were two suns obscured behind the cloud banks.
The bald grey Earth pony's expression turned suspicious, as his eyes took on a brighter red colour. At that moment, the clouds ripped open above, and a gigantic ball of energy, propelled by what looked like a million lightning bolts crackling in a beam behind it, roared down towards him.
His eyes widened briefly as the light slammed into him, the wood carving and his surroundings consumed by the burning attack.
His world turned white, as the burning white energy consumed him, tearing the ground he'd already charred and scarred the night before even worse somehow.

A half minute passed, before General Nimbaa finally snapped, her stamina failing at using such a powerful spell alone, and at such a low level.
"Las Pegasus is safe from him. That spell really drains me, but, at least it does the damage it...."
As she slowly shuffled to the edge of the cloud banks, her twin pegasi helping her to her wobbly hooves on the cloud banks, she saw the ground she'd just incincerated below.
Now even more charred black, with not even tree stumps left over. Steam flickered on the mountainside as the stream had been evaporated.
But there, in the middle of the charred black valley floor, stood an imposing figure. shuffling to his feet, slowly changing as the smoke from the charred valley, after the meteoric attack from her faded, swirled through the air like a dense, choking fog.
Upright, heavily built, spikes protruding from his back, shoulders and arms, it had the shape of an ape, but wielded plating of sorts, almost as if wearing rocks as skin.
The world held its breath, before she saw its silhouette light up with a pair of glowing red eyes.
A blast of air was left behind as it flew towards them in a massive jump, clawed hands outstretched as a pair of beams shot out and hit both of her pegasi elite, the beams piercing their chest armour and blasting them apart in a pair of blinding, hot blasts of steam and dust, a few flecks of blood flying in Nimbaa's face as she shielded her eyes instinctively.
As she opened them, she saw a pair of red eyes rushing towards her, as well as a pair of clawed hands shredding the air towards her. Her shield instinctively rose in a flash, as sandy red magic formed a bubble around herself right before Odi's claws crashed into them. Imbedding in the magic shield, claws piercing slightly enough form cracks like glass, Nimbaa gasped as Odi-VIscer collided with her sphere shielded form, tackling her out of the air in his clawed grip like a cat clawing at a ball of yarn. The ground rushed up to them, as Nimbaa strained to fired her magic at Odi-Viscer, who merely snarled as the ground came up fast.
Dust rose as the ground cracked violently on their impact, the sphere shield around Nimbaa faltering, and finally breaking as the impact shattered her back leg. Odi-Viscer got off, and the impact had left a round crater beneath where Nimbaa's shield had impacted.
As the golem like being rose above her, Nimbaa almost hissed as the white light burned again in her horn, a holdover from the powerful spell, and surging her head forwards, she let loose again.
The white light blasted forwards, crackling like lightning as it impacted the creature it obscured in daylight level intensity.
But through the beam of intense light, a grey and stone laced hand surged through, gripping her neck and diverting the beam upwards, away from scorching him anymore.
Her strained eyes whipping to see his face as he slowly choked her, the much larger ape-shaped golem being glared at her, black scorch marks all over his body to the point where his skin looked like hardened lava.
As her spell faded, exhaustion setting in, he growled to her with grit teeth:
"That trick did not work at Tartarus the first time. Why did you come here?"
"This place was, beautiful, once-URK! Why, why do you destroy as tales say?"
Nimbaa choked slightly as she spoke, while Odi-Viscer kept a rather quiet state:
"It is all I can do. It is all I can do to ensure others alive do not cause me grief ever again."
"What did anypony ever do to you?"
"Life is full of misery, life is cheap, we all die at some point. And if we live our lives as we are happiest, it is the only mercy there is. I kill, because it makes me feel better, makes me feel free, in control."
"You're a monster..." Nimbaa croaked, as Odi-Viscer's expression didn't change at all, as he admitted with a slightly soft growl:
"But I am free by being one. No lies, no fear, only joy. Your allies from wherever you came from will understand after you."
The golem creature slowly stood over the crippled Alicorn, as he raised a fist, itself beginning to glow red as he raised it. With his other hand, he grabbed Nimbaa painfully by the horn, the Alicorn screaming as he hoisted her up by the sensitive appendage. Throwing her up a few feet, she regained her senses as she began to plummet again.
But a red hued first rushed towards her, an air cone forming around it at the speed and power behind it.
Red energy burst across the valley again, scorching even more of the blackened valley as Odi-Viscer obliterated the Alicorn mare.

2 hours later
Las Pegasus farmland plains
Las Pegasus sentry tower

Smoke, fire, and death. That was what greeted them when their General was supposed to return, not the monster that came in her stead and that of her two elite soldiers.
The Earth pony scrambled away as the wooden fort tower collapsed under the flames, the culprit forcing aside the collapsing wall as he brought his bulky frame through.
Scrambling for a spear, the Earth pony saw a few weapons of other fallen, or what was left of them, ponies across the sentry tower. Raising it to the creature, the guard pony cowered as Odi-Viscer loomed over him.
The creature came without warning, hours after their Alicorn leader set off to deal with an unknown menace in the nearby mountains. There was no time to grieve the obvious loss at the hands of the new monster, and their attacker.
In a minute, he'd savaged the base in ways that no weapon could stop, let alone harm him at all.
Shaking uncontrollably, the Earth Pony saw the stony claws on the golem creature's hands extend as he raised one over his head, about to strike.
Yet at that moment, he swore he saw a glint of green appear in the creature's red eyes, right as he became distracted.

Unseen in his psyche, Odi-Viscer warred a battle in his mind, with an invading presence from afar to the north.
Teal Quirt's greenish presence fogged his mind, as he found himself in a swirling mass of clouds hued red, but permeated by a sickening green hue in the part the invasive message came from.
Odi-Viscer...
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
You can try and resist, but if you really feel that way, why do you run from us?
You know how to end us as annoyances... You know where to find us, just focus.
YOU WILL SEE ME THERE, AND THEN YOU DIE SWIFTLY.
Bold words Odi, see if you can uphold them.

The guard shook all the while as Odi-Viscer loomed tall, the stone skinned, apelike creature's height over four times his own. But the creature looked away suddenly, his gaze turning north, eyes smouldering red all the time.
To his everlasting surprise, the creature mumbled back to him:
"Spread word to fear me, to leave me in peace. If you do not, know that I never forget a face."
With that, the creature slowly walked away, picking up speed before it made a ground cracking leap skywards, heading north.
Amidst the daylight reflecting dust and smoke, and the crumbling wooden fortifications, the lone surviving Earth Pony guard trembled as he got up, staring at the departing creature, so hateful and destructive, one who killed his Alicorn general and came here soon afterwards, his wrath on all but him for an unknown reason.
Perhaps demons needed one being to survive to spread their tale.
Suffice to say, the creature wouldn't return, but the guard would spread tales of woe and despair of the demon being of wrath.

Far north, 20 miles north west of the Crystal Empire
Mountain ridge

As her eyes stopped glowing green, Teal Quirt couldn't help but smile at how everything was coming together.
"So easily moved, all the pieces..."
Her scorpion mandibles clicked on her lower body, like a nervous ticking at her anticipatory state. Now all she needed was to ensure the Queen played as expected.

Next Day
31st May, 71 BNM
Early Morning
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Main entrance foyer

"Your majesty, I urge you to reconsider!"
"Spare it Blacksaddler! I won't let those monsters harm one hair on my daughters' heads! But if you so insist on aiding me, do so in case I cannot handle it as you say in a lack of confidence. Do as you see wisest, but do not expect me to wait. This being was a fool to hold me to ransom, and she will pay the price!"
Queen Aurora was livid, as she had abandoned her usual attire of court for a more armoured appearance, her white body and dark mane covered in a silver coloured armour with black crests on its sides and helmet.
"What can you do alone your majesty, even with you learning that weapon spell that does damage to these creatures?"
"I have already sent word to Starswirl anyway, to see if he can handle these things he should have already."
Before the Unicorn General could say anything, Queen Aurora glowed a bright white, and vanished in a flash of light that lit up the dawn lit gardens even more.
Standing there, stunned, General Blacksaddler looked down in disappointment and fear, as he remarked more to himself if anything: "So falls the House of Canterlot..."

31st May, 71 BNM
Early Morning
Fillymore village
Outlying forest depths

A few days ago, Starswirl had come here out of curiosity, help before dire situations began to unfold. But now, he had lost any semblance of patience.
"Ave-Dol! Come out! Your friends have gone too far now!"
The Wizard was angry, as he lit up the forest in deep blue light, searching for any sign of the being of Sloth he knew was here.
"Answer me! I know you are here! Hiding away while your allies have taken royalty hostage!"
"You think I am not aware of these things!?"
A voice cried out, disembodied, from the forest as a rustle of wind carried on the air. Stomping around, Starswirl replied with some bitterness:
"You claim to be helpful, yet here you are hiding from the world as your allies commit acts that will tear Equestria asunder, first with the Nationalists, and now the Royalists!"
"And what of the new spell unleashed at Tartarus? I have felt it used by the Royals, the Nationalists are on the brink of gaining the knowledge themselves. With so much misery, why should I bother to interfere when I just make things worse? I tried to keep them together, I did, but I failed with them, as I failed them in not seeing Siral was turning them into his tools until it was too late. They didn't escape unchanged."
As she spoke, she materialised before Starswirl, the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid's voice seeming broken, sullen almost. At the sight of Ave-Dol's grief and morose state however, Starswirl was unmoved. He was past the point of sympathy for anypony in these dark times.
"I have no sympathy for a devil of idle hooves Ave-Dol."
"That is all I can do. Where I go, lethargy spreads, I calm too much."
"Which is why you are needed. You keep them in check with the very power Siral gave you, he knew there needed to be a source of control as a backup from his own in the long run. A sane head among the others."
"Wallow in your pity for others and yourself if you wish. But if you do pity them as much as you do, then staying in this forest as your aura starves a village by way of laziness is not the way to do it!"
Starswirl's words were as barbed as could be, as the Wizard turned to leave the Alicorn/Windigo hybrid behind.
She melted back into the forest, uncertainty in her light blue eyes, as Starswirl stormed out, his sights set on the north. Under his breath, he muttered to himself:
"I do not care what Meadowbrook says, morality has no play with them anymore."
The Wizard stormed from the forest, leaving the reluctant Being of Sloth inside her forest, wallowing in her surrendered state.
After the Wizard left however, Ave-Dol whispered over the wind more to herself then anypony else that might hear:
"Why did it have to come to this?"

Equestrian midlands, Everfree forest outskirts

As Chack's green sword faded in colour, and the rustling of the wind as they had been travelling reached them, the bronze coloured Alicorn stallion asked with uncertainty:
"Your forest deity friend says there are more of them?"
"Yes. In Royal territory, the Crystal Empire."
"You know I am not welcomed there..." Aubelles remarked dryly, to which Chack countered:
"To be fair, you aren't welcomed in Nationalist territory either, no thanks to that lustful witch of a being we had to bring down, and her gluttonous boy pet."
"You are not helping my decision." Aubelles replied, to which Chack began to rattle off, the Salamander listing each on his webbed fingers to the significantly taller Alicorn:
"If you are rejected by your old side, that alone means you'll be welcomed by the Royals. In the least, to help take out these creatures that are on the move."
"I remember Tartarus's battlefield. That didn't end well."
"Well now we know what to expect. And they are less coordinated without their master." Chack's last point did hold true, but all it did was cause Aubelles to think, a hoof to his chin as he thought about this whole situation.
"But this whole scheme, somepony is in control, or is trying to be."
"We will deal with that when we get there. Starswirl will be there too, but even so that may not be enough." Chack's remark was all too true, but on top of this was Aubelles's continued hesitation:
"I still am not sure about this..."
"What greater glory would there be in defeating monsters, like heroes of old tales, but for real? And you would save all this way, not just one faction."
At this, Aubelles was rather turned, as he saw the merit in this. With a slight chuckle, a nervous chuckle perhaps, he then went quiet, turning to the Salamander:
"And what of you Chack?"
"I already had some misgivings about Alicorns using power like the celestial spell, it seems to affect the heavens themselves. But I'll take them over these monstrosities. Everfree is correct, they don't belong, and they're too dangerous. We focus on the greatest dangers before all else."
"What are we waiting for then?" Aubelles remarked, to which Chack gave a brisk nod. His green sword glowing, his other sheathed, he vanished in a green light, while after him, taking a breath out of hesitation, Aubelles vanished in a flash of bronze light.

Author's Note

Btrayal and a culmination of many things all coming together.

GREED/WRATH: Crystal Empire Carnage

31st May, 71 BNM
Late Evening
20 miles north west of crystal empire
Frost mountains, Ravine

Flying through the mountains, they came to a ravine, scarred with crevices that stretched into and down perilous depths, snow and rock marking them everywhere. Coming to a sudden stop, Stasrwirl loudly ordered the other 6 crystal guards, 4 Pegasi and 2 Unicorns, who escorted him.
"Stop, they're here!"
Looking around briefly, the leader among the guards, a lightly built Pegasus stallion, remarked gruffly:
"There's nothing here Wizard!"
"Below us, they're in the caverns. Down there."
Starswirl elaborated as he pointed towards the nearest ravine, a great gaping wound in the mountain side that stretched down into dark depths. As the other guards swiftly peered down, they saw the darkness, and the silhouettes of jagged rock and crystals marking its innards like rows of teeth:
"Won't we get lost?"
"Not if you follow me."
Upon hearing the Wizard's reassurance, the guards readied to head down. But in the distance, a rumble of distant battle, and lights that were of yellow and white variety, rumbled overhead. Knowing what was unfolding now, and possibly more soon, the Wizard warned lowly to the guards as he imbued himself with blue magic to hover down into the crevice's depths, the cold biting at his flanks the least of his concerns:
"We must hurry! And be wary of an ambush, there's one being unaccounted for still!"
The Wizard's words echoed as they all rushed down into the crevice, Starswirl's blue lighted way guiding them into the depths, with Pegasi flapping and Unicorns hovering into the depths.
Jagged crystal shards were everywhere, as well as dark rock and fewer and fewer traces of snow. Were it not for the light of Starswirl and the 2 Unicorn guards, by now they would be in utter darkness.
But as they pressed on, Starswirl felt the magical signal he knew was that of the Princesses getting stronger. They took turns through the cavern system as if they knew which way they were going, as Starswirl led them on into the cavernous depths.

Frost Mountains foothills

"Rally positions, keep the ranks tight, fight together! If they try and come for us let us not make it easy for them!"
The Crystal Guard Commander bellowed to her ranks of a few hundred that stood at the foothills, forming closed ranks as they readied their magic horns, crossbows and swords for battle. An air of unease was about the ranks though, as word had spread of a potential new enemy incoming.
All eyes were facing north, to the thundercrack echoes of the battle unfolding between the Queen and Councillor Sombra.
But as her eyes turned, the Commander's eyes flickered to a pebble on the mountainside, as a single rocking shockwave through the ground made it jostle suddenly, before settling.
A few cries went up, as she turned to see a crash in the distant snow plains, heading for them. Whatever caused it, it had landed as many miles south of them as it had west of the Crystal Empire.
Barely visible, it was an upright standing figure in the snow dust he'd kicked up from his meteoric landing. But it was too far away to make out.
Squinting her eyes, the Commander and many others in her ranks saw a faint red glow fading off of the creature.

5 miles south of Frost Mountains, 5 miles west of Crystal Empire

He stared at the Empire, a beacon of energy, of life.
He scowled, disgust and rage consuming him. But as more cracks came from the north, echoing across the skies, Odi-Viscer turned to the Frost Mountains. He sensed the others both like and unlike him there. One in battle, the other hidden.
But as his red hued gaze glanced to the foothills, he saw them. Soldiers, a small army, armed and ready, staring at him. They squinted, unable to see him in detail. But he saw them easily, his own vision enhanced.
His frame shook in rage and excitement almost, as he crouched down and leapt, cracks erupting in the ground as he took off in a titanic leap yet again, like so many he'd already done to travel this far north.
He soon left the distasteful sight of the Empire far behind.

Crystal Empire, castle upper levels

Staring from the castle's balcony, Princess Amore couldn't help but gaze in horror as the mysterious creature leapt across the plains like a demonic flea of some sort, heading right for the armies of hers.

Frost Mountains foothills

"Get down!"
The screams went up as the boulder-like creature impacted on the slopes just below them, a hundred metres from them, forming a small crater if snow and rock on landing. Snow flew up, a small cloud billowing as the hundreds of guards stood ready. Suddenly the rumbles of battle in the mountains, which had admittedly suddenly gone more distant, were forgotten.
The red eyed creature, shaped like an ape but devoid of fur, only with bone and stone as features from his bald grey skin at the joints and vitals, stared at them blankly, head cocking very slightly as he watched them.
"Hold..."
Her words rang out over the tense ranks of a few hundred guards, as the Earth Pony mare slowly sheathed her sword, looking as non-threatening as possible.
"I know tales of this beast from the south, none have tried words yet..."
"This is no time for negotiating!" One of her sub-commanders whispered harshly to her as she advanced, to which she replied:
"Fighting will get us nowhere here or in the war. Alternatives must be tried, or we're no better then animals."
As she advanced, the soldiers in her ranks were tense, weapons ready, but she advanced with weapons sheathed. Slowly trotting down the foothill slopes, she slowly saw more and more of Odi-Viscer's body in detail.
He was four times her height, possibly five, and every one of his joints was marked with sharp protrusions of bone and stone, and his ape-shaped body armoured in all but the non-vital areas with stone-like bone.
Appearing as non-hostile as she could, she removed her helmet and deposited it on the ground. She knew full well that if this went wrong, it would be useless anyway. But she had to try.
"Are you friend, or foe!? What do you want? We wish none of your wrath, only to protect what we hold dear!"
Staring at this slowly advancing Earth Pony mare clad in crystal armour, Odi-Viscer let out a low rumble as she stood before him, sword sheathed, staring hard into his fiery red eyes with her own.
Ever so slowly, Odi-Viscer's foreleg shuffled forwards towards her.
And ever so slowly in turn, the Commander mare took a step backwards.
At that same moment, an arrow twanged as it flew from a crossbow, and clattered as it deflected and broke off of Odi-Viscer's bony eyebrow.
At that instant, his eyes constricted, and his fist flew outwards.

The Commander couldn't scream as the fist seized her, her skeleton and body crushed before the air could leave her lungs to make a sound, as he hurled her mangled body at the armies, flattening two soldiers up on the foothills with the thrown body, speeds not even the fastest Pegasi could fly at.
A hail of spells and arrows flew his way, as the armies scattered like a flock of birds. Unicorns teleporting in all directions with Earth ponies in tow, and Pegasi flying off in all directions too.
Spinning to the largest batch he could find, Odi-Viscer roared for the world to hear, as he charged them, leaping forwards with a ground cracking leap with outstretched arms, red energy building inside his forearms and his mouth as he charged them.
Right as he was upon them, the guards fired arrows and spells at the monstrocity, red light consuming them as the first of many small earthquakes arose from their own, and many more to come, demise.

Frost Mountains, quartz valley

Yet another volley of yellow energy spheres shot her way, as Aurora saw each sphere still detonating behind her in a trail intent on consuming her in one of the blasts.
Flying above her, the 4 winged draconian centipede fired away with wild abandon, any strategy forgotten as he unleashed all power he had. In turn though, Aurora had been forced to abandon her own strategy, hoping she could find some way to get a clear shot without being blown back or into a mountain by one of Golmov's attacks.
"You cannot run forever Queen! Nor can you hope to best me, even with all your power!"
Her wings beating furiously, Aurora instinctively put up a shield barrier as a stray yellow beam arced her way, Golmov cutting her off long enough for the trail of detonations, now cascading along the mountain side, caught her up.
Her white shield shattering mid blast, the Queen yelled out as the mountain's snow covered slopes rushed up, her form skidding along until she slipped down a crevice. Coming to a staggered flapping a few metres down, Aurora saw one of the many deep crevices, almost like a labyrinth going straight down, looming beneath her. Jagged rocks and crystals lay everywhere.
Overhead however, the rumble of Golmov's wingbeats filled the air, as he landed with his limbs splayed on each side, yellow energy building in his mouth as he reared up above the crevice.
Suddenly, black, smokey magic shot from the side and into Golmov's eye, earning a shriek from the full sized dragon creature, while the culprit then fired a barrage of sharp crystal fragments encased in black magic out, piercing Golmov's left forewing so many times it formed a tear in his wing.
Reeling away in agony, the massive dragon was blinded by this surprise attack long enough for Sombra to fly down into the crevice on a plume of black magic.
"My Queen, we have to go!"
"Obviously Sombra, but you are welcomed. He is right, I cannot beat him or any of his others alone."
"Ideas would be good, you've fought him for a long time now."
"And I have one, with this place being perfect... His greed, it is perfect with what lays below us."
Glancing down, Sombra noticed the twinkling of the crystals farther down in the crevice by way of Aurora's magic. His own teeth sharpened slightly at the enticing sight, but he shook his head, agreeing with her plan.

Seeing the black Unicorn hovering above the crevice he'd just been about to blast apart, Golmov saw Sombra waiting for him:
"You will not have such luck again Unicorn..."
"Try it creature..."
A distant red explosion suddenly caught Golmov's attention, as he then added cruelly:
"Perhaps you may want to redirect your efforts, to that of your army's survival against HIM."
At this, Sombra turned to see that, indeed, a red hued light burst was vanishing from the mountain foothill area. But sparing a quick lance down into the crevice, Sombra fired a few volleys of black magic at Golmov as he fled, the Unicorn making a hasty retreat towards the more dangerous looking creature.
"Coward, but smart for it." Golmov spat. Glancing towards the crevice, he realised that Aurora had hidden far down inside it, and with a flash of yellow, he was now smaller, only 5 times her size.
His 4 wings/hands grasping the walls, he scuttled down, his eyes letting him see well in the dark as he descended. As he smelt Alicorn, he rumbled aloud into the dark crevice:
"You continue to flee, yet you and your ponykind preach of justice! Your daughters took everything from me. My treasure, my crystal heart, my pride! I was forced to live in shame, chased out of dragon meets like a pariah. Only the Savant's arrival offered me a chance to strengthen, and have my own justice!"
"You have this power to find what wealth you wish, yet you obsess with revenge. You do not make sense beast!" Aurora's cruel rebuke didn't phase Golmov, stating himself with utter simplicity in intent, not an ounce of deceit:
"It is the principle that counts."
"Everypony, or dragon, has their price. Enough wealth, if you are willing. Allow me to illuminate you..."
With that final word, Aurora's white magic shone out, and all around them in the vast crevice the massive walls, lined with shining crystals and veins of metal glistened in the crevice's reflective lit expanses.
Golmov's yellow eyes widened slightly, as he realized just what exactly he had missed in decades, even prior to Siral.
"All this, and the power he gave you, it could be yours, treasure no dragon has claimed."
"All, mine...."
Indeed, as he gazed about, he saw the many twinkling crystal heads, reflecting his own face. Golmov's yellow eyes turned wide with desire, the draconian desire to hoard so strong now. The reason Dragons never went for these crystals was due to how difficult to manipulate they were. He had no such problems now.
But a flicker of reason, or his old self, came over Golmov as he advanced straight down, his mouth wide with yellow energy bristling in it as he charged the hovering Alicorn and the source of the light here:
"Yes, mine to have, but the principle remains."
His jaws snapped down, but felt only air, as Aurora's entire body vanished in a white flash. Not a teleportation, but an illusion. Plunged into darkness, Golmov whirled around to see a silohuette of an Alicorn much further up the crevice, flying to freedom:
"WHAT!?"
Exclaiming his outrage, Golmov shot a stream of yellow energy, and normal fire, up the crevice's depths. But with a large white burst overhead, Golmov saw a cascade of boulders come crashing down into the crevice, plunging him into darkness as the first of them landed on him.
As he was pinned down, he bellowed out loud form pain, but mostly outrage. This would not trap him forever, he would soon be out.

Quartz valley

Flopping upon the snow covered hills, Aurora knew Golmov wouldn't be trapped for too long.
But as she heard the carnage unfolding towards the direction of the large explosion, even as she subconsciously worried over her daughters' fates, she just felt so tired and weary.
Nearby, the first rumbles of Golmov breaching his way out of his buried, failed tomb shook her frame as she lay on the snow covered ground. She wished she was numb to it after so long, but she wanted Golmov dead as much as he did her.
As she lay there, recouping her strength, she began to formulate a final solution to Golmov.

20 miles north west of the Crystal Empire
Frost Mountains
Crystal Caverns

They found them, both of them, with no sign of Teal Quirt or anybody else.
The 6 guards chipped away by pick or magic in the Unicorns' cases, as the Princesses's eyes flickered about desperately while more cracks appeared in their prison. Before them, his blue magic working to help break the enchanted seals on the crystal prisons, Starswirl had felt the tremors above form more than one battle now.
"Make haste, the next creature wreaks havoc as we speak!"
But as he spoke, he suddenly sensed something. A presence he hadn't felt since...
"Chack.."
He nearly faltered in his blue magic casting as he felt the Salamander in the vicinity, close to the heart of battle. And now for once, Starswirl was fearful for the Salamander's fate.

Frost Mountains foothills

The foothills were in carnage, as boulders had been burst apart, scorch marks and craters and cracked rock fissures had formed were Odi-Viscer went on the warpath.
Ripping the slab of displaced granite from the ground, the creature hurled it skywards like a discus, the spinning slab catching one Pegasi enough to flatten him on impact as it soared away to crash a half kilometre away.
Arrows and spells rained down as they all flew like gnats around him, and more and more, despite him trying to hit them, he couldn't deal with them fast enough for his liking.
Red energy shot from his gaze, carving a path out of the sky but missing as the Pegasi were too fast and manoeuvrable for him to hit. Carving his energy blast down to the ground, the Unicorns and Earth ponies merely teleported about, infrequent enough to be able to keep it up.
As more attacks rained down upon him, Odi-Viscer felt his energy building with his rage. A volley of arrows managed to actually imbed into his leg, irritating him. A red glow began to build in his chest, the tips of his spikey protrusions beginning to glow red too.
As he was bombarded more and more, he clutched his forehead and chest, feeling an intense burning as he sucumbed to more and more anger.
He wanted these vermin who dared make his life more hell then it had already been dead, now.
Hurling his hands skywards, he let loose an earth shattering roar as he hurled his fists down, red glows focusing in within their fingers like many small red stars concentrated within them.
The moment they connected with the ground, red lightning and a single massive shockwave filled the air.

All around him, ponies flying and moving about were incinerated, flesh stripped and vaporised to leave the skeletons intact for a brief moment, before they were blasted apart by the force of the magical and strength based explosion.
Odi-Viscer sunk down as his attack formed a large crater, but from him, a crashed to earth red star filled the air, as all that was alive was reduced to dust, the intense energy disintegrating anything and everything that was living, and blasting apart anything not made of organic tissue.
As the red ball of energy expanded, the red lightning, disintegrating energy and shockwaves spread out in all directions, only beginning to truly lose potency once a half mile radius had been cleared from Odi-Viscer.

Crystal Empire, castle upper levels

The red light engulfed the plains, as Princess Amore silently saw the blast come from where her armies had been engaging the creature.
"Oh gods..."
Like a fading aurora concentrated on the ground, the red energy dissipated in the air in the distance, as the rumble of the explosion finally reached the empire. She hung her head slightly, knowing full well how many wouldn't be coming back today.
"How will the bards tell of this event I wonder?"
She mused this aloud, as she felt helpless in all of this. She was not a combatant, and had to exercise her magic with the now hidden crystal heart in case one of the creatures came directly for the empire.
"Be safe Sombra, and my Queen..."
She could only hope her words carried to their intended ponies somehow, and that the Empire would be spared the carnage unfolding in the north mountains.

Frost Mountains foothills

Flying on his black plume of smokelike magic, Sombra saw the devastation around the foothills of the Frost Mountains.
There, standing in the middle of the carnage torn landscape, stood the creature responsible for so much death and destruction, past and to come. His eyes followed Sombra from a half mile below, bright red as they glowed.
A fierce beam suddenly shot forth from the pair of eyes, as Sombra dove away mid flight to avoid the beam as it arced across the sky to slice him asunder. Flying low to the ground, Sombra flew close to the ground, black smoke trailing as he merely kept sensing his opponent's strengths.
The red glow inside Odi-Viscer's chest didn't diminish however, as he sensed the magic this individual possessed. Raising a foot, a spikey tip extending, he thrust it into the ground, red energy cracking it as it shot forth like a lightning bolt through the snow and rock covered tundra.
Sombra saw the crack intercept him too late, as the ground exploded beneath him to catch him off guard. His black magic protecting him, Sombra painfully landed in a rolling heap in the snow, mane dishevelled as he got to his hooves.
An unnatural roar sounded from beyond, as snow exploded a few dozen metres from him in a crater forming impact. Having leapt towards him, Odi-Viscer loomed up, red eyes ablaze as the energy also crackled around his spiked fists and knuckles, the ape-like creature with bald grey skin, stone and bone spikes and armour glaring at Sombra.
Red light filled Sombra's vision, as Odi-Viscer unleashed his full attack from his mouth and eyes.
But a green flash pierced the air right before this, as an unknown being had leapt from higher up to land between them, and slashed something that formed a cut in the air itself. Odi-Viscer's blinding red blast was sucked through the sliced wormhole, and reappeared in a second that was 30 feet away, right behind Sombra, the exact same direction it was going for, but now with a safe gap for Sombra and his saviour.
As the red glare vanished upon Odi-Viscer ceasing his attack, Sombra glimpsed the dark red armour clad Salamander, shorter then he, brandishing the glowing green sword he held in his hand, the rip in space vanishing too
Not giving Odi-Viscer a chance to absorb this act, Chack slashed out the green blade, a slicing green energy wave hitting the Being of Wrath's eyes, not enough to blind him though. Staggering backwards, the now 5 pony tall creature roared as yet another newcomer fired a powerful bronze beam into his side, ploughing him into the snow up to 50 feet away.
Coming to a hovering stop before them both, Aubelles landed next to Chack, remarking to Sombra, who couldn't take his eyes off of Aubelles.
"This thing, you were a fool to target it alone."
"You are Nationalist, why are you helping? And who are you?" Sombra first asked Aubelles, and then Chack, these earned queries.
"These creatures are enemies to all, don't get used to this Councillor."
"These creatures all have their weaknesses. We just have to find this one's." Chack pointed out, flicking some snow from his sword that had settled as he let Aubelles talk down to Sombra without a care of his own.
"Dying might be it." Aubelles suggested coyly, as he saw Odi-Viscer scrambling to his feet, a red hued fist punching the snow as he reared up, tall enough to make Aubelles's smirk vanish.
Turning to face the Alicorn, Unicorn and Salamander trio, Odi-Viscer crouched down, and charged, snow exploding behind him as he surged towards those three.
Scattering, Aubelles and Sombra firing waves of magic as they took off, Chack ducking and letting another slash of green magic hit the creature's shoulder, to little damage, while ensuring passive shields were at full power from his blade's magic.
Attacking these three, Odi-Viscer's ferocity increased with every moment, as the red glow in his chest intensified with every hit he took, and every hit or miss he dealt. Every second he fought, he grew more powerful, and they grew weary.
To fight him was to admit defeat, that was Odi-Viscer's strength.

Author's Note

Sombra in his better days, enough said.
Golmov is out for now, lured by his avarice, but Odi-Viscer brings a new level to this theatre of battle, within minutes claiming hundreds of lives in a single burst atop a few he took out singularly already.

WRATH: Odi-Viscer the Destroyer

31st May, 71 BNM
Late Evening
20 miles north west of crystal empire
Frost Mountains foothills

The roar of the earth splitting apart from the jagged line of energy that thrust through it was exceeded only by Odi-Viscer's bestial noises. Plunging his jagged spiked hand into the ground, he hurled it upwards as if throwing a ball underhand, but from his excavation, a cascading series of fiery geysers of energy shot forth.
Ahead of him across the snow and rock strewn plains and foothills, Sombra darted away on a plume of black magic, barely missing the energy wave shot at him. Flying sideways, the Unicorn fired back, black magic and magic infused crystal and rock fragments firing at him like a hailstorm.
The fragments and magic earned only grunts from the creature, as he then was staggered by a blast from behind him. A bronze blast hit him square in the back, and he spun around to punch the bronze shielded Alicorn head on as he'd tried to get in close. With a shockwave cone of air forming with the thunderous crack, Aubelles went flying backwards, his shield flickering out as he was sent a hundred feet backwards.
A series of green bolts hit Odi-Viscer in the side, and his red eyes burned at the sight of the red armour clad Salamander running by, his strange weapon shifted into a crossbow. Seething with rage, the Being of Wrath charged, his hands ripping into the ground and infusing it with red energy before he leapt skywards with a crashing burst on the ground, higher then Chack would be able to jump.
The Salamander turned to fire, as Odi-Viscer's eyes burned with an impending beam attack. Acting on instinct, the Salamander shifted his weapon from Everfree into a sword, and slashed the air as the red light shot from the creature's eyes as he came down overhead.
Odi-Viscer's eye beam vanished into the green tear in the air before Chack, and as he turned, almost as if he saw time move slower, a green tear appeared in the air below the creature, and the red beam burst forth, impacting and scorching Odi-Viscer with his own attack as it launched him in midair again.
Hurled into the air, he grunted as black hued crystal shards, fired by Sombra still flying around, smashed into him like a barrage of arrows, each shattering on his body but imbedding tiny fragments into his skin enough to resemble having many nails stuck in his hide.
But he was bred for conflict, for battle, for destruction. To attack was to give him power.
As Odi-Viscer fell to the ground, Chack formed his green weapon into a spear, and behind him Aubelles landed and shouted as Odi-Viscer landed in a crashing heap on both feet:
"Throw it!"
Not even waiting a moment longer beyond the command, Chack hurled the spear towards Odi-Viscer, while Aubelles's bronze magic shot forth and highlighted the spear in his glow, and fired it forwards midflight faster then the eye could see.
With a blow that sent forth another shockcone of air, the spear imbedded deep into Odi-Viscer's skin, but barely went beyond just the skin. Stuck inside his chest, the spear enraged Odi-Viscer to the point of animalistic thrashing.
From high above however, a bolt of black magic struck the ground around him, as crystal shards shot forth and pinned Odi-Viscer in place, shocking him with black magic arcs as he was restrained.
Aubelles fired another bronze energy wave directly at the spear, the hammer-like blow of bronze Alicorn magic hammering the spear all the way through Odi-Viscer's chest, out the other side.
But contrary to expectation, the fatal spear through his chest didn't kill him. The feedback from its green magic instead caused an intense red glow, infused with dark magic, to begin leaking out as if it were his blood turned ablaze.
His red eyes ablaze with rage fuelled magic and strength, Odi-Viscer glared at the two before him, and the black Unicorn hovering behind him. But as he began glowing his entire body, Aubelles turned to Chack with an uncertain boast, tapering off into an uncertain whimper almost:
"That should have killed him..."
"And yet..." Chack replied, no trace of sarcasm or cruelty, just uncertainty and fear. The Salamander slowly backed up, as Aubelles stood his ground while the crystal fragments around the restrained Odi-Viscer began to glow and fracture.
In an impossible move, his neck glowing brighter red as he turned his head, Sombra's face morphed to morbid terror as he saw Odi-Viscer twist his head 180 degrees, and fire a burning beam of magic at him. Only his black shield protected him, but he was so caught off guard by the revolting, terrifying move that Sombra was sent hurtling into the mountainside in a snow and rock spilling crash.
With Sombra nearly out cold, the crystals weakened, and very soon Odi-Viscer shattered the crystals that had shot from out below the ground to entrap him.
Grunting as he made to start towards the two, he suddenly looked in the distance, and saw the Crystal Empire's tallest spire. A voice entered his head, not his own.
"Such power... You are wasting it. But you see a way..."
"Yes, the Crystal Heart, a powerful artefact. How easily I could use it to control you, your power put to better use..."
"NO!"
His bellow shook the ground before him, as he shook his head of the
He shook his body, as he gave a loud snarl towards Chack and Aubelles before gripping the spear imbedded in his chest flesh, and pulled it out as if it were a plant thorn.
The skin on his chest began to actively heal with a red glow, skin and bone replacing the torn hole that seemed so small compared to him. Standing before them, he hurled the spear towards Chack's head, the weapon spinning in a poorly skilled but powerful throw.
Reaching up to catch the spear, barely, Chack clenched it in a webbed hand as a booming crash sounded to them. Like a stampede travelling at a falcon's speed, Odi-Viscer charged them, all but ripping aside the ground as he charged them.
"Move!" Aubelles's bronze magic shoved Chack out of the way as his own shields raised. A deafening crack split the air as the massive creature tackled Aubelles's shielded form through the ground in a long crater, only to raise his fist and crash it down atop Aubelles's shield the moment they stopped. Aubelles's shield flickered dangerously as he raised another gargantuan fist, only for Odi-Viscer to grunt and spin around to try and seize Chack, the Salamander diving aside as the claws nearly cleaved him in two. The slash across the back of Odi's leg bled the red and dark magic as it healed up, and as Chack made a slash, the green energy slice merely grazed the beast's skin as it slammed and sliced into Odi-Vicer's chest and face, red and black magic hissing like steam as he was adapting.
"You can't hurt me anymore..."
Swiftly rolling a hand back, and as if bowling a ball, Odi-Viscer slammed his hand to dig into the ground, sending a wave of disturbed ground and snow outwards. Running backwards, Chack made to slice a teleporting spell, but the shockwave caught the Salamander and flung him upwards, green sword flying from his grip.
Preparing to fire a red eye beam, Odi-Viscer roared in outrage as bronze magic tore apart the ground beneath him and flipped him end over end, his red eye beam streaking skywards as it arced away. Landing on his back with ground showering around him, Odi-Viscer stood up and charged as Aubelles's stabbed forwards with his now unsheathed sword, glowing with bronze energy.
The blade pierced his open palm as he slammed down on Aubelles's hoof, the Alicorn screaming as his hoof was crushed beneath the blow. With Aubelles's sword still sticking through the top of his hand, he enclosed his fist around the now pretty much 3 legged Alicorn and hissed into Aubelles's face, and for any to hear as his voice carried on the wind and through the air like a venomous rumble:
"I will not be beaten, I will not be subdued! If I cannot do it myself, they will tear each other asunder, and know suffering as I do from all that life entails!"
As his grip tightened, Aubelles horn flared for a brief moment, bronze energy encasing him as Odi-Viscer hurled him up slightly, before cocking a fist back and punching the bronze Alicorn upwards and towards the Empire's general direction.
For a good few seconds the bronze sphere flew in an arc, but he gave no reaction as he saw it flicker out, and the Alicorn slow as he instinctively flared his wings. But the speed he hit the ground at meant he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.
Turning his gaze towards the Crystal Empire, the rage fuelled creature leapt to the air, the ground cracking as he launched towards the Empire.

Meanwhile
Frost Mountains, 2 miles away

Perched inside a small alcove in the mountains, the green eyed being gave a small smirk as she saw Odi-Viscer taking off towards the Empire.
"So easily led about..."
Teal Quirt slowly vanished further into the mountains, confident her work with Odi-Viscer was done.
"Whatever happens, he'll leave his mark..."
The Being of Envy remained a bystanding watcher of events she orchestrated.

Crystal Empire, Palace

He was upon the Empire in minutes, as he burst through the shield the Crystal Heart had around the city as easily as through a window. He was a streak of red light and grey flesh, right up until he ceased his flight and landed roughly on the tallest steeple of the Crystal Empire's palace. Clutching onto the structure with one hand, Odi-Viscer's eyes lit up red as he carved off the top as easily as slicing butter, and hurled the top of the steeple aside to crash down into the plaza far below, ponies scattering in terror as he clambered up onto the flat topped tower steeple.
From down below on the balcony, staring up at this creature, Princess Amore gazed in horror as he reached a hand skywards, while he plunged his other into the steeple's structure he now stood on as a narrow platform.
As soon as he began, something began in the Empire's rim. Buildings dimmed from their usual splendour, and the palace itself took on a darker appearance, while red lines like blood vessels stretched down from his entry point. Atop the steeple, the grey skinned, stone armoured beast shook from the raw energy he felt flowing through him.
With his other hand, the aurora borealis light far overhead in the skies began to move faster, actually seeming to stretch down slightly towards his hand as if being sucked towards him.

Frost Mountains, foothills
3 miles north west of the Empire.

Slowly getting to his feet, Chack reached for his discarded green weapon as he stared on, his armour dented and broken in some parts. But he knew Aubelles was there outside the Empire, badly wounded in his foreleg, and the scream the barely conscious at the time Chack heard, was any indicator.
"He's harnessing the cosmic energy spell AND the Crystal Heart's energy!" Staggering over to where Chack stood, the limping Unicorn came up alongside the Salamander as they saw the distant sight of the Empire 3 miles away. The red light that was sucking in like a vortex to the top of the tallest palace spire was like a lighthouse from where they stood, a red star outshone only by the low lying sun this far north.
"And what does this mean for our already hard troubles..?" Chack drawled, his fingers stroking his green sword in his hand, his beady eyes able to see the sight despite their lesser vision compared to Sombra. The Black Unicorn explained as he slowly walked forwards a few steps, firing some dark spells from his now slightly reddened horn as test shots onto the ground, making sure he was still able horned.
"The Crystal heart magically spreads love and peace across Equestria, normally. The war makes such efforts ineffective."
"And he said he'll see any who he doesn't kill tear each other apart. He's going to use it..."
"To spread his anger and hatred across Equestria's populace. If the War is as it is with the Heart spreading love and happiness, him turning it to anger and hate will only make the war worsen." Sombra finished Chack's speculation with confirmation of the problem at hand.
"Worse? How could this situation get any worse!? We have tried everything and nothing has stopped him before this massive boost of his!" Chack exclaimed, angrily pointing the end of his green blade towards Sombra in emphasis of his outrage.

"Not everything."
A voice suddenly called behind them, as Chack spun around to see a light blue, blonde maned Alicorn mare teleport to stand behind them. Sombra turned too, surprised by the newcomer.
"You... You're one of them!" Chack realized as his sword was raised to her, while he aggressively took a few steps towards her. Backing up, the glowing Alicorn hybrid pleaded:
"Yes, but I am not with them in this madness! I never wanted any of this, only to help them when they were merely lost souls in need of a caring being!"
"And yet you stand here a monster like the rest!" Sombra accused, to which Chack kept his guard up, listening skeptically as she pleaded to them, her head hung slightly:
"We were not born monsters, we were made monsters. You know this... Please, my own abilities Siral granted me, I can help reign them in, my magic was to soothe them in case they became too violent for Siral. I can help them and save lives, they don't have to die!"
"What makes you think you can stop them, especially that beast!" Chack exclaimed, his sword jabbing in the direction of the Crystal Empire. As she gazed on in the distance, she forlornly remarked:
"Because he didn't attack me before. He won't now..."
Sharing a look of uncertainty with Chack, Sombra warned her: "One chance, it is all we may get."
With an urgent bow, Ave-Dol made to leave. But before she could take flight, Chack stepped forwards, a cruel tone in his voice as he remarked to her:
"You were made to keep them in check, and you failed miserably. So that means you have a role in the deaths they've caused, by you not doing your intended job. One of my friends possibly too!"
As Chack bellowed at Ave-Dol, his webbed hand gestured to a nearby crater, where Ave-Dol saw a mangled body part of a bronze pony of some sort, a foreleg, crushed and beyond repair or hope.
Stunned into silence, her back still turned to both Sombra and Chack, she hardened her look ahead, as she remarked bitterly:
"I know. My mercy and doubts... They won't stop me this time."
"We'll see." Chack sharply judged, as she took flight. Beside him, as the Alicorn hybrid took flight towards the Empire, Sombra asked cautiously:
"Can she be trusted?"
"Trusted or not, one that doesn't slaughter like the others is welcomed... It will make her easier to put down..." Chack replied, what could be described as a smirk crossing his amphibious face for a brief moment. With a wary look, Sombra stared ahead, as the Alicorn hybrid approached the distant Crystal Empire palace.
"Come on, we must get to Aubelles, he landed near the Empire anyway." Sombra urged Chack ahead, the black magic consuming him as he took flight, while Chack summoned a green teleportation spell from his sword.

Crystal Empire outskirt walls

Pain, and a hot stinging feel that ended in numbness. Such feeling was all Aubelles felt on his left foreleg.
His eyes blinked open as he wheezed a breath, bruised all over his chest and torso. His desperate wingbeats as his shields failed saved his life, just.
His left foreleg was utterly gone, a bloody stump remaining where the crushed and mangled leg had clearly been left behind on the foothills he'd just flown from.
His head rushed with dizzyness as he gazed up. He saw ponies fleeing the empire, screams of civilians and rallying calls of the garrison of crystal guards that had remained in the empire's confines, and a red light consuming the northern lights far overhead as they seemed to be slowly sucked inwards, towards the centre of the empire. A red light, like a dim star, growing brighter on the highest spire.
Looking down at his stump of a foreleg, Aubelles hardened his face, as he charged his bronze magic horn. Aiming at his stump, he fired the burning spell.
His teeth grit from the agony nearly to the point of cracking, but soon, after releasing a single gasp of pain, his foreleg was cauterized. The snow he lay upon was a blessing at this point, as he buried the stump into a small dug pile of it as he lay there, panting.
Staring up, Aubelles saw a strange light blue being flying high overhead, towards the red light over the palace spire. As he lay there, blinking, his vision became clearer, and he saw it. An Alicorn, but different. This one was like the Windigos of old, but with the red mane of a phoenix's feathers, and streaks of ethereal energy trailing behind her as she flew.
"Aubelles!"
Turning his gaze, the bronze Alicorn saw Chack and Sombra land nearby, the latter of whom stopped short to gaze towards the Empire's palace spire while Chack rushed over to put an arm under Aubelles' frame.
Despite his strength, it was a chore for Chack to lift Aubelles to a standing position. But stubbornly, the bronze Alicorn stood on his own, one of his wings stooping down to replace his now missing leg's standing.
"I am going in for Princess Amore. That power he's amassing up there, it can't be good being near it!"
Sombra's cry was followed by him taking off in a black plume of magic, entering the confines of the city while many other ponies fled south into the tundra plains in droves, as bombardments of spears and magic spells from the ground were dissipated and absorbed into the growing red sphere atop the tallest spire. Air, Aurora light from far overhead, hurled weapons and energy seemed to slowly be pulled into its confines like a red coloured whirlpool running slowly.
And as they looked on, Ave-Dol's light blue form vanished into the growing red abyss.
"If he somehow reverses the Heart's effects, Equestria is plunged into total war..." Aubelles rumbled, while Chack stared up at the growing red sphere of energy while looking down at his green weapon, and even hopelessly his deteriorated old sword.
"We aren't equipped for this kind of threat!"
"What happened to your daring and ruthless nature Chack?" Aubelles asked, forcing a grin as a flare of pain engulfed his leg again.
"I lose it when the odds are of certain death, with no gains to be had from such sacrifice." Chack remarked bluntly. Looking up at the gathering energy, and then up at the slowly spiralling down light from the aurora borealis overhead, Aubelles remarked:
"That light, the cosmic energy, he's harnessing it. Like the spell first shown at Tartarus..."
"And now its in their hands..." Chack rebuked, the ronin looking into the red light as Aubelles shuffled to a more upright stance, before the rumbles from building magic above the palace began to shake the envirnment. Only the crystalline strucutre of the empire's buildings prevented it from being heated or damaged by the electrical arc storm growing over the palace.
"I can counter it with the same, draw on the aurora as well, I can match him."

Crystal Empire, Royal Palace
Underground chambers

Under the deeper layers of the palace, Princess Aurora strained with the powerful emanating magic of the Crystal Heart, perched on its hidden backup pedestal.
"Your majesty, Sombra has come!"
Bursting through the door, the black Unicorn entered the chamber where Amore stood before the Heart with two Unicorn guards, her magic already bathing the heart in its warming light:
"Are you hur-."
"No time, he is infecting the heart. Too much and he spreads violent desires and hate across Equestria, and unlike love, the war would catalyse it, not negate it!"
"I know. We have ones up top trying to subdue him, the rest of the city is fleeing. What can I do?" Sombra added quickly as he strode up to the heart, to which Princess Amore looked tiredly at Sombra:
"Help me shield the heart."
Staring at the Crystal Heart, Sombra saw that indeed, the bluish-white colour of the crystal heart had begun growing what looked like a fragmentary red growth inside itself, like a series of slowly spreading blood vessels inside its glistening form.
"The hate, the rage, he won't infect the heart!"
As Councillor Sombra mused to himself, he began to siphon his black magic, as he fired it around the Crystal Heart's outer shell in combination with Princess Amore's magic. The two Unicorns were joined by magic from the two guards inside the chamber with them, but as their efforts showed, it only slowed the immense power Odi-Viscer was using to infect the heart.

Crystal Empire outskirts

Chack was stunned to silence, questioning as he turned to Aubelles in a quiet tone:
"You know the spell?"
Nodding, Aubelles looked up at the growing red light, remarking without looking at Chack:
"Yes, it was told in the Nationalists from spies shortly before the Baltimare-."
"Your faction KNOWS!?" Chack exclaimed, rounding on Aubelles suddenly with his sword out. The bronze Alicorn rebuked:
"It was only a matter of time before they figured it out too! I was still honoured enough within them when I was told, before the serpent ruined me!"
"Not only did you omit this, but you didn't use it yet!?" Chack bellowed.
"I have never performed it successfully, but I know how! With how powerful the cosmic energy is this far north, here is better then anywhere to try."
"But he is the same, and more. You can never match him, think this through Aubelles!"
"I know. But I won't let him easily overshadow everypony else in power, not if I can nearly match him."
"Aubelles!" Chack exclaimed, before bronze magic engulfed the Alicorn as he took off towards the red ball of energy atop the Crystal Empire.
Helpless as he stared at the Alicorn, 3 legged as well, vanishing into the growing red maelstrom, Chack readied his sword, trying to sense into the storm occuring right above the palace like a fallen star.
"Too much, I wouldn't make it through. She must weaken him!" Chack murmured aloud. He's been prepared to fight the creautures with a sliver of hope of winning, but not when one was drawing on this virtually unlimited energy from the heavens, and was minutes from unleashing it across Equestria.
Overhead, the aurora that was not being sucked down and turned red from the many, many miles above fluctuated like it had done too unnaturally, too many times. And it would many more times to come after today.

Crystal Empire, palace.
Uppermost spire

A maelstrom of heat, energy, red light and lighting arcs surrounded her as she ventured further inside.
There, in the centre, she saw him. The monster, the one that was once Odi-Viscer, the disfigured, bald Earth pony who endured a life of hardship before Siral by the savant's own selfish desire for a violent tempered agent of destruction of his own. He had succeeded in turning Odi-Viscer into a living superweapon, but in learning the truth, he rebelled more violent then ever intended if serving Siral.
Hovering into the swirling storm of red and black magic, Ave-Dol gasped as she saw dark magic as well. And she peered into the silohuetted Odi-Viscer's mind as he slowly hovered a few feet above the pedestal like spire top he had stood upon, high above the ground.
As she stared, she felt Siral's menacing energy still there, the trace of it left that motivated so much of Odi-Viscer's rage.
"Odi-Viscer! Don't do this!"
Through the maelstrom, he suddenly lowered his arms, his back still turned to her. But the storm didn't cease, his body still glowing the dark red blaze that was his rage fuelled magic and power.
"Ave-Dol."
Slowly turning his entire body mid hover, a few lightning arcs coming off him, she saw the permanent scowl on his ape-like face, the jagged stone and bone armour plating all over his ape-shape body even sharper now, the innocent looking bald earth pony long gone. But as she stared into his hateful eyes, as they beheld her, she saw it.
Inside, she saw him. To her, it appeared as a silhouette of the subdued, wary earth pony boy she'd come to know and care for.
"I didn't do my best to protect you, all of you! Nothing can forgive that!"
Her words carried through the maelstrom, and as he listened in, she felt the whirlwind of red energy falter ever so slightly. Gaining her composure, the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid vehemently proclaimed, showing no fear:
"But I won't leave you, not this time..."
"You would try to control me."
"Let me help you, this will only all end in-."
"They'll all suffer as I have my entire life, ALL OF THEM, with their own weapons as their doom!"
As he roared, more energy suddenly shot out.

Over the city, the red sun above the palace suddenly shot out a series of red beams in many directions, the ground scorched black as the beams swept across many areas of the Tundra, aimed at the army garrisons firing magic and bolts outside the maelstrom's suction zone, and at fleeing civilian pony groups.
In many short sweeps, hundreds more were dead. And on the outskirts, one Salamander could only gaze in horror at the power being unleashed today.

Inside the maelstrom, Ave-Dol fired fierce beams of light blue magic, hooking loops of their coils around Odi-Viscer's limbs as she tried to restrain him. The beam attacks outside and onto the empire's outskirts ceased, but the storm they were within increased in intensity.
Lightning bolts struck repeatedly at Ave-Dol, but she held fast, keeping Odi-Viscer restrained. Taking flight, she yanked Odi-Viscer up as hard as she could, taking the entire starlike storm up, away from the empire at great speed.
Up the red star went, away from the ground, a thousand feet up now. But Odi-Viscer broke free, and with a red beam he latched a harpoon-like grip onto Ave-Dol's ankle and hurled her downwards. As she swung around, Odi-Viscer saw her light blue gaze stare at him in pleading, for his sake.
His own red eyes glowed back, and the scorching beams that shot forth blasted Ave-Dol downwards. She vanished into the plume of red energy around him, gravity taking her.

As she fell, the burning consumed her chest. Yet her eyes remained open.
A bronze blur flew past, red energy trailing around him and turning bronze itself. An Alicorn stallion with only 3 legs.
She fell from the now slowing red star, her face resigned in pain about what had, and was about to happen.

From where Ave-Dol plummeted, a bronze blur shot from below him as he came to a midair hover, the red haze still surrounding him. His energy felt drained, as the bronze Alicorn charged him, and rammed him headfirst in the chest, his burning bronze horn penetrating all the way and beginning to fire scorching hot beams of magic into Odi-Viscer's chest.
Agony, and red and dark energy arcs bled from Odi-Viscer's stab wound, but it wasn't deep enough to kill yet. The red maelstrom raged harder the ever before, and outside, the star shaped display shot skywards, higher and higher towards the altitude of the aurora borealis itself, the light from it trailing more readily into the swirling ball of energy as it flew upwards.
Inside the beam, Odi-Viscer saw his own energy he was emitting being sucked into Aubelles horn and fired into his chest. This incensed him beyond reasonable thought, and without a second thought, he extended his clawed hands and plunged them into Aubelles's ribcage.
Aubelles's scream was lost inside the whirling maelstrom now having flown up to the thermomosphere, while inside it as well Odi-Viscer grit his teeth against the significantly smaller Alicorn compared to him all but burning a hole through his chest and heart.
Higher and higher they rose, until the red glow from Odi-Viscer's claws grew in power as more aurora energy was siphoned. In turn, Aubelles's own horn glowed a bright bronze, him too drawing power from the aurora itself.
Straining, Aubelles felt his energy draining, his vision blacking out as what blood he was losing was being incinerated as it left his energy shield. FInally, sucumbing, he passed out.
The moment Aubelles's shield dropped, the star shaped maelstrom's intense energy disintegrated the bronze Alicorn, former champion of the Nationalist armies. The creature that had been stabbed by Aubelles roared in triumph as he felt his attacker disintegrate, melt from the molten magma level of heat and the destructive energy he was unleashing.
But as Aubelles's body vanished, the healing of Odi-Viscer's body wasn't fast enough to plug the hole instantly. As the Alicorn vanished, the gaping hole in Odi-Viscer's chest was exposed to the full effects of the entirety of the Aurora borealis's energy being harvested. Without his outer skin to seal it out, and his magic shielding over that part disrupted, the searing red energy flew inside like a drain suddenly being opened.
Odi-Viscer's eyes flew open as he felt the energy consuming him from the inside, and as he clutched his chest, he let out a shriek of agony as the powerful energy he himself was responsible for consumed him from within.
The Being of Wrath was destroyed, a victim of his own power, but he took many with him shortly before and upon his death.

Crystal Empire basement

"Its stopped. Thank the gods..." Princess Amore gave a sigh as the Crystal Heart returned to normal, the red, virus-like glow inside it gone.
Opposite her, as the other two Unicorn guards relaxed, Councillor Sombra's mysteriously sharpened teeth returned to normal, his horn reducing in its redness too. Despite these strange features he took on from time to time, the Councillor couldn't help but feel relieved too.

Crystal Empire ourskirts

Far overhead, the red star blew apart like dust on the wind. Around it, the Aurora Borealis returned to normal, the green and blue lights flickering overhead as they should be.
On the ground though, as many ponies and garrisons gave cheers in the distances, Chack sat there on the ground, staring up, mouth slightly agape in disbelief, head hung in utter loss.
Glancing upwards however, he glimpsed a light blue glimmer falling from the red light dissipatig high above, this one heading away towards the mountain foothills, a few miles east of where Odi-Viscer began his rampage.
Tightening the grip on his sword~~, Chack readied to use the transport means of his green blade. Ave-Dol had survived, and she had her own debts to pay by what she was.~~

~~Falling, smoking from the skies, grey sludge of what was once his mutated body falling away, the chest wounded and dead Earth pony plummeted to the earth many miles below. Bald, grey, and at peace for once, Odi-Viscer was claimed by unexplored wilderness as he eventually landed and broke apart on impact.~~

20 miles north west of the Crystal Empire
Frost Mountains
Crystal Caverns

Starswirl's dreamscape
17th May, 502 BNM
Midnight
Faroench Kingdom, Pahrii [capital city]
Joie-vive Inn

They had met 27 years ago, and been married 25 of those years. Frello had left the church, and Jaquelle the cirque. Now a widowed Jaquelle and those that knew the mute, but celebratory and good natured stallion. Frello's adoptive son from before he knew Jaquelle, before he met two important wizards from Equestria 27 years ago, the lame legged Earth Pony Kayeno, led the funeral speech, laughing slightly through his tears of sadness as the funeral party celebrated the life of Claupe Frello.
"He was always happiest, even if his laughter was silent. Funny, when I was growing up with him, he was always more withdrawn as the church organist. But now, he can sing all he wants. He can now be heard by all who appreciate a good melody or tune. But as he said many times this year, he's not sure that means they'd appreciate his singing or music, given the standards angels sing at."
A few laughs spread among the crowd, while Jaquelle quietly mourned for her husband. A simple funeral, before he would be buried in the cemetery of the church he'd been in before they met as the organist, Basilica de Saint-Neigherre-aux Danme.
"To Claupe Frello, we will miss your hearty spirit!"
A cry from the back went up from a patron of the inn for many years, who'd come to know the humble and showboatish stallion and his wife Jaquelle. They all celebrated and mourned as Frello would want, with merriment, drink, music and staying happy through simple or more means.

~~Another memory of a death long ago, one he was linked to. Claupe Frello, the Faroench stallion he'd met as the third, the exemplar of Laughter. That meant another Being had died, Wrath if he was right.~~
~~"Starswirl, we almost have them out. Is, is something wrong?"~~
~~As Starswirl regained his composure, he saw a guard coming over, concerned at his sudden dizzy spell. STaring around the crystalline cavern, Starswirl saw the princesses half freed from their crystal prisons, able to move their heads as they worked in sync to free themselves. The outer layers remained enough where they couldn't be heard yet, but they could be seen clear as glass.~~
~~As he looked at them, Starswirl's mind raced.~~
~~"No... Yes... I don't know, but....Queen Aurora...I have to go!"~~
~~In a flash of blue, the Wizard vanished from the cavern, leaving the guards there to free the princesses.~~
~~"Wizards..." The Captain mused to himself, as he returned to help crack open the crystal, the Unicorns weakening it from the outside, the princesses from within, and the pegasi chipping away with tools and hooves.~~

Frost Mountains, quartz valley

~~Queen Aurora was still exhausted, but as she stared up at the distant red light high up in the sky, she yearned to know what was going on.~~
~~But as another rumble came from underground, and she sensed Golmov moving, the Queen stood her ground.~~
~~Slowly stomping about, Queen Aurora heard a series of crumbling rocks as something burst from the ground a few dozen metres away.~~
~~A long quad of razor sharp wings, two with claws on them, burst from the ground and pushed aside rock to haul the centipede-dragon hybrid's body from the rubble, the black and golden bug armoured length covered in dust, but imbued with a sparkling array of metals and gems on his coat.~~
~~"We're not done yet your majesty, and I have made myself more presentable, and stronger for it..."~~
~~"Vanity is not a weapon dragon. You forming armour shows you fear me..."~~
~~"I fear no Alicorn!"~~
~~"You feared my daughters, you will certainly fear me in spite of your growth since then." Aurora challenged, as Golmov's yellow glow grew inside all four of his wings and eyes.~~
~~She readied herself, as Golmov's took flight upwards, the first of his passes to attack her yet again. The metallic and gem coated skin he now wore glistened in the low sun sky.~~
~~Aurora was not afraid of Golmov, and neither was he of her.~~
~~All the while though, hidden from view as she came to the last piece of this puzzle she'd arranged occur today, the Being of Envy watched, and waited.~~

Author's Note

Odi-Viscer is dead, 3 down, 3 to go. Obviously number 7 of Gaudium/Discord is safe.
But Aubelles dies in the process of taking down Odi-Viscer, in delivering the blow that exposes him to his own immense power he was drawing on.
But on this note, and this will play in soon later chapters, the Nationalists have the celestial magic spell.
On a side note, being closer to the poles of the planet, in my magic rules I set out, lets magic wielders draw on cosmic energy, such as the celestial level magic, with greater ease, to do with the concentrated energy there from the Aurora.
Yet all the while, Chack has his beef with Ave-Dol, who did survive. And Golmov is not going down so easily either after crawling from his entombed ravine when Sombra has to go off and help.

GREED: Golmov the Vain, Death of Aurora.

31st May, 71 BNM
Late Evening
22 miles north west of crystal empire
Frost Mountains, Quartz valley

By now, the valley was engulfed in smog, but it hung low, never rising above the mountain ridges around the valley. Steam clouds rose from the snow melt due to the source however, as the opponents waged battle in the abyss.

Smoke was all around her, fire, and rocks melted of snow. Her white magic held fast around her, despite her fur being dishevelled from a few blows and narrow misses of various attacks.
Out of the smoke billowing before her, she heard him coming, and as the teeth and mandibles came roaring towards her from out of the abyss, she fired her magic, the beam hitting one of his mandibles, forcing him to flinch his mouth upwards. But he was still coming at her, and in a desperate dive, Aurora threw herself onto the ground to the side, her breathing deep as fatigue began to creep into her deeper parts.
The air rattled as he roared overhead, winds like hurricanes blowing up around Aurora and dispersing the veil of smoke through the valley even more as she stood fast, while Golmov pulled upwards, 4 wings beating furiously as he took to the skies once again.
The smokescreen cleared, but Aurora's eyes went wide as she saw Golmov flare out his four wings far away and above her, all of them beginning to glow yellow to form a gigantic X shape. Then, 4 massive beams of crackling yellow energy fired towards her. Acting on instinct, Aurora flared her horn, the white magic forming a single sheet of rippling glass before her. The 4 beams slammed into the angled pane, as snow and dust flew up in a gale force from their impact.
The 4 beams streaked skywards, fading with distance, but the force of the beams pushed Aurora back, her hooves scraping through the snow at a faster rate. As the beams reached their climax, her shield gave out, a flicker of the yellow energy getting through and blasting in front of her normal forcefield.
Hurtling through the air, she slid through the snowdrifts thrown up by the blast, rolling painfully as the heat from the blast began to turn the snow covered ground to water, and matted her black and pink mane against her battle scarred white coat.
Staggering to her feet, Aurora saw the burns and scrapes over her body. Golmov's seizure of her armour made her vulnerable. Yet ahead of her, the 4 winged, centipede/dragon monstrosity merely hovered to a stop, before landing on a small rock ridge a few dozen metres from her. The toothy grin sickened her, as his mouth's side mandibles clicked together with similar malicious glee.
"You should surrender. I would hope to not damage that rather enticing looking crown on your head... A shame it adorns such a pathetic ruler as yourself..."
"You're the pathetic one. You destroy and plunder with no regard for others, and for what? What do you hope to gain from this?" Aurora words didn't cut into Golmov in the slightest, as he shuffled on his 4 wing arms and scuttled slowly towards her on his centipede legs. Aurora backed up as he advanced, but maintained her stern demeanour.
"I take what I wish, when I wish, from where I wish, and from whomever I wish. Because I desire it, and nobody has the power to prevent me from this." Golmov's words were punctuated by his 4 wings crushing scorched black rocks into pieces beneath them, as his teeth bared with a hiss as he finished his boast.
But Aurora was not impressed, as she venomously rebuked the draconian creature's proclamation:
"Just like when my daughters reclaimed the crystal heart from you, even now, you have no self control over your base desires..."
"To control my desires, is to not be free." Golmov spat, his yellow eyes flaring slightly at the Alicorn queen.
"This coming from a creature made to be a slave of a Dark Wizard." Aurora countered swiftly, to which Golmov's head slowly rose up, as it cocking slightly at this idea, before he rumbled back to her, yellow energy building in his chest as he spoke:
"I took what I wanted from him, made it my own, and played along with his game. And you can ask him how well that effort worked when you meet him in death!"
As Golmov reared up, his wings extending to block out much sunlight, the much smaller Alicorn's white horn lit up. As he reared up, she noticed the adornments of treasure along his body. Gold coins, lumps of pure metal melted into cast shapes, gemstones embedded and welded to sit amidst the metal plates. Golmov had turned his skin into a metallic and gem encrusted armour, and he was now a living, breathing treasure hoard.
"I'll be certain to give that trinket on your brow a proper place, once I remove it from your corpse."
As she saw the yellow energy building in Golmov's chest, she noticed a few specks brighter then others. Spots where the metal and gems hadn't fully covered yet, where his centipede and draconian like flesh still poked through, glowing yellow as he charged his attack.
Her horn glowing white, she formed an idea, and a shield, as he world was engulfed in yellow arcs of energy and a flurry or dragonfire.

Smoke and water vapour rose as Golmov incinerated the Queen, but as the seconds passed, he noticed that amist the now glass covered ground and water vapour broiling around in the air, a white shielded sphere still stood.
With a callous snarl, he lunged forwards, mouth agape.

Through the smoke, Aurora felt the energy attack ease off. But as she opened her eyes, she saw teeth and mandibles shoot through the abyss.
Her instinctive magic boost strengthened the shield, enough that Golmov's massive jaws and mandible spikes only penetrated a foot into her shield bubble, locking her inside his gaping maw like a dog holding a thrown ball.
She saw his yellow eyes widen, and he began to fling her around like a animal savaging a caught prey. Her world span, her mind blacking out, but in a last bid, she focused on the yellow glowing, shining red gummed mouth and gullet in front of her. With a loud scream, her horn sent a pillar of magic firing down his gullet.
Golmov's eyes widened as he felt the energy buildup, and right as she fired, he unleashed his own magic. A yellow wall of energy shot up his throat, slamming into hers before it could clear his mouth. His cheeks swelled with the energy ball buildup, and his jaws and mandibles strained to further penetrate her already fracturing shield as he held her within his maw.
Reaching deep into her core strength, Aurora saw her magic building like a massive sphere, colliding inside Golmov's maw with his own attack. Something had to give soon, and it did.
His mandibles and teeth relinquished her, but it was Aurora who suffered as Golmov's magic surged in energy, his pain giving him power to surge his own attack. Mouth flailing from the intense energy, his yellow column of energy overwhelmed Aurora's own beam, and slammed into her white shield sphere with enough force to send her flying across and over the mountain ridge. Her white shield faded mid-flight with a flicker as she disappeared into the unseen terrain over the ridge, her body smoking slightly as the yellow beam carried out and away into the sky.
Gagging on the burnt, smouldering state of his mouth, Golmov spat onto the ground and swallowed snow to soothe the incredibly hot energy collision that had taken place in his mouth. As he soothed his gums and teeth from heat even dragonfire never reached, he glowered over at the ridge he knew Aurora had vanished over, a rumbling snarl coming from his magic blasted top gullet as it healed up.

Quartz valley
Hillside Crystal fissure cavern

Scrambling through the snow, her form battered, bruised and burnt, Aurora gasped as her white magic soothed her aching ribs. Finding a small cavern, she slipped inside, her white light revealing numerous crystal shards as big as her head, and as long as a spear.
She saw the long shards, her face reflected in one within the dimly lit cave. Overhead, outside the cave, she heard the rumbling bellow of Golmov as he took flight in the distance, searching for her.
But as her face reflected in the crystal shard, she saw its spikey end, as the crystal began to faintly glow in the presence of her magic.
It was well known that the crystals around the empire were highly receptive to magic, in the very least able to channel magic directly. The Crystal Heart was perhaps the best example, but it was merely a conduit, not the source.
And as she saw the long, sharp crystal shard, she recalled something she saw on Golmov:
As she saw the yellow energy building in Golmov's chest, she noticed a few specks brighter then others. Spots where the metal and gems hadn't fully covered yet, where his centipede and draconian like flesh still poked through, glowing yellow as he charged his attack.
As another of Golmov's roars echoed in the distance, his wind rustling wingbeats echoing as he made a pass over the cavern, unaware she'd come in here, Aurora's face hardened in thought.
Her eyes then turned to her crown, as she spoke darkly to herself:
"He wants this crown, he can have it."
With a flick of her white magic, she took off her crown, while she then began to chant an ancient magical language to herself.

Golmov flew about, searching for her. He knew she could have flown, so finding her in the same place she landed was impossible. But glancing skywards, he noticed something odd.
The aurora borealis was fluctuating actively. He'd seen it before, when the celestial manipulation spell was used. Energy taken from the heavens for extremely powerful magic purposes, enough where it actively dimmed the stars for a moment, and made the moon and day cycles vary just enough to be notied by those with astronomical insight.
It meant an Alicorn was using that spell, or a team of many skilled Unicorns. And given the devastation unleashed in the Crystal Empire, and that no other active battles or much was unfolding across Equestria on the scale of here...
His yellow gaze narrowing, Golmov mumbled as he circled around like a massive, 4 winged vulture:
"Where are you hiding now?"

20 miles north west of the Crystal Empire
Frost Mountains
Crystal Caverns

The crystal prisons finally shattered, as Princesses Celestia and Luna slumped out, drained of energy and fatigue as the guards caught them in their grasp. The two Unicorns aided the pegasi in carrying them.
"Any sign of one of the beasts?" An alert query came from the guards as they readied to fly out of the caverns, to which no reply was given.
They were safe, but the beast wasn't hunting them. At least, the only one not already hunting another wasn't. She was waiting for her time.

Quartz valley
Open plains

Overhead, the aurora borealis shimmered oddly, as whatever the Queen was building continued on. He was alert, war even.
As Golmov flew over in another circle, prowling, searching for her, he saw a twinkle on the ground, amidst the snow. One that hadn't been there before.
His eyes glowed yellow as they took a telescopic property to themselves, and as his vision showed, it was Aurora's crown, half buried in the snow. Thrown there from whatever scrambling to safety Aurora was doing nearby no less.
Coming down, he flared his 4 massive wings to land directly atop the crown's snow mound. With his weight on his centipede legs and 3 of his wings, he knelt down his head as his 4th wing claws gently snagged the crown in his grasp.
His guard fell, and his yellow eyes marvelled at the jewel imbued headpiece.
"Beautiful..."
His gentle murmur carried across the snow covered ridge hill, as he carefully began to engulf the crown in yellow magic, and hover it towards one of the many small holes in his metallic and gem filled outer layer he'd fashioned as his wearable hoard.
His yellow magic flared on his front chest, as the metal on his chest plates liquefied slightly to begin sealing the crown within its layers.
Suddenly, ahead of him, a snowdrift burst apart, as large crystal fragments flew like daggers towards his chest, engulfed in white magic as they launched at him like tree sized arrows.
Instinctively, Golmov's yellow magic flared up, but he was too late. As his magic shield sprang to life, the layers zipping together, while the other shards shattered or melted as they were blazed by the shield, one shard slipped through a gap in his forming shield.
His screech pierced the air as the crystal shard now lay half stuck out of his lower side, having stabbed right into a gap in his slowly built armour of metal and gems. His yellow shield fell, and the crown she had used as bait remained stuck in the now solid metal over his front chest, only halfway sealed.
Bursting from the snow, her Alicorn horn ablaze with the magic she'd shielded with great strain, Aurora focused her magic on the shard now stuck in Golmov's side, and then to his surprise, fired the beam skywards, white light dispersing into the aurora borealis and fading from view, the aurora overhead taking on a brighter hue.
As she slumped in utter exhaustion, Golmov seethed through his agony, no longer clawing against the smooth crystal fragment stuck through his thick scales and into soft flesh beneath. His clawed wing shot out, and Aurora screamed as the crushing grip of his wing claws wrapped around her body.
The much larger ex-dragon brought his face to bear before her as he squeezed tighter, seething into her:
"That was the last mistake of your life!"
"Not, just, yet!" Aurora gasped, as she felt a few of her ribs crack under the strain of Golmov's crushing grip. As he took a yellow blaze into his mouth, he was distracted as something glowed white far overhead.
Glacning upwards, he saw the aurora give a brief flashing white glow, as streaks of energy swiftly concentrated into a single point. Right then, in the form of the world's largest bolt of lightning, the energy Aurora sent up to be further strengthened shot down to earth.
As he glanced down, he saw Aurora's white glow still on the shard in his side. His yellow eyes went wide, while in his now suddenly slackening grip, Aurora shut her own.
The celestial level lightning streaked into the crystal shard, through it, and into Golmov's body, the whole shard like a magical lightning rod. White light seared Golmov from the inside out, the draconian beast shrieking to the high heavens as he flailed. Aurora went flying, hurled into a snowdrift with a few rocks bruising her battered body as she landed.
But as the blinding lightning engulfed Golmov for a full four seconds, the centipede/dragon hybrid's outer layers evaporated, his body cooking and blasting apart from the inside. His yellow eyes went wide, before they were engulfed in burning white lightning energy from the inside.
Finally, the deafeningly loud attack ceased, and the smouldering remains of Golmov keeled forwards, crashing to the ground as a pair of the wings fully snapped off from being roasted and weakened from the inside.

She strained to stand, numerous broken or cracked bones in her body, exhaustion consuming her from overt magic use, even before the Celestial spell she unleashed against Golmov. But he was finally dead.
Slowly, as she steadied herself, using her wings as extra braces on the ground, she noticed a faint grey liquid starting to flow from the smoking corpse of Golmov. Wary, her white horn glowed slightly, as she cautiously watched the centipede/dragon hybrid slowly break apart in a grey sludge-like mixture. But within it, another body emerged.
A normal dragon, this one equally scarred, but still with enough features to match what Golmov looked like. A black and golden striped, full grown male dragon.
All this sprouted from a grudge he developed for her daughters protecting the empire from him years ago, which Siral used to his advantage.
Slowly, her breathing calming down now as she settled into the pain wracking her form, Aurora shuffled forwards, the grey liquid waste from Golmov's deteriorated body and his dead origin body within it not her concern.
With a small sigh, shaking her head from a massive headache onset within her, she strained her white magic on the lump of metal skin armour she spied ahead of her.
Off to the side, she knew her armour had been assimilated into it, melted and turned into Golmov's 'coat'. But her focus was on something smaller.
Within the metal layer, the crown was only stuck in at a corner of its side holsters, and her magic slowly heated the metal enough to free it, flicking it off as she dipped it into the snow to cool it.
Bringing the crown before her, she saw the gold and silver adorned headpiece, her hard expression faltering as she then glanced towards the grey liquid soaked body of Golmov, the black and gold dragon dead to the world, no longer mutated.
But her thoughts went back to the day she first took on this crown, to the stallion the monster she'd just slain had taken from her in partnership with others of his mutated, enslaved kind.

130 BNM, Summer.
Equestria, Canterlot Royal Palace
Main atrium hall

Now recently crowned King Nova turned to her, a small smile on his face as he levitated the crown to her head. And with that small deposit of the headpiece, she was officially crowned his Queen, and co-ruler.
His stare into her eyes was the same he had when they first met years ago at his father's annual banquet.
While the applause rose in the atrium, they leant into each other for the first kiss of many in their long marriage of 58 years, from which two daughters would be borne.

Present
31st May, 71 BNM
Frozen north wastes, north of crystal empire

Storming over to her landing area, as the Alicorn hybrid came to her senses upon landing, Chack was uncaring as she gazed skywards with a heartbroken look on her face.
"Odi... Why.. I couldn't help you."
"Forget him, you're still alive... Which is the problem."
Chack's remark to her was colder then the environment around them, as he had his green sword out, raised in readiness to attack her as she turned her forlorn gaze to him. She didn't raise any magic, the Alicorn/Windigo hybrid simply stared at Chack, admitting somewhat bitterly to herself:
"You're right. I am a problem. I could have done more. I should have done more, to teach them, counter the seeds Siral was planting in them, be it violence, rebellion, or both."
"And how many have died today because of your lack of conviction and dedication? If you'd cared about them enough to see what your master was making them, YOU into earlier, none of this would have happened!" Chack spat at Ave-Dol, not even a measurable amount of respect for her in his voice.
"CHACK! Leave her, she is not the enemy today!"
A blue flash from beside them revealed Starswirl storming in, the Wizard's blue magic hurling the green sword to the ground below Chack, the Salamander in question glaring at the Wizard as he gestured to Ave-Dol, who remained forlorn and inactive in the face of strife concerning her:
"You know what she is! One of Seven! They're not all alive anymore, we have averted the worst, but you know that if even one of them endures, Siral endures! They're too dangerous to be left alive!"
"One was all we needed, you are threatening to kill the one member of the Seven who risked her life to help us!" Stasrwirl rebuked, his temper fraying as Chack finally went off on him after the carnage of today. In the crater she'd landed in, Ave-Dol could only look on in despair as Chack angrily gestured towards her as if she were a weed to be plucked.
"That doesn't change what she is, what she did, or rather, DIDN'T do. She was made to keep them in check, not out of control. The rampages of the others are on her head!"
"Semantics Chack. And we cannot slaughter the innocent among the enemy, or we are no better then they!"
"WAKE UP STARSWIRL. Among the Seven there are no innocents. Now stand aside so I may ride the world of this useless monster who let others run rampant!"
As Chack raised his green blade to charge her, Ave-Dol shirked away from the general direction, but Starswirl's enhanced voice boomed before the Salamander as he roared his name:
"CHACK! I will not let you harm her. Not while other, geuninely dangerous ones are running about still. I know losing Aubelles was hard on you, I know what it is like to lose a true friend."
"No, he was taken. Your friend fell by the wayside because you didn't help him or be open when you had no reason not to be."
Chack's words cut incredibly deep into Starswirl's heart, as he knew full well Chack was talking about what he knew of his and Siral's past. But before any more venomous exchanges could be made, a bright white light shot skywards in the far distance, only to crash back down to earth as a massive lightning bolt.
"Take her prisoner alive for all I care, you two deserve each other. I will go and assist the Queen."
As Chack slashed his sword, the Salamander leaving as swiftly as the lightning bolt came, Starswirl turned around to see Ave-Dol looking at him with a realization of horror:
"Golmov..."
At that moment, Starswirl's head split open, as he had the second vision of the demise of one of the exemplars he'd met in his travels, this one the opposite ideals to the one who'd just perished:

Stasrwirl's mental scape
13th January 186 BNM
North Shetland sea

35 years since he'd encountered the two wizards, 35 since the infamous Grolstrom bay incident as he had come to know it.
After knowing where the Grolstrom bay was, they took a land based crew to trek to the bay, and shimmy down into the treasure hoard on ropes. Thus, the great treasure of Grolstrom bay was harvested as much as possible, and they only lost 3 crew to the beasts when they got too lethargic on stealing the loot.
Captain Blythe, Irvin, and their new crew were rich for the rest of their lives, set for life. Even so, the sea called to them still, but they took on a life of easier living, sailing when they wanted, where they wanted. Merchant jobs, nothing attracting too much trouble.
Captain Blythe had died of scurvy 12 years ago, just as he eerily named his ship lost to the Grolstrom in anticipation of.
Now Irvin sailed the sea with his own crew, gathering treasure and wealth from jobs. But because Irvin was so well set, by not spending too freely of his cut of the Grolstrom hoard, he was generous with his cut of any loot. On land much of his cut of raids and seizures by way of ship raids went to the poor and hungry.
He knew from his childhood what it was like to be poor, and despite swearing to never be poor again by any means, he was generous now that he'd acquired it, and learned the ultimate sacrifice one can make.
His death came swiftly, through no fault of his own.
The North Sheltand sea was legendarily rough, but the best way to cross to the Viking north regions.
In the middle of the night, a squall blew up, and despite the best efforts of he and his crew, Irvin and his entire ship were sunk, the Fox not regretting anything as he died, other then his choice to not hug the shores this time.

Quartz valley
Open plains

August 25th of last year, 9 months ago give or take a week. That much time had passed since her husband's death. And now, finally, she felt the great weight of his life being unjustly snatched from her and her daughters lifted from her heart.
Shutting her eyes from the tears at the memories, and the realization of the time that had passed, the hardened heart of Queen Aurora took over once again, though this time she felt alleviated enough to smile.
"He's gone. Our daughters can live free of monsters like those that killed you. And if any do live, they won't for long."
With an exhausted pant, she floated the crown onto her head, and began to slowly walk back along the valley.
"I'm sure somepony saw the battle's magic enough to come seek me."
Her mumble carried across the grounds of the valley, as she made her way south, away from the scorched battle plains, leaving behind the dead body of the Being of Greed, Golmov's corpse doomed to be frozen amidst the frequent blizzards that consumed the mountains too often.
But as she walked, an invisibility spell hidden creature made its way across the snow. Pointed holes showed its insectlike legs moving it across the snow with an eerie silence.
While the Queen staggered towards any help she could find, the marauder moved in behind her.
Atop a distant ridge, Queen Aurora's eyes saw a green flash, but her initial fears of another creature were calmed as she recognised the sword wielding figure as Starswirl's foreign associate, Chack.

Chack's teleportation spell from his blade led him true, as he appeared atop the ridge a quarter mile from Queen Aurora's location. He saw her glance at him, and he saw how exhausted she appeared, her figure slumped and battered.
But a quick glance up the valley showed him the corpse of a dragon, and a grey ooze he knew came from the death of one of the beings.
Turning his gaze, he began to slash his blade, to teleport down to her.
But she suddenly stopped, as did he mid swing, his spell from his blade vanishing too.
As if seized violently, Aurora couldn't fight back due to fatigue as she was hurled to the ground by a green hued claw and pinned down by the neck.
Chack was stunned into inaction for the brief moments it occured.

She gasped as the green hued claw choked her by its neck grip, while the rest of the creature reappeared. The same mostrocity that had met her, the same that basically let Golmov attack her as her muscle.
The scorpion/centaur/ape hybrid's green eyes blazed into her own gagging ones, as Teal Quirt thrust her other scorpion claw down into her exposed underside, and the wet crunch of the appendage ripping into her torso and vitals was followed by the numbing rush in her ears that accompanied intense trauma.
The pain was intense enough that Aurora went into shock, as she could only listen as Teal Quirt hissed into her ear, almost with a sense of satisfaction, and gratitude:
"With you gone they'll slaughter each other, and like today, all I have to do is wait for my time."
Her claw glowed green as she ripped it from Aurora's underside, the Queen quickly passing out from the pain, an unconscious state she would never awaken from. Glancing down at the claw she'd used, Teal's burning green magic turned the blood on its claws to ash, evaporating it as she stood tall over the Queen's body.
She got what she wanted.

A sudden green flash came off to the side, as Teal's attention snapped to the newcomer. The Salamander rushed towards her, his sword flying as the first of a cascade of slashing green magic attacks flew at her.
With a light scoff, Teal gave a click of her lower scorpion arms, and vanished in a green flash, while Chack roared to the skies, his anger directed at the creature that had fled after what she did, no remorse, no pause, no gloating.
Standing there, beside the Queen's body, Chack looked at his green blade, demanding to Everfree through the connection the forest deity had to the blade:
"Where did she go!?"
"She is moving still, I cannot say yet."
"You are useless! Find her!"
"DO NOT TAKE SUCH TONE WITH ME!"
"Why not? She got what she wanted. Her rivals are dead... And so many others..." Chack remarked, as he gave a glance skywards, to where his voice faltered briefly at the last part as he recalled Aubelles's demise. His gaze turned to Aurora now, the eviscerated Alicorn mare's body suddenly glowing slightly.
Then, high in the twilight lit skies, he saw it. A white flash, on par with a supernova, as big as the moon was in the skies, but not lasting more then a few minutes. Pure white. The only reason a bronze one hadn't been seen a few minutes earlier was likely due to the overwhelming red light Odi-Viscer's death gave out.

Minutes later
Nightfall [northern sunlight means its twilight brightness]
Quartz valley
Open plains

He could only stare. He saw her body. He saw Chack standing near it, bitterly using his sword's magic tracing abilities to track the killer.
But Starswirl was numb as he saw the body of the Queen on the snow covered valley. His duty failed, yet again. Sure two more had died today, leaving only two plus the missing seventh, but now they had claimed both monarchs, and many other Alicorns in the war in the dozens.
His grey beard was touching the snowy ground as he slowly slumped onto the rock and snow mounds, his blue robe dishevelled slightly after everything that had happened today.
Behind him, as his voluntary prisoner, Ave-Dol sported a blue coloured neck restraint and one around her horn. But as she looked on, her eyes glazed over as her head hung low, quietly wondering what had gotten into Teal Quirt for her to do such a thing.
"She deceived us all. Used them, not caring if they lived or died. She'd be the last left if she had her way." Starswirl murmured quietly, the hurt in his voice nearly as heartbreaking to Ave-Dol as this whole day was to her:
"And now the two have lost their mother too." Starswirl remarked with an almost emotionless reply now, as he came to stand up straighter. The emotionless tone in his voice was unnerving to Ave-Dol, while Chack continued to search the ground with his sword searching for anything to go by for Teal's destination.
The blood stained snow beneath Aurora's body remained as silent as the trio of them. Elsewhere, the full costs of today were yet to be realized.

Author's Note

The body count has gone up, dramatically.
But now both of Celestia and Luna's parents are dead. How they take it remains to be seen, but soon it will be.
But clearly something is to be done about Teal Quirt, and the more passive Being who surrendered to Starswirl. And then there's Discord still loose out there, somewhere.

SLOTH: Ave-Dol's submission, Fractured

31st May, 71 BNM
Nightfall [northern sunlight means its twilight brightness]
Quartz valley
Lowlands

A half-hour had passed since her death, and now the time had come to move her.
Queen Aurora's body lay covered in a respectful tarp as Crystal Guards shifted it into the ski-mounted chariot, their heads hung low out of mourning for the Royalist Queen.
Casting a sideways glance, the captain of the Guards looked towards a ridge, where Starswirl looked on from a fair distance. The Wizard's gaunt face was not unexpected, especially given the events of today.
With a wave of his hoof, the captain set off in flight beside the Earth Ponies as they pulled the sled carriage back to the Empire.

Quartz valley
Upper ridge plateau

As Starswirl came from the edge of the plateau to walk over to them, Ave-Dol sat on the ground quietly, the blue collar restraint still around her ethereal glowing blue neck. The Windigo/Alicorn hybrid was watched like a hound by Chack as he sat opposite her, green sword out as his normal, slightly damaged one was still sheathed.
Ave-Dol forlornly saw Chack staring at her, the Salamander's green eyes hard as the jade they resembled. He quietly stroked the green blade in his hand, which Ave-Dol couldn't resist taking her eyes off of for some reason. As Chack's stare was laced with an icy expression, she carefully averted her eyes as much as she could from his, drawn to the blade he stroked now.
The faintest of whispers on the wind seemed to emanate from it.
"Your sword. Why does it whisper?"
Ave-Dol's query didn't perk any change in Chack's mood, except that he paused his stroking slightly while he gave a small sneer at her.
"This was given to me, by a powerful being. One who doesn't like what you and the others would entail for the future if left unchecked. The first Alicorn turned forest spirit, Everfree, sound familiar?"
"The great forest spirit is real?" Ave-Dol remarked. She knew of Everfree from tales when she was living alone in solitude, away from the world, before Siral found her and asked for her help.
Off to the side, as he came over, Starswirl had overheard the
"Yes, and powerful. He us both the future, a future, where you and the others like you were under Siral's influence. A ruined world, about to be rebuilt as he saw fit."
"I..."
"But now that they're not all alive, that future is gone. But, clearly those left are not exactly harmless on their own..." Chack darkly remarked, his webbed fingers stroking the blade slightly as he stared into Ave-Dol's eyes.
"We aren't just monsters to..."
"You didn't make enough of an effort to stop that creature who razed hundreds of troops to ash, crushed them, destroyed them. I had a friend among them..."
"I'm, sorry..."
"Apologies are worthless. I know your history, if you'd been more proactive, less of a simple 'nanny' to the others while under Siral, acted on suspicions earlier, none of this may not have happened."
"Chack..." Starswirl warned, as Ave-Dol looked down as her voice began to shake with uncertainty in her tone:
"I, he had me in a predicament. If I tried to resist, they would lose their free will, I cared too much for them to risk them, to risk losing it all if I tried anything."
At this, Chack's look turned toxic, while he stopped stroking the blade as an almost mocking tone took over to mask the contempt already there.
"You mean you didn't wish to take that risk, out of fear of loss? You did nothing, and hoped things would work out. And when you finally crumbled and ran to Starswirl here, it was too little, too late."
"CHACK!" Starswirl's outburst silenced the Salamander, though he maintained the hard look on his face as he stood up to walk away slightly, having said what he wished to say.
Ave-Dol looked down in abject misery, to which Starswirl urged her with a hoof to stay there. Her glowing neck restraint stayed where it was, as she saw Starswirl storm over to Chack atop a ledge a few dozen metres away.

"You need not use such barbed words to her."
"She and the rest of her kind deserve no mercy, in battle or in dialogue." Chack rebuked, the Salamander whipping to face the taller Unicorn stallion with an angry expression:
"But she is not our enemy!"
"Not today. You saw the others. Four are dead so far, which leaves her, the murderous scorpion creature, and the unknown seventh. That one alone makes me wary, I saw what he could do at Tartarus." Chack recalled, as he vaguely remembered the battle at Tartarus's gates with multiple creatures.
Starswirl's next sentence however, made Chack's expression shift suddenly, as something glossed over in his gaze. Dissatisfaction, disappointment even, as he subconsciously had already made his choice.
"I suggest we use her, insight into them."
"You know fully well she would never help in bringing the others down. Not now that she knows what we have influenced in doing to four of them already."
"Chack. We must refocus our efforts. You said Aubelles knew the celestial spellwork? That means more Nationalist Alicorns do, a secret we thought they wouldn't have yet." Starswirl's words carried their weight and more. The amount of power the new spellwork unlocked, now shared between both sides, meant conflict with that level of magic involved would see cataclysms like today perhaps unfold more frequently.
"With the power vacuum left in Queen Aurora's death, I fear for her daughters. They are inexperienced, and I've seen enough history to know their claim may be openly challenged by other Alicorns that still endure."
"And the ability by both sides to use the Celestial magic means that whenever Alicorns take to battle, things will only get worse from here. Please, Equestria is in great danger of tearing itself asunder."
As Starswirl finished his near pleading tirade, Chack's expression turned away from the Wizard, his words now distant.
"Which is why, I cannot help you anymore."
Starswirl was stunned into silence, as Chack went on, quietly mumbling as he looked at his old sword, pulling it out to look at the acid burned blade as he spoke quietly, the wind whistling in the snow capped valley as he did so:
"I have no stake in this war, nor did I ever really. Aubelles was my only real friend among any of the sides. I came with you to solve the civil war from happening. But twice we failed, the first one, and now this civil war, happened despite our efforts, efforts of your design that I followed. Even with Everfree aiding us it was too late to stop it. Face it Starswirl, we cannot change Alicorns, unless they first become able to be changed."
"So you would abandon me?" Starswirl's reply was cold, his eyes narrowing out of spite and disbelief at the Salamander's newfound path he was explaining.
"No. I will pursue the Queen's murderer. Like me, she is now a wanderer, and she must be punished for killing a royal as any society is. You have your goals, I have mine. But after that, once the threat of Siral's creatures, as Everfree says they are is gone, I will return home to Salaman. I have grown too many years since I have been there."
"So you'd heed the advice of a forest god over me?"
Chack felt the hurt tone in Starswirl's voice acutely, but at this point, he simply couldn't care about it. The Salamander spoke coldly as he glanced at the Wizard with his small eyes, moist skin shaking as he spoke to the Unicorn:
"So far he has proven more aware of what dangers are to the greater world, and what remain the squabbles of Equestrians only."
As Chack spoke, his green sword suddenly glowed, as Everfree's distant enchanted voice rang out, the forest god explaining calmly to Starswirl, with perhaps a hint of remorse:
"They must be stopped. If even one remains, Siral remains. You know this."
A few moments passed, as Starswirl weighed this up, all that had transpired today, and said just now.
Further behind them, Ave-Dol's eyes widened slightly as she overheard Everfree's rumbling tone. She knew this too well, what Siral did, and what it entailed to stop him.
But with her conflictions and sympathies towards the others, dead or alive, she was in no position to make a judgement on this issue.
Starswirl however, had made up his mind, his tone turning cold as he spoke to Chack:
"You know what? Do that. Go. Pursue her with murderous intent."
"Like you said, I didn't do enough, nor did Ave-Dol, so we deserve each other. I can say the same about Teal Quirt and yourself. I was right to lose faith that you would be a example of kindness in this savage time all those years ago."
Starswirl's words cut deeper then Chack was expecting, as his expression softened at the Wizard's disappointment in him. Unlike when he was responsible for the rampage shortly before they came to Equestria decades ago, this time they had no joint goal to go towards as an alternative, no use of the cruelty that Starswirl had initially objected to. Now, their disagreements were tearing them apart.
His gaze turned hard however, as Chack reinforced his convictions, and beliefs in what he had to do.
Turning away from Starswirl, pulling out his green sword, Chack spoke quietly to Starswirl with an emotionless tone in his voice:
"Keep Ave-Dol, release her if you so desire to ease up your duties to Equestria's political mess. But let her know that I will be coming for her, once I have dealt with the other two that still live."
Unflinching, Starswirl simply gazed on as Chack slashed the air before him, a green tear in the air before him opening for him to leap into, teleporting through its portal. With a similar green snapping flash, the tear sealed itself.
Chack was gone, a last hunt of the remaining three on his own.

Minutes later

Ave-Dol was silent, as she saw Starswirl not move from his standing point atop the plateau, his thoughts unreadable. The Salamander had left, their ways dividing.
But as she hung her head, Ave-Dol quietly whispered:
"Damn you Siral. You tear apart so much even in death..."
A few minutes more passed, as Ave-Dol quietly stared down at the snow covered ground.
But to her surprise, she felt the neck restraint vanish from around her. Her hooves going to her neck in relief, she looked up at the Wizard.
Her grateful expression faltered as she saw the dark look on his face, and his eyes and horn imbued with dark magic.
"You will submit to my will from now on, your soul name makes it so."
As Ave-Dol's expression turned fearful, something began to build in the back of her mind, a pained expression in her head making her turn harsher as she spoke.
"It is that same magic, which is what, he...AGH"
Caught off guard, Starswirl saw dark magic flow from Ave-Dol's eyes as a voice, distinct from hers, spoke out to him. He knew the voice, warped by magic darker then even he'd tampered with, all too well.
"THEY, ARE, MINE. ALWAYS, MINE. EVEN THE USELESS HUSK HERE, MINE."
"We'll see Siral, your remnant you placed can't overcome me." Starswirl said, no regard for Ave-Dol before him as his own dark magic fired at her head. The Alicorn screamed as the magic erupting from her deepest soul and the invader's fought for control.
"I, I can't do that, please, no more...PLEASE!"
The dark magic flew from her in a fine mist, as Starswirl snapped from his gaze. He saw the Alicorn hybrid knelt forwards, slumped down in exhaustion, tears in her eyes as she pleaded:
"Is that all I am to him and you? A useless husk? A monster to be killed?"
"You haven't shown you can be more. The village you resided near in your misery before today's carnage, you drove them to lethargy and death by just being near them..." Starswirl recounted where he'd tracked her down. At this, Ave-Dol bitterly remarked to the wizard, her eyes never leaving the ground as her fiery red mane shimmered against her lanky, windigo blue coat.
"Before Siral, I left the Alicorn ranks. I wanted no part, no desire to selfishly pursue power. My desire to do less to be as peaceful as I could, became my greatest flaw. I, I wasn't proactive enough. And Siral turned my desire into a weapon to plague the minds of others to do nothing to the point of death. I cannot help what he did."
"But if you serve me, we can change that." Starswirl offered, his hardened expression softening ever so slightly as the dark magic finally faded from his eyes.
Shaking her head suddenly, Ave-Dol stressed to the Wizard as she gestured a hoof to her head, her mind, while she stood slightly. Starswirl backed up as she lost some of her composure.
"I, I won't. I, can't. He'll always be here!"
"No, I can help."
Calming herself, voice trembling as she did so, Ave-Dol sadly lamented.
"Your friend was right, the risks are too great with what Siral made of me and the rest."
"But we still have no knowledge of the final one. Where is the Seventh?" Starswirl probed, clearly seeking to gain some insight. But at Starswirl's urgent tone, Ave-Dol's own eyes narrowed in sudden possessive suspicion, as she said in a darker tone:
"Gone. A USEFUL MISPLACEMENT."
"I know enough that he is incredibly dangerous. Help me find him, keep him down, we don't have to kill him." Starswirl urged, his grey beard swaying as a breeze picked up on the mountain plateau they stood upon. Her wary expression falling to the ground again, Ave-Dol recalled the suffering Gauidum endured, from Siral wiping his personality and all memories save basic living skills, to Teal Quirt utterly shattering his mind to 'free' him from Siral's influence. If any of the Seven was a useless husk, it would be Gaudium, wherever he was.
"No. He, above others, has lost more then the others including me. Even if I knew where he was, I would rather die then let you know where that final creature is. He is helpless now, and I don't expect you would spare him because of that."
"You realize what you are saying?" Starswirl spoke in a suddenly less tolerant tone, his horn glowing a bright blue as he addressed her. Ave-Dol saw the hard look in Starswirl's eyes, and spoke with utmost certainty now.
"Protecting a last shred of innocence in this world. Completely removed of Siral's taint. If I do anything to my fullest, it is that."
Standing across from the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid before him, the Being of Sloth, Starswirl shook his head as he said one last question to her:
"I removed your restraints because I wanted to give you a choice. Stay and help me find the others, or run knowing you will be hunted. I would have no choice but to say what you are. I have my duty to Equestria, and you are a threat by association with Siral."
"I will not run, nor will I help you."
"So you would stand your ground then?"
"No more death, none by my hoof especially."
As she spoke, she looked at Starswirl, but her expression turned darker as she noticed the light blue hue his horn still had. He was viewing her with judgemental eyes, ready for something. He was committing.
"Of course you must protect those selfish leaders and the ponies under them... What is one more body among the piles already dead?"
As she finished, her tone becoming embittered, Starswirl's eyes widened as he saw her stand up to face him, but exposing a clear hole straight to her chest through the passive magic shields she had up.
But as she spoke, Siral's voice began to creep in, warping her as she fought off his desire to keep her alive for his own ends, a thought from her deepest soul planted there by her mutation.
"What are you waiting for? You know it... THE PROPHECY. Do it, you, must. Before he..."
As Ave-Dol's light blue horn began to light up, Starswirl saw dark amgic beginning to circle around her as Siral's embedded influence within her began to take hold. But at that moment, the exposed hole in her shields grew in size, as she bellowed at him right as Siral's dark powers were about to ensnare her mind:
"DO IT!"
Without hesitation, Starswirl fired his magic into her chest, the fierce blue beam penetrating her body before the dark magic about to take her over like a virus sealed her shields.
As the beam continued through her and burned into the ground, Ave-Dol's blue magic spluttered as the dark magic evaporated off her body.
His magic faded, and Starswirl saw the Alicorn/Windigo hybrid keel over to the side, slumping down onto the snow covered plateau, the light leaving her eyes.

Panting, his horn's magic fading, Starswirl stared down at the dead creature, the Being of Sloth, lying on the ground before him. The last breath left her body, and sure enough, like the others, he saw her body begin to deteriorate into the grey sludge, a shape within its mass slowly revealing itself.
But as this occured, Starswirl gave a stifled groan as the all too familiar sensation that came with another death by these creatures arose. The opposite of Sloth, and clearly, the last of those he met who actually carried out their exemplary moment in life.
All that varied was that he met Honesty and then Generosity, whereas their Sin being opposites died in the reverse order.

402 years ago

8th July, 473 BNM
Mid-Morning
Indo-Burmese sub-continent
Megheleya Provincial Kingdom lands
Malabutu Valley, Jungle riverbanks

12 years since the two wizards had left, after the Overlord had been slain by his own demon hordes. The jungle had long since recovered, now green where the toxic vines had deteriorated.
The temple the demon hordes and the Overlord occupied was reclaimed by the owners of it before they invaded decades before, the Cobra tribes restoring their old ways as swiftly as they could.
But among the jungles, word began to spread. And when it reached the cavern of the great Python, Chai, she knew.
The Huntress of Malabutu had died.

She'd simply taken a slow walk towards the jungle river, her usual prowling route. She recalled taking her cubs, both her first lost litter and her later pair of children, along these paths.
The river water rushed alongside, and she saw the fish she would normally swipe her paw at. In her older age, she couldn't run as fast anymore. It was the problem of her paw all over again, except this time, being caused by age, there was no shame in it. No need to kill for sport, to lie to herself, to compensate.
Seeing a comfortable rocky surface to lie down on, Nahia laid down to bask, tired as she always was in her age. The lightly swaying jungle trees shaded her slightly, but the rushing water soon lulled her into a midday nap.

Wary of the huntress and her reputation, birds from the tree branches watched her cautiously. But within a few minutes, they noticed she was sleeping very deeply.
And soon, her breathing came to a slow stop, as if a great sigh was released from her body.
And just like that, Nahia passed away. No fuss, no roar of triumph nor whimper of cowardice. Just straight with no need to mask who she was, a blunt huntress who preferred simplicity and calm in life above all.

Present

31st May, 71 BNM
Nightfall [northern sunlight means its twilight brightness]
Quartz valley
Upper ridge plateau

Shaking his head, Starswirl recalled to himself:
"That's it. That is the last of those who succeeded where Chack has yet to. If he ever will in this war."
Regaining his composure, Starswirl saw the grey sludge covering the snow capped ground, and could only stare at the light blue coated, blond maned Alicorn mare that lay dead among the liquid runoff from her once mutated, hybrid body.
He should have felt satisfaction for the death of another Being, sympathy for the death of the only one that rebelled and helped him, regret for having to kill hr when she openly sacrificed herself.
Instead, he felt nothing.
Giving a small sigh, Starswirl wondered if it had finally happened. If he had finally become numbed to loss, numbed to failure and disappointment by many things. His aspirations in the prophecy or not, protecting the royal parents, Chack being so unruly compared to the others, the whole war scenario about to get worse.
Given his lack of response for all of today's events, now that he was on his own, Starswirl could only harden his resolve.
Now he knew the mindset Aurora adopted in wake of the attack on Canterlot, her cold, less compromising demeanour.
How apt that Starswirl became as jaded as she was in wake of her death.
He continued to stare at the body for many minutes.
Finally, with no intent of disposing of her body, nor disrespecting it any more then Siral already had, the Grey Wizard simply walked away. Tired, bitter, and cold.
He left the remains of the Being of Sloth there in the mountains. A kilometre away in the valley it overlook, the remains of the Being of Greed lay there in their burnt and snow coated state.

Time would bury in snow and ice all the remains of the Beings who died wherever they fell in the frozen north.
If time didn't heal all wounds, it certainly did its best to mask them.

1 week later
Mid Morning
Nokotaford Royal Palace
Upper balconies

The procession to the mausoleum was quiet, black colours on the ponies that turned out.
News spread of the carnage, of monsters turned amok by Nationalist faction members, out of control. A defector dying among many army ponies to one that threatened to tear the Empire and many other settlements apart through his great rage-fuelled attacks. Another that pursued the Queen relentlessly in a bid of vengeance, and the last who slayed the Queen when she barely survived killing the one pursuing her. All three responsible for the Canterlot incident, dead. And with it, their monarch.
As the hundreds of mourners flanked the carriage's procession, with the ornate coffin atop it led by black cloaked guard ponies, Starswirl looked on from a narrow balcony in the palace's upper reaches.
Among the front of the procession, tears having been shed enough to maintain their composure for the official funeral, the two sisters walked forwards, clad in black dresses as their mother's casket trailed behind.
For the minutes that passed, Starswirl gazed from afar, his expression unreadable.
Far down, as their mother's body was respectfully placed in the mausoleum, next to the empty but symbolic coffin of their father, Luna hung her head low in silent mourning, while Celestia looked around quietly.
Her magenta eyes saw Starswirl on the distant balcony, a small shape among the palace's heights watching from afar. Distant, as he had been ever since a week ago, since he delivered the news.
She was saddened as she saw the distant form of Stasrwirl slowly vanish into the doorway he watched from, as the funeral went on.
Wrapping a foreleg over her sister's back in comfort, Celestia joined Luna in silence as their mother's coffin was sealed inside its hole, beside their deceased father.
Talk was already afoot, of what to do. Royalist Alicorns seeking power while the princesses 'recovered' after their mother's death, as they were inexperienced in battle that the monarchy needed in recent years.
It would seem that what was feared, in wake of the power vacuum, and the Nationalists knowing how to use the great power once exclusive to the Royalists, was coming true. War would now resume in wake of these creatures all seemingly dead.
Starswirl admitted it quietly to the sisters. Another of the beings, one who helped, even if insufficiently, had died that same day, sacrifice to serve her principles, and to protect another still out there.
As war seemed to revert to the status quo, Celestia and Luna's thoughts always carried the plaguing fear, that their mother's killer was still out there, and one other marauding creature that while not witnessed by them, had unleashed its power at Tartarus.
All that Starswirl told them was that his Salamander companion had set off in pursuit, but he said no more. There was nothing more that could be said, nothing more to say.

Author's Note

As a heads up, prepare for a slight time jump forwards next chapter, as the next 'arc' takes place a good while later from this time area. But from here on, the story is much less sprawling, more two tracked with Starswirl and Chack's perspectives.
Starswirl and Chack split at last, as the requirements of wartime show who truly has a personal stake in the war. With his only friend he made gone, Chack feels no real tie to Equestria, aside from unfinished business with the murderous Teal Quirt. That will be an important plot point later on.
And here is where Ave-Dol meets her end, voluntarily of course, to not cause trouble, to rob Siral of influence over a Being, but also to prevent her being used to harm the others who still live, namely Gaudium, who remains unknown in location to anyone since he ran off and vanished from the Citadel, devoid of memories.
Meanwhile, from here the two sisters are on their own. But on the horizon, given their relative inexperience with warfare or leadership compared to the Queen, and with the sudden death meaning they weren't as prepared as could be, opportunity knocks for those who otherwise remained obedient in the Royalists. Worse, the other side has the same 'superweapon' magic too.

Two Years Later.

4th May, 69 BNM
South-Western Equestria
Galloping Gorge

The battlefield was a maze of scars and lost bodies.
The large iron mine had been defended, at great cost. Of the two Alicorns on each side, one of them, on the Nationalists, had perished. But the Royalists lost the most despite their victory.
Use of the celestial magic granted the Alicorns powers unnatural, and to that end, entire attacks wiped out whole squads. Cliffs turned to mud and sliding down to swamp their opponent, the ground opening up and swallowing entire troop brigades whole, or sudden blizzards out of thin air that froze the wings on pegasi and air forces to send them crashing down.
As the Royalist pegasi guards flew over though, the sight of sunken wagons, troops and burnt/disturbed ground across the gorge was a chilling sight to behold.
Suffice to say, the heavens themselves seemed to tremble from this battle.

7th May, 69 BNM
Late Evening
Tartarus, Main Gate courtroom

As the dark looking, looming gates inside this darkened stone hall were opened before him, the Centaur merely sneered as the unseen ponies passing their sentence onto him right before sending him down echoed their voice through the announcing judge:
"Tirek. For the crimes of theft of magic and anarchist activities, including conspiring to overthrow the royal family, the council has sentenced you to 2000 years in the lowest pits of Tartarus, in hopes of you learning the error of your ways, or suffering enough to be deterred from future crimes. Do you have any last words before we pass sentence?"
Stifling his words he wanted to immediately say, Tirek merely spoke as coldly as he could:
"My weak willed brother hadn't even the stomach to witness his betrayal of me through to the end... For his sake, I hope he is not around when I make my comeback. I wish not the same on you and your pathetic kind... Unity, friendship as a collective power, lead by the Alicorns, champions of such power... Phegh!"
Tirek spat in the direction of the councillors, at which point the mask some Unicorns had ready was slammed over his face. Tirek's eyes burned as he was now fully restrained in body and voice.
As the restrained centaur was dragged through the gates, he was utterly stoic in his burning gaze towards the council members who had come to see his imprisonment.
The gates began to shut, while walking behind the massive centaur and his guards, the mighty dog Cerberus growled, all 3 heads focused on its prisoner for a long time seen. It had its first prisoner to ever have an entire level to himself.
The chain linked platform that held Tirek's restrained form began to lower, creaking as it descended the abyssal depths of the main chasm that served as the 'stairwell' to Tartarus's many levels.
Just two years ago, beings of great power had broken in through the bottom and escaped. Thankfully, beings of such power had died off, so stories said. Not even Alicorns could repeat such feats.
Though none had yet been mad or determined enough to do so. And with power some Alicorns were wielding more and more, that feat was well within their power.

Time would show however, that all it took was a single lapse in Cerberus's guard duty for one as determined as Tirek to slip through to freedom however. But that time was far away yet.

8th December, 69 BNM
Late Morning
Nokotaford Royal Palace
Main training hall

When not in use by the royal garrison, Starswirl used this to the advantage of him and his two pupils, practicing magic in safety, alone.
Ever since the 'Royalist' headquarters of government had moved to Vanhoover, Starswirl felt as if Nokotaford lost some of its pomp and circumstance. Frankly, he didn't miss it at all. He'd had too much happen to need to put up with frivolous tradition and jabbering in politicians seeking more power then they could already muster, Alicorned or not.
Tutoring the 2 remaining 'heirs' to the Royal family was one thing that gave Starswirl some peace of mind in the war.
Behind him, the pink and blue maned sisters finished practicing the spells Starswirl had assigned them, before they saw their tutor staring out of the window of the palace hall, up at the sun.
Sighing, Starswirl admitted:
"Winter, and the sun is up this late again. I wonder who is in control right now?"
"Master?"
Celestia's words reached his ears as he stroked his beard worriedly, while Luna shared her look of concern at him.
Turning to offer a reassuring smile, Starswirl stated:
"Its nothing."
But it would be so much, just not yet.

1 week later
15th December, 69 BNM
Late Morning
Nokotaford Royal Palace, Main Gardens

Later that same week, as Starswirl met with his chimera friend of recent times, he couldn't help but voice his concerns to Scorpan.
"If this keeps up, who knows what the heavenly bodies will be like if left alone."
"Ah, like children fighting over a toy. Eventually, it will break under their conflict."
Scorpan's comparison didn't help to dissuade the Wizard Unicorn's fears.
Walking along, Scorpan recalled a painful memory of recent weeks:
"Speaking of fighting children, or maybe older, I, want to thank you for, being there, when Tirek turned on me. I know we came here looking to take advantage of the instability, but-"
"You grew to like Equestria too much. Unlike me, you saw more good than the bad. But, I have to go where the fighting is, hence my envy of you."
"Envy? Me? You are Starswirl the bearded, lauded and known worldwide, the time traveller, and the inventor of hundreds of spells."
"One more, if I could get that cursed mark switcher to work properly." Starswirl muttered.
True, he was lauded, but there were many he appreciated today, even with other Equestrian factions, especially Meadowbrook the Mighty. She was the holder of 8 magical artefacts, but had recently gone into exile when the fighting began over controlling the Sun and Moon cycles, exploiting the magical energy that could be harnessed from them.
She had been adamant in her distrust of the period where Stasrwirl indulged in dark magic, in a time when Siral's beasts seemed to be wreaking havoc without an end in sight.
To think that, and much else, had been only 2 years ago.

Scorpan would leave for his homeland a few days later, eager to be off and spend time with his parents in wake of his brother's imprisonment.
Starswirl would miss him, though he never truly had close friends now. Nor had he now that he had plenty of time to think on it.

Same day
Late Afternoon
Royal Sisters' private quarters, main lounge

As the servant bid them farewell until dinner, the two sisters were left alone to their passtimes. As Luna continued to read her book, and Celestia write a few letters, the younger sister suddenly let out a sigh before remarking:
"Another Council meeting in Vanhoover... I feel so useless. We should be helping in the council's affairs..."
"They are more experienced then us, mother didn't teach us enough before she passed." Celestia tiredly explained, to which Luna looked at her sister with an apologetic expression.
"If not us, they should heed Starswirl's words more. They seemed eager to push us aside, but they reject advice he could give, experience none of them have." Luna admonished, to which Celestia arched an eyebrow with her sad smile, though it devolved into a more conciliatory grin as she finished her reply to her sister:
"If he wanted to give it that is. You know he hasn't been the same since mother died, but he has a new friend in Scorpan at least."
Nodding in agreement, Luna couldn't help but remember what little she saw of Chack when he was around, in all the years they'd ever seen him:
"I don't think that Salamander was ever really a friend to Starswirl anyway."
"No. Especially if he disappeared like he did."
Truly, Celestia didn't think Chack would have vanished for no reason. Starswirl said he just disappeared of his own choice, and nothing else mattered about it. She knew he was hiding something.
But with a history of hiding things, she'd given up trying to get Starswirl to open up if he didn't want to.
At this stage, she wondered how much more the Wizard could take.

Same Day
15th December, 69 BNM
Late Night
Mid-North Equestria
Colossi Valley, Citadel ruins

The land was utterly dead here. Stone and skeletal remnants of the old fortress stood, old bones protruding from the earth, and a hidden world of lower levels kept intact after all these years.
No life grew here, the rock and mud all that coated the ground where the Citadel once rose tall, before it crumbled on itself. A cursed land.
There were places where it was said once could feel as if they were being watched all the time, and here was one such place.

A tiny fissure had appeared on one of the slopes a year ago, and soon water flowing into it had widened it, forming an underground stream into which rainwater fell like a small waterfall. But the chamber was wider here by there already being an unusually intact cavern here, remnants of an old escape tunnel from the Citadel.
But in this cavern, a sharp drop to get down, there were no usual occupants. No bats, no worms or bugs, no snakes, not even the luminescent moss one sometimes found. A dead cavern.
Further away, down the tunnel, a tunnel that had been buried, a former escape route for leaving the Citadel, and a labyrinth if trying to get in, the crumbled wall loomed in the darkness.
In that crumbled wall of rock, a single crack suddenly appeared at the base. And as the crack rang out like a set of popped knuckles, a rush of air escaped it, almost like a long held sigh of relief.
On the other side, the presence sensed the outside world once again.
Out of its black, jagged line, smoke seeped like a tiny candle's fumes, eventually congealing into a viscous black liquid that bled from the tiny wound in the rock like a cut on a living creature's skin.
As the black liquid trickled down, staining the ground, black vapour wisps were given off on the slight wind current into and out of the cavern. Yet with renewed vigor, the winds carried the black smoke traces too precisely from the crack to be normal.
And on those winds, a dark whisper in an unintelligible tongue was carried.

Meanwhile
Late Night
Eastern Equestria
Applahaychian mesa
Stone Quarry village

The bakery was busy as usual, the cakes, buns and stores of grain for other produce later being stored for the night. Shutting the stone walled doors, the exhausted stallion trotted off into the late night streets, eager to return home to his family.
Inside the storehouse however, the produce wasn't left alone.
A few slits, glowing purple, appeared in midair before the shelves. An eagle clawed hand reached in and yanked cake after cake, bun after bun, and even a few jugs of milk and cider, anything the being could get its hands on.
Then, as swiftly as they appeared, they vanished, a substantial amount taken, but not enough to arouse too much suspicion.

Sub-dimension realm

Inside the home away from home, situated in a pocket dimension where physics seemed to not cooperate, the being reclined in the small island he sat upon, the pile of food beside him as he tucked into the food stash.
Quietly, as he ate his stash, the Draconeraqus absentmindedly flicked his fingers in his free lion paw hand, as he kept trialling a new spell he had yet to come up with a name for.
It was simple really, he wanted to be in a place, but not be able to be disturbed. So he tried to create a copy of wherever he was. It didn't work out entirely, but he got a way to interact with the world without consequence to him. When one used a teleporting spell, they passed swiftly through this realm. All he did was simply decide to stay in here when he wanted alone time.
Even so, this chaotic dimension was not exactly the most entertaining place.
As Discord finished trialling his new spell, and finished gulping down a large glass of milk, he saw a small bag of a brown powder he'd taken, a rather strong tasting powder, and put a claw to his mouth in thought. Soon, he poured a tiny amount of the cocoa powder into the milk, the first of many taste tests.
Yet even making new spells or food combinations wasn't enough to fight off the crushing sense of monotony that Discord felt, as he was the only occupant here. He wanted something more.

Same night
Equestria's north eastern wildnerness

The Salamander knelt down, his sword glowing green as he checked the ground, the scars on the tree trunks.
"2 weeks old..."
His murmur carried on the wind as he glanced upwards to the moonlit skies. He had been pursuing her on and off for two years, but she was elusive. They had not met once yet, and Chack knew she was out there, moving about as swiftly as he chased her.
Sometimes he wondered if she was toying with him.
With a snarl, Chack took off into the night, another day gone in his search for her.
Yet in the back of his mind, as Everfree often spoke, he sensed sinister events on the horizon, though from more then one looming source. He was adamant in stopping any that occurred as a result of Siral's legacy and Teal Quirt however, and had been ever since the Crystal Empire incident.
Yet this lonely hunt brought him back to his Ronin days in Salaman, before he met Starswirl. Such memories stirred melancholy in him, which he would swiftly bury whenever he found another sign that Teal had been here.
The only conciliation he had was that Starswirl had taken his advice, and slain that Being of Sloth. He cared not if she was regretful, she had to go.
And so did the Being of Envy, as soon as he caught her.

Author's Note

I'm bringing the focus more back onto Starswirl, and in turn Chack, at least until his arc ends.
More to the point, the war has continued regardless, but signs are on the horizon of looming disaster, and not from the usual evil places one expects.

KINDNESS VI: Cruelty begets Suffering.

18th December, 69 BNM
Late Morning
North-Eastern Equestria
Salty Basin badlands

Nestled in the crook of the Applechian range and the northern Equestria/New Gryphon bordering mountain range, the 'lesser' badlands of Equestria were not as sparse and immense in scale as the badlands towards the south, the Muthican wastes as they were called. Here, the terrain was dusty brown and beige, the many ridges merely adorning the edge of its vast dust bowls, dry deserts and large salt flats.
Yet out here, wealth was to be found by those seeking and able to acquire it.
It also explained why these particularly badlands were relatively recent in Equestria's history, and not at all natural.

As Chack gazed out over the landscape before him, the Salamander took another swig from his water sack, his parched skin next as he took a small amount and rubbed it over his body beneath the bright white robes he wore.
Breathing more calmly as moisutre set into his skin, Chack remarked aloud.
"This land, it does not seem like it should be like this."
On his belt, the green tool, the artifact that linked him to the forest being of Everfree, replied to him, his voice echoing as if a deep rumble on the wind in his mind:
"No, it should not. I recall a time when the great forests I now preside over had links up to this basin. Sweeping grasslands, a river and swamp basin, beautiful in its own way. But then, centuries ago, Alicorn magic and rule took its toll."
Chack's eyes narrowed as he heard this, letting Everfree go on, the slightly bitter tone in the spirit's voice not going unnoticed:
"They dug, they found valuable minerals, minerals they mine to this day. In a bid of what was one of many 'reshaping' ways in Equestria, Alicorn rulers, even old royalty before the Queen you saw the death of was born, they ordered weather be redirected to lands fertile in ways better suited to farming, so as to 'prioritise' rain for maximum yields."
"Over time, with no rainfall, the land here died. And though rain falls now ever since the cloud manipulating pegasi stopped their work a hundred years ago, the damage has been done. Nothing grows here anymore. The land is dead."
As Chack gazed out, he saw the small town at the base of a shallow mountain slope, sandwiched between a salt flat, and an excavated side in the mountain, the salt mining and copper pit the source of the town's income.
"The Alicorn in charge here, he presides, he oversees the salt and copper mining that takes place in the mountains and on the plains. A wealthy Alicorn, a son of the Alicorn family that has mined here for generations."
"A perfect target for her. No wonder she came here." Chack remarked aloud, his webbed hand reaching to clench his old sword. Despite his efforts to repair its burnt parts being imperfect, he managed to restore his acid dissolved katana to a semblance of its original quality.
"This will be her 4th Alicorn kill since Queen Aurora's death, but we have arrived before her."
"A change of things that will ensure she dies."
Chack's blunt remark was met with silence, as it wasn't until he started walking the long path towards the town that Everfree's voice floated from his blade:
"And when she does, when one more threat to Equestria's greater peace falls, you intend to leave Equestria still?"
"This is not my war. Taking her out is a matter of justice, for what she has done, for what she is."
"And of who she was before all this? She was desperate enough for Siral to gain her by your actions years ago?"
"Which only makes me see her as unfinished business. Bushido requires responsibility for one's actions. Her death, is my responsibility. One I happily will uphold."
As Chack's smile played on his lips, Everfree quietly rumbled from the sword:
"Time is short, whatever you decide, do it swiftly."
The Salamander's expression didn't change as he continued on towards the distant mining town down in the salt flats.
"But whatever you do end up doing, perhaps, it would be best to, let her take the Alicorn's life."

This caused Chack to actually stop, his expression turning to an uncertain frown as he asked Everfree through his green blade:
"Why?"
"She will become overconfident in success. And, his family were responsible for this place turning to wasteland. I still have my own personal feelings on that history of things..."
"You want me to let Siral get away with what he wants through her?"
Chack's question was slow, he truly was puzzled by this sudden admittance. But Everfree finished:
"Siral's minions are a menace, make no mistake. You saw the future of what together they would have done. A much lessened but still dangerous threat. But the Alicorns have forged the world to their will for so long, would it hurt to take back slightly?"
"You presume I care deeply about these ponies? I have no stake, they are expendable if it takes that to kill her. 2 years I have hunted, I will end it today."
Chack's statement was final, as his expression hardened, the smile on his face in anticipation soured and gone right now as he reinforced his will in this cause.
The distant Everfree said no more, while Chack continued his pacing towards the town in the distance, the sun still high overhead.

Mid Afternoon
Salty Basin badlands
Copperfield town

The dusty, desert dwelling town was formed of stone and mud formed buildings, pock marked with imported canvas coverings over the market and doorways.
The copper mine and salt flat harvests were the town's source of income, and as the high number of Unicorns and their one Alicorn allowed, food requirements were met with many wagons of food. Crucial to the manufacture of magic imbued weapons, copper was a key metal for the war effort on both sides, in this case Nationalist aligned.
But as the blue maned, white bodied Unicorn mare held her white cloak tight to shield from the scorching sun, she couldn't help but see what the town did harvest for itself besides the mineral wealth.
If not for the underground water reservoir that the town's main well tapped into, the town would have been unable to survive in these badlands.
The market bustled with ponies pulling the usual wagons of salt blocks and lumps of raw copper ore, ready for transport, and the bustle of the families of the workers going about the usual trade and socializing.
As Teal Quirt kept her cover, she eyed up the stone walled building near the end of the town, larger then the others and decked with more ornate copper furnishings on the outside, a sign of opulence on behalf of the town's leader.
The Being of Envy saw the leader's home, and sought out the Alicorn who owned the mine. From what she heard, he was scrupulous, fair but uncompromising in his management of the town he was both leader and chief beneficiary of. Apparently he worked his share, even if not fair given how adorned his house seemed, in the mines with the rest of the workers.
Which meant he had a schedule...

2 hours later
Late Afternoon
Copperfield town outskirts
Copper shaft mine, main tunnel

A few hundred feet into the mine, and here was where the incident that caused work to stop for a moment occured.
A mysterious collapse, not a total one thankfully, but it trapped a worker's leg under one of the support beams that had snapped to cause it.
As they strained to move the collapsed beam, the trapped worker pony yelled in pain as it finally began to shift from him.
"Keep 'er steady, and, got it! Get him clear!"
The rather lean built Alicorn stallion held the collapsed wooden beam up with his light red magic, as the two Earth pony stallions pulled the wounded third out from underneath, the beam having collapsed onto the stallion's rear leg.
Carefully putting the support beam back down, Lord Mccairn called back down the mine shaft for the town medicine mare to be ready for a miner's crushed leg. If they were fast, they may well save it with magic and standard means of mending bones.
Turning his gaze back to the support beam, Mccairn noticed the faint burns along it, as did the Earth Pony who had stayed behind with him:
"Sir, we should get out before another collapse.... What is that?"
"This beam was cut by magic."
As Mccairn's light red magic continued to shine on the beam, the darkness of the shaft mine around them still, the Earth Pony stallion asked cautiously:
"But, only you and the healer are Unicorns, and she's been in town the whole time as always. So who?"
"Something's not right here. We have an intruder."
Confused, the Earth Pony wiped some dust from his muzzle as he quizzically wondered aloud, with Mccairn standing upright more to hear him out:
"Nopony magical left the mine. You think they, uh, vanished out of here?"
"No, transport spells need you to see where you're going, unless they are very powerful or skilled. And I doubt one as powerful as that would have interest in this place. The only way they could have gone is further into the mine, like a trapped rat."
As his magic's light red colour lit up, Mccairn gave a small smile as he saw his mining chief take up a hoof pickaxe.
"This shouldn't take long."
With that, the Alicorn and Earth Pony walked down the shaft, Mccairn's light red horn glow lighting their way.

Copperfield town outskirts
Copper shaft mine
Entrance

"Get him to the healer."
The brawny Earth Pony worker watched as the worker with the crushed leg was swiftly carried on the makeshift stretcher, away towards the town, doped up on drink to numb the pain.
Turning away to check on any other workers as the mining was ceases earlier then normal, the talk of a few miner ponies on break floated by his ears in the background.
"Where's Mccairn and the Chief?"
"Gone in, something about an intruder that cut the beam."
As the mine worker ponies spoke however, they and all others failed to notice the webbed footprints pass them by, forming briefly in the sand before an invisible tail swept them out of shape. The invisibility spell cloaked Salamander snuck into the mine, past the workers, with ease.

Copperfield town outskirts
Copper shaft mine
Main excavation chamber

The red light hued all around the chamber, about the size of a cathedral, but criss crossed with many rock columns and arches. It resembled a gigantic swiss cheese interior almost, with the only unnatural features being the wooden walkways that the mining operation had set up. Off to the sides there were dark holes that led down to unknown areas, but that was not their concern right now.
"Come out! We know you're in here!" Mccairn bellowed into the mine, his voice echoing over all the various columns and arches through the main chamber. Beside him, the Chief Earth Pony glanced about cautiously, trying to listen in.
There, a rattle something scuttling about in the dark echoed back to them.
"Who's there!?" The chief pony spun around, only to see nothing. Behind him, Mccairn turned in the direction of the noise too, remarking quietly:
"Calm down, we outmatch them..."
As the pair of ponies wandered deeper into the main chamber, the Alicorn paused beside one of the darker holes, taking a sniff suddenly as he asked:
"What is that foul odour?"
"Rotten eggs we threw to give away toxic gas, one of the new tunnels. We abandoned it because copper yield wasn't high as expected, and we nearly lost Haysaddle to the fumes."
"Remind me to use magic to seal off that tunnel tomorrow. Steel your breathing meanwhile..."
Mccairn breathed through his mouth as he spoke, while the Chief nodded through his held nostrils as they moved from the fume drowned tunnel.
The gas was heavier then air, and remained where it was found.

Hidden in a small corner of the main chamber, an unseen Salamander watched, waiting, webbed hands stroking the two blades he held, the green one pulsing strongly in the presence of the enemy he sought.
Overhead, he sensed it, his Salamander skin able to detect vibrations in the air enough to compensate for his poorer vision. Glancing up, he saw it, movement among the ceiling arches.
Chack waited patiently. he just wished that strange smell would go away, it was bad enough that it burned his eyes. But seeing as how dark it was, vision was a premium anyway.

Overhead, something clattered to the ground, a small pebble. Shooting his gaze and red light upwards, Mccairn saw nothing except the brown/yellow stone of the mine.
Staring up with him, the Chief replied to the Alicorn stallion: "Perhaps we should get more in here?"
"Wait." Mccairn shushed the chief with a hoof, as he narrowed his eyes at the stone ceiling about 20 feet above them.
To his horror, part of the stone ceiling moved. But it was no cave in. A stone coloured creature dropped down, scorpion like legs and ape-like torso shifting to a darker colour as the green eyed monstrosity leapt down, claws wide as a green light shot from her eyes.

The green light struck Mccairn's horn, the overload of magic shocking him into dropping his illumination spell. Highlighted in green in a series of flashes, the silhouette of the Chief Earth Pony was impaled by one green hued claw, before next hurling it towards Mccairn as he was pulled forwards in a green magic grip.
Then, a loud wet snip echoed in the cavern, silencing Mccairn's half scream before it could grow too loud. In the faint glow of the green sickly light of Teal Quirt's eyes, the body of both the Chief Earth Pony and Alicorn Lord Mccairn lay on the ground, the latter with his head rolling to a stop nearby.
As a satisfied clicking laced the sigh she released, Teal Quirt ignored the subtle movement in the dark that approached her.
But as a whistling noise sounded behind her, her eyes widened as she spun around.

His green blade ringing as he slashed it out, the faint outline of Teal's figure spun to sidestep him, a flailing claw blocking the blade and redirecting Chack's leaping slash into a nearby wall.
Grunting from the impact, Chack heard the surge of many legs, and the Salamander ducked down as a green hued claw stabbed into the rock where his head was. Kicking against the ground to skid underneath her hide, Chack slashed out, his old katana cutting into the bottom of Teal's thorax as he slid under her.
Shrieking from the pain, she reeled back, and like a leaping spider she leapt upwards, her green hued legs plunging into the ceiling as she took up purchase on the higher stone archway. As her eyes tracked the Salamander, she hued one of her ape hands green, and from it a hurricane force wind surged.
As the wind blew the mining cavern's air about with tornado force, she dropped onto an archway, her other ape hand glowing green as she used her magic to heal her slash wound on her underside.
But as the wind died down, she saw something leap up to an archway 30 feet away, with a green blade in one of his hands, a second sword in his other.
"Had your fill of death?"
Chack's cold remark carried through the dark cavern, to which Teal's own voice, laced with spiteful arrogance, replied quietly:
"If you cared so much about those I've slain, why did you wait until after I killed them?"
"A well planned hunt involves bait."
"And it only took you over two years to find me, to actually plan well."
Teal Quirt's retort didn't phase Chack, as he effortless replied as he raised his green blade to point in her general direction, a green hued line facing her amidst near darkness.
"And I do not intend to let you slip away this time."
"For what? Some shallow redeeming of your pride because I killed one too many leaders you have little reason to care for? Tell me that isn't misguided..."
As Teal Quirt replied, she clicked her claws together, and cracked her ape-fist knuckles within the green hue of her 4 facial horns glowing a toxic green. Before her though, Chack assumed a crouched stance, both blades ready as the green glow of his own enchanted blade showed the almost malevolent smile gracing his amphibious maw:
"Its not in my culture to let a rampant killer go unpunished."
"The same culture that justifies your own acts of killing, of utter contempt for innocence? Spare me."
"That is not why I am here..."
Her own eyes narrowing, Teal seized the iniative and slashed out her ape hand, a streak of green light arcing forwards in the cavern, slicing like a gigantic blade to send many of the arches and columns in its wake collapsing. In a blur of his own green light, Chack leapt forwards, his swords slashing aside debris and burning bright green as he leapt through the green hued dust and smoke.
Another wave left Teal's claws as she leapt backwards, Chack's blade slashing onto the ground uselessly as he landed. Glancing upwards, the Salamander saw the Being of Envy scuttling over the cavern ceiling like the scorpion her lower body was, green magic glowing on her four horns briefly as she vanished, plunging the cavern into darkness.
The scuttling noise ceased as soon as the last light dimmed, as Chack gave a derisive snort while dimming the light on his own green blade. Now utterly black, the mining chamber became silent.
Seconds passed before the noises of silent leaping, landings, legs scrambling along rock ceased too. Then, the first clash rung through the cavern, a green flare as Chack's blade knocked aside Teal's green hued claw swiping at his side, forcing her to withdraw into the darkness.
Leaping off of the archway and down onto a half collapsed pillar of rock, Chack glanced around cautiously. This one, unlike the others, was fighting smart. No overt magic, it was a battle of outwitting, of out-sneaking the opponent.

Outside the mine, the noises had attracted attention, as a few of the Earth pony miners ventured inside, the noises of rumbling too loud for anything their Alicorn lord should be contending with.
A pair of them darted inside the tunnel, towards the echoes of battle, as a gust of wind blew out from the mine. And with it, the faint smell or rotten eggs.

For many minutes they fought, a single flash, a slash, a flurry of blows, and then silence as they leapt into the darkness away from each other.
Landing as quietly as he could, Chack breathed in silence, the faint smell creeping from the lower levels of the main chamber an irritation to him. Closing his eyes, he tried to gain a sense of where she was, without moving so as to remain hidden himself.
He felt it, the vague shapes, but it was blurred, like smudged paintings to him. Focusing, he cleared his mind.
Then, he felt it. A tickle to the lower left, as the faintest of rustles on the ground reached his senses. Hurling his green blade out like a spear, Chack's vision was greeted by a green blaze.
In the lower reaches, as she seemed to be holding her breath against the noxious fumes, Teal Quirt screeched as the sword had plunged into her ape arm, pinning her down with its momentum as she'd braced upon leaping from a higher level.
Then, up on high, Chack raised his old Katana above him, leaping down as his blade whistled in the air.
Wrenching herself free, Teal screamed as the green blade stuck out from her arm as she backpeddeled, Chack's sword clanging against the ground she'd just been pinned to. Not wasting a moment, the Salamander leapt at her, his hand outstretched to make the suddenly glowing green sword fly from her skewered arm and into his free hand.
Firing a shockwave of green magic at him, Teal scuttled backwards as Chack leapt off a corner of a pillar to dodge, flying at her with both swords raised, the green one envelping him in a almost static-like shield. Her own green energy flew up around her like an embalming fluid, as her claws flew out to clash with his twin blades, magic and normal.
In the darkness, the cavern lit up with the collision of her magic against his blades, their energy fields crackling as they glared into each other's faces, blood on their minds, eyes burning and throats tickling from the fumes Teal's early hurricane spell had thrown up from the lower tunnels.
A moment later, everything around them turned deafeningly loud, fiery, and they were hurled away from each other with their shields barely intact. Their clash's sparks had set the gas pocket ablaze.

Copperfield town outskirts
Mine entrance

The column of air was immediately followed by fire. The two ponies who had ventured in to find their master were consumed instantly.
A jet of fire and smoke blasted from the mine, a hurricane of fire and smoke being forced out of a barrel. Equipment, waiting workers and piles of ore waiting to be loaded were blasted away if not consumed by the incendiary cloud.
But underground, as the screams of workers were cut off before they could leave their throats, the ignited gas pocket chain reaction spread. Compressed in the ground, and suddenly escaping by vast heat, the ground above the gas veins began to fracture and buckle.

Late Afternoon/Early Evening
Copperfield town

It would be the last setting sun the town would ever see.
A moment before, the rumble of the ground was from the mine explosion. A sight the ponies gasped collectively at, or worried if they didn't see it themselves.
A moment later, the ground beneath and around the town began to fracture, buckle and heave upwards. Great plumes of smoke and dust were hurled skywards in a series of branchlike patterns, fiery columns and plumes bursting in amongst them, the hydrogen sulphide fumes present in the more stagnant water pockets under the town catching ablaze in the chain reaction.
The ground opened, and Copperfield town was consumed by the earth collapsing in on itself, the great groaning of the ground masking the subdued death cries of ponies caught in the catastrophic collapse.
A disaster waiting to happen, triggered by the folly of combatants in an era where nobody knew how dangerous hydrogen sulphide fumes were.
The plume of smoke and dust rested over the crater that was once at the edge of a salt lake, as the town had been swallowed almost entirely. And those ponies who weren't consumed by flames or collapse suffocated by the non-burnt gases poisoning them.
Up in the mine, the rocky ceilings of the shallow mountain slope heaved as columns of more smoke and fire escaped, and the chamber caved in on itself.

Copperfield crater outskirts, mountain slopes

Bursting from the rubble, his shield barely holding together, Chack groaned as he dug his way out of the multitude of rubble and stones, his sword burning bright as he'd blasted his way out.
Climbing up, the dust clouds all around him on the slopes, he heard only the rumbles of fire and aftershock tremors from the mysterious blast that went off as they clashed.
Gagging as some of the bad smelling gas got into his mouth, Chack decided to get to higher ground, charging away from the smoke cloud and up the hill as fast as he could. His blood red armour was coated in a layer of brown dust now.
Out of the corner of his eye however, a green whiplike energy stream shot out. Bringing his sword around, Chack's eyes went wide as he felt it wrap around his green blade and yank him forwards and upwards, towards a higher part of the hill further away to his left.
The silohuette of Teal Quirt's claw came rushing to meet his neck, and the other his tail. Ducking as much as he could, Chack's scream rang out as he felt his tail's lower half get lobbed off as easily as hair from a mane. He let go of the green sword in his agony, uncaring for the moment of all else but his severed appendage.
Rolling away, the green sword flying as Teal Quirt hurled it aside, Chack grit his teeth as the scorpion/ape hybrid clicked her claws and knuckles at him menacingly, her piercing green eyes ablaze as she hissed to him through the pain his own slash wounds to her torso had done:
"No magic blade to save you this time..."
Teal's insult was laced with pain, as she limped slightly now from the explosion doing more damage to her as well. Though Chack was in no better shape then herself either.
Chack spat some blood from his mouth, as he pulled out his other sword. His old katana. As he did, her eyes narrowed at the sight of the blade that severed her first horn, that caused her so much grief enough to be a vulnerable victim of Siral's ploys.
Charging forwards, his death cry ringing as he did so, Chack swung his first upwards slash, earning a swift deflecting spell from Teal as she sidestepped to stab outwards with one of her pincers.
Ducking and weaving, parrying and returning the attacks, blade and magic, they fought on the mountain slopes baked hot in the sun, the remnants of the town destroyed in their bloodlust by way of collateral damage going unnoticed. They had eyes only for each other, and only slaughter on their minds.

Author's Note

In the story's final arc, it is Chack's finishing arc that stimulates Starswirl's in turn. He is after all the final one to set an example for Starswirl.

KINDNESS VII: Chack's Compassion.

18th December, 69 BNM
Late Afternoon/Evening
North-Eastern Equestria
Salty Basin badlands
Copperfield crater outskirts

His eyes burning, he crawled from the edge of the crater, to clearer air. There was still dust about, but the invisible gas that burned his eyes and throat, that killed the others, was much less here.
Shuffling onto the flat ground, he gasped for air, uncertain if it was the fumes or grief that caused the tears in his eyes. Just a few minutes ago he'd been with his siblings outside his house, playing a hoofball game in the cooler evening sun. The town had been bustling here on the flats as usual.
But then rumbles came from the mine. The complete collapse as the earth swallowed the town in a plume of dirt and noxious fumes arrived almost instantly afterwards.
He'd been only half buried, but his family and friends not so much.
Silent, he clambered up the slope still, his ears ringing from the noise still.
He swore he saw flashes of green, the echoes of a sword, in the distance, through the haze of the smoke and dust.

Mountain slopes, atop collapsed mine

Dust swirled as it settled elsewhere, the clouds finally starting to clear from the catastrophic collapse. But he didn't pay it heed.
His severed tail half had already begun healing, but Chack was overwhelmed by his opponent too much for his liking. She was cunning and ruthless, a dangerous combination.
He swung out his katana, but saw his blade pass through her harmlessly. An illusion clone.
A green flash sounded behind him, and Chack felt the green crackling energy with his sensory skin. There was no such thing as sneak attacking a Salamander, certainly not a warrior trained one.
Ducking and rolling sideways, Chack dodged Teal's energy with little room to spare. But she was upon him swiftly, her scorpion legs turning a bright green hue as she reared up over him with her lethal lower body.
Again and again she stabbed down, 6 spear sized legs plunging with toxic green magic around them into the ground, missing the Salamander as he rolled about. Slashing out his sword, the blade clashed with each leg as it began to pull out, the hardened shell by flesh and magic rattling as if he were striking another blade every time he parried them.
Kicking upwards, Chack yelled out as his leg hit the very hard carapace body armour of her underbelly, while Teal shot a claw down to take off his head. Ducking down as he grit his teeth, the Salamander ripped out a smaller knife he had and plunged it into the soft flesh between her pincers.
Screeching bloody murder as the knife went between her claws, Teal leapt away like a gigantic cricket, wringing her claw with her ape hands prising the knife out soon after she landed.
Standing shakily on his bruised leg, Chack raised his sword to the creature as she stood now 30 feet from him, her claw shaking itself to cool the pain as her ape hands balled into fists, one of them having hurled aside his small knife in irritation.
Glancing around the slowly dissipating dust clouded slopes, Chack saw a glint of green, the enchanted blade Everfree gave him lying there where it fell. Reaching out his webbed hand, the Salamander hissed slightly as he focused. A second later, after quivering slightly, the sword began to fly towards him.
Seeing the blade coming to him, his enemy reacted. Teal Quirt violently slashed out a green tendril whip of pure magic, wrapping itself around the blade. But the moment she seized it, her eyes going wide with relishing defeat and seizing his better weapon, she suffered for her quick thinking.
The magic she used, laced with darkness Everfree had crafted the blade to counter, reacted badly. Electrical arcs flew along her magic tendril, electrocuting her with the scorpion/ape hybrid writhing on the ground as her screams rang out. Her magic ceasing as she was blasted backwards by the shocks, the sword resumed its flight to Chack.
Catching the blade in his hand, the Salamander charged forwards into the dust, leaping off a rise of rock and dirt towards where he knew Teal Quirt had landed.
He saw her, still coming to on the ground, and he landed behind her in a rolling manner, his green sword flying upwards as he raised to strike her down.
Her gaunt face, wracked with smoke from the electrical shock she'd received moments earlier, flared its green eyes once. As he brought down his blade, a small lump of dirt turned to mud, enveloped his heel, and then dragged him sideways as if he'd suddenly been tied to a runaway carriage. Chack's battle cry swiftly became one of outrage and shock as he was pulled away by the heel.
He was pulled free of the dust cloud, out into the clear, before he lashed out his sword, smashing the green hued rock clamp to pieces in one stroke before he scrambled to his feet. His eyes locking onto where he'd seen her, Chack heard the noise of charging magic, and a green glow inside the last dust to disperse.
His green sword shifted in his hand, becoming a new weapon, but one he knew how to use. The green hued bow he formed felt metallic, but usable in his grip. Pulling back, the Salamander briefly stared at the crackling green energy spell 'arrow' it formed, but quickly regained his focus as the light inside the dust cloud flared up suddenly.
Out of the cloud, a green shockwave surged forwards like a giant sword coming towards him. But he was prepared for this, as he saw where the wave had come from. Loosing the energy arrow, Chack saw the tiny bolt soar into the dust, right as he began to form his weapon's internal magic into a shield, instinctively shielding his face and chest with his arms.
Blown backwards, burnt by the energy attack, Chack went rolling further down the slopes, coming to a crashing stop against a wrecked mineral ore cart lying amidst the rubble. A distant groan, feminine and monstrous, echoed from the diminishing cloud of dust, and the creature he was certain he'd somehow hit.
Things went quieter now, as Chack struggled to his feet, blood red armour coated in brown dust, along with his normally black slimy skin.
Glancing about, he realised the state of the environment around him. The mine was obliterated, its destruction an afterthought as Teal continued to endure in the fight. But as he glanced about, the hardened gaze in his green eyes faltered.

Copperfield crater outskirts

The splinter shaped cracks in the ground from where the underground collapses occurred had trashed the town, the ground swallowing it as if it turned to liquid in its now sunken state. The stench of the released gases hung like a thin musk in the air, dispersed as the evening winds had blown it and the dust away. Ruins of house frames, a few collapsed wagon wheels, and the odd hoof and leg protruding from the rubble.
Over the rim of the collapse area, a solitary figure walked slowly, his armour coated in the dust from earlier.
There, having crawled from the crater's edge, a small earth pony colt weakly lay against a wooden support beam, upended during the collapse of the town's grain silo.
The colt blearily glanced around, delirious, shocked, and weakly coughing as the burning gas that had filled the town during the collapse had nearly claimed him too.
As the warrior, a Salamander met his gaze, the colt's eyes were drawn to the green glowing weapon he held.
He recalled the green flashes amongst the debris cloud. They had caused this.
The boy's expression turned cold as he saw the Salamander slowly approaching, a ghost amidst the land as the dust was finally gone. Further up the slopes, towards the collapsed mine hills, the dust clouds slowly moved away, but there was no body of the other creature he'd been fighting.
Even if there had been, he found his attention drawn to other matters, as the hot fires of battle and revenge against her simmered in the aftermath he was now witnessing.

Chack saw the colt propped against the wooden beam, coated in dust, barely moving as he seemed to stare at him with a blank, icy expression.
The evening sun was cooling the badland and hillside surroundings, but the scarred landscape as a result of the underground gas fire and collapsed, those that consumed the town, spoilt the normally pleasant evening sunset.
Slowly coming to a stop, Chack saw the colt shuffling away from him hesitantly, the cold suspicion still on his face. Scowling slightly, Chack glanced around, his half severed tail now throbbing slightly as it had already begun crusting over to heal. But the state of the crater, where the town had once been, and the last traces of the dust cloud thrown up by its collapse and the mine's blowout, only diminished the rush he'd felt at being on the cusp of slaying one he'd hunted for two years.
Carefully, gulping slightly, Chack's expression turned softer for a moment as he asked the blankly staring colt a few feet from him:
"Have you, ...seen any others who escaped?"
As Chack asked this, the cold look on the colt's dust covered face didn't move at all. He almost looked dead by how still he was glaring at the Salamander. Only the movement of the hardened eyes conveyed life. His hardening, angry eyes turned to the green sword on Chack's belt.
Glancing down, Chack saw the colt's expression turn the coldest yet, as a small, choked voice croaked out from his lips:
"Why?"
The question rang like the loudest gong in Chack's mind, as he didn't know whether it was just the colt who spoke it, or also a part of him he'd often buried or been deaf to. That part that he was taught to, as a samurai, to ignore when duty required it to be. Yet here, by his actions, by his pursuit of her, that creature, he by some consequence of the dangers of mining anywhere, had killed more than was necessary.
The Colt's silent anger bored into him as fiercely as the gaze he sent the Salamander, who could only quietly murmur back as he turned away, staring at the shallow crater which had swallowed the town and the colt's family. The twin swords he carried suddenly felt heavier on his armour.
A shifting by the wooden beam surprised Chack, as he saw the Colt shuffle where he lay to spit in his direction. There was blood in the saliva as it flew in his general direction, and the colt's expression was cold as ever as he tried to shuffle to his feet. Still reeling at his internal conflict, Chack quietly pleaded as he took a step forwards, a webbed hand outstretched as he tried to explain himself:
"No, please, she was a danger, ever since he...since I..."
Trailing off, Chack was overcome by a rush in his mind, as he saw truncated memories running through his mind.
His hand went to his old katana, and then it came rushing through his mind.

Hundreds of deaths, be it other samurai, guards, civilians associated with warriors he had pursued outside of battle. All deaths he'd granted when there was no need. Among them though, there was the flash of a Unicorn mare, an emissary's escorting mage who happened to be in the way as he fled a vengeance fuelled rampage, shortly before coming to Equestria. Her horn went flying as his sword rang through the air.

His hand went to his green blade, a sword by default, gifted by Everfree.

Only one must be slain.
"Why not kill more of us?"
"To be fair I see no reason to kill only one of you..."
His sword unleashed the magical curse, with Everfree's spiritual aid telling him what to cast, inside the digestive interior of the creature, before he began cutting himself out. He saw a vision of the slow death by the poison curse that happened later, the second to die. And then, he resumed hunting them anyway, even after the worst had been averted with more then one dead by now.
In Ave-Dol's grief, he was unconcerned, he encouraged Starswirl to murder her out of spite for her inaction, and in turn, part in Siral's plans. Her pained form was enveloped in Siral's twisted games, and what he spat out was the monster she became.
He had no stake, only personal grudges at killing the Queen on his watch, against the one he'd pursued here.
And now, with the toxins of war and his surroundings around him in the dark, triggered with the clash of his blade against his enemy's defence, he saw a flash of fiery light, and a town lying buried in a crater of earth.

"Chack, she is coming."
As he stared out at the ruins of his cruelty without cause beyond personal pride, against creatures he had played a part in quelling as a collective threat long ago. Everfree's warnings, emanating from the blade he held in his right hand now, cried out in his mind unheeded.
"Chack!"
As the Salamander stood there, as blank faced as the unnamed colt was, the latter began to slowly shuffle up, the look of anger on his face evident as he began to limp aggressively towards the Salamander so much older and more dangerous then he.
Slowly, both swords, the green blade, and his old katana, began to slip from his webbed hands, Everfree's voice ringing out in warning and disbelief at the sudden change of heart as the blade fell to the floor.
"CHACK!"
The colt's high pitched cry as he leapt towards the Salamander went unheard, as he was caught off guard by the colt knocking him to the ground, and mercilessly began to pound, somewhat ineffectively, against his samurai armour.
Before the colt, tear streaked and rage filled, could land any more blows, Chack seized him by the scruff of his neck, the colt about two thirds his size, and shoved him backwards enough to send the colt sprawling onto his back.
"Don't child, you-!"
"You took everything!" Utterly livid, the colt, his name unknown still, seethed as he then noticed the two swords the Salamander had dropped. The normal katana blade remained closer to the Salamander, but the green blade, glowing oddly, glowed a tantalising toxic colour, its surface shining enough for the colt to see his eyes in.
Walking over, the colt, unsteadily so, picked up the green blade in his mouth.
"Chack, you can call it to you, before he uses it!"
As if calling from the sword, Chack heard the cries of Everfree in his mind. But the colt remained adamant in his desire, as he approached the still floored Ronin. Chack could only remain sprawled on his back, sat up in exhaustion and inner turmoil.
Everfree's cries rang hollow, as Chack could only blink wordlessly as the Colt approached, his outraged expression evident as he raised the larger then suitable sword up to take a swipe at the Salamander. At the last moment, the voice of Everfree rang out in warning as the Colt began to swing down, and Chack's eyes shut in shame.
"Chack, there's-!"
Instinctively, Chack shifted sideways as he saw the colt swing the sword down. But at that instant, something green flashed off to the side, and a crackle of energy came their way.
A beam of energy flew out towards him. The beam, aimed at Chack's head, was on target, but the target had moved. As the colt swung down, the green blade rang as it impacted the ground beside Chack's scrambling leg, the Salamander rolling to avoid the colt's strike. But his eyes glimpsed the beam as he spun, right as it met with the Colt, who had staggered forwards under the weight of the blade he'd angrily tried to use on its user.
The colt had no chance, the beam blasting through him with enough force to vaporise him. No blasting away, the beam penetrated a burnt hole right through the colt's chest enough to kill him instantly.
The colt's swing carried through, as he collapsed on the ground, the green sword clanging as it fell from his hoof, the colt's chest smoking from the apple sized hole in his chest. Behind the colt's body, Chack's eyes shot towards the figure limping, towards them.
Her claw outstretched, still smoking and green, Teal ape shoulder was burnt by the magic attack Chack had blindly launched into the dust before their fighting ceased temporarily. But her magic was strangely acting up now, no more pure green, but now laced with dark black magic as well.
"You will not beat me so easily as before, cretin."
Teal's utter venom laced in her tone stung Chack deeply, as he slowly stood to his feet shakily, not bothering to pick up either of his blades as he spoke remorsefully to her:
"Your power is not your own."
"He made me strong, and then I broke free of him."
At Teal's words, Chack's mind was at work now, as he jabbed a webbed hand towards her as she came to a stop about 20 feet from him, her scorpion legs shaking slightly as she recovered her strength:
"No. He didn't make you. He only took advantage of what state you were in. What... I made you into, by who I was."
At this, Teal's expression shifted visibly, before it reverted to her cruel glare as usual, one of her scorpion claws clicking slightly as she hissed towards him with her 4 head horns glowing with magic:
"Don't think I'll fall for this. You haven't changed, nopony can change who they are. The boy who attacked you just now, I regret that he got in the way, he would have understood my cause against you. Who says I am the monster?"
"I know..."
Chack's admission came in a tone softer then expected from the Salamander, as his webbed hands balled up into fists as he admitted more to himself then her:
"I know, there are too many I have killed and maimed needlessly, I have no cause or reason for you to not wish me dead. I understand that rage, that drive. But, if you have become so powerful, why do you pursue Alicorns you need not fear?"
"Because they are dangers, they don't deserve their power."
"Only if you attack them with intent to harm, and they in turn attack to defend. Who is more cruel? Those who attack first, or those who need to retaliate harder for defence?"
At Chack's words, the dark magic wreathing around Teal seemed to pulsate with the thinking she did, but she rebuked quite viciously to him as she readied a magic attack for the Salamander, the creature widening her scorpion body's stance as she did so:
"What does this have to do with anything?"
"You want to kill me. But why did you waste time for two years pursuing Alicorns instead. You deny it, but you are in the thrall of Siral still. And I harmed you in a way that made you vulnerable, like the others..."
"Your change of heart won't stop me. Once I am through with you, I will go, and ensure Siral is finished off, whatever remains."
"Even if it involves killing yourself? He said it, if even one remains."
"No, I will find, another way."
Teal's hesitation, and the fluctuation of dark magic as it seeped into her wounds to heal her, spoke volumes of the lies in her voice, involuntary ones at that. Chack was silent, but he focused his mind and body as he saw Teal becoming more and more unstable, in denial of his unwillingness to actively seek to kill her.
"I, I know I can! You, you're trying to trick me for a killing blow!"
"No. But you are corrupted. By my hands before Siral had his way."
Chack spoke with an air of finality to him, as his hand shot out to the green blade to summon it to his hand, as he swiftly lunged sideways to pick up his old katana.
But as he stood up, he sheathed the green blade, and raised his old sword, the katana he wielded for decades, and readied his stance.
"Bushido code requires I take responsibility for my actions."
"You haven't changed at all, I was right."
Teal's words were spoken with a smirk, but what happened next caught her truly off guard.
Taking the sword into his hand blade first, Chack hurled it forwards, the blade clattering to the ground before Teal's feet. The Scorpion/Ape hybrid centaur looked at the sword, the same one that was used to mutilate her horn when still a normal unicorn, with confusion she didn't expect. The dark magic around her usual green dispelled slightly as she saw Chack now standing more at ease.
The Ronin stared at her, remarking:
"Bushido involves justice. I wronged you. It is only fair, that I give you what you deserve. I cannot apologise enough to make up for my wrongs to you, to those I unnecessarily killed in my own desires. But, in this way, the sword I used can become a tool of justice as it was forged to be so long ago."
"If killing me would alleviate you from my wrongs to you, then, so be it."
With that, Chack merely knelt down, and waited.
Staring across at him, Teal Quirt's form shook slightly as green light enveloped it, her body shrinking down to a much smaller form. The Unicorn mare he saw was definitely the one he duelled over the river, and before that, the one he wounded in his escape in Salaman decades earlier.
Staring at the calmly waiting Salamander, Teal's expression hardened, a dark glint entering her eyes as her green laced magic picked up the Katana, hovering it before her as a smile of anticipation took over her face. She limped on her back leg, a hint of her true hybrid form's injuries, but she was determined.
The sunset was obscured by the dust as she advanced, the sword rising higher as the winds suddenly seemed to die down, the crater remnants of the town bones on their battlefield casualties in the background.
But Chack spoke one last thing before she acted.
"If you do this, you must be sure you are truly free to choose after this, for your own sake."
As he said this, Teal paused as she held the sword in her green magical grasp, the Unicorn pausing as she wrestled internally. Her eyes shifted from their normal green to a darker shade as she battled internally, her breathing becoming erratic as she did so.
Chack waited calmly, seeing what fate had in store from his would be killer here of his choosing.

Teal Quirt's mindscape

He's bluffing. I am free, I made sure Siral is subdued, destroyed.
But you still endure, as does Gaudium somewhere. Two reasons he would still.
Then I'll solve that.
Your death and his are the only way.
No, I don't want to die, I will live free.
And so will Siral. Your desire to exact revenge against Alicorns is the same as Siral's.
But killing him is all me.
Is it? You cannot be sure.
Why would Siral wish to kill him?
Because he has killed at least one other, and helped with others. Siral has taken the one vengeance that was once yours, and made it uncertain if it is truly your own desire and not his as well.
I cannot spare him, nor let him live.
As more fall, he will grow angrier. You had a hoof in luring Golmov and Odi to their deaths, and in turn Ave-Dol unintentionally. His desire to control you is stronger then ever. He wants you to kill the Samurai because he can kill others who tie him to life.
No, I want this, NOT HIM!
What you want, is what I WANT. YOU ARE MINE, IN SPITE OF YOUR TREACHERY!
You do not command me! YOU WILL NEVER COMMAND ME!

Copperfield crater outskirts

With a shriek, Teal Quirt recoiled slightly, the sword dipping in her magical grip as green and black magic seemed to writhe from her with visible fumes, both toxic colours but of differing shades. Her Unicorn form reverted to its scorpion/ape hybrid shape, as her hands rushed to her forehead to clench at her 4 horns in utter agony.
"I'm, he, NO. I won't, he, NO!"
As she lowered the sword in her magical grip, Teal stared at Chack, who merely waited with a hung head, but eyes drawn to her as she weakly spoke with the black magic inside her winning out:
"I want this, but not this way."
As she lowered the sword, Chack felt a wave of uncertainty overcome him. She wanted him dead, he understood, but there was something inside him he felt. A feeling of, pity, and remorse, for a mare he knew he'd delivered into the evil that now enthralled her.
And to think the same one who corrupted her had been mistreated by another cruel individual, Geldrath, who in turn was cruelly mistreated for radical ideas.
It seemed indeed that cruelty was a vicious cycle.
But as she sighed in frustration, Chack saw that maybe, maybe, there was a way to break it.
But alas, her willpower had no endurance for the corruptive forces that made her as powerful as she was.
Chack's eyes widened a fraction as he saw her eyes turn pitch black, and her horn's green magic turn an even darker shade. The sword he offered her soared upwards, enveloped in black magic.
As the dark Being of Envy raised his own sword up, the sunset glinted off it in dust hued red, the crater absorbed town, a casualty of his cruelty, loomed behind him. Chack shut his eyes, as he knew that somewhere, deep down, he would alleviate the pain of one he had wronged, a relief in the suffering she was surely still trapped in.
The sword swung down as Teal's dark pitched warcry rang out, ringing in the air as it sliced down to the Salamander's body, kneeling down in a calm stance that showed the peace he tried to make, and had achieved for himself.
The sword rang as it flew down towards Salamander flesh.

18th December, 69 BNM
Evening
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Starswirl's offices

He filed the reports, some essays he had the princesses write.
The hollow feeling that accompanied the everyday drek of teaching the few ponies he truly cared for nowadays, mixed with the usual bad news of those cantankerous mules waging their pointless war, did much to wear on Starswirl's mind.
Yet as he walked over to reach the next batch of scrolls, he suddenly felt light headed, as a rush he had not felt in a very long time overcame him. A rush of satisfaction, and euphoria, as a cryptic voice rang in his head for the first time in decades, one of virtuous ideals:
A Cruel One, for you and they to learn of True Kindness.
When he came to moments later, he was keeled over, light headed, as he realized what had happened.
Somehow, somewhere, how he didn't know, Chack had fulfilled his destiny. 43 years after he had met Starswirl. Better late then never truly applied here.
"Chack..."
For the first time in a while, a ghost of a smile crept across Starswirl's face, as he realized this meant not everything he thought had been for naught.
But immediately, he mind turned to other matters.
"What happened to cause this?"
He knew he had to find Chack, wherever he was, fast.

Author's Note

Ending on a razor's edge. [insert punchline drums here]
Kindness is defined as compassion, understanding what is needed to help someone. And really, some people NEED a form of payback, a form of justice. But at the same time, Chack's game forces Teal to confront whether she is as truly free as she wishes. Such forceful kindness takes the expression 'cruel to be kind' into consideration.
Frankly, kindness is one of the most open to interpretation virtues there is.

KINDNESS VIII: Breaking Cruelty's Cycle.

18th December, 69 BNM
Evening
North-Eastern Equestria
Salty Basin badlands
Copperfield crater outskirts

Her eyes black with Siral's taint, a hidden parasite in her core, Teal Quirt stood there stunned as the sword lay on the ground now, tip touching the ground, between the knees of the Salamander she'd swung the blade to cleave in two.
Before her, the Salamander knelt there, enveloped in a green glow, one that streamed from the green blade that lay nearby them. As she'd swung down, the blade had passed through him, slicing through him as easily as a knife through air. Yet the Katana glowed green where it would be slicing him, as it passed harmlessly through his body by the other weapon's power.
Surprised himself, Chack saw his sword had been unable to harm him, as he then glanced up at the slowly growing rage behind Teal's Quirt's dark magic laced expression. Enraged, the creature dropped the sword from her grasp, and promptly whipped out one of her claws towards him.
Chack, caught off guard by the blade passing through him, was very promptly smashed across his shoulder by the blunt side of her claw, sending him sprawling a fair distance away on the dirt and salt covered ground.
Seeing the Salamander groaning from the pain, Teal looked at her claw, before remarking aloud to him with a sick grin forming on her apelike face:
"Your tricks may stop me using your own blade, but I can still kill you."
Scrambling up, his shoulder badly bruised, the Salamander saw Teal charging her horns for an attack. Reaching out his hand instinctively, he saw the green blade further away vanish, and swiftly materialize in his hand.
But as he touched it, Chack felt a rush of energy all of a sudden, as his entire body became emblazoned in emerald energy. Surprised, he asked the sword, while Teal charged her magic for a large attack further away:
"What's happening?"
"Some unknown energy, is working with that which the blade has. It seems your darker desire for vengeance was clouding its full power, but no more. The Serenity and Peace you had is still there, it has only changed its nature at newfound regret."
"Enough to easily deal with her? She's boosted by her own dark-."
As Chack murmured, he cut himself off as Teal's darker toned shriek was followed by a large burst of green energy in all directions, sending a massive shockwave out around her in a dome shape. Raising his green sword in a defensive stance, Chack's instinctive desire to guard formed an enhanced shield layer around him, and the shockwaves blasting him only pushed him backwards a good couple of feet, as if he were standing on ice.
Around them, the salt flats, collapsed town and mine were blasted by the winds from the shockwave, and in the distance, a green light bathed the sunset soaked skies suddenly.
Amidst the shockwaves, Chack's old katana, discarded by Teal, went flying away in the shockwaves. As he glimpsed it glinting amidst the dust, Chack was silent over the deafening noise of the shockwave and dust hurled up.
He let go of his past self as the blade flew off, and it would be the last he would see that blade.

Salty Basin badlands
Copperfield crater outskirts

Grinding to a stop, Chack's shield fell, but he was given no reprise as the dust cloud over the town blew away after the shockwaves ended.
A green beam surged forwards, yet Chack ducked sideways to avoid it, as he saw where the beam originated from. Firing a harpoon like beam from his blade tip, Chack saw the dust blow away as the energy harpoon plunged into Teal's scorpion arm, earning an outraged shriek from her as dark magic surged out to remove the magical harpoon that was also electrocuting her.
Focusing himself, Chack felt the harpoon yank taut, as he was pulled through the air enough to twist his body mid flight. Her dark magic severing the magical harpoon, Teal glanced up to see a green hued, webbed foot come smashing into her face, enough to stagger her backwards as Chack landed in front of her, slashing her side as he dove to avoid a blind swipe by her dark magic infused claws.
Keeping close to her, Chack ducked as she swung again, her ape claws and scorpion claws flying at him in an all manner of directions. Some even came through green rips in the air to try and strike him from behind, but the blade he wielded to its fullest warned him, enhanced his sense of touch to the point where nothing eluded him.
Dark magic blasts were dispersed, but as he retaliated by blade launched waves of his own, they were cast aside too by a deflecting dark spell. Magic fired with the clash of blade and claws as their furious clash continued towards the salt flats undisturbed by the previous underground collapses.
As they reached the salt flats, the white grains crunching harder then the plain dirt, their fighting didn't cease at all. Chack swung at Teal's mid section where scorpion reared up to become ape-torso, only for her to vanish in a dark tainted green haze, a smoke copy.
Up above, she materialized, black and green hued claws flying down. Jumping sideways, Chack barely missed the X-shaped shockwave that emanated from her 4 pronged downwards stab into the ground.
But bouncing off his heels, he surged forwards, and slashed out his blade. In a fury laced shriek, Teal Quirt reared backwards, one of her scorpion claws having been severed at the wrist joint from her body. In her rage, she flung out her other claw, laced in dark magic, and crashed it into Chack's side.
The Salamander staggered away into a crumbled heap, the dark magic that attacked him along with the claw cutting into his side in a deep way.
As he glanced at his opponent again however, Chack saw salt fly at him, as dark magic and her claw raking it towards him flung a cloud of salt into his face, his armour's helmet having been damaged enough that the shockwaves from before had rendered it useless.
Bellowing in pain as some of it got into his eyes, Chack squirmed as the salt burned into his moisture deprived skin. He charged his sword's magic, a cloud of water vapour pouring around him suddenly in a puff of steam, but his eyes remained red and ragged, his vision blurred.
But as he sensed around him, his touch sensory abilities still giving him vision, the world seemed to slow.
Teal Quirt charged a dark magic beam, and her four horns worked together to fire it, as the severed claw she lost began to spring back to her on a collection of dark magic threads beginning to 'stitch' it back together while pulling it in place.
His sword glowing its usual green, Chack began to run forwards, ducking low as he did so, eyes scrunched up from the pain of the salt still in his eyes. He heard the dark magic fire, and he threw his legs and half tail forwards as he landed on his back mid sprint.
His armour protecting him in the slide, Chack surged his sword out, a green harpoon spell firing from it to imbed into Teal's torso. Like a winch cable, Chack was pulled forwards, as the dark magic wave passed over him, bristling with a cold burning as it did so.
Before Teal could react, she felt a blade plunge into her torso chitin armour, the harpoon spell reeling in Chack for the stab. Instantly, her body lit up with green arcs, the dark magic bursting out as she writhed from the pain.
Hanging on for his life, Chack focused his sword's magic, as he found something he suspected.
"Separate what is her, and what is not."
As Everfree's words rang out, the sword Chack held onto began to pulsate. In sync with it, Teal's darker magic pulsated, enough to earn an outraged flailing from her that spun her around fast enough to throw Chack off her in a painful landing and spin. But the sword remained imbedded in her chest.
As the green and black arcs flourished around her, Teal's voice screeched out, only for it to be drowned by Siral's dark inflections, until eventually it was naught but his own.
"The forest spirit, he is real? He was the first Alicorn?! And he interferes with me!"
As her scorpion/ape form staggered about, Everfree's voice tormented Teal Quirt as it worked the sword's magic inside her. In her torso, the blade's green colour began to dim slightly, as a tainted black substance began to creep into it.
"Your servant is no longer your enthralled Siral."
"Know this, your domain will burn before I destroy all of the kind that followed you, the first Alicorn!"
As she writhed on the ground, the dark magic was slowly fading from her, leaving only her green magic, but also weakening her extremely as she seemed to be sucked dry from within.
"But your servants will be one less now."
"I can make more then the one that remains, despite her rebellion in sabotaging him, once your domain is but a memory."
At that moment, Teal gave a last scream before she keeled forwards, weak and limp as the sword in her torso began utterly black from the handle to the blade tip. With a smoke-like puff of its own green magic, the blade shot forth from her torso to clatter on the salt covered ground. But as it landed, the black magic shot skywards, seeping upwards to form a dark, single cloud that built to hang high over the sunset lit salt flats.
Over from her, Chack rubbed his eyes, but his blurred vision wasn't enough to stop him from seeing the cloud of dark magic vapour that now hung overhead like a plume of smoke.
A dark whisper in an ancient tongue seemed to emanate from it, before a gust of wind picked up and the black vapour trailed away at a tremendous speed, heading west, over the horizon and distant mountain ridges on the other side of the salt flats. The traces of the Savant that occupied the Being of Envy vanished into the distance.
But it wasn't the last it would be seen, that much Chack knew.
Slowly shuffling to his feet, the Salamander walked over towards Teal Quirt, his hand extending to materialize the green blade into his hand. As he walked, another burst of water vapour magic swarmed around him from the blade, clearing his eyes and skin enough in the dry desert heat. Exhausted, the Salamander regarded the being that lay weakly on the ground before him.
Her form slumped over, Teal's eyes shot up to Chack, who stood on his feet, albeit limping visibly, with his sword out. Her own green eyes went alight with fear, as she shuffled weakly to begin crawling away, half of her scorpion legs limp, and her ape arms pulling her across the salt flats away from him.
"Its not fair, they all leave me, they all abandon me when I'm useless..." Teal quietly murmured to herself as she shuffled away, her ears alert as she waited for the sound of a blade ringing through the air. But as a few footsteps sounded behind her, she saw a pair of black skinned Salamander legs come walking in her path, as she lay there slumped down, prone and weak from blood loss.
Her ribs showed, her carapace armour was damaged and burnt, and the venom she always had in her gaze remained, but subdued, laced with bitter tears at the unfairness of this all.
"Finish it. You've taken everything else from me. You freed me from him and the powers he gave me, why stop there?"
As she spoke, she seemed to stare off across the salt flats, as if Chack wasn't even stood before her anymore. Her green eyes were blank now, as the only noise she made was the gulping whimper at what she expected would come next.
But as she stared out across the salt flats, she shut her eyes as the corner of CHack's sword came to rest above her head, just p=out of the corner of her vision. She succumbed to the weakness that being drained of Siral's influence did, and passed out, expecting to not wake up again.
She didn't buy the Salamander's sacrifice, it showed by that trickery by his alliance with the forest deity Siral now viewed as a threat. He'd kill her, she knew it.

She was there before him, the sunset lit salt flats her potential deathbed, at his feet. The green blade's tip rested above her unconscious forehead, the ape/scorpion centaur shaped hybrid lying there prone.
But staring at her body, weak, covered in scratches, deep cuts, and wracked with burns from the dark magic his blade had expelled from her and other battle burns, Chack felt something he wouldn't have earlier today.
Chack pitied her. She was his creation, as much as she was a victim of Siral's schemes. But no more.
The dark magic of Siral is gone from her. She is no longer tainted by him. But, with her still alive, he will endure, along with the seventh yet to be relocated.
Chack frowned at this, as he mused aloud after hearing the voice of Everfree from his blade:
"So she must die to weaken Siral..."
It is the most certain way.
"No."
Kneeling down, Chack began to form a spell in his blade as he rested it on the back of Teal's head, as the sun began to sink below the salt flats horizon behind them.
"She is free, but Siral is tied to life by her. Whatever power he had in her has fled."
"Fled to, him..."
Whatever is left of him will grow stronger. He will take the power he dragged out from her as we ousted him, and use it for his own.
"And wreak havoc with it."
Chack mumbled to himself as he had his spell ready in his blade. But Everfree's next remark earned his scorn towards the forest spirit.
I'll be next he said... You must go, before he-.
"No Everfree. I'll pursue him to end his machinations because I want it, NOT to save your leaf-covered hide and Equestria. I slaughtered her kin or aided in it because you and Starswirl told me it was the best way, and I happened to like it. Now I'll pursue him because I will tackle the problem at its source, and you will like it just because it happens to be what you want."
You defy me?
"No, what I want, and what you want, just happen to coincide now. Consider us finished when Siral is slain, I won't murder mere victims of greater evil as precaution any longer."
With that final word, Chack charged the blade, and a healing spell began to flow from the blade. The cuts and scratches and burns on Teal Quirt's mutated body began to glow as they sealed up slowly, and the scorpion claw she'd had magically half reattached began to fully repair itself. All the while, the hybrid remained unconscious.
Glancing around, as he winced slightly at his own injuries, Chack made a slash to form a portal, and after struggling to move her, took Teal's unconscious body through the portal with him.

30 minutes later
2 miles away, Salt flat hillsides

The overhang provided natural shade from the sun, as Chack didn't know how long until she awakened. If she woke up the next day, he didn't want her to do so under the scorching hot sun.
As he made sure Teal was well inside the overhang, Chack stepped backwards, giving a small sigh as he looked out at the now dimly red lit salt flats, and the bare ruins of the town he could see beyond.
You do not wish to retrieve your old blade?
Everfree's weapon rang out his voice in Chack's head, but the Salamander merely paused for a brief moment before resolutely speaking more to himself if anything:
"No. Too much innocent blood was spilled by it."
What of the dark magic within her, it took flight back to its source.
"I haven't forgotten. Nor will it get away."
As Chack recalled the direction that mysterious black cloud had flown off in, he engaged the sword's magic, sensing where it was heading.
He knew where, his green eyes narrowing as he turned his back on Teal within the overhang. Slashing his sword out, he began his long trek west, in pursuit.
As he leapt through portal after portal, the sword's magic, enabled by his newfound compassion, healed him, and showed him where his quarry was.

Chack's mindscape

He flew over the hills, the badlands vanishing behind him as the mountains became greener, the land colder. Rivers, a few lakes, and the odd village.
He sensed it, the traces released, creatures carrying traces of the Svaant spread everywhere like the pollen in a plant.
But as he rushed, amidst the cloud of dark magic expelled from his being of Envy, he saw it. The ruined mountainside, the emptied lake as a result of the collapse, the old ruins of his once great fortress protruding like old bones.
Beneath it, more of him, he himself, awaited. Out of the tiniest of cracks, black smoky oil seemed to leak out, and the dark magic flew towards it, called to it.

18th/19th December, 69 BNM
Midnight
North-Eastern Equestria
Salty Basin badlands
Copperfield crater outskirts

His blue light cast about the place, but he saw naught but the scars of battle. No sign of Chack, nor whatever he was battling.
But Starswirl sensed it, the magical tainted traces he knew too well as one of those beings.
"She was here..."
Kneeling over one roughly traced footprint, he found a few flecks of blood. He didn't know whose, but whatever happened clearly was violent and prolonged. And whatever happened, he felt had also caused the destruction of this mining town.
Amidst the darkened landscape of the salt flats, illuminated in a small area by his magic, Starswirl cast his gaze about, searching for anything. He was alert now, as that creature had been here.
But something in the distance glinted in his hornlight, cast off down into the town's gas smelling crater. With his magic, Starswirl summoned the item to him, the object hued in blue magic. As it came to hover before his eyes, Stasrwirl's heart sank.
Chack's old katana sword. And he was nowhere to be found.
As he slowly rested the sword before his forehooves, lying upon the salt and dirt marked ground, Starswirl was silent, as he shook his head in disbelief.
But suddenly, he had a thought.
"Life leaves its traces, for those who can read them. Maybe..."
As he wracked his memory, he recalled a passage he had read in the infamous Necromantium. It was not a truly 'evil' spell, but it was one that was difficult to master, and was therefore simply forgotten. But here, the tool could become the witness.
The Psychoscopy Spell, object memory, the traces of what happened with the object and who last handled it.
Focusing his magic, as it took on a more focused blue hue on the sword, Starswirl saw flashes, very murky, but enough:
Their battle destroyed the town by collateral, they were not mindful of their surroundings. Or more accurately, HE was not. She came to kill an Alicorn and leave, nothing else. He came to make her suffer and die as violently as he could.
The sight of the town, and the colt who served as a living metaphor for its plight, in him attacking him uselessly, changed him.
Now he knelt there, prone, letting her decide her fate, by giving her a chance to do what she truly wished to he who wronged her in his vengeance-fuelled and cruel life.
But she couldn't, even with his sword in her hand, the sword that maimed her. Siral wanted it, she wanted it. She didn't know if she would be doing what she wanted, or doing what Siral wanted.
To spite him, and undone by confusion over the Salamander's change of heart, she chose not to strike him down.
But then she changed, a darkness embedded deep within her taking hold against her will, the taint all beings like her carried. In a frenzy, Siral seized control, and struck down at Chack through her.
But Everfree's blade acted, as Chack's exemplary magic, deep within him, tying him to whatever unknown power he had through his change of heart, triggering a defense spell. Chack's blade sailed through his flesh like a knife through smoke.
But in the outrage, the possessed Teal pressed her attack by other ways, as they did battle. But Chack's blade was flung aside, and then, the memory stopped short.

"He, spared, one of them?"
Utterly confused now, any euphoria about Chack finally fulfilling his destiny was undermined by the context of it.
Chack had shown compassion, remorse, and sympathy for those he harmed directly and indirectly, past and immediate, with his actions earlier today here. He showed mercy, pity, giving one he hurt and plunged into darkness by the grief making her a target for Siral, the chance to enact what she wanted, justice coupled with revenge.
He let her decide, even if it cost him, what she wanted, as he saw that restoring her free will, even if it meant he was dying, was the best thing for her. He was kind by being submissive to those he wronged. He was cruel to be kind by forcing her to confront how much of her cruelty was truly her, or was nurtured by Siral for his own ends.
Yet in his success, the faults of all of the beings came through. Deep down, Siral's taint still lived in them.
Standing within the darkness of the salt flats, Stasrwirl suddenly realized this whole situation made him revaluate his entire life's work, again.
"Those oracles were correct, but only in the ends, not in the means..."
He didn't know whether his laughter was from the bad joke nature of it all, the incredulous nature of how it all came to this, how Chack finally, better late then never, proved himself, and in what way, by sparing an enemy he'd pursued like no other.
As the Wizard ceased, he suddenly wrinkled his brow, his usual stoic tone returning as he noticed something was amiss:
"Where is a body? Have they both gone?"
He merely widened his light spell, but any body on these salt flats would show up, especially with how unique they both were from normal ponykind.
As he glanced about, Starswirl had another thought, as his brow furrowed further beneath his pointed blue hat:
"Everfree. He has worked with Chack. He must know..."
It was time to return to the forest spirit, for answers, and possibly, help.

Elsewhere in the same badlands, a hillside overhang where a hybrid creature had been laid down to recover in lay empty.

Author's Note

Starswirl is back on board with the prophecy as a 'big picture' type vision, just not in the details.
But suffice to say there's still a great deal of unfinished business. Chack is headed for the Citadel, Siral is gaining power, and Teal Quirt clearly made it out recovered. And while she is now utterly free of Siral's tainted influence, that's not guaranteed to last forever, nor change her opinion of her history with Chack.
As for Starswirl, well, lets just say he'll soon be starting a long term project that might run the risk of being 'too little, too late', with Everfree's involvement.

The Savant's seeds and root of Evil

20th December, 69 BNM
Early Morning
North-Midland Equestria
Citadel Valley, Citadel ruins

Even from a distance, at the precipice of the valley, drained of the lake during the cataclysm that claimed its great battlements and towers he had heard of, Chack saw the cursed state from a mile away.
Now here, within its crumbled walls and ruined pillars protruding like bones from the ravaged, sloping land, the place practically reeked of menace.
As he arrived, it was immediately clear that something was at work here.
There were no plants, not even the tiniest of shrubs, weeds or even mossy fungi to cover the crumbled ruins of the fortress, buried as the mountain side came slamming into its upper levels. No birdsong, not even insects crawling amidst the slopes and fragments.
The Salamander glanced around, as he felt the evil all around him stirring, that feeling in the back of his mind screaming at him to flee for safety.
But as he looked around, he knew he had to find someway to get to the source, and eradicate it somehow, if not contain it like the plague it was.
Then, he saw it. Movement.
A black vapour trail, like a smoking, serpentine creature, slithering over the ground. Following it, Chack saw that the creature, about the size of a small mouse, was slithering along to the south at a constant rate. The Salamander, still clad in what parts of his blood red armour remained, followed.
They went up some slopes, further into the main ruins, and Chack found himself wondering where this creature was going.
"A fragment of the Savant's spirit, but it is corrupted."
Chack didn't need to hear what Everfree noted through his sword, as the Salamander took off in pursuit through the ruins, keeping his distance enough to stay within sight of it.

Soon, he came to a clearing, as a few pillars of support structure that somehow remained standing as the mountainside slid down surrounded them.
Ahead, he saw the smokelike snake vanish, down into a tiny fissure.
Out of the fissure, more of the smokey vapour hung about like a heavy smog, and an oily substance akin to tar, but blacker then the darkest shade imaginable, oozed slowly from the cracks. But here, in this clearing, inside the skeleton of what looked like the base of a tall tower, the whispers were more pronounced.
A hundred voices, some cackles, some clicks, none of them natural, all of them ethereal. They crawled and clawed away at Chack's senses, to the point where his decades of hardened warrior composure started to crack, and they sensed it.
Shaking off his fear, Chack whipped around, his green blade glowing fiercely as he roared out to whomever was here, however many unseen presences were there with him amidst the ruins, on that desolate mountain slope.
"Come out and face me! Whatever you are now, you will not cause more suffering to anyone!"
"Non potes ne promissiones." [Do not make promises you cannot keep.]
It was the last thing he expected to hear, a reply to his proclamation to bolster his own fear.
"Chack! He's going to tak-!"
Everfree's scream from the blade Chack carried was suddenly cut off, as a cold chill swept through the air all around him with a rustling wind that had no origin except from beneath.
Then, the ground began to crack. In a split second glance, Chack saw the ground fracture, more of the black vapour and tar oozing from the cracks, as a noise like a massive breath being released rushed out around him.
The ground shattered, and he began to fall. As gravity took him, Chack saw black vapour forms, some with wings, others like puffs of smoke in the air, take flight with this greater opening.
He fell into the chasm, the depths of the Citadel's underground catacombs opening up to swallow him whole. Brick, mortar and dark smoke billowed as the Salamander vanished down the tower wreckage's throat, falling deeper and deeper, his brief scream of surprise, and terror, drowned as a rush of air billowed from the chasm that opened beneath him.
As the Salamander plummeted, dark shadows soared skywards, and away in all directions, smoky shapes drifting through the air in all directions. But a large number of them turned south, their sights set on one of Equestria's older forests, a last unkempt region of Equestria.

Citadel ruins, catacomb depths
Ruined stairwell

The light above began to vanish, Chack instinctively thrust out his sword to the nearest wall, the green blade digging into the brickwork as it scarred down the well shaped hollow, slowing him by a noticeable, but not great enough degree.
Behind him, as he glimpsed it, a crumbled stairwell beckoned, and he knew that the tower here had stretched from the higher levels down into the catacombs, a winding stairwell of some sort.
But inky black liquid rushed up, a tremendous splash engulfing him.
Then, as Chack regained his bearings, the water he was engulfed in stilling its ripples unnaturally fast, the glow from his green blade illuminated the base of the submerged stairwell.
Eyes, dozens of them, glinted in the green light within the murky dark waters. Flanking them were the remnants of many bodies, all ponies, all wearing ragged cloaks emblazoned with the emblem of the Savant. A submerged mass grave of Siral's former Citadel workforce, trapped here, left to die.
But as soon as one of the rotted pony heads slowly turned to look at the mystified Salamander floating above them, Chack knew that somehow, to the deepest horror he could have not even imagined when coming here, that the dead, were not done serving Siral.
Frantically pumping his legs and half tail, Chack was out of the water before any more of the corpses could begin to move, and scrambling up the crumbled stairwell walls.
Backing up across the staircase, a few bricks tumbling into the inky depths below, Chack's red armour was drenched and stained, but as a body began to slowly crawl out of the muck he had just come from, the Samurai's breath caught in his throat, the green blade quivering in his hand as he saw the first of many corpses, imbued with magic darker then he had thought possible, having festered in these depths, coming for him.
Glancing up, the Samurai saw holes like fissures along the walls of the stairwell chasm above him, oozing the black smoke, seeming to stretch down towards him with malicious intent in their smoking fingertips.
As a bone rattling breathing echoed in the sun-deprived stairwell hole, Chack took off into the nearest half ruined corridor, his green blade lighting the way. if not to help him see, then to possibly ward off any menacing beings that feared sources of light.
But as he ran deeper down the corridors, Chack felt something he seldom felt. Regret, but not out of his cruelty.
He realized he had underestimated what was at work here. Starswirl's descriptions, the haze that escaped from the depths of possessing any of his sin beings, was a fragment of what dwelled here.
The Salamander's footsteps echoed in the hallways, as more gurgling breaths and movement all through the catacombs began to echo back.

Mid-Morning
Midland Equestria
Northern Everfree forest

Galloping through the outer reaches of Everfree Forest, Starswirl came to a place he thought would be useful. A clearing, flanked by many mushroom growth on a maze of willow trees, bordering the darker parts of the forest.
"Everfree!? We must speak now!"
Starswirl's demand rang out across the forest, echoing by his magical input to ring across the forest trees. Silence was all that greeted him, the wind rustling on the tree tops ominously as a shade of evil seemed to gather around him.
Overhead, a stormcloud had grown, unusual for this time of morning. A rumble sounded, thunder growing in its confines, as the black cloud seemed rather appropriate at the moment. And yet, it also seemed unnatural.
"Everfree is the last unkempt area of Equestria. Why is this storm..."
Starswirl's musings were answered sooner then he expected, as a flicker of movement on the nearby rocks. A dark magic, as he realized what it was.
Starswirl blinked, seeing the black wispy vapour hanging, creeping from the ground slowly. But mid blink, an image burned into his mind.
Teeth, hollow eyes, claws, and a primal hunger.
A Demon, and where there was one, there were many more somewhere.
But these evil spirits were weak alone, only powerful in very large groups. But to gather enough together required sorcery of great power, enough to keep them under control.
The last time Starswirl had encountered a being strong enough to keep a usable demon force, he had been with the Exemlar of Honesty, in that nightmarish jungle, rescuing Siral from the clutches of that deranged Alicorn, Geldrath, using it as a base to wait out the inevitable Alicorn civil war. So long ago, yet it was a vivid evil he would never forget.
And yet this demon, this creature, bore the mark of being in the enthrallment of a different being. It felt familiar somehow, and it dawned on Starswirl with utter horror.
"Siral... What have you done?"
The black shadowy smoke flickered over the ground, which Starswirl saw from the corner of his vision, before it vanished upwards in a swirling mass of dark magic.
But it was what flew overhead that finally caught his eye. An Eagle Owl, with a glint of black magic amidst the unnatural silver colour he saw from its eyes, staring down at him.
As Starswirl looked on, a flock of ravens with similar evil glints suddenly flew over the trees, and as their caws filled his ears, Starswirl screamed as his head nearly split open, as the vision from an unseen, distant presence filled his mind:

He pursued the Salamander, toying with the helpless samurai, chasing him deeper like a rat in a trap. His hordes, his thrall, clamouring, gnashing their teeth, hungry, and he heeded their desire for life to feed off.
But the powerful magic sword he wielded, was not of his own forging. He sensed it, and he knew.
Everfree. The Forest spirit took one of my servants from my control. So I shall eradicate it.
I shall spread my influence. If they cannot be slain by my power as it stands, then perhaps I can compel them to destroy each other.
Out of the catacombs of his ruined fortress, flecks of malicious evil magic flew like dust on the wind, covering all corners of Equestria as the mountain breezes, the river currents, and the bird slaves he infected, carried the spores of his essence across the land.
All over Equestria, visions of Alicorns scheming, living in their own state of conflict with each other, were subtly infected. The tiniest of dark nuggets of malice infecting their mind, nurturing their desire for power, their paranoia of other Alicorns not aligned with them growing.
The Savant nurtured the evils already in them, himself a catalyst of evil already present. He knew it would be their undoing, the ultimate backup plan, even if the world suffered for it. But what was damaged could be salvaged. He merely hoped the Alicorns would be destroyed, so when he salvaged the world, they were not existent to replenish their numbers.
A cleansing fire, brought on by their own arrogance. All Siral would do, was fan the embers to become flames. Now, he would urge them on. They would believe they had their own epiphanies that the time for more drastic confrontation had come.
The fools would be the cause of their own demise, he could see it, he would make it so.
I do what must be done, while you blindly follow a destiny you were told to follow!

A loud series of raven caws, panicked ones, filled Starswirl's mind as he opened his eyes.
Above him, the possessed ravens that had been swarming him were chased off, Timbrwolves having come from nowhere to begin rapidly snapping at them, scaring them away while having downed one or two. A phoenix had also flown by, another denizen of the forest, and set itself ablaze as it swooped towards the Eagle Owl, its fiery body scaring off the large owl into fleeing with the other marauding bird servants of the Savant.
Shaking his head of the headache inducing visions, Starswirl saw one of the Timberwolves approach him, its bared wooden fangs retracted as the Wizard recognised a certain glint in its green eyes.
"Take me to him, now!" Starswirl demanded, having no time for pleasantries at this point, nor with what that brief attack by Siral revealed to be his intention.
It took only a few moments for the other Timberwolves to begin darting off into the dense undergrowth, through the Willow trees bordering the edge of the Everfree forest's darker depths. But the largest wolf turned its head in the sam direction, before looking back at Starswirl expectantly.
Taking a stalwart breath, the Wizard galloped off into the deep forest, the Alpha Timberwolf joining him as they ventured in towards the forest master's dwelling.
The forest swallowed up Starswirl, as he pushed in deeper.
But he knew that whatever they did, Siral had unleashed a new evil.

Mid Morning
Baltimare, Nationalist headquarters

It had been over 1 and a half years since the deaths of the Trumanes, but the leadership of the Nationalists remained intact, if not the best it could be.
Yet there was the faintest of cold winds this morning in the streets, as a strange wind from the west blew over the city.
As the council of generals, and the mixed Alicorns of the Nationalists, gathered for a new meeting of battle strategics, the air rustled about them. The tiniest flecks of dark vapour, like pollen on the wind, landed on the Alicorns involved.
Across their minds, a spark of an idea came to be. Their minds flashed a collective idea, vague but the same between them all. To harness the raw celestial power magic that proved so effective many times, at its strongest source.
Up in the frozen north wastes, the frozen tundra and the Aurora borealis they always held, was where the strongest of the magic it harnessed originated. Whomever harnessed that, would have victory.
The tiniest glint of ambition, perhaps madness, came into their minds. Why hadn't they thought of this before?

Meanwhile
Vanhoover, Royalist headquarters

Suffice to say, the exact same 'spark' of inspiration had flourished in the minds of the Royalists. Now, the far north, beyond even the Crystal Empire, was prized territory. Whomever controlled it, harnessed that cosmic energy at its strongest source, would have power beyond anything they had today. Perhaps, power to force submission of the other side.

Nokotaford, Royal Palace

The two sisters had both felt it, that wave of malice, that tiny thought in the back of their mind of something in the far north, a great power lying in wait there, to be exploited.
Yet as they shared a glance at each other over their usual morning studies, Celestia and Luna couldn't help but wonder where such thoughts had come from. They had no interest in this war, that powerful magic, even after witnessing its first period of use at the Battle of Tartarus.
They still recalled the raw power of that magic, and it had, deep down, frightened them.

Equestria overview

The Citadel Ruins, the root, the origin, the well from which these seeds, these fragments of malicious intent spread from, a black spot buried under the ruins of its former grandeur, infecting the land.
Like a massive fungus growing underground, its influence took root. Siral's influence seeded itself across the lands, in the minds of its Alicorn leaders, those he hadn't already had killed by his hand or by the deed of his former elite servants.
Spores, seedlings, all laced with the compulsion towards that most amoral desires, all to serve the Savant's ambitions. To see those in power, to be undone by their own ambitions coming to blows with each other.
Like a vine crawling through the crack in a brick, eventually he would expand the crack, and destroy all that he had penetrated. This was Siral's gambit, his backup plan, one he kept only to himself, even to Teal Quirt, the one servant of his who was more privy to insider knowledge of his ambitions then others.
For his power, his enthrallment, was based in a dark magic older then most of what was known. Primal, base, and dangerous.
A magic, that had cursed him, scarred him, by another long in the past who ingrained the idea that Alicorns were more a plague then he could ever be in obtaining power against them.

Mid Morning
North-Midland Equestria
Citadel Valley, Citadel ruins
Catacombs

Chack's green glowing sword dimmed at his command, and he felt the shiver along his spine, a thousand tiny clawed presences flittering around him in the oppressive abyss he had willingly ventured into.
The tunnel grew darker, and darker. Right then, the moment the tunnel became utterly black, Chack glimpsed a pony hovering a few dozen feet down the tunnel, watching him.
Scars mired his body, his eyes sunken and a soulless black that still oozed the madness that had claimed him, and the hunger of those he both was part of and master of.
Siral, the Savant.
He barely visible, but he was there. A shadow amidst the darkened stone walls and cavernous pillars, as the walls and shadows also flickered, as if a heat shimmer was all over the place. But there was no heat, only the cold, hungry aura of menace that claimed this entire cesspool of a ruined fortress. The hordes of ancient demons, harvested and cultivated from all over the darkest corners of Equestria and beyond for decades in secret, swarmed in their collective power around Siral's ghostly presence.
"Locus erit sepulchrum." [This place shall be your tomb.]
"Begone demon!"
Chack lashed out, his green sword sending a slashing shockwave at the hazy mist he saw before him. But as the green light illumanted the half collapsed corridor, the black haze, and the writhing claws and teeth he swore he saw within them, merely split apart as if he were attacking fog. But he did ward them off long enough to scramble away, the eerie clicking and distant shrieks of a horde of evil beings now aware of his presence.
"Everfree!"
Chack shook the blade, seeking guidance. But there was only silence.
"Et morietur solus!" [You will die alone!]
Glancing backwards, Chack decided he'd definitely underestimated the danger here. Shaking his head, the Salamander spun to slash his sword down, the green tear in the air before him revealing the outside world. He leapt forwards, to freedom.
But he collided with an invisible wall of black, weblike magic. A curse, preventing such easy methods of escape.
"Once inside, you are trapped, servant of Stasrwirl."
The ominous voice, from Siral if Chack was correct, spoke in plain dialect now, for once not the ancient magical tongue that seemed to be its true language now.
"You and I haven't met, Savant. But even if I underestimated you, you won't claim me like you did so many others!"
"Do not delude yourself into thinking you can defy my will! As we speak, I set upon your other master. Everfree will become the memory he already is thought to be by so many, and Starswirl, consorting with him now in a hapless search for you, will die with his domain. They will not live to see Alicorns tear themselves apart, and neither will you."
Now, like a million tiny black moths, darkness surrounded Chack. Even his green blade only illuminated his own body, as all else turned opaque. He felt yanked in all directions, and as he blinked, like flashing images burning into his mind a thousand fold, the maws and hungry stares of the demon colony Siral had under his command chanted for his hide.
But then, the blurring stopped, as the Salamander was suddenly inside a large chamber, freefalling. His green blade illuminated a crumbled bridge, a black lake, and many stalactites and stalagmites protruding from the ceiling and black waters waiting below.
Up above, he glimpsed the dark equivalent of the teleportation spell, the one that had transported him deeper into the Catacombs. To the dungeon hall's underground lake.

Catacombs, underground lake chamber

The water claimed him, his splash spreading out as the Salamander and his green blade vanished under the deep, inky waters.
But high above, as the smoky being ruling this cavernous ruin compelled them, his same eyes were drawn to distant shapes fluttering in the waters. A swarm of creatures that were not demons, but had been enhanced by and may as well have been.
Scrambling backwards, clawing his way up a protruding rock column from the water, Chack held his sword out as the hordes of man-eating leeches that infested the lake swarmed towards him.
Further away, as the shapeless evil of Siral watched on like a smoke layer hanging in the ceiling of the chamber, a small wrought iron gate creaked open by the dark magic on its chains. And through the opened doorway, out of its holding pen, Siral's pet here in the lake swam out. A long snaking form slid out through the water, may spikes lining its length, turned pale by no sunlight exposure, the Sea Serpent of the Savant's lair.
The leeches not already swarming where Chack was moved out of the way as the creature surged forwards through the water.
But scrambling up the rock column, as he slashed and flicked aside leech after leech, Chack saw the surging water barely lit in the distance by his green blade's light. His eyes turned wide with fear, an emotion he was swiftly becoming accustomed to down here, and one he thought he was now likely to die feeling, at the mercy of the horrors of the Savant.

Mid-Morning
Midland Equestria
Northern Everfree forest

The thunderstorm had reached the forest, but there was no rain, only the howling wind, and the overarching sense of evil invading the forest.
Thunder and lightning rained down in the distance as the storm moved over the forest, and as Starswirl galloped through the forest, he noticed other creatures, many birds, taking flight out of the forest. The Timberwolves leading him to Everfree's heart seemed fearful now.
But it didn't take long for the fumes of a distant forest fire to reach Starswirl's nostrils.
The Wizard stopped, as the scent of burning forest was carried ever more swiftly by the howling winds of the rain-starved storm.
His blue magic hovering him up to the canopy, Starswirl glanced across the treetops, and the Wizard saw the columns of smoke rising from the forest under the heaviest part of the storm, ablaze by the countless lightning strikes raining down on the treetops.
Siral's magic, raining down upon Everfree's domain. One shapeless entity slaughtering another.
"Star-swirl... Hurry, before he, reaches you!"
A voice carried on the wind, and there, among the canopy trees, as if formed out of the leaf layers, the face of Everfree's Alicorn origin stared back, wracked with pain as the forest that was his body was being slowly burnt to cinders by Siral's dark storm.
Not pausing, the Wizard clenched his hat to his head as he landed as swiftly on the forest floor as he could, the Alpha Timberwolf having waited nervously for him to finish sightseeing.
The Wizard took flight again, deeper into the forest, as its deity suffered with its domain burning. The Savant was enacting his slaughter of Alicorns in force now, starting with one he had lost a controlled servant by the hand of one of Everfree's servants. As servant he would see slaughtered within hours.
To those in history, this would simply be seen as a freak storm in mid Equestria, setting a forest fire. But the truth was not to be known for a very long time indeed, and to very few.
But the evils of the Savant were not universal in whom they targeted, whom they reached. They were actually blind because of the actions of some.

Meanwhile, Mid Morning
Cherryrain Hills

Discord slept fitfully, taking a lazy morning as he had no real need to be up. But as he slept, he was plagued by nightmares, of something he thought was him, but somehow wasn't.
A black magic, evils, compelling him with his name.
And he swore he had felt that same evil on the winds as he awakened briefly, before rubbing his drowsy eyes to go back to sleep. Yet the Draconeraqus couldn't shake off the feeling of something brewing on the horizon.
Unseen, the dark spectral smoke lingered near his temporary dwelling, a small abandoned flour mill he'd turned into his own home for now, appearing abandoned to all who viewed it from the outside.
It lingered, knowing Discord was there, its link, its legacy. But it could do nothing. All he did was tie his creator to life, but he was free from control. He couldn't be controlled, he was too damaged.
But in the end, he was useful, because he lived.

Mid Morning
North-Midland Equestria
Citadel Valley, Citadel ruins

She saw it, the shadow fountain from the crumbled hole in the ruins.
"He can't be..."
Teal Quirt saw what evils had been brewing, from what she thought she'd made sure destroyed by working with the others, while they were still somewhat united against the master who sought to enslave them.
But as she saw from a distance, she also knew who had gone down there.
"Fool, he chose his own demise."
She turned to leave, but hesitated. He had come to defeat this evil at its source, the cause rather then the victims. He took on Siral for all's sake, a kindness to all by removing the cause of suffering on all sides. But in his ambition, his drive, he wandered right into a waiting trap, one nobody knew had been growing like a fungus underground.
She spared a glance back, her scowl deepening as her claws crushed together in frustration.
The Being of Envy set forth, ignoring what demons fluttered around her as she kept her presence masked as much as she could. Ahead of her, the ruins of the Citadel, the lair of the Savant, beckoned.
And inside, a creature she owed a favour to. He harmed her, but he submitted to her. That made them even. But then he freed her from Siral's enslavement when she thought she'd never be free, meaning the scales of favour were unbalanced.
And in spite of all she thought of Chack, Teal hated owing him a favour above all else.
She went forth, into what she knew was a literal heart of darkness, spreading its influence unseen across Equestria, and reining fire upon Everfree Forest to destroy the one powerful single being and the Wizard who might pose a credible threat.

Author's Note

Siral, he was a longtime coming as a villain, as he's fallen so far from when we see him in chapter 1. And now he's even embraced traits of the very Alicorn who scarred him enough to send him on this path of evil, Geldrath.
But more on the extent of Siral's evils next chapter, which I promise won't take as long.

Fearful Odds, Harmony's Resurrection

20th December, 69 BNM
Mid Morning
Mid-Equestria, Everfree forest
The Hollows

The deepest part of the forest, a shallow valley flanked by vine choked trees and a collection of Willow trees all around them. Among their roots however, the rare crystals that grew here penetrated from the ground like tiny blades of grass, twinkling as the Unicorn's blue horn light shone over them.
The Wizard took flight, the Timberwolves having peeled off as the inferno grew in intensity in the forest beyond.
Scrambling down the slope, Starswirl held his hat tight as he turned to a gallop the moment the ground turned flat. The tall, vine strangled trees rose around him, but their ominous state was nothing compared to the inferno devouring them a few miles away. Overhead, the storm rumbled, the many thunder and lightning strikes becoming constant now.
Down here, the hollows, where it was said the rumoured spirit of the forest resided. But to Starswirl, the far off Chack, and the possessed Unicorn wizard casting this firestorm triggering thunderstorm from afar, Everfree was real.
And here, as he came down into the hollows, Starswirl saw what he was searching for. A shimmering white pool of water, as if the base of its lining was flanked by a million glass shards, glinting with the same eerie white colour of the water in these other sacred sites Everfree seemed to have in rare locations, hidden across his forest domain.
"Is this the heart of the forest?"
"A wise assumption. It is here where my power is strongest, power your assistance can best harness to ward off this evil."
"How, I am but a Wizard. And why not get Chack? You must know where he is!?"
"Chack, has gone to the heart of the enemy. I cannot see him anymore, Siral's evils in his fortress are the one place I cannot see."
"You let him go there!? You have sent him to death!"
"He went of his own volition, seeking to help as many by ridding Equestria of its most malicious evil. But we all underestimated the lengths he would go to, he is no longer a mere Unicorn."
"But he fulfilled his part in the end, an example of kindness. And I doubted him..."
"Sometimes fate unfolds as predicted, but not in the way you think."
As Everfree spoke, a few vines unfurled around the main pool of glistening white water, and five objects Starswirl had left with the Lrod of the Forest, in a bid of loss of faith, tumbled down onto the ground.
The Gladius Sword Mashri had left him after his and Siral's guiding words for her dilemma of loyalty, the gold and jade stoned family necklace Hinai had gifted him after he and Siral aided her in overcoming her limits and using her magic to help her friends, the Scarf that Frello had given him after overcoming his fear and learning to make others laugh as he once did, the tuft of fur Nahia gave him and Siral for helping her be honest with herself and others in her shortcomings and fears, and the compass given to him and Siral, shortly before they fell out, by Irvin after he realized material gain was worth less then he realized, in wake of giving up his wealth, and nearly giving his own life to give another a chance.
Seek the essences of true Harmony, the greatest power to be had to combat these threats you are to face at the end of your destiny.
As Starswirl stared at the five artefacts on the ground, as well as Chack's katana which he'd placed alongside it, he realized what he had been missing all along.
Beyond, the crackling fires roared, but it was something that Starswirl mused over as he looked at the artefacts that made him wonder:
"Why was there such a rush when they each committed their acts? What..."
As he recalled each time, he realized something he had been missing:
"Its nothing to do with magic, its what gives it power. Virtues and Evils are catalysts for magic that make them more powerful!"
"Their examples only serve as truly powerful focal moments, true examples of such virtues, to make what magic already present already power, in the same way Siral used Evils to enhance his methods!"
"But how can we harness such power?"
"We can use their legacy, objects have memories to those who know how to read them. This is it, this is how true Harmony is restored, by wielding the power that can be harnessed by virtues! There is no secret art, there is only what motivates your power!"
Without even pausing, as Starswirl pulled out the Necromantium book, he found the Psychoscopy Spell he had already used on Chack's blade only under two days ago. But in the distance, the fire raged along with the thunderstorm, as the first cold gusts of wind began to rustle the air around them.
"I shall prepare what magic I can, but hurry! He is burning, more of the forest!"
The vines and leaves fluttered around the clearing, as Starswirl glimpsed the vine bodied avatar of Everfree gesture his gaze to the north, where the smoke was pouring now, the roars of fires and the distant smoke flickering as the sight of a few unleashed demons swarmed among the fumes, vultures among the inferno.
The forest around the clearing began to pulsate lightly in colour, as Everfree focused all the magic in the strange rocks that marked this region of the forest. Overhead, the stormclouds had built up, lightning arcing through the skies constantly now.
But down on the ground, Starswirl's green hued magic of necromancy began toe Psychoscopy spell, as he looked deep:
She chose where her home was, not where she began, but where she became who she was. That was her Loyalty, choosing where she felt her heart was, not where she came from.
She chose to overcome her personal restraint, when her newfound friends would suffer the same fate as her parents to the sorcerer. That was her Magic, releasing her restraint on who she was.
He chose to overcome his fears, his shame, to entertain and lighten the downtrodden heart of his adoptive son, and to spread the joy to others so he might alleviate his own soul. That was his Laughter, indulging in the joy he spread.
She chose to admit to her own shortcomings, her failings, and her faults in how she handled it. And in doing so, helped overpower the true monster in her home jungle. That was her Honesty, as she knew herself to know where she could go in the future.
He chose to sacrifice his ambitions to save one who helped him achieve this moment of gain. That was his Generosity, he proved his generous nature by throwing away what could be his to help another live.
He chose to stop the cycle of cruelty that plagued so many, realizing it was an endless circle. So he submitted to the one he harmed most, to disrupt the cycle. That was his kindness, to have the courage to spare a life that he would otherwise have taken.
On the ground, the 6 items began to glow different slight hues of colour. The Gladius sword glowed red, the gold and jade necklace glowed pink, the scarf glowed blue, the fur tuft yellow, the compass purple, and the katana sword glowed green. From below them, the colours of the glowing rock glowed brightly, as the power they gave off fed into the greater energy around the heart of the forest.
But all around them, the thunderstorm was upon them. Even as the bright, blinding white light shone forth from the forest's alcove pool, the hordes and storm pressed down on all sides, the clash of light and dark sparking fires all around the forest.

Within the sphere of energy, the 6 multicoloured energy sources fed into the main power, bolstered by Everfree. But as the feedback continued, Starswirl saw the vine avatar of Everfree begin to falter, the fires spreading across Everfree forest taking its toll on the life systems the spirit was sustained by.
Starswirl's eyes grew wide, as the blinding light of the energies he had helped unleash in desperation did battle, a stalemate.

North-Midland Equestria
Citadel Valley, Citadel ruins
Underground lake chamber

Jumping to the stone of the bridge, as he'd actively avoided landing in the leech infested water as much as he could, Chack clenched on as he saw the water surging towards him yet again. Teeth and scales exploded from the depths, open and aimed right at him.
Scrambling upwards, Chack saw the Sea Serpent's maw clamp onto the stone of the bridge support, and he slashed out at the creature's head. His green blade cut deep, but the Serpent shrugged it off as it coiled back in the water, lunging yet again.
His fingers burning as his webbed feet clawed into the bridge arch stone, Chack barely escaped being snapped up in the sharp toothed jaws as the Serpent missed him. The momentum of its strike carried it forwards, and even Chack's desperate green magic beam from his sword only made it angry. Panting as exhaustion was beginning to set in, Chack began to climb up.
But a burning sensation clamped down on his wrist, as Chack glanced up to see a pair of silver eyes amidst a cloud of darkness fire down one of its whiplile tendrils, the brickwork he was clenching onto suddenly breaking free as the burning magic left a welt on his left wrist.
He plummeted down into the inky black water, but Chack fired out his green magic at it, scattering the leeches for the moment as he landed, kicking to the surface as soon as he splashed down. But even the cold grip and maws of the very few leeches that made it was nothing compared to Chack's fear, as he backed up against the wall, his sword butt propped against the brickwork as he stuck it out, bracing himself as he submitted to his fate. The Salamander scowled as his green magic shield held firm enough to keep the leeches at bay, while the demonic master stood/floated upon the bridge above with a keen expression in his silver eyed, shapeless gaze. Before him, in the dark waters, the Sea Serpent surged forwards, teeth glinting as its maw opened to engulf the Salamander and crash him against the bridge.
Out of nowhere came a different hue of green magic, surging through the chamber, bursting through the demon swarms and blasting the focal presence of Siral into the cavernous ceiling. The green light struck down now, rebounding off of Chack's outstretched blade as his expression turned to shock at this intervention.
As the Sea Serpent lunged, the green energy rebounding off the sword was enhanced, and formed a spear-like burst of energy that ripped through the Serpent's maw, and out of the back of its head. Almost immediately the Serpent squirmed, and was dead as it slumped mid surge.
As the body floated forwards fast, Chack scrambled sideways in the water, the head of the serpent ramming the bridge roughly. But before his shield faltered, he was yanked up by his saviour.
But the moment he saw the claws, the ape-torso, scorpion body and her green eyes, Chack was puzzled, even as the demon swarms pulled back somewhat in the chamber in preparation for a counter attack. Before him, Teal panted from her exertion, that blazing charge down here exhausting for her magic, especially in wake of all they had done the day before. In his confusion, but not devoid of his thanks for her help, Chack breathed out as he raised his blade to the sight of the gathering shadows in and around the chamber:
"Why?"
"I owe you help for freeing me, for letting me have a chance at payback. Nothing else besides that." Teal sternly remarked towards the Salamander, as her gaze turned wary at the sight of the flicering shadows all around the dimly lit lake chamber. Down below, the corpse of the Sea Serpent was already being swarmed by the leeches, its body beginning to be picked to the bone by the flesh eating creatures.
All around the chamber, from all sides, the shadows pooled into puddles of inky blackness, waiting. Then, tendrils like glass strands shot out towards them, blacker then the darkest of night.
Parrying shot after shot, ones they missed coiling around his and Teal's joints before they slashed them off, the burns from each one agony as they were repeatedly seized and lashed, the whole storm of attacks came from all sides.
Teal's green magic flourished out, burning aside the tendrils and the occasional surge of ghostly black smoke. Chack's blade strikes cut aside tendril strikes, blew apart the plumes of smoke. But it was a losing battle, as the unseen enemy, comprised of many smaller demons and their master, continued the barrage.
Both the Salamander and the Being of Envy now sported burns, welts and cuts all over their bodies, some of Chack's armour and Teal's carapace segments chipped and even broken in some places.
As the attacks eased up slightly, they realized why, as the silver expression of Siral glinted form the cavern ceiling directly above them, a pair of silver orbs flickering amidst utter darkness within the carved ceiling. Siral's taunt rang out:
"You have no hope. You cannot defeat me, I have grown more powerful as a result of your rebellion, my servant. You and that cretin of the forest and the wizard shall die, and become part of something more."
"I no longer serve you. He took out your posion influence from me, I took it out of Gaudium! Your servants are much fewer in number, you have lost power!"
"How wrong you are. As long as they live, I endure. But, when each dies, their power isn't lost, it returns, it is passed on, to me. As more lived, I was less likely to die. But as fewer live, what power I have as I live grows."
Teal's eyes widened at this realization, as she now saw that Siral had omitted more truths in her discussions with him, in better times, then she'd ever realized. He had also been making backup plans, to harness power for himself, through them, in more ways then she initially feared.
"You let the Seventh get away, but you cannot slay me so long as he is out there, and so long as you are. But you made him safe in isolation, and so, your foolish mistake and sympathy for those you think I wronged, will be your undoing."
"I'll find him!" Her exclmation was half hearted, as she knew not where Gaudium, now Discord, was. Beside her, Chack kept up his defence, his scowl deepening as Siral's boast from a truly unassailable position rang out:
"No. Mystery is the greatest defence. Your usefulness is now best served through death, so I may harvest your power for my own."
"And these demons!? What of their obedience? I don't recall any tales of someone using them in myth of history as ending well for them!"
Chack's poking at Siral's plan was short lived in its hope for a weakness however, as a rumble of a chuckle filled the catacombs, before the demon swarms too shimmered in the dark voids in sync with their master.
"They obey me, because unlike Geldrath so long ago, I do not keep myself distinct. They obey me, because they see me as one of their own. I have, in death, become part of them. Their demon lord. And beyond that, the deaths of those Alicorns harvested grants me their power through the amulets. And, the deaths of the five servants you had a hand in the deaths of, both of you."
"You have aided in the creation of all that I am."
"Then you are just a mistake that must be corrected." Teal adamantly remarked, as she charged her green magic in her claws to fire straight up. Chack raised his sword, the green magic from his joining her own as he took aim, the dark swathes of demon hordes closing in. But Siral interrupted as his silver eyes flared in brightness in his sentence:
"Too little, too late."
Below them, a shimmering layer engulfed the bridge they stood upon, and before they could yell out, they fell through as gravity took them. The teleportation spell had been altered, the portal it created much more veiled. As soon as the pair vanished, the demon hordes in the catacomb lake vanished too, swarming to where they knew their master had sent them.
Silence rang in the lake chamber, the gentle sloshing of the sea serpent's corpse being devoured by the leeches the only noise in the chamber.

Mid-Morning
North-Midland Equestria
Citadel Valley, Citadel ruins
Catacombs, Mid levels, Well of Waysides

The well of waysides, what remained of the castle's main stairwell access to all levels. More ornate then really needed for a Fortress, but even Siral had a degree of respect for aesthetics.
Ruined stairwells flanked the circular shaft, half of the doorways and corridors having collapsed. But up above, hope shone down.
Daylight burned above them, a tantalizing glimmer high up in this shaft.
As they had burst into the shaft's base, a small raised platform area above the pool of water that made up the submerged base of the shaft, Chack and Teal landed roughly.
Eyes casting about, the teleportation ole that Siral had conjured had led them astray. Now, as they glanced around, they saw the horrors of the Citadel come together.
Thick dark magic vapour poured from the many corridors, veritable waterfalls of dark magic, demon swarms and Siral's essence pouring down to land upon them.
The dark clouds swallowed them, and all turned to the nightmarish void that filled the bottom of the shaft, akin to the densest of bat swarms engulfing both of them as they backed up against each other, preferring to stick together then be separated.
Chack shook as he slashed and hacked uselessly, his spirit and energy drained from so much. Teal's desperate green magic attacks faltered too, and her body shook each time she blinked or winced. As Chack did as well, the fraction of time his eyes were shut revealed a thousand hungry eyes and teeth swarming before them.
He blinked again, as did she, fear making their bodies quake. All around them, each blink burned the hungry eyes and teeth of the thousands of awaiting demon spirits that made up what was now Siral's very being, and the warped essences of the 19 Alicorns absorbed from his amulets merely burned their cold eyes and visages darker then the others.
Before they could be consumed however, a green forcefield burst out from Teal's body, engulfing them both. Now trapped at the bottom of this shaft, a former tower basement, the sunlight permeating from its distant top, the green semi-sphere was swarmed by the hordes of the Savant. The teeth, burning tongues and consuming nature of the demons hacked away at the shield, forcing Teal Quirt to strain her energy.
Inside the sphere, Chack surged his blade's magic, strengthening the shield as he then lashed out the sword, an energy slash cutting through the cloud of attackers. But it was too late. They were surrounded on all sides, outmatched, trapped, and being besieged in a very rapidly diminishing shield.
The Being of Envy turned as she strained her magic, her scorpion body and ape torso marred by the small scratch marks as his body had suffered as well. But her expression was helpless, her eyes voids in the face of inevitable defeat.
He stared back at Teal's mutated eyes, as he murmured a brief remark as the hordes closed in around them:
"Alone we have no chance. We can't win, not without a combined effort."
She looked around hopelessly, her green shield around both of them constantly flickering as Siral's magic burned away at it.
"Impossible, there is too much fighting between too many."
"It won't last forever, no war does, we must escape, fight another day."
Chack's plans were fruitless though, he knew it, as he could see the glint of sunlight high above from the opening. But it was Teal who looked down forlornly, growing weary on her part from keeping up the shield as Chack fired another burning beam from his blade.
"We can't. He has us trapped here, he can have us wherever he wants."
As Chack grimaced at this, the Salamander slashing out his sword from the shield to ward off the hordes and Siral's magic within the choking dark smoke, Teal's eyes suddenly lit up. The Scorpion/Ape hybrid murmured to Chack as the fizzling of her barrier increased in force:
"Wherever... We can see his demise, but not today."
"When?"
"That is the question. We can win, but not today. So send us forwards, all of us, to a time when things can be better dealt with. How Starswirl and Siral went through so much time, we must do the same."
Chack stared at Teal, then at his blade, the Salamander quizzical for a moment as her stern expression faltered in wake of the fractures finally breaking apart their shared magical shield.
"Do it, use it. Your master and Siral used the spell in their travels! We must delay if we cannot defeat!"
The smoking tendrils leeched through the shields, piercing into her skin like needles as they began to shock her, burning her skin like lightning bolt shaped scars from their entry points. Her hisses of agony were only broken as she screamed at Chack, the moment the black forces finally shattered their shield entirely.
"CHACK!"
Darkness poured towards them like a broken river from a dam, as Chack focused his mind. He focused on the future, a future where somehow, they might stand more of a chance. The blade glowed green, flaring as a white hued magic also rippled around it, the demon swarms hesitating for a moment as he raised his sword. But among them, Siral's bodiless gaze turned fearful for a moment.
His green blade came slicing down, and the dark air before him lit up green, and shattered as if he were slashing through a glassy layer before him. A rip opened up, a tear in the air now rippling like water, hued green around its edges.

The moment the tear appeared, a hurricane wind roared about the Catacombs. The rip in the very air in front of Chack began to suck everything in.
The electricity filling the main antechamber lit up, piercing through the dark fountain of smoky magic rising from the opened shaft above them, exposing the daylight for the briefest moment.
The demon swarms shrieked as their semi-visible forms were sucked inside, and the essence of Siral was vacuumed from all perceivable corners of the Citadel, and dragged screaming into the abyssal dimension in time that Chack had all but ripped open with the enhanced blade spell.
Stabbing his sword down to brace himself from the vortex, Chack braced as he saw Teal Quirt stab her green hued claws into the stone as well, anchoring herself. The entire antechamber shaft shook around them, and a quaking far above showed a large slate wall caving in nearby.
Much of Siral's essence and the demons that constituted its broader strength now vanished through the void, like a deformed space in the darkened chamber that flickered like glass crystals before them. Yet as the smokey hordes were sucked into the time anomaly, they lashed out, seeking anchorage themselves, a thousand narrow tendrils like hairs snaking out, searching, flailing desperately as their painful, outraged wails filled the air.
"When will he return!?"
"When more will be unified to stand against him!"
"How lo-NGGH!"
One of the smoking tendrils seized Teal's scorpion torso, and had coiled around her thorax, locked in place like a snake around its meal, the demon magic and Siral's unified to use her as anchorage. Siral's disembodied voice screeched from the rip in time:
"IF I GO TO OBLIVION, YOU COME WITH ME!"
"Let me go!"
"YOU ARE MINE!"
As she was dragged struggling towards the rip, her claws and scorpion pincers digging into the stone ground, Teal yelled to Chack:
"You can't help me. GO!"
A second passed, before Chack hurled out a hand as he braced with his sword, clenching Teal's scorpion pincer as he remarked with absolute certainty:
"He won't seize you again after I drove you into his evils. If we suffer we won't be alone!"
The green blade slipped slightly, as Chack's grip on Teal Quirt grew tired, her torso and head and ape arm all that were protruding from the time warp, though more of Siral's desperate smoking tendrils snaked around her.
He gave a small smile, a sad one at that, as he gripped Teal's pincer even tighter. But his green blade moved now, his hand having jerked the sword upwards, uprooting the blade from the stone.
In an instant, he was sucked in, Teal Quirt just before him. Right as they left, the time fracture sealed itself, and the antechamber shaft became quiet.
Up above, the slate wall had fallen flat over the shaft, plugging up the only hole now for the Savant's evils to spread.
But down here, focused now, what remained of Siral was a speck, the tiniest of spores of his dark magic compared to his full essence. The tiny wisp of demonic influenced magic slowly blew away in a trail through the corridors, as if lost now.
The whispers in the Citadel were gone, and would be for a very long time.
Evil would fester here for centuries, but it would never regain the power that once haunted these ruins. Not until the time fracture reopened, whenever that was.
The Citadel was silent, its master gone, his converted, distrusting but healed servant gone, and the Samurai servant of his greatest enemies in Starswirl and Everfree were gone too.
And he was but a fragment now in this world. Basic, suppressed, hiding, a ghost of Siral, but not Siral himself. An echo.
And echo that would grow in strength as the years went by, decades centuries, but on its own would never achieve the power it had been spawned, and ripped from.

Time warped dimension

They fell through, the dark swarm that was Siral vanishing as he was sucked into oblivion, the hole he was destined to come back out of so far away it seemed as if they would never reach it, a distant glimmering star amidst total blackness.
Teal Quirt tried to hold on, but she slipped away as this realm's physics was havoc to anyone inside. She slipped away into the void, her exit in a similar time, but uncertain.
Clenching his sword tight, Chack fired forth, seizing Teal's claw in the barest of his magical grapple and pulled himself towards her.
He reached her, grabbing hold as the void consumed them both, their exit time uncertain as Siral's. Their senses became useless, as all time and awareness vanished here.
When they returned was unknown even to them. All they knew was that there would be a better chance to quell the evil they had sent forwards in time, where perhaps, more virtues and unity existed to combat the evil such disparate times had helped breed, spawned from a Unicorn's ambitions for power out of fear and curiosity.
The void took them all, it would let them return when the entry point had resonated to do so. Their time was an eternity, yet also a moment, as time broke down here.

Mid Morning
Mid-Equestria, Everfree forest
The Hollows

All of a sudden, the malestrom of dark and light magic faltered, as the dark thunderstorm's intensity suddenly seemed to drop. The demon hordes broke apart in their focus, as a writhing shriek seemed to arise from their collective power.
In Starswirl's mind, he heard the screech as something ripped away the influence Siral had on these powers.
"THEY'RE WEAK! NOW!" Starswirl screamed out, as he poured his own energy into the collective power being unleased from the hollows. Nearby, the focal avatar of Everfree poured his own magic, sucking the energy from the unburnt forest up and spending it on this single sphere attack. The 6 artefacts surged in their catalyst state, and in a matter of moments, the colours coalesced into a white mix that burst apart the storm clouds in a massive shockwave of wind and light.
The screeches of the demons amidst the storm clouds were lost as they were incinerated by the blast, ripped apart and ousted from existence as the white energy dispersed the storm, spreading for miles and miles. Like a massive hurricane wind surging from the forest, the storm was blasted apart as its energy and master source had suddenly been cut off.
As the energy dissipated, the entire forest seemed to sigh in relief, though the glows in the hollows were certainly less bright then they otherwise were before.

1 hour later
The Hollows

Starswirl stared at the ground, as he saw the bright glows from the 6 artefacts sitting on the ground in a hexagonal fashion with a hint of melancholy. He felt no tears, just, emptiness, at what was clearly a sacrifice on Chack's part.
"Whatever Chack did, it cut off Siral. And I sense no other malicious beings of Siral."
"They may be out there still, just not tainted. Chack did one himself, but the other, I don't know."
"It does not matter. Siral is gone, his taint is extinguished."
"Is it? He spread his seeds of evil across Equestria, encouraging the worst of war plans to see them tear each other apart."
Starswirl grimaced as he spoke to Everfree's avatar, the ethereal, vine bodied presence now rather tired after unleashing that energy. He had seen it, felt it, sensed it.
Already he sensed Alicorns preparing for a new conflict, to harness the cosmic level magic at its purest source, the north pole. Whatever happened there, he expected carnage on both sides.
"Then stop them. I cannot, too much of my forest is drained, or burned down. My domain has shrunk."
"Impossible. They hardly listen to me anymore, and now they definitely won't. The only Alicorns I truly can get through to are the two Royal sisters."
There was silence, before Everfree spoke bluntly:
"Then they are our only hope for a lasting peace after this conflict, peace with leadership by level headed ponies at least."
"All this damage, was done by a Wizard, was made worse by a wizard. I as a wizard, should have done more. Maybe, our time is coming to an end."
Starswirl's words were final, as he hung his head at the prospect of what sort of age was coming to an end. Sure there were other wizards and mages of dedicated rank, but none on par with him, or Siral. Perhaps it was for the best, but as he stared at the artefacts and their 6 dimming glows, he surmised with some optimism:
"But in the least, I can leave behind what could heal the world."
"They can be cultivated, harnessed. But it will take time, I will focus all my magic towards these powers you have unlocked."
"In the least, whatever happens before they are ready, I only pray it does not become too severe. And for once, something that is not my fault."
As Starswirl spoke, he fired some of his own magic at the 6 artefacts, as Everfree's own magic engulfed them too. Vines engulfed the 6 items, as a glow from magic feeding through them began to lightly pulse.

Starswirl departed within the hour, but he was silent. A spectre now almost as much as his gone old friend was.
He recalled his old friend of so long ago, before his travels, before he was scarred by that Alicorn, before their spilt, all that occurred and what he became by his planning and experimentation.
But just like the Unicorn he was once, more outgoing, optimistic, Siral was gone. Now the wizard that was Starswirl ventured forth, long term plans laid, uncaring of what may come so long as it didn't interfere.
And it wouldn't, even as what did unfold proved catastrophic in the short term.

By the week's end afterwards, the burnt parts of the Everfree forest still charred black, a few plant roots and stems had begun spouting through he charred areas. Life began to return to the forest.
And in the Hollows, surrounded by the engulfed artefacts and the memory they carried, a tiny white/blue crystal stem began to grow into the tree it would become.

Author's Note

Bit of a melancholic ending here, but Siral is done in the story here. He is gone, except for the fragment that remains in the Citadel ruins.
And here we see the genesis of what would become the full fledged elements, as in my story magic is simply magic, but virtues/evils can act as a catalyst for that. In the same way that people can do things better if they're motivated better by something.
Of course, the elements aren't grown overnight, they'll take time. And we have other parts of history yet to arise, including the emergence of Discord, and the chaos of day and night cycles that spurs on his arrival. But that's next chapter, along with the final days of Starswirl with the royal sisters. Because frankly from here, Equestrian society breaks down. [Its Discord, it was going to anyway].

The Rise of Discord.

In retrospect, of all the things I know now, it could be considered ironic how the Seventh of Siral would become a salvager of Equestria and the world, in his own unorthodox way. Of course history dismissed him as a maverick power, as I too did. But given Discord's exuberance in his solitary life with great power, he was akin to a child in behaviour, to the point where him being a spawn of Siral's experiments was the last possible idea.
To think, of all the evils, of all the deeds of Siral, my once former friend, they were not the biggest cataclysm the world would face that I would witness.
After he vanished, along with Chack, I sensed no others of his creations, neither the Being of Envy nor Pride, anywhere. I presumed they vanished or lost their true power in his absence, or they were dead. Whatever the case, they were history.
But Siral's seeds, the darkness he spread so subtly in a last bid to get his own in revenge on Alicorn-kind, a race he deemed dangerous to existence through their tyranny and power, would take hold.
Subtle, but clear to those who knew. But who would believe me? All it did was solidify the most desperate, most ambitious of goals, acquiring a power that Siral himself warned me of, that I didn't approve of, for fear of untold damage it would do.
I theorize that was his ultimate plan as a backup, to let them die by the weapon they dared forge, a power to rule over each other, and in turn if they wished, the world.
On that day, the Civil War would end very abruptly. And soon, a new power would arise to fill the void left by the Alicorns.
But the new power would not need to harm the Alicorn rulers enough to overthrow them, whatever the faction. They brought their own downfall upon themselves when they fought for the ultimate power, as their struggles destabilised it.
Like children fighting over a toy, it was going to unleash damage. Nothing is without consequence, and their actions had suitable consequences.
But in the end, I lament the end of an era in such a manner. But they were too far ingrained in their own pride, their own ideas, to listen to a Wizard, 'outdated' as the Royalists called me, whereas the Nationalists would view me as an enemy before that at least.
Of course, such factions very swiftly became irrelevent after the cataclysm.
All that I worked with for years came to an end on the day the heavens bleed light, and a great ripple of disruptive magic was felt to those who knew where to look.
Yet in the least, there was hope for the future. I had ensured that much.

Personal diaries of Starswirl the Bearded

Nightfall
23rd February, 68 BNM
Northern frozen wastes

The vast, snow covered plains this far north, beyond the borders of even the New Gryphon Empire or the Crystal Empire of Equestria, normally were quiet, isolated, pristine and untouched by civilization. The stark landscape was not a place where interests from those in civilization could be met.
But it was what was strongest this far north that interested them. Overhead, glimmering in the night sky, the focus of immense energies across the planet, the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, hung over the darkened skies, as this far north was always in permanent night this time of year.
But across the frozen wastes, even from far away, echoes of fierce battle carried.
And from the Aurora overhead, streaking down in small ribbons of light towards the opposing sides, the energy of the cosmic infinite flowed to the Alicorns leading the battle from both sides.

It was unknown which side had the idea first, though in secret it had been Siral's seeds of evil stroking their ambitions that did it. What was known was that when they came to the northern wastes, to harness the ultimate power of the cosmic level magic that was strongest, and most easily acquired here, they arrived at the same time.
Only a few minutes passed before the battle had begun, a mad scramble to get the upper hand. Infantry ponies towed their artillery pieces, cavalry pegasi attacked from the flanks, while the Unicorns unleashed devastating barrages of spells and curses towards each opposing side.
But it was the Alicorns who would decide the tide of battle, as the streaks of pure energy each side harvested from overhead emporwered their leaders. The immense energy was rained down upon their own armies, enhancing their fighting spirit, strength and magic where best used, or unleashed against the other armies in a hailstorm of magic barrages that obliterated flesh and armour with ease.
Thunderbolts rained from the heavens with no thunderclouds as their source, great beams of light that scorched the snow capped earth black, and blasted avalanches of melted snow and water away into the further wastes that were spared from the clash of the armies. Energy fields protected the armies from attacks sent their way by the most powerful spells, and the front lines were a mess of hoof to hoof, blade to blade, and close quarters spellwork.
But as battle dragged on, a few wary eyes turned skywards, seeing the Aurora overhead beginning to slowly pulsate in brightness, almost like a heart.
More blood was shed, more energy harnessed and unleashed, and soon the northern lights were ablaze.
As battle began to fade, as they pulled back to lick their wounds slightly before assaulting each other yet again, the bright pulses of the Aurora didn't cease. Rumbles consumed the earth.
Far away, even as far as the south pole, the skies became alight with faint flashes of multicoloured sparks, almost like stars going off in the distance. Small earthquakes went off around the world all at once, as did volcanoes, though it was so spread out that it never truly unleashed nature's full wrath in one location.
Save for one.
Overhead, at the source of the energy being tapped, lightning bolts as bright as the sun lit up the night sky, the sky crisscrossed with so many to the point where a blinding white web of bolts turned night into day. A massive electrical storm consumed the plains for miles around, trapping the clashing armies within its heart, and providing those smaller armies on both the Nationalist side, and the Royalist side, with the view of the cataclysm about to unleash.
The energies built, and unseen, a large bolt of the cosmic energy, drawn from the earth and the moon, built and built like a twisting rope. The moon shook slightly, appearing to tremble for a moment in its orbit through the skies, as the earth trembled as well.
Then, the balance broke. The discharge surged down into the planet, into its core, the energy surging outwards as the very rotation of the planet itself was drawn on in a self-feeding loop of energy.
Later science would show that the very kinetic energy of both the planet's rotation, and the moon's orbit, was being drawn on now, and ousted.
From afar, the planet and the moon seemed to radiate energy across all spectrums, and now, slowly, that energy caused the earth's spin, and the moon's orbit, to begin to slow.
Harnessing the energy for their own use so recklessly opened up a pathway for runaway energy to bleed off the planets. The clash of powers had its toll on the world.
But they wouldn't live to see it, as the feedback's strongest ousting of energy on the planet itself came from the origin of the disturbance.

In the distance, the sight was spectacular and beautiful. To those in the midst of it, it was terror.
The feedback loop cycled the unfathomable magical energies drawn out and intensified by the Alicorns and their armies harnessing it, over and over. The electrical storm, almost a sphere of light, built and built, the Aurora borealis high overhead seemingly drawn in towards it like water into a vortex. Green lights swirled slowly around the concentrated veil of light, electrical arcs flaring brighter and brighter.
Craters were blasted in the frigid landscape, entire divisions struck down in an instant, vaporised. Stalwart magic wielders stood theri ground, the struggle now turning to get the intense energy, formed from their colliding barrages of attacks over seizing control of this nexus of energy, under control and subdued.
But it was too late.
The frigid wastelands turned silent, as the pegasi, Earth ponies, Unicorns and handful of Alicorn leaders waiting further back from the main battleplains from both factions saw the light suddenly contract violently in on itself, sucking many on the wastelands up faster then could be registered. No distant screams, no resistance, they were simply gone, absorbed by the moment of intense energy flux.
Then, the hyper contracted ball of energy twinkled for but a moment, an infinitesimally small pinprick of light around which the Aurora borealis flowed into. Erupting out of that point, what was witnessed would defy comprehension.
Silence, as the white pinpoint of light suddenly burst open, and engulfed the landscape in cleansing energy in every spectrum of colour, the snap that reverberated bursting the eardrums of anybody close enough to actually see the light from the blast. Snow was blasted off, waves thrust into the sea, the earth trembled as the ground wrenched itself upwards in the violent shockwaves as the energy also set it ablaze.
As the Alicorn leader looked upon his Royalist army, the segment that hadn't been claimed by the blast down on the actual plains, he saw theri bodies consumed in an instant, bursting into ash and their bones turning to dust that was then bown apart just as easily. The energy wave consumed him, and he knew nothing.
What supernovae would erupt in the night sky were to be forgotten in wake of these events, even as 8 Alicorns, of the only remaining 12 in existence, were killed in the same blast in the far frozen north.
Outside of the blast, a great shockwave of light spread through the Aurora, a ripple of visible energy that streaked all over the planet.
It would become the inspiration for many fables, myths, especially with what would immediately follow. In more ways then one, the next few days would be the longest, and darkest, for the planet as a whole, but especially for Equestria, the nation whose leaders were responsible. Leaders with ambitions of power, nurtured by a Unicorn wizard's curse ever so slightly to conduct this mad grab for power.
The Alicorns had strived to alter nature itself for their own power. They succeeded, and it led to their destruction, and the energy bleedoff had devastating effects across the nation.
History would see those Alicorns who would emerge after this cataclysm as unique, the first of their kind, as history was forgotten as chaos, in more ways then one, took over.
History wouldn't be entirely wrong on that count.

Early Afternoon
23rd February, 68 BNM
Nokotaford, Royal Palace

The light had come from the north, a large shockwave of ethereal light that shot out without a breath of wind in its wake, all over the land.
Across Equestria, the shockwave was akin to a warm breeze to most. But to a select few, it had more dire consequences.
For Unicorns, the shockwave felt like a static shock on their skin, tolerable but clearly felt, as their kin across cities and villages in Equestria all would shrug off the mild pain.
But Alicorns...
After the shockwave, there were none.
As of that day, Alicorns numbered a few dozen, no more, no less, having lost many in the civil war. But the cataclysm in the north, rooted in Alicorns harnessing the power, caused their power to be sucked into the release of energy that disrupted the entire planet.
Every Alicorn in Equestria was suddenly downgraded. Every Alicorn was now a Unicorn, Pegasi, or Earth Pony, depending on their lineage stretching as far back as the first non-Alicorn. Their unique biology, coupled with the cataclysm their kind unleashed, became their undoing.

Starswirl stared in shock, as he saw not two Alicorn sisters stood before him as he taught them new spells, but two Unicorns of the exact same colour, eyes and voice. Even he felt the shockwave, but he came out unschathed. Yet he knew, he felt it. Unlike other Unicorns, he'd trained to sense disturbences.
"The fools, whatever they did, those fools!" Starswirl whispered under his breath. Before him, Celestia helped Luna up, as the shockwave had all but electrocuted them during the sapping of the inbuilt magic that made them Alicorns.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine Celly, fine, what happened?" Luna shook her head, the now less ethereal light blue mane a clear contrast to what she had been about 10 seconds ago. Before her, Celestia's similarly less shimmering pink mane caused the younger sister to blink incredulously for a few moments, as Celestia turned to Stasrwirl for answers:
"I'm not certain, are you Sta-."
"Something's happened to every Alicorn, I'm certain of it. I warned them, too much of that powerful spell and it would backfire on them!"
"Was it to do with the campaign in the far north?" Luna asked, as her mind wracked about military involvements the Royalist council had oh so kindly rebuked their involvement from.
"What else could it be?" Starswirl surmised, the Wizard's mind racing as he looked at the situation at hoof. He had no idea of what was about to come, none of them did.
But really, who could have anticipated any of this?

Next Day
Mid-Afternoon
24th February, 68 BNM
Vanhoover, Royalist Headquarters Castle
'War Room'

Something was terribly wrong, that much was obvious. The war was stopped, by all sides. No agreements, no treaties, no negotiations, just shock. Utter shock.
The moon was fixed in place, and the Sun had yet to set. Slowly and slowly they had come to a stop, as noticed by astronomers and astrologers who watched for their own reasons each.
The days and nights were eternal now, wherever one was in the world depending.
The days became scorching, the night or darker areas frigid. Crops began to die, and the weather took a turn for the worse. Equestria had come to a standstill.
Pandemonium unfolded across the world, and it would become known as the longest days in history.
And to those who could sense it, the power vacuum meant opportunity was knocking louder then ever before.

"We cannot let this go on!"
"Oh I agree, but about it being your lot that tries to fix this mess..."
Out of the top of the wooden table, a face seemed to emerge from the carved wood, to the surprise, and slow horror, of those ex-Alicorns and their guards gathered in the 'war room'.
An elongated snout with fur, a hybrid of a dragon and donkey, but as it rose out, the wood seeming to melt like liquid as the figure surged up like a wooden sculpture, mismatched wings and limbs also rose.
A creature that would become known as a Draconeraqus, a being of chaos with extremely powerful magic, the only known one of his kind.
"That is all fine and dandy, but there's a slight problem with that idea of yours. You don't have any power, magic or otherwise by extension, anymore."
The creature slowly came to hover over the table, his skin and features turning from the wood colour to reveal his true colours. The main body was brown, but greyish on the head, and the tail was reddish in scales. There was a pegasi-esqe blue wing, a dark purple draconian wing, a lion paw and an eagle talon, a donkey and a dragon leg, all mismashed onto the same creature that also sported a single deer antler and a bulky horn akin to an Alicorn's in size.
The creature seemed to sport a haughty smile on his single, snaggle-toothed maw, as he paced before them, feet stepping on an invisible surface above them as he grinned gleefully at them, his long neck straining down mockingly:
"My idea is better, and here it is. I bring back the day and night, but I get to make this world my own to rule and shape as I see fit."
"Preposterous! Seize this foul demon!"
A cry from one of the Unicorns gathered signalled to the guards, as they rushed the creature. But the creature flicked his lion wrist, and the guards were frozen in place as a mysterious magic glued their hooves to the floor, or their wings to their bodies, and robbed the Unicorns of their horns inexplicably:
"Oh please, do try and stop me. The only reason I didn't try anything before was because your Alicorn kind's numbers and the war made it not worth the trouble. But now, now I can have some fun..."
The creature held out a single eagle claw, as he hovered over the table that they had been meeting at, and clicked it once.
Unicorn horns and Pegasi wings vanished from more then just the guards, and suddenly, every pony in the castle began to hover, as gravity was taken away from the building.

A mad cackle from the creature responsible echoed as he flew forth over the horizon, the castle that was once the Vanhoover Royalist HQ now slowly flipping end on end, hovering where it had once been situated, gravity turned asunder there. The streets were shadowed by more buildings slowly creaking off their foundations, and the local church even seemed to sprout its foundations and literally walk off over the hills.
Trees came to life, their branches ripping fruits and seeds from their forms and hurling them at each other or at ponies who once lived in the city.
Livestock for non-slaughter purposes were melded into deformed, strange hybrids. A flock of two ended cows flew in loose formations across the rooftops, and some ponies became plagued by a band of angry pigs using their tails as springs to bounce after them in pursuit.
It would be the first of Discord's rule.

2 days pass
Baltimare [once Discord had his way with it]

He had it. Equestria was in his grasp. But there was a problem. The day and night were still static, and he himself could only bear the hot and cold wherever he traveled so much.
"What good is a chaotic kingdom if the day and night kill those I could have fun with? And the same thing day in and day out is boring. Wouldn't you agree?"
The Lord of Chaos hovered before the tree of stone and salvaged port docks he had built, as giant balls of bread dough acted as cocoons for those ponies unfortunate enough to be caught where they were when he came.
The sailor earth pony's muffled words were indecipherable, to which Discord merely shrugged, waving a hand at the one of many bitter sailor ponies as he flew out over the bay of Baltimare:
"No pleasing anypony."
Discord had been meandering about Equestria, namely the ex-Nationalist capital.
Suffice to say, his chaotic exploits, with no Alicorn rulers, no true opposition to him, were utterly free to unleash as they saw fit.
Yet now, as he flew up high over he bay, he focused his attention, as he delved deep into the magical senses he had imbued from birth:

He felt it. The energy drain in the Moon and in the Day cycles. Powerful, but he could do it, he thought he could at least.

For hours, the Draconeraqus focused on the task at hand, a rare distraction from his usual skylarking across his newfound, easily conquered Equestria.
Scoffing slightly as he paused, Discord mused to himself as he hovered hundreds of feet over the bay:
"Hmm, this might take time."
Glancing his gaze upwards, Discord's usually entertained gaze turned wary slightly, as he saw the Moon hanging where it was, also with the Sun low on the horizon. He had sensed the energy needed, and he had doubts himself.
After some thought, Discord mused to himself with a shrug:
"A temporary fix perhaps, until I'm certain I can get it done."
Holding a hand up, he began to chant, mind racing with thoughts going towards finding the right spell, making one from scratch.
But deep down, a part of him always wondered where he got such power as he did, and where he had come from. It wasn't like he could remember.
After all, the first thing he remembers is awakening in a forest, alone, with these powers and these looks.
It wasn't like he'd had a life before that.

Across Equestria, even as it was too witnessed by a Wizard leading two Alicorn sisters to refuge, away from the madman who had taken Equestria in the few days of utter chaos, the change was evident.
As the being used his magic, the Sun moved, as did the moon. The greatest irony being that a being of utter chaos restored the greatest harmony to be had on this world, for the sake of convenience and having a world to rule.
Yet Starswirl knew this was a temporary fix. The damage had been done, and Discord knew it too.
It wasn't long before the days wore on, and Discord had to grow accustomed to pushing the sun and moon every single day at some point. It was the only, the singular and sole scheduled event he kept to, in an established rule of utter insanity and ludicrous, rampant creative anarchy.
But for Starswirl, teaching the two princesses became top priority, and nothing else mattered at this point.
To think, Equestria fell in just a few short days, from a mighty, but divided realm, to one that was the plaything of a being that now held the power over night and day across the world.
Other nations considered it a blessing that Discord didn't see much reason to go beyond Equestria's borders, aside from the odd skirmish south into the mutthican wastes and the New Gryphon north. No part of Equestria was spared, save for the Everfree forest, the only part of Equestria Discord felt was untamed still by looks alone. But all other places fell to his power, and the Crystal Empire's only respite was that Discord found all that snow and wasteland rather boring and dull. But without Equstria to trade with, the Empire suffered as its economy tanked.
But hope remained, hidden away under a Wizard's care, a forest deity's growth, and to be harnessed by two princesses and ex-Alicorns the former would teach to use what he would leave behind.

Author's Note

In a bid to distinguish this chapter, the journal style entry starts it. After all, this is Starswirl's story after all, first and foremost.
Discord's rise to power is rather abrupt, but I've said in the story how. But long story short, the feedback/backlash against the power usage robs all Alicorns of their power, even the two sisters. Making Equestria a sitting duck of a nation, one Discord has been keeping an eye on.
More from Discord's POV next chapter.

Six Years of Chaos

Midday
March 12th, 62 BNM
Equestria, midland plains
'Anarchy Hills', Discord's capital

The ground and valley lay adorned with square patterns of pastel colours, utterly devoid of anything found naturally. The bedraggled travellers traversed the sloping hills, wary eyes casting over the many floating rock islands far overhead, a few house fragments and trees adorning them.
Before them, a large rising hilltop was marked with a vacant red velvet throne, the arms of the chair noticeably warped and distorted to the eyes of those who beheld it. The cloaked, rather deprived Ponies nervously glanced about, as their leader came forth, a thin looking Earth Pony stallion with a very unkempt beard:
"My lord Discord. We have travelled far, from the San Palomino lands. Our town is plagued with a shortage of water ever since the river dried up. We come before you to beseech your might and aid our suffering."
A moment of silence reigned over the plains, the pastel pink skies and clouds overhead rumbling slightly, the flocks of flying schools of fish gulping the air as they circled around. But they swiftly scattered, as a crack of electricity split the air just above the throne. Right at that moment, the throne floated off its rise, slowly rotating as a long figure came slowly hovering out of the rip in the air.
Coming to slowly sit with his back bent over the throne, the Draconeraqus glanced at the travellers with his inquisitive red and yellow eyes, a small smirk on his snaggle-toothed mouth as he sat more upright once the throne stopped rotating.
"I know why you came. And what makes you think I'll help?"
Discord's sceptical remark was followed with his usual smirk, as the pony leader's followers bowed low behind him on the pastel squared hills before his throne hill. Their leader pleaded yet again:
"Please, we will pledge our loyalty to you."
"I presumed all of Equestria would have thought that already... Anyone with half a brain at least." Discord mumbled, more to himself but loud enough to be heard.
"We will pledge more then any of them already have! We have no water to drink or for crops!"
Rolling his eyes at the desperate pony, Discord clicked his eagle talon, teleporting right in front of the pony leader as he then leant down his long neck to look the leader in the eyes:
"Oh stop grovelling, it would be amusing if it weren't so pathetic. Besides, I know there's no water there. I needed to freeze the water in that river upstream from your valley."
At this, the leader's expression turned to abject confusion, as he asked incredulously while looking up, and slowly backing away from Discord:
"Why would you freeze our water?"
At this, Discord snapped his talon one more time, and a portal opened up, a vision to the past. On it, a massive river was frozen solid, with many copies of Discord holding sticks in an early form of bandy. Multiple Discords knocked a ball around on the ice with rounded sticks, as Discord remarked offhandedly as one of his dopplegangers scored a number of points in a row by multiplying the ball as it flew towards the goal posts.
"To have an ice rink to play against myself on, with this fun sport the Caninberians came up with. Are all ponies as slow witted as you?"
One of the younger ponies in the travelling cloaks, a Pegasus mare, rushed forwards with her hoof outstretched in anger, her yell and hoof getting right in Discord's face.
"You, you selfish monster!"
Discord's face frowned deeply at this, as the leader shushed the mare back, pleading with the Draconeraqus:
"Quiet! Please, my lord, Glisten, she is young, she does not know what she says!"
Discord stared passively at the group, before he snapped his fingers just once.
In another portal which appeared in place of the one showing Discord's ice rink, a picture of their water deprived town appeared, the river bed dried up as much as the desert around it.
Yet when Discord snapped his fingers yet again, the town split open in the middle, as a gigantic water geyser burst forth, shooting skywards with its heated steam and fumes as Discord's magic then shoved the travellers through. A journey that took them days took a second for him.
As they landed, it was quickly evident that the size of the water geyser was flooding the town, the warm water from the geyser steaming hot as it flooded the streets.
"You see, there was water right under your noses all the time. And its as hot and putrid as your attitudes are."
Discord cackled as he zipped shut the portal, the towns ponies having been dropped back from their now to be flooded town.
Staring back at the expanse that was his main valley, Discord tapped his lion paw to his chin, thinking:
"Hmm, maybe I should have kept them around, had fun with them..."
After a moment of thought, Discord laughed this off, as he turned the ground beneath him into a river of golden syrup, and sat down on a canoe made of bread as he laughed. Finishing his laugh, Discord magicked a mirror into existance, his reflection not behaving normally as Discord posed, the reflection moving differently as it examined Discord as an artist would a work in progress:
"Nah, they were too rude for my liking. Why can't I just find somepony who has a sense of humor for once? Oh well, nopony can be me I guess."
Flexing a muscle on his lion paw, Discord waited as his reflection then leant out of the mirror to take a tape measure around the bicep, before retreating with a nod and a smile. At this, Discord shrugged:
"But really, who could? Perfection wouldn't be what it was if everypony was as good as each other."
"Exactly, keep telling yourself that." The reflection rebuked, to which Discord then smirked at his reflection as he pointed to it:
"And me, myself and I guarantees fun and intelligence all the time."
"Mind that swelling head of yours, it might get as fat as your belly could from lounging about all the time."
Discord's eyes narrowed as the bread canoe bobbed on the golden syrup river, the mirror Discord smirking back as the real Discord rebuked grumpily:
"You're a smart-alek, aren't you?"
"Well I am your reflection."
"A fragile reflection..." Discord warned, his own face taking on a smirk as the reflection Discord laughed off the warning:
"Ah-ah-ah, Seven Years Bad Lu-URK!"
The reflection Discord was pulled from the mirror, as the mirror itself vanished with a pop, as the now smirking Discord held the doppelganger in a magical hold:
"I would think those egotistical towns-ponies would remind you to not be a killjoy..."
At this, the Discord reflection could only offer a sheepish grin, to which the real Discord then offered a similar smirk as he replied:
"But, arguing with myself is at least entertaining if anything else."
One more snap of his eagle talons, and the once-reflection Discord had become a winged pig that flew off backwards through the skies, as Discord paddled down the golden syrup river, whistling a tune to himself.
Life was good for the chaotic tyrant, though he was more of a mischief maker in his mind.

Equestria, north midland mountains

Growing bored of his golden syrup canoe ride, Discord had taken flight, across the landscapes, morphing them to his whims as he went. Rivers reversed their currents, trees uprooted and began walking off in all sorts of directions, birds began to burrow underground and fish began to fly, while land based animals began to shapeshift togather, morphing into much larger creatures that were made up of many animals stuck together.
Yet as the Draconeraqus flew, his meandering wanderings taking him north, there was an area in the mountains he'd largely left untouched, a large number of valleys known to have once harboured a fortress, and was home to stone giants, though where exactly in the many valleys was not entirely known.
He stopped his wanton transfigurations as he came to a slow flight high above the forest strewn valleys, his normally thoughtful, playful gaze turning more subdued.
Slowly flying down, Discord landed on a ridge, as he found a familiar place.

The Draconeraqus staggered through, having awoken that day yet again in the forest. He ran, away, as warned. Flashes in his mind. A green eyed Silhouette hurting him, a light blue eyed figure helping him and pleading for him to run, as a red eyed and yellow eyed pair of creatures were marauding further in his shadowed early memories like demons, and tales of more of them. A silenced voice, as he thought something had been ripped away.

But as the memories played, each time he ever recalled them, they became muted, blurred. Soon, they became a mess, a hallucination he paid little heed to as nothing but the inaccurate memories any young aged being would have.
Unseen, taking flight from the valley ridge, Discord's eyes turned to the east for a moment, before he took flight south, mind set on what else he could do today.
Just a few miles from where he'd landed, the unseen ruins lay dormant, silent, save for the sliver of hidden evil that had endured.
An evil that would be forgotten, along with much of the history surrounding it, as Discord's reign turned Equestria into a state of anarchy and unnatural disorder.
The Alicorns were becoming myth faster then anybody anticipated. Their war, their mistake, their legacy.
A legacy of the Sun and Moon being out of natural sync, and Discord's manipulating all that stopped cataclysms that would arise by them coming to a stop in motions. His rule of these cycles made him a god.
Yet it wasn't perfect. Some days he forgot to move the day and night the same time each day, so there was no set sunrise and sunset time, and vice versa for the moon. The cycles were non-uniform, but the important thing was that he always remembered to at some point.
Discord's once mercy granted was that no dead world was worth ruling over for his own amusement.
Amusement that he created of his own power, for he couldn't recall any life of his own before.

Same day
Mid Afternoon
Equestria, Mid-Eastern mountains
Neighagra falls
Meadowbrook’s tower

The mare stared out of the curtain, the river outside her tower, far down in the canyon beyond, having been turned into a flowing river of a different sort. The Mage Meadowbrook gave a derisive snort as she turned away from the sight that Discord, in a brief pass over this place, had done to the majestic Neighagra falls.
Now, the Neighagra falls ran much thicker, as the river had been turned into flowing, smooth blackcurrent jam. The waterfall now trickled, no more mist or rainbows from them, nor was there much noise as there once was. The 'jamfall' ran rather silently and in a solid sheet of trickling spread one normally saw on breads or in jars.
Sure enough, the knock on her door sounded right on cue, as Meadowbrook made her way through.
Opening the door to her tower, Meadowbrook saw the blue robed, grey bearded Wizard Unicorn standing before her, his hat tilted back as he bowed to her in greeting. But as Starswirl cast his gaze towards the distant valley and river, he couldn't help but murmur with mixed incredulity and worry:
"How long has that been-."
"3 weeks. A shame, when it was ale I didn't find it as bad. I hate blackcurrent."
With that personal gripe uttered, the yellow furred mage let Starswirl inside the tower, being sure to shut the door.
From the outside, the tower became invisible, as she had been careful to enchant it following Discord's rise to power to remain hidden to all, except those she let know where it was.
Sadly that number was still very few.

Sat in the dining room, as Starswirl quietly drank the light herbal tea she brought out, Meadowbrook's yellow magic set aside the teapot as she surmised what she'd sought out:
"He's still wreaking havoc, but what can we do? He controls the sun and moon, any attempts to take him down are not worth the trouble, unless they can take over those duties."
Meadowbrook's words were ones he'd heard many times, as Starswirl put down his teacup as he replied coldly:
"They're almost ready, I've had Celestia and Luna trained well, they'll be ready when their opportunity comes. Once it comes, they will return from sanctuary in the New Gryphon north, and claim what they must."
Meadowbrook's brow furrowed at the Wizard's words, as she pressed him on his resolve, and what seemed to be misplaced certainty:
"You said it last time you came to exchange news, information. They're no Alicorns, they're gone. Those two haven't the power to overcome Discord and take over the duties that any who take power for order must. The damage has been done, it can't be fixed so quickly."
Grimacing at this, an old wound to the pride of he and her, the last Wizard and Mage in Equestria, forced into hiding as Discord made playthings out of prolific magic wielders in Equestria as if they were toys.
"I know. But what I've had brewing for a number of years is almost ready. It will work, they can do it."
Scathingly, Meadowbrook regarded this news with a degree of skepticism, as she jabbed a hoof towards Starswirl accusing him of past misdeeds she'd witnessed herself, especially against the now dead Being of Gluttony:
"Yes, this secret project of yours. And I somehow have a sneaking suspicion that your necromancy studies went towards it."
"None more then is absolutely necessary. I am not Siral, I won't be tempted by power that there is no need for."
Starswirl's proclamation, as he rose to his feet slightly from the table, didn't faze Meadowbrook in the slightest, as she coldly replied to him through slits for eyes:
"Forgive me if I distrust of your words..."
Snorting at this, Starswirl maintained and air of certainty, but admitted to fault because she was one of the very few longtime acquaintances he had left:
"I realize I got overzealous when those other creatures of his were running amok, but the fact remains is that we were so focused on that threat that not only did we prove unable to coerce the Alicorns out of their foolish actions those years ago, but we missed a puerile tyrant just waiting in the wings all this time. I won't let this opportunity I've been brewing go to waste."
"How can I trust it if you won't tell me what it is? Even after all these years we've collaborated and conversed in secrecy from Discord?"
Meadowbrook spoke softly now, as her tone became hurt by the cold demeanour of Starswirl. Truth be told, he had been cold ever since Siral had turned so long ago, the same time as the Citadel was beseiged and King Nova was killed. Made worse was when the Salamander, Chack vanished, and somehow silenced Siral in his fortress ruins, and the last being of his disappeared too. But the missing seventh, whatever the evil creature was, had gone entirely.
The only respite was that Discord's demeanour meant he wasn't the same being.
"Discord came through here just 3 weeks ago. He seeks us out as he does any powerful magic wielders. The less ponies that know, the safer the secret is until it must be unleashed, when it is ready."
"And when will it be ready?" Meadowbrook bluntly asked, the Mage Unicorn standing up at her table as she thumped the drink mug on the mahogany tabletop. But Starswirl only sighed, as he replied honestly:
"That, I will tell Celestia and Luna. But, it will be very soon. By the midsummer, Discord will be gone."
Starswirl was silent for a moment, before he quietly remarked in a tone Meadowbrook could barely hear:
"As shall I be."

Her expression now lost all scathing about him, as the Mage knew this may happen. He had been hinting that he may be going after this, leaving Equestria forever somehow, someway.
"The tools I will leave them, where they are being forged, the spellwork requires such great exertion, that I may not survive. If I do, I will be drained of all but the barest of life. Yes, these are steeped in necromancy, but to harness virtues, and power, to overcome any evil now, or in future, that may arise on this world."
"I, I don't know what to say."
Meadowbrook's utterance was laced with regret for the harsher tones she had just a minute ago about his methods, yet Starswirl's tone remained as certain as ever, even if laced with a bit of melancholy, and perhaps, relief.
"Meadowbrook, I wanted to tell you this so you wouldn't miss me when I vanish, even if you disapproved of some of my more desperate studies. Given how historiography has been thrown asunder in Discord's time I'll likely be recorded as simply one of many who 'vanished' during his reign. I say it would be for the best. I have lived a long life, a full life. Admittedly not as best as I could have hoped. Chasing a prophecy without opening my eyes earlier to the world around me was just the most blatant of my poor choices..."
"I lost more in my journeys then I hoped to gain, this last act may bring me balance. I will give Equestria, the world, the chances I feel I had a hoof in perhaps costing it in the ways of peace, had I done more."
Meadowbrook walked around the table, laying a hoof on Starswirl's shoulder as she offered a consoling hoof to the still rather stoic wizard. She wondered when the last time he'd smiled was.
"Do not speak that way. You have done more then anypony I know."
"Perhaps that is why it is best I disappear, to leave while I am still ahead. Besides, those two are the future, I am the past. And if I am perfectly honest, I have had my fill of stress the job of wizard brings. My mind is made up."
They sat in silence, and it was a few minutes before their conversation about any last few matters and news of Discord's antics and chaos came up again.

An hour later

As he exited the doorway, the only visible part of the tower when he opened the door itself, Starswirl stopped short as Meadowbrook came to the door with him.
Meadowbrook blinked a few times, the yellow furred Mage regarding the Wizard before her with newfound eyes. He now seemed, older, jaded, but losing none of his wisdom. Time had taken its toll on him long before the civil war and much else.
Shaking her head with a smile, Meadowbrook replied with a slight tremble:
"You are right. I can't, and won't stop you. But what shall I do?"
"Whatever you decide, do what you wish. But, if you truly wish to know what you should do, take advice I gave to a very old friend, a long time ago. Advice I wish, to heaven and hell, that he had heeded, and perhaps so much could have been avoided if he'd heeded it.
As Starswirl spoke this, he leant against the doorway as he glanced into Meadowbrook's tearful, sad, but accepting gaze. But his mind wandered to a time long ago.
To Starswirl, it had been 52 years. To Siral, 112, enough where if he were still here, they'd be the same age.
But he always recalled the time, now 738 years ago, before any time jumps, before the prophecy, the last time they were truly friends.

A friendly, outgoing elder wizard, and a younger, more withdrawn, shy but curious and skilled wizard, sitting together, stargazing, discussing topics of interest, sharing a small pipeweed batch on a starlit hilltop.
So long ago, when Siral was far from the wretched, scarred, deformed and depraved monster he became. A victim of others, and his own curiosity, and ambition in the end.
Even with the friends Stasrwirl made on those time jumps, he lost one. He knew that now.
In his mind, Siral faded, leaving only an older, more jaded and worn Starswirl alone on the starlit hilltop.

Pulling from his melancholic memories, Starswirl offered a forced grin at Meadowbrook as he spoke:
"Live as you choose, but do not follow others into destinies not your own. Live your own life."
"How would you if you were in my position?"
"Maybe add some more artefacts to your collection?"
Laughing at his coy remark at what magical accomplishments were what made her famous, Meadowbrook wiped a tear as she replied in good nature:
"Perhaps not. Eight seems right."
In a very rare, more natural smile, Starswirl turned to leave, putting his pointed hat on along with his blue cloak, turning to leave the tower with a few last words.
"Perhaps. But, to be blunt Meadowbrook my dear, your life is not mine. Whatever you decide, I don't give a damn."
And with that, he strode off down the pathway, as Meadowbrook watched the bearded wizard slowly fade from view, as it was a half minute before he vanished in a flash of blue light, heading north to his proteges.
Lamenting this as the last time she would likely ever see Starswirl, Meadowbrook silently bid him goodbye, and shut the door of her tower. A small ghost of a smile crept across her face as she door shut, her whisper more to herself:
"Go in peace, wherever you end up."

Equestria midlands
Everfree forest, deep forest
Harmony alcove

A semi-open cavern enclosed it, but as he arrived, on yet another checkup, Starswirl yet again marvelled at the growth this creation of the gifts he left, and Everfree's magic, had cultivated.
Before him, as the vines slowly crept around its crystalline roots and structure that grew inside the cavernous alcove, he knew of the part of the prophecy that inspired this. Cultivating harmony's essence, through the harvesting of the imprints left on gifts left from those he met, who displayed the true, most pure of virtues that he had felt as the sources of great power.

Seek the essences of true Harmony, the greatest power to be had to combat these threats you are to face at the end of your destiny.
A Treacherous One, for you and they to learn of True Loyalty.
A Restrained One, for you and they to learn of True Magic.
A Deceitful One, for you and they to learn of True Honesty.
A Glum One, for you and they to learn of True Joy.
A Selfish One, for you and they to learn of True Generosity.
A Cruel One, for you and they to learn of True Kindness.

The Tree of Harmony.
Glancing around, as he saw the rocks they grew from, one with many names that acted as a 'booster' for magic, as some weapons in the civil war took advantage of. Orichalcum was one name, and Starswirl heard the name Quintessenite once, though he doubted that name would truly stick.
Overhead, the vines morphed to show an Alicorn head, through which the spirit of the forest spoke to him, Everfree, the first ever Alicorn, and one who merged with nature to live forever in harmony with nature:
"It is ready. We can begin as soon as you are willing. Once it begins, there is no going back."
Casting his gaze over the tree, this project having grown with their cooperation over 6 years, Starswirl saw the 6 different gems in the tree. Five coloured ones of yellow, blue, red, green and purple, and the most powerful, but most dependant upon the others, magic, in the centre as a pink, star shaped jewel.
"To harness the energy needed whenever these, Elements, would be used, more is needed to fuel them from the start. The virtues and their energies alone are not enough, they must be harnessed by a willing mind, to meld with them, join them."
"Yes I know. I'm giving myself up for them, body, soul and mind, this isn't news Everfree." Starswirl grumpily remarked, as he stared up at the vine bodied Alicorn avatar that came to stand on the ground near him, the echoing voice carrying through the alcove:
"We underestimated, especially if your chosen recipients and any future ones are to wield power for any potential threat, let alone upgrading your two candidates back to their Alicorn status, or have any hope of harnessing the thanful balancing spell of the sun and moon Discord put in place."
"How much did we underestimate?" Warily, Starswirl asked, not liking the implications.
"Enough where I must meld as well. After these Elements are finished, this forest will no longer have me. I will spread, no longer an intact mind. I will, go on, my energy given to the Elements, but my mind and spirit freed."
"You'll die?"
Starswirl's query was blunt, sad even. He didn't realize what this would cost Everfree, what this endeavour would do to the forest spirit.
"Yes, but I accept it. It is, for the best. This forest, can endure without me as its lord. But you, you will not be alone where you go. I cannot guarantee what it will be like, but you shall not die, but pass beyond the mortal realm to complete it."
"A sacrifice I am willing to make, we've been over this. But you are sure of your own role?"
Starswirl asked carefully of the forest spirit, the Alicorn avatar merely nodding as it/he stared at the glowing blue/white tree, a small wooden smile on his features:
"Yes. I have lived long. To see, or rather ensure that Equestria returns to peace is a sacrifice worth making. Even with two Alicorns ascending, I expect they'll have learned from their ancestors' mistakes, nor make unnatural levels of disorder that even nature wouldn't create as Discord does."
"I think the latter goes without saying."
Starswirl's blunt remark about the state of things hid his own misgivings however, but not over this matter. Sensing this, Everfree probed the Wizard, the vines creaking on his body as he shuffled to face the Wizard:
"You seem troubled..."
Shuffling on his hooves, Starswirl said it out loud, what had been nagging at him for so long.
"It, isn't right, that I just leave them, Celestia and Luna. I cannot in good conscience just leave them clues to get these, use them, and nothing else. I, I want to part ways with them with better final memories then just duty. Duty cost me friends in the past on its own."
Everfree regarded the Wizard curiously, but the forest spirit gave a slight rumbling chuckle as he turned to the tree, silent for a moment. After a few moments, Everfree spoke in a low, but optimistic tone to the Wizard:
"It is wise to cherish while you can be with them. Go. The tree can wait, so long as you do not take too long. Do what feels right. I will be waiting."
Blinking a few times, the Wizard quietly nodded to the forest spirit, promising to return when the time would come to prepare for the future. His final duty, but one he chose as a way to ensure what must be fixed was given the chance to be done.
But far north, in their sanctuary in the New Gryphon empire's outskirts, he had two ex-Alicorn sisters who he wanted time with for the sake of sake pleasant memories as his last days among this plane of existence, before he plunged into the unknown as he secured the future.
Starswirl wanted his last days with the two Princesses he had come to see as his best pupils, and friends in spite of his demeanour through the years, to be jovial ones worth taking with him into what could be oblivion. It would make the act he had to do worth it, a last moment of calm before his willing end.
He knew they were ready, but he wanted his last moments of his life to be his, not his duty's.
He headed north, knowing he would be back, for the last journey of his path.

Author's Note

Long chapter, took longer to write, but we are on the home stretch. The next chapter will be all about Starswirl socialising with the sisters in their sanctuary away from Discord's, antic stained Equestria, as he also reminisces with them over all that occurred. A sort of wrap up/sendoff chapter for them before he finally dives into making the Elements final and sacrificing himself, and Everfree as needed, to complete their great power.
Also, a final farewell to the Mage Meadowbrook, whom was terse but cooperative with him during the chaotic, low key 6 years of Discord's rule, and a tribute to one of the best farewell's in storytelling history made by a blunt man.
If anything, this chapter's longer writing time was due to me forming the sort of rule Discord had being presented in a small but exemplary snippet. So I looked for inspiration, and I found it in Samurai Jack's Aku. A jovial, but dark and all powerful rule.
Villainous Discord always seemed sort of Aku-lite, more the prankster then the tyrant, but enough of a temper on him to not insult or rile up as the show featured in its episodes. So it offered me guidence on how to portray him. Though undertones of the origin I gave him barely haunt him. Barely.

The last Farewell to the Royal Sisters

Midday
March 15th, 62 BNM
New Gryphon Empire, north eastern coastline
Port Talonsbury, outskirts
Royal Sisters' Sanctuary

The small trading port of Port Talonsbury was a fishing port and rest stop for cross-Muttlantic voyages made by many ships, as it had been for the past few dozen years since its settlement. The channel between the Cape Clawraign island it nestled on, and the New Gryphon mainland, was rich in fish and crabs, making the town prosperous.
Even so, it remained small enough to be inconspicuous to those searching for high profile individuals.
Discord's reign began with searching for the higher profile magic users to place them under 'controlled chaos', any number of ludicrous, often perilous situations, so he knew where anybody that might dare raise force against him uselessly was, for his own amusement, or more likely, to not be annoyed.
But here, inside a small repurposed monastery, three Unicorns lived together, known to the locals as merely an elder widower stallion and his two daughters, living a peaceful life away from Equestria. They had been wise to leave the nation, though unwilling to make the trans-Muttlantic voyage it seemed.
For all intents and purposes, this perceived family wasn't too far off the money.
Starswirl had come to see the two Princesses as more then just students, but he wouldn't go far beyond that. And they in turn saw him as a dear friend, master and father figure. Particularly in wake of their father's murder years ago, when there were still Alicorns.
Much had changed, and more would soon for the better. But they would lose just one more before they could begin to truly take their rightful place.
Yet for now, Starswirl wished to cherish a last few days of peace with them.

In the kitchenette of the small repurposed monastery, Starswirl had decided to indulge, against his better judgement, in a hobby that Celestia had picked up on.
He had long got used to the two sisters being Unicorns, and not Alicorns. But known only to him, they wouldn't remain that way for much longer:
"Pray tell what you have in mind today?" Starswirl asked, waiting patiently as Celestia deposited what looked like a rather simple loaf of bread and a knife before he and Luna at the table. With a smile, she explained as she sliced the bread up to serve them, her pink mane tied back as she'd been cooking:
"Rye bread mixed with sugars, some spices and a new type of glazing I found in the markets."
Arching an eyebrow, Starswirl muttered aloud:
"I thought monks in Eoropean faiths forced rye bread diets on misbehaving members..."
A sheepish smile came over Celestia as she added while Luna put slices onto her own serving plate:
"Yes well I made some adjustments to a food I thought got a bad reputation."
"It smells delectable Celly."
Her younger sister's remark pleased Celestia, as the older Unicorn gestured to the plate to both Luna and the grouchy Wizard that acted as their self appointed guardian:
"In which case enjoy. But I hope it turned out fine, this is a new recipe."
Hovering the slices of the flavoured Rye bread to his mouth as Luna did the same, Starswirl glimpsed the cloves of some leaves in the bread, along with a mismash of odd dots of colour from the other spices. Taking a bite, Starswirl paused as he tasted it.
Beside him, Luna paused as well, chewing as her smile slowly vanished. Biting into the bread some more, Starswirl felt the flavours erupt into his mouth. Or at least, something was erupting, something uncomfortable. And burning.
Coughing slightly as she chewed the slice of bread, Luna asked as her mouth started to dry up:
"Which markets were where you got the spices and glaze from?"
"The trading ports, where the imports come in."
As Celestia replied, Starswirl took a heaving breath, the Wizard trying to maintain his calm as his mouth turned hotter and hotter.
"It is, I think it could be... holy buck my mouth's ablaze! Water!"
A jug of water tore through the air beside Celestia's head as Starswirl summoned it, not even bothering with a mug or glass as he swigged it down into his mouth and throat. Clamouring for the water, Luna's own blue magic ripped the jug from Starswirl's soggy mouth as he breathed a sigh of relief, her own gulps punctuating the air as Celestia looked somewhat downtrodden from the other side of the table:
"Was it really that bad?"
Coughing as she finished drinking, Luna replied sensitively:
"No, it tasted, alright. But the hot spices overwhelmed it."
Taking another swig from the water jug, Starswirl murmured as he finished taking in more water:
"Slaughtered might be more appropriate wording."
Grimacing, Celestia sheepishly replied in keeping with good spirits:
"Maybe spicy foods aren't my forte?"
"Clearly." Starswirl grumbled, as Luna snatched the jug from him to take another few gulps. Seeing her downtrodden look, Starswirl offered this with a decidedly less grumpy tone, though his stinging tongue made it an effort for him:
"Everypony has their failures, otherwise they'd never learn from them. You can continue to experiment, but, perhaps try and taste your food before getting others to."
"I did."
"...Y-you did?"
At Starswirl's stammer, as well as Luna casting her sister a surprised look from across the kitchenette table, Celestia shrugged slightly as she hovered 3 of the slices towards her mouth:
"Yes. Look.."
Biting down and chewing thoroughly, almost effortlessly on them, Celestia swallowed the slices down without a hint of the hot taste bothering her. As Luna and Starswirl stared in surprise, Celestia remarked casually:
"See, its completely fine."
"Clearly you have more taste for spicy food then we do sister." Luna jabbed back, as Starswirl took another sip from the water jug, his mouth still tingling slightly.

Early Afternoon
Monastery gardens

Later that same day, Starswirl watched from afar as Celestia and Luna practiced their spellwork in the gardens. The sport they came up with between them involved casting reflective orbs and directing them about to reflect a spell that they fired in turns. Each time it reflected, it sped up, and whoever's reflecting orb shattered from the accelerated spell having gained too much power for the orb to handle, won.
But as a shadow was cast over the land, they ceased their spellwork, the stinging spell shooting off into the sky harmlessly as the orbs faded.
Glancing up, Starswirl groaned as he saw the moon moving fast across the sky, and had moved in front of the sun to cause an eclipse. But soon afterwards, the eclipse became bright, and dark, again and again.
"He must be moving the moon back and forth for his own amusement..."
"That creature, the nerve of him..." Luna murmured, while Celestia only wondered aloud:
"I wonder what this might cause if he's this reckless..."
"Whatever he is up to, he'll stop eventually. Now, you two were doing well, you nearly set a new reflection rebound record."
As he walked down to a stone bench, wearily parking his hunches on it, Luna and Celestia exchanged a look of uncertainty all of a sudden, as Starswirl took out his pipe to take a few puffs from the weed.
"Master, are you feeling alright?"
"I couldn't be better. Now don't let an old stallion enjoying some old weed stop your game, it is good practice as well."
Shrugging her shoulders slightly, the pink maned Unicorn began to charge a spell, as it was her turn to fire off the spell they would rebound. Forming the first spheres, Luna readied as Celestia fired off the spell.
Yet this peace, to them, was a masquerade. It was unspoken, but they knew there was a reason Stasrwirl was laid back today. He wasn't going to be around for long.

Other side of the world.
Wyvern archipelego

Holding on tight, the Wyvern fishers watched as their ship was swiftly carried down the shoreline, where a makeshift port city at the foot of the Wyvern's cliff mounted settlement had been flooded in a matter of minutes.
Their small fishing raft floated down the current, bumping into floating market stalls and debris as it went.
Perched atop a few trees higher up on the cliffs, the Wyvern leader shook his head as he shared a glance at his councillors:
"What devilry is that far off tyrant up to now...?"

Meanwhile

Sat on a floating throne, far above the clouds, Discord flung the string connected to his clawed finger back and forth. From the string, a tether thin line of light vanished into the endless abyss beyond.
As if on a yo-yo, the moon shuffled back and forth in the skies, as Discord's magic strained to move it as he wished.
"I wish this was easier, but its still fun anyway."
Cackling slightly as he was getting weary from the magic he was exuding, Discord continued to use the cosmos, or at least the nearest body around the planet, as his plaything. He had control over it, why shouldn't he use it to his amusement?

Next day
Late Morning
March 16th, 62 BNM
New Gryphon Empire, north eastern coastline
Port Talonsbury, outskirts
Royal Sisters' Sanctuary

Stood at the door, late breakfast having finished now, Starswirl stared at the two Unicorn mares who had come to the door with him, their eyes alight with mourning, hurt, and even pleading.
"You both knew this day was coming. I have to go."
"We know. But must you?"
Luna's question hurt Starswirl, as he knew it had to be done. Beside her, Celestia looked similarly saddened, her pink mane hanging down in the same way Luna's pale blue mane had lost its lustre with their moods. With a slight sigh, Starswirl added as he stared proudly at both of them:
"I have taught you all you know, all you must know. But I cannot do anything myself. I tried, I truly have. But if Equestria, the world, is to be in balance, or at peace, you two must take Discord down. Too many have gone, your family, my friends... Its time to make things right."
A small glint of tears came into the sisters' eyes as they remembered their father and mother, as Starswirl stoically refused to remember his history for now. Celestia carefully probed the Wizard, curious about this mysterious hope he had told them of:
"And these, Elements of Harmony, as you called them?"
"When the time is right, you will receive a vision. They will lead you to them. The power they will grant you, it will help you overthrow Discord. Return Equestria to even a semblance of peace and stability."
"That power, will also restore your Alicorn state. Out of necessity, to handle the power these Elements possess."
Starswirl's words consoled the two sisters only slightly. He was always cryptic whenever there was something he was trying to keep hidden from those who would disrupt it. But it was Celestia who gulped back a lump that formed in her throat to ask the obvious:
"And what about you master?"
Starswirl hesitated. He knew he couldn't say exactly what he would be doing. They would never fully understand, or like it. But it was his choice. So he decided to deceive them, for their own safety, and in case of prying eyes and ears. But it was lies laced in with the truth of matters:
"I will travel the world, searching for solutions. Even if you overthrow Discord, the Sun and Moon cycles will still need tending to. The natural order has been disrupted by the Alicorn cataclysm. When you take power, that duty to maintain the cycles will fall to you two."
Celestia and Luna both nodded forlornly as Starswirl explained, though they perked up slightly as their saddened eyes saw the glint of hope in his own, even if his tone remained grave:
"My travels, I do not know how long they will be. But I will be seeking ways to repair the damage done. I don't expect to return anytime soon, or in the foreseeable future. But when I do return with a solution, I only hope Equestria and the world are in a better state then they are now. But if you two lead them, even if you still have to tend to the day and night... I think they will be in good hooves."
Slowly walking forwards, Celestia and Luna both wrapped their forehooves around Starswirl's similar body size, their Unicorn downgrade for now making them shorter then they once were. The stoic wizard seized up at the contact, but he soon relaxed, letting them engulf him. Slowly, his own forehooves wrapped around them both, and a ghost of a smile crept across his muzzle.
Pulling back, as he opened the door to the monastery, Starswirl took a last look at the two sisters he now left Equestria in the hooves of, once they accomplished it with what he would put in place.
He turned, and stepped out the door. He never looked back, he didn't need to. He knew they could do it. He'd taught them all they needed to know.
All that remained was to ensure what he left them was completed.

That was the last Starswirl expected to ever see of the two sisters.
He didn't expect to return.
Yet history would prove him wrong on both counts.
But for now, Starswirl had unfinished business to attend to.

Next day
Late Evening/Nightfall
March 17th, 62 BNM
Equestria midlands
Everfree forest, deep forest
Harmony alcove

Taking a breath, the Wizard was clad in only some underclothing robes. His blue robes and hat, both the set the sisters had adorned with decorations years ago in peacetime as mischievous students, and the unmarked copies they made, were shrunken and stored in his saddle bag. He would not need to be wearing much where he was going, but he wanted his memorabilia with him wherever he ended up.
Before him, the alcove that held the tree of harmony glowed brightly before him, like a fallen star in the blue/grey orichalcum laced rocky cavern marred with vines and plants.
Yet from the 6 glowing vine husks on the ground, laced within the roots of the Tree of Harmony, 6 objects glowed as they were levitated out of their vine wrappings. Their imprinted power from the ones who gave them, even if the most recent was unknowing in doing so, had been given to the tree's 'fruits', the Elements.
Starswirl's blue magic took each artefacts, shrinking it as he bagged it. Each time it passed his eyes, Starswirl's memories surfaced, a slight smile of mourning, missing a simpler time, yet knowing in the end their examples would serve him well.
"I guess the prophecy was right, just not in the way I envisioned."
Starswirl's words came from his mouth with a tremble, as he saw each artefact as it shrank.

"Mashri, the loyal soldier."
He saw the stalwart Saddle Arabian horse, a Romane soldier, having proved her loyalty to her empire over her barbaric family ties, standing strong in the Coliseum as a freed gladiatrix where she reminded the world of where she stood, when doubt was made of her loyalty. Her red eyes glinted as her essence vanished, the red gem in the tree clouding his mind.
Her gladius sword shrunk down as he deposited it, as his eyes drew to the next.

"Hinai, the valiant sorceress."
He saw the gold and jade striped serpentine dragoness hovering proudly, unleashing her power against that corrupt sorcerer eastern dragon that killed her family for power, protecting him and Siral by unleashing the power she hid out of duty. Her pink eyes were all that remained undissolved in his mind as the star shaped gem he saw in the tree clouded his mind like the one before.
Her golden and jade stoned family amulet glinted as it too shrank.

"Claupe Frello, the merry musician."
He saw the black, tall and throat scarred, mute Faroench stallion dancing at the festival in the Pahrii square, his lame legged son applauding as he played his music in time with the mare he would eventually come to marry, unashamed of his exposed scarring as punishment for his gypsy family past. His blue eyes dissolved to become the blue tree gem.
His scarf that once protected his throat scars vanished into the bag.

"Nahia, the honest huntress."
He saw the tigress standing strong as she prowled the jungle, no longer acting as fierce, having been honest with herself, knowing the shame in being truthful and asking for help was far less then a lifetime of lying to one's self and others to protect yourself. Her family prowled the jungle with her, as the yellow glint in her eyes dissolved to the yellow gem glowing in the tree.
Her tuft of fur shrank in his magic to fit in his bag.

"Irvin, the generous sea-scourge."
The fox's grimace was plastered in Stasrwirl's mind as he leapt off the ice cliff, the rope hoisting his long time friend and father figure to safety with his fallig weight, and the treasure he could have escaped with. Giving up his life ambition of wealth to make the ultimate offer of saving one's life. His purple eyes glistened to become the purple gem in the tree in Stasrwirl's mind.
The compass span slightly as it shrank into Starswirl's bag.

"Chack, the merciful warrior."
The hazy image of Chack's act was all he could muster, but the silhouette of one Chack hurt, as he submitted in the face of what his rage brought on the innocent, let him offer himself as repayment to the one he ruined, and sent into the embrace of Siral's evils, letting her help heal by seeing what it was she wanted, not Siral. The Being of Envy struck down, but his act protected him with enhanced magic. As she became embroiled in the evil he drove her into, he attacked, fighting to drive the evil from her, freeing her. His green glint as he strove to help his greatest enemy he ever faced became the green gem imbedded in the tree.
His katana glinted with its slightly dissolved blade as it shrank, the last artefact to vanish into Stasrwirl's saddle bag.

Staring ahead, as the tree glowed in its beckoning, Stasrwirl took a deep breath, as Everfree's faded voice rang out from the tree:
"I am ready. After this, we both fade, the forest will endure without me, and your pupils without you."
"Yes. Lets finish this, a last hope."
He breathed, and stepped forwards. But before his hoof went a step further, Stasrwirl had one last memory.

Him and Siral. Sat on the hillside at the Oracle meeting, so many centuries ago now. Years of friendship, marred by a journey which divided them over duty and curiosity, one being deceitful out of duty, and losing the greatest friend he ever had.

"I'm sorry Siral. I truly am."
Starswirl's last whisper carried across the alcove as he regained his stoic composure.
As he walked forwards, light swirled around him like rivulets of pure energy, engulfing him in ribbons of light. Warmth and cold engulfed him, as Starswirl felt reality slipping away. Around him, the alcove warped, only the tree's six glowing artefacts remaining solid in his view.
To an outsider, a Unicorn wizard slowly dissolved into pure light, slowly ripped apart as he submitted to the power of the tree before him. He turned blue and white like the hottest fire, and was sucked to the tree's ever brighter structure.

To the Wizard, the 6 gem lights became 6 stars of varying shades in an empty void, circling faster and faster around him in a perfect circle. Soon, the circle of 6 colours became a single white/blue ring, as it closed ever more into a thinner ring around Starswirl's now blindingly bright body.
As the ring absorbed him in the void, Starswirl lost all sense of time and space. This was not like a time jumping spell, he was going beyond it.
With his eyes shutting in acceptance, he was assimilated into what he considered a willing oblivion.

The Tree of Harmony began to glow brightly, a wind rustling as the tree lit up like an ignited star in deep space, before settling down into a steady glow, hidden in the alcove vines of the Everfree forest.
Inside its branches, the 6 gems glowed brighter then ever before, and a single, pulsing white/blue source spread throughout its structure, feeding into the gems and feeding off them in turn.
All that was Starswirl was gone, as was the spirit of Everfree. The forest spirit gave what power he had to complete it, and now, his essence went on, passing like a sigh out of the forest.
Overhead, a single supernovae glow that came whenever an Alicorn died, lit up the night sky for the first time in 6 years. The only Alicorn not caught by the cataclysm due to him not existing in a body as the others did.
Everfree became a wild forest now, but balanced. As for the Wizard, his essence now endured, the host of the Elements, his legacy.
Yet with his essence, his spirit, his body and mind, endured, in a realm between the living, and the dead, between past, present and future. He was everywhere at once, space having no meaning. And yet, he couldn't comprehend it entirely.
He simply endured in the void, the Elements being his window into the real world, wherever and whenever they were used, or those affected by them acted up.
Starswirl's unsung legacy, the Elements of Harmony, would serve their purpose. His gift to the world.
A gift that would change the world in ways nobody could have imagined, not even himself.
As history would show, nothing ever happened as predicted or arranged.

Author's Note

This is not the final chapter, but it is the last chapter set squarely in the past. The next chapter will be when Starswirl finally takes the leap. What happens there will tie into a later volume I will publish [volume 2 for reference].

Starswirl the Reclusive, Epilogue.

27 YEARS LATER

Late Morning
20th September, 1003 ANM
New Daeland, Kala'ul island, [40 miles north of New Dae'land's north end]

The island was small, about half a mile by a quarter of a mile, but it was very rugged. Deep in a small ravine, until the coastal winds seemed to whistle an eerie tune as they were funnelled through the cracks.
An opening, like a crater in the middle of the island.
The centre of the island was a small, level area, surrounded by small cliffs in a oval shape. Right in the middle of the clearing, though hidden from a top down view by rock coverings, was a small house.
It was made of brick and mortar, and looked old, like an architecture not seen for hundreds of years in any part of the world. From the chimney, a small plume of smoke came up.
It hadn't taken much effort on Starswirl's part, but he insisted on his little reclusive home in this new world to be old fashioned, for his comfort.
But that didn't stop him from wishing to be up to date.
The small sitting room was piled high with volumes of books, some older then the authors of the most recent books the elderly Wizard had acquired.
Sat with his research books, Starswirl poured over the knowledge that made up much of his free, or almost all his time, ever since he emerged. The Wizard's penchant for learning made this new, more developed world a trove for him.
No more politics to become embroiled in, as he felt his time was done. Now, he indulged in the one thing that progressed without fault, only slowing and speeding, the pursuit of understanding, and the technology and magic that came with it from all corners of the world.
Letting out a yawn, the Wizard tiring easily unless he had urgent business to do, a knock on the cottage door startled him slightly. But then he calmed, remembering what today had on its schedule.
Hoisting himself up, Starswirl staggered slightly as his leg brace took his weight, and the old Unicorn wandered over to the door.
Opening the door, the sea breeze rustled as the Komodo female and Wyvern male stood before him, ruffled by the sea breeze, to the Wizard's amusement.
"Ah, you made it I see. The seas weren't too rough then?"
"Not too much no."
"Well there's no sense standing around out here."

A few minutes later

Sat in the cottage's sitting room, the two visitors sat in armchairs Starswirl summoned to the small table in front of his usual one, the Wizard comfortable as he relaxed with his pipe.
As the black male Wyvern, Varkan, tried one of the sea-weed filled sandwiches, the former's expression scrunching at the odd, salty flavour, the burly female Komodo, Faral leant forwards as she began with the obvious:
"So how is your leg?"
Glancing down at his brace, Starswirl scoffed in irritation as he gestured with his pipe in hoof:
"Ah, well my body had one of its shortcomings, blasted attic stairs. Age comes to all of us in the end. Would you believe I'm only 236 years old? I realize I had many time jumps, but I never aged in those years I missed..."
"Do you miss them?" She asked carefully, her eye ridge arching as Varkan swallowed the sandwich beside her, listening in himself as the Wizard reminisced with mixed feelings:
"I do miss much of it, yes. But, some of it, I could happily live without remembering again."
Shuffling slightly in the armchair, Starswirl stared at the two, the first two beings he met once he returned to the real world, and began:
"So, even though you two are always welcomed here, the only two who know where I live, you never come without news, or to ask a favour..."
Leaning forwards, the Wizard gruffly spoke in blunt terms as he stroked his trimmed, more manageable beard:
"So, what is it this time?"
Reclining in her own chair, shuffling her tail over the arm, Faral began with a positive note:
"Well, seeing as you asked in the letter you sent, Lucius is still fine. His little 'episode' was just a one off event, but he's under constant watch at the facility."
Frowning slightly, Starswirl refilled his pipe after discarding the used weed with his magic into the fireplace, the new pipeweed hovering into the smoking tool as he spoke:
"And you realize I still say recreating a Unicorn from a trace of that deranged tyrant was not going to be without problem? If Sombra was still alive after returning you may have needed to put Lucius down."
"A fact that I am getting tired of hearing..."
Varkan grumbled, the frown on his face evident to all. But Starswirl's face turned sceptical as he then probed further:
"Yet this isn't what bothers you most."
Leaning forwards, Varkan began, his tone as blunt as a boulder yet holding the same impact as he spoke:
"The Tirek incident. The Elements, they've been used again, Princes Twilight Sparkle's doings. And now, she's all over the news, all of them."
Sighing in contemplation, Starswirl couldn't help but let a small bit of admiration lace into his spoken thoughts:
"Yes, she is truly remarkable, especially for a non-born Alicorn."
"She's dangerous."
Varkan's rebuke caught Starswirl offguard slightly, while Faral sat back as she let Varkan make his case. She was his associate, but not his equal. He made the plans with his engineering mindset and intellect, she enforced and supported them with her military history and behaviour.
But the Wizard urged Varkan, and Faral slightly in turn:
"You cannot risk conflict with them."
"Its getting out of hand. There are 4 Alicorns now, maybe 5 if Cadance keeps up relations with her spouse. And I'm not the only one, many nations worldwide have hidden resentment to their power, they just hide it well. And you were the first of us three to see the potential time bomb Discord is, and clearly was with his ill-fated help of Tirek."
Faral's brief speech wasn't news to Starswirl, as the Wizard calmly reassured both of them with his own partial agreement on some of these concerns:
"While I agree about your misgivings over Discord, I can't see the same risks with the others."
Scowling slightly, Varkan leant back, murmuring for all to hear as he voiced his own views of the whole Alicorn situation:
"Yes, they have dominance, their power over the day and night. Holding the world in a lynching noose."
At this mentality, Starswirl recalled the memories of many a news, sight and tales of Alicorns being taken down in the Civil's war's later days, out of fear, competition, or hatred for all that they were and stood for. Many of them by Siral's direct doings, and others by his indirect means.
"Believe me when I say that things could be a lot worse."
Starswirl's words held merit, they heard the general notes of what he'd gone through in the Equestrian Civil War so long ago. For this, Varkan calmed down, as he voiced his plans in their most general of terms:
"I know. That is why I want to make plans, contingencies. Ways to keep them in check without killing them and risking the world."
Sensing the restraint wasn't enough, as Starswirl urged the Wyvern before him, who had grown to be an accomplice, a confidant, albeit one with a questionable morality, to keep that restraint:
"This is a very dangerous path you are contemplating. You mustn't get caught up in a war with their kind, not with how much else you seem to have on your agenda."
"Are you speaking from experience?"
Faral's sudden query made Starswirl pause, as he replied calmly to both of them as he reclined into his armchair. Siral as he once was, so long ago, flashed in his mind, and morphed into what he became, a monster:
"Yes, but not my own. A old friend's..."
"...I don't want to eradicate them. I just want them to know they aren't all-powerful, for the world to see that."
Varkan's words did little to console Starswirl, as the Wizard darkly muttered to them both:
"Believe me, they are not. I saw it for myself far too much."
"Then the world needs to be reminded. Just a demonstration. But, not until the Oceanic region is in a stable state. With the way things are going, treaties, trade deals, alliances, I expect it will be sooner rather then later."
As Varkan finished, Starswirl sighed slightly, nursing his bad leg as Faral looked between the two with interest, and possibly wary concern for the Wyvern. With a submissive remark, the Wizard urged caution one more time:
"I can't stop you, but, whatever you do, don't bring trouble upon yourself that can be avoided."
As Varkan nodded slowly, Faral added from the side with a small, proud smirk on her toothy muzzle:
"Starswirl please, I can keep an eye on him enough to know genocide isn't what he wants."
As the female Komodo's quip earned little alleviation on Starswirl's part, Varkan added reassuringly:
"Why would I? It would just be an eye for an eye, I'd be no better then those who did this to Wyvern-kind, even if Alicorns themselves didn't at first. Celestia killing her didn't help..."
Disregarding the bad history Varkan had with Celestia, Starswirl waved a hoof as he finished with a last, semi-friendly warning, memories of Siral still haunting him as he spoke:
"I know, just, remember that with Alicorns, I've seen that line crossed before."
A tense silence hung over the cottage as the three of them sat there, the fire crackling in the chimney base as Starswirl coughed slightly to break the mood:
"So tell me, to get to a better topic, how have talks with the Changelings gone? I expect that rogue Queen will see there are better ways to feed her people then besieging Equestrian royal weddings."

Later that same day
Mid-Afternoon

The fast boat the pair normally used to reach his island sped away, leaving the Wizard in his self-imposed isolation once again. They always came back whenever he asked or either needed something.
A quiet life. Starswirl felt he had earned that much.
On the wall of his cottage hung 6 artifacts, relics including some which any museum would love to acquire.
A Romane Gladius sword, a Gold and Jade pendant necklace, a Faroench woven scarf, a tuft of Tiger fur, a 1000 year old compass, and a Salaman Katana sword.
But beneath them were charcoal drawings from memory of others he met, the 6 beings that Siral created in his evils, that the Prophecy vaguely warned of.
Greed: Golmov, Wrath: Odi-Viscer, Lust: Iena, Gluttony: Satio, Sloth: Ave-Dol, and Envy: Teal Quirt.
In the end, Starswirl concluded that maybe Pride wasn't a being different from Siral, but Siral himself. And his own pride.
Had it not been his pride in fulfulling his duty, he might have been honest with Siral about him not coming, and in turn, maybe Siral might not have turned when he suffered, when cruelty's cycle was passed on.
Yet beneath them all, there was a small charcoal drawing on a single sheet of parchment, which Starswirl had made when all other traces of him vanished.
A hillside, with him lying on the grass. Beside him, another, younger Wizard, sat beside him, still in the frame, a frozen image drawn from magic enhanced memories of a time long passed.
He sat in his chair, picking up another text, indulging in the knowledge of the new world. He would return to active involvement, but he had earned rest.
He only hoped that his old friend, and the others he had met, were at peace.
Yet from his chair, he couldn't help but give a nervous glance towards Chack's Katana blade, murmuring to himself:
"He wasn't dead when I left that place. I only hope he is at peace."
He watched the crackling flames of the fire, letting them calm his nerves. He would return, but not yet.
Not yet.

Author's Note

One last chapter, and then we are done.
I left it off to tail straight into Volume 1: Balance of Power, to anybody reading in order, if they have the time on their hands that is.
The next/last chapter is one that leaves the doors open for Volume 4, the last ever official volume I have planned, and one I have already left the 'seeds' planted for. Safe to say, it involves some things happening amidst Volume 3, but I'll keep it vague in case anybody is reading in order of 0-3 and doesn't want spoilers.
But to this end, Starswirl's story is done, his legacies explained, and the pasts of Celestia and Luna also highlighted.

BONUS: THE LOST ONES

5 YEARS LATER

Late Morning
1st March, 1008 ANM
Mid Afternoon
5 miles north of Ridgeton village
Mountain slope
Citadel Ruins, Main stairwell

As the earth trembled from afar, an unseen giant outside in the Colossus, Stone Giant home that was the nearby valley, the lingering evil in the Citadel Ruins slashed and clawed in its shapeless lacerating forms, a mixture of black magic and those grown and multiplied demon hoards not sucked into the time warp 1076 years ago, along with most of what was Siral's consciousness.
Now, only an animalistic remnant remained. Powerful, but unguided, hungry.
And recently, with the most recent escape of an old enemy and his associates, denied a chance to feed on magic to fuel their hunger.
As the thousands of hungry screeches of the demon hoards grew silent, the rocking of the earth going away, an unseen Stone Giant having been awakened by a force not belonging to Siral, but originating from their old enemy Starswirl. Yet oddly, it didn't seem to be controlled by Starswirl, but by something borne of him and another's mind, a chaotic mind, mixed with a logical mind.
It didn't care about this though, it only cared about its hunger. Even as it cursed out what seemed to be a former minion up above plugging the hole it could have escaped into the outside world through, it cared only for its hunger.
The hoards slowly seeped through the ruins, sensing no more intruders unfortunately, not even the two that had taken a lower route, both of them bearing the stench of Starswirl's magic, one of them, a strange creature, being much more pure, the other , a mare, more likely imprinted as a follower.
The hoards that made up Siral's remnant, an echo, dispersed, the stairwell chamber falling silent.

A few minutes later, a burst of air filled the chamber, and a green flash leapt from a hole. As the unseen figure leapt from the hole, a screech rang out through the strange realm the figure had all but ripped himself from, shimmering as the hole shrank:
"You will not escape me Ronin, just as my slave didn't in here!"
"CHA-!"
The second scream, a female one, cut short as the strange portal snapped shut, the rush of air silencing as only the weary pants, and perhaps shaky, regretful breaths filled the cavern.
Sat alone in the dark, the figure clutched the green glowing blade as he recognised where he was.
And the noises that gathered at the sound his arrival made were as blatant as the horns of death to him.
Charging the blade, the figure felt the magic build in the weapon, the dark magic pressing on all sides from the Savant's remnant on this ruin not as powerful as it had been at its peak, but enough to cause delay.
But right as the hoards reached him, the Salamander vanished in a flash of green, his eyes turned upwards to the flat slate roof above.

He staggered through the valley, green enchanted katana in hand, seeing the massive uprooted earth and riverbed from where one of the rumoured stone giants in Siral's valley had likely taken a walk recently.
The valley was silent now, as he wandered away from the Citadel.
Alone, in this strange new world, Chack wandered, leaving behind one he'd tried to save, one he'd failed to save despite his best efforts.
She was claimed by him now, and would be his when he returned fully to where they went, for however long he would be in.
Chack's return had been a miraculous stroke of luck, as time wouldn't spit him or Siral, and Teal in turn, out at the same time.
The Salamander wandered east across Equestria, away from this foul place. He didn't know nor cared right now where or when he was, only that he was away from that wretched abyss he'd clawed his way out of.
So he wandered on, alone. Yet life gave him another chance here, and he would adapt as much as he could.
Chack ventured further into the wilds, heading east, into his unknown future. His return known only to him and the one he escaped from, and the one he left behind.
But soon, he would gain followers, who would be drawn to him as one of their own damaged kin would be drawn to another of a different virtue.
And unlike in prior times, Chack wouldn't turn away kinship, no matter the shape or form.

1st April, 1008 ANM

The remnant sensed it, as it festered deep in the ruins.
Ever since its whole was taken, where that Ronin recently escaped from, it grew here, animalistic in intellect and hunger, echoing what its true form would say to those who came.
It cursed out what it sensed was a ruined slave it once had along with 6 others, one of seven, that came to ensure it was resealed a month ago.
It saw to try and kill the most despised rival, an insignificant lesser being, of its origin, the Wizard, and all who allied with him, be it those he rescued, or those two disciples that escaped through the lower tunnels, the mare and the strange energy creature.
And yet, as it waited for its master's, its whole's return, it knew the time was soon.
Today, a great harmony was restored to the world, a kind disrupted so long ago. With that, the time was soon, now, or anytime from now, to strike, to eradicate the last threat to true peace in this world. True peace, as the master, their origin, the Savant, saw it.
For now, it waited. It had already waited over a thousand years.
And when their full being was restored, adding the power their own festering grew in their imprisonment here, they would reclaim at least one of seven that their whole had, despite the best efforts of the one who escaped a month ago, unseen by anyone in the world.
The ghost of the Savant waited, the demon hoards that made it up having patience beyond any normal creature. They had waited a while already, and their wait was not much more in comparison.
The greatest changes come with the greatest patience after all.

Author's Note

This takes place in the aftermath of events in one of the eventual Volume 3's notable conflict chapters. Aside from that, it just leaves the door open for an eventual Volume 4, though that might not be for a long time.
In the meantime, thank you for reading, and I'll begin working on putting up Volumes 1-3 and a bonus, miscellaneous series of stories I also made.

Old Friends

Footnotes of Starswirl's personal Journal, date July 3rd 1008 ANM [After Nightmare Moon]

Starswirl the Bearded, born February 19th 950 BNM [Before Nightmare Moon]

The Legend, the Legacy, the Secrets.

Many things in life confront and oppose goals set out by the self.

Ambition for greatness bred many things: Gluttony for sustaining it, Lust to acquire it, Sloth to avoid any act not useful to the cause, Greed to gain more than others, Wrath against those that hindered it, Envy for those that for now had more, and Pride in achieving those ambitions.

Sometimes the greatest evil that opposes us time and time again is the one we once called friend, ally.

When the self alone falters, what remains is to see what can be learned from those around us, to better ourselves.

It began so long ago, and yet the effects have only just in recent years come full circle by 1008 ANM, nearly 2000 years after I set out, after my life took a turn to another path.

I suppose it would be best to start from the beginning.

Long ago

War and infighting drove many from the 'Old World'.

Many centuries had passed since the Great Century War began in what would become 1245 BNM, which had consumed the European continent, and spilled over into neighboring nations on the greater lands to the south and East. Equine kingdoms and clans, Gryphon barbarians and provinces, and Minotaur hordes and armies fought for control, glory, and amidst the fighting, the reason why was lost.

Equine races and Gryphons, keen to avoid the fighting, set their sights West across the treacherous Muttlantic waters. In time, they found Great North Western lands, and the Gryphons established their presence in the mountainous and colder north eastern regions.

The Equestrians favoured the lowlands and north west plains, and they gre to prosper rapidly.

Local Bison, Dog and Cattle races contested, sometimes made peace and broke peace, with the Equines and Gryphons, but the new arrivals quickly established a foothold there that would endure.

As the Gryphons kept to themselves, the Equines began infighting as they braved the harsh, but rich lands, the Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth pony factions debating continuously, until a particularly harsh winter banded them together against an influx of Windigos.

Peace settled onto what was now known as Equestria.

A hundred years had passed since Equestria was formed, the unification of the clans of the land influencer, economic Earth Ponies, the Sky molding, militant Pegasi, and the Magic wielding, culturally inclined Unicorns.

There was still some remnant of the old disputes, a 'hierarchy' of sorts. Unicorns often led, while the Pegasi were the militants, and Earth ponies were viewed as the 'muscle', stereotypes, but there were always outliers.

The old leaders, Chancellor Puddinghead, Princess Platinum, and Commander Hurricane, along with their notable seconds Smart Cookie, Clover the Clever and at the time of her death, Captain Pansy, had succumbed to old age.

But one who taught Clover the Clever had many tricks, and endured, him and a few others.

For even among Unicorns, there were the exceptionally skilled who could stave off old age and the ravages of time, though not forever. They would endure longer.

It wouldn't be the first time exceptional magic users would prove to have the power of longevity.

800 BNM

12th March

Oracle Mount

Every year, magic users gathered on the Oracle Mount in central Equestria's mountain ranges, where the most notable of Oracles in the nation would be present along with Magical academics and higher pupils.

Like the Wizards and the mare equivalent Magii, the Oracles were long lived by their magic. Unlike the Wizards and Magii, the Oracles never left their sanctuary for the sake of the stability and consistent environment helping them more easily hone their powers of foresight and mind reading.

Only once every 10 years did the Oracles open the doors to the outside, and only to those they deemed 'worthy', by their foresight.

This year, 6 Wizards, 3 Magii, and 5 students of them had attended, all in all 14 had come to the Mount. But they mostly knew each other already, as their communities had close connections to each other.

But among them, there were two that stood out from the others.

Late Afternoon

Oracle Mount

Monastery halls

The talk was small, as Starswirl the Bearded, a grey furred, brown maned Unicorn wearing a blue robe and pointed hat, finished speaking to the wise old Magii from Equestria's less explored Western coasts to turn and greet a Student of a younger Wizard that had respectfully nodded to him as she came up to him.
"Starswirl, it is a privilege."

With a polite smile, Starswirl asked pointedly to the young, blue furred Unicorn filly: "You're Constellar's apprentice aren't you? I recognize his coat of arms on your robe."

"Yes, Quirt Symphony sir. Is it true you consulted Clover the Clever herself? How have you lived that long and look so young?"

"I perfected the longevity spells you all use, that and I avoided creating enemies, positioned myself politically enough to not be a target."

For a while they spoke, until the door opened to reveal a trio of last arrivals to the Oracle hall, as the door pony let them in quietly, another monastery worker offering to take their outer robes.

Two were from the south, dark yellow furred, the Magii Surcingia Nova, and her student, the young Unicorn stallion Xenophillos. But the third was the one Starswirl had been waiting for.

Walking over after politely bidding Quirt goodbye, Starswirl made his way over to last arrival, a lanky, less thoroughly built Unicorn stallion with black fur and a white mane, who looked up with a faint, subdued smile in greeting.

"Siral, I trust your travels were fine then? But I thought you'd miss this like last time."

"Nothing of note. I wouldn't miss this two times in a row."

With a faint chortle, Starswirl embraced Siral in a friendly manner, the more socially cold Unicorn able to loosen up around Starswirl.

Starswirl the Bearded was renowned for being more active in political circles, offering wisdom and advice more freely than his colleagues. Clover the Clever and Princess Platinum, and their current descendants, were well acquainted with the Unicorn Wizard, himself considered 'Young' with his magic, despite already being 150 years old.

Siral the Savant, more reserved, quiet, shy, but uncompromisingly brilliant in his wisdom and theories. He experimented, ignoring orthodox principles of magic, and some spells he had produced, while not as numerous as Starswirl's in more 'acceptable fields', were well known. Perhaps more than any other Wizard or Magii, Siral's skill lay in potions and alchemy.

Starswirl was older than Siral, who was only 90, not born when Equestria united at Starswirl's 50th year, making Starswirl 60 years his senior. But they grew to be good friends, their quest for knowledge and wisdom uniting them, only diverging in their approaches.

Yet despite their differences, the Bearded and the Savant were remarkably good friends. They debated, they explored archives and mysteries, and they made a good team. Starswirl was out in public more, while Siral worked behind the scenes.

Evening/Nightfall

Oracle Mount

Monastery mountainside

The Wizards, Magii and 5 students had settled down for the night, taking leave to head for rest before the fortunes began to be shared to those that requested them or were asked to have them.

The torches lit the stone masonry of the monastery's buildings, from the halls and store rooms of the lower hillside, to the lonely circular hall further up, where the oracles lived and saw the future, unseen past and present combined.

Striding quietly across the rough mountain grasses, Starswirl felt the lukewarm mountain air and smelt the grasses, and a very faint waft of incense from the oracle chambers higher up the hills.

Beside a lonely tree on the hillside, Starswirl saw a faintly flickering red light, and knew he'd found him.

"Still stargazing as usual this time of night?"

All but gliding across the hill, Starswirl offered the quip to the Unicorn sat down before the magic imbued, blood red fire. The fire did not consume the wood, and would not burn if touched, but was warming as any other fire was.

Looking up, the black Unicorn drawled as he brushed a tuft of white mane out his eye, having been hunched over a diary of his, drawing in some star charts:

"I relax when I am busy Starswirl. Don't think you're any less guilty of that trait than I am.."

"True, but you make me look lethargic at times with your habits." Starswirl reasoned, sitting down beside Siral as he got out his pipe. The Savant looked at the pipe, offering with a slight gesture:

"Allow me."

With a flicker of his red hued horn, Siral's red fire before them extended a wispy length to the pipe's opening, sparking brighter as it lit the pipe-weed inside like a normal fire would.

As the fire resumed to normal, and Siral settled back to gazing skywards to alter his star charts, Starswirl quietly remarked: "Thank you old friend."

Stiffly nodding, Siral focused from his gazes as he mapped the stars on his journal's charts again. Looking over at the pages, Starswirl remarked:

"You have yet to finish them?"

"I must keep track of them. I have been trying something new, tapping into the power these stars and bodies emanate. Yet I find that some are stronger than others, even those not marked as significant by astronomers."

"I read this from you, but you think that some stars are more powerful than others?"

"Yes. How and why I do not know, but that power being drawn from a specific source could be useful, not just from all around us in an unfocused manner."

"And you think such knowledge could make more complex magic feasible?"

"I know it can, but it is a very long way off before I am certain. Keeping track of the stars is a challenge enough." Siral remarked with some aggravation.

Laughing slightly, Starswirl laid a hoof on Siral's tense shoulder, the slightly shorter grey Unicorn offering these words to the lanky black Unicorn:

"Calm yourself Siral. We have many a year ahead of us all, and I have a feeling mapping the heavens can be done by others, leaving you to work from that."

"But you must admit you and I, let alone the others here on the mount tonight, have an edge over the lesser of this realm, and other realms."

Frowning slightly, Starswirl reminded Siral with a slight tap on the side: "You must not think of those lesser than us in magic as lesser in general. Others have skills we shall lack, and everything has its place and use in this world."

Finishing, Starswirl remarked: "We are merely the highest ramparts of a great structure, and those you view as 'lesser', are the foundations and structure that we stand above. Unlike some nobility Unicorns, we must keep in mind that the strongest forces are often the most lowly and base, be they nature's wrath, or the sleeping giant that is the 'commoners'. Others will catch up to us 'elites' in time."

Siral nodded with some mild regret, as he then added: "By that time, if you and I are still around, I wonder where we shall a stand compared to them? Perhaps greater than I can conceive if they catch up to us, Starswirl the Bearded and Siral the Savant."

Laughing slightly, Starswirl took another puff on his pipe, remarking: "Your grandiose predictions of the future can match the oracles at times Siral."

As Siral shot Starswirl a sour look at deflating his thoughts of potential, as Starswirl blew a magic imbued puff from his mouth, the pipe weed smoking slightly as the puff of smoke spun in the air to reveal a wispy Pegasus shape flying towards the sky, trailing out beneath the hanging half moon on the horizon.

Staring out, Starswirl heard Siral murmur: "So, did you get asked to be here, or are you here just to catch up like I am?"

"Actually, I was asked for by the Oracles themselves. You were not?"

"No, and I don't wish to know the future in advance. I make my own future."

Siral always distrusted any fortunetelling, unless it came from himself, though he only ever tried to see a month into the future, no more. But Starswirl had consulted the oracles enough to trust the mysterious ones and their fortunes.

But never before had he been specifically asked here, even if he came out of habit each decade like the others, except Siral the previous decade.

Whenever they asked specifically, it was usually important to the one they consulted, perhaps even life changing.

But for now, just him and a long time friend on the hillside beneath the stars, observing the quiet central Equestrian valley far below and the stars and moon above amidst a red magic fire, Starswirl and Siral enjoyed their company in their own ways.

Their relationship would endure for a very long time in history, but as with all things, time would change them very greatly.

Author's Note

The oracle of Equestria, like the Eoropean/Grecian based Oracle of Dalphe [not Delphi], is a monastery that is opened once every ten years to the magic learned elite of Equestria, a secret society of sorts.

Starswirl is a more politically involved member, but merely offering guidance and tutoring those that would become involved in politics, such as Clover the Clever.

Siral the Savant is more withdrawn, a behind the scenes, less of a socialite, less politically involved than even any of those less involved than Starswirl.

LOYALTY I: Dishonored.

27th June 722 BNM

Late Morning

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Circus Maximus racetrack

Pawing at the ground, Mashri flicked a few strands of mane from her face with her quick neck flick, while her battle partners from the Venata milled around, also mingling with other soldiers during the training.

The Circus was not in use today, allocated for military training, be it for horse/fast runners to improve stamina, or for those who could hold tools [dogs, Chamois] to practice their chariot racing or sword skills.

As one of the younger Venata galloped down the raceway's centre wall, the spear mounted on her shoulder armor sliced cleanly through the large dog torso hung on a pole, used as target practice. No thought was given to the dog's identity in life, as it was only prisoners condemned to death that became practice dummies for the Imperial armies.

"Good, you pierced the hide at an angle, stab and slice at the same time, keep the momentum up and do the others!"

As the female Saddle Arabian horse galloped on around to make another pass, Mashri strode across the Circus track's sands, her gaze cast across the grandstands where mostly military family or the odd civilian watched idly.

As she strode past a group of male Chamois, also using the Circus, she heard one of them call out:

"Mashri, Mashri!"

With a slight pause, the brown maned and brown bodied horse turned, her armor rustling and clanking slightly as she sternly asked the Chamois soldier:

"Yes Immunes Cammadus, speak quickly!"

She ensured to emphasize Cammadus's rank, given she was a Centurion, two ranks above the Chamois. But she knew Cammadus as a friend enough to let it slide from time to time.

Gesturing to the Chamois soldier beside him, Cammadus asked outright in a friendly tone: "This Avocati here asked me if its true, the story of you defeating an entire barbarian horde with one strike along the Haygyptian river banks?"

Raising an eyebrow, Mashri asked incredulously: "Where on Earth did you hear about that?"

The Avocati Chamois shrugged, remarking lowly: "Rumors and legends abound about many of the army's accomplished members."

As Mashri finished, Cammadus noticed a trio of Chamois Elite soldiers marching through a nearby tunnel, clad in armour of the Senate guard.

"Look young one, all that happened was they were making a fuss, and their leader came to bargain for a deal to split the local land with the Empire. We met at a river bank, where his boat came up to meet us. I met him on the boat myself, their Minotaur leader."

"What happened then?"

"It was a trap, predictably. He attacked me, we fought hard, but in the end I stabbed his throat as he gloated on and on during his sword swings, threw him off the boat, and into the river, where the crocodiles nearby came rushing in. One kill, and the army he had didn't retaliate, shocked that their so called, immortal Minotaur leader, had been taken down by Mare."

Blinking slightly, the Avocati was about to reply, before one of the approaching Senate Chamois guards surged past, roughly brushing him and Immunes Cammadus aside roughly.

"Centurion Mashri Hurenus, you are under arrest for treason."

Stunned, Mashri demanded angrily, knowing that 3 Senate guards being here meant this wasn't a joke:

"What for?"

"That is for the General to inform you." The lead Senate Guard signalled as he spoke, and the other 2 Chamois guards surged around and had her fore and rear ankles ties with short rope to stop her from moving faster than walking speed, and as the muzzle bag was forced over her face, Mashri struggled angrily. Her comrades who had been training looked on in shock.

Emperor Iulian's Palace

Military chamber halls

General Habbinus's offices

The Circus arena was not very far from the royal palace, also where the military headquarters were based.

As Mashri saw where she was, the rising marble , having been further blinded by a sack over her head, she blinked as she saw her commanding officer staring at her with a look of venomous contempt, yet also some doubt.

General Habbinus, a battle scarred elder Chamois male, turned in his more robed, less armoured clothing, the deer/goat like, large male gesturing to the guards to force her into a kneeling position.

As she was forced down by the 2 Chamois guards around her, she saw General Habbinus reading some scrolls on his desk, remarking with some rather disdainful remarks:

"Such a reputation, Centurion Mashri Hurenus. Taken in by a Centurion at a very young age when your village was raided during our eastern expansions, rose through the ranks to where you are now, particularly effective in leading a mostly Iudian Saddle Arabian horse unit in the local areas, securing contested spots. A very impressive career for a Mare, and for one of Barbarian parentage."

As he finished, General Habbinus then asked her bluntly: "And yet, with the message received, I have been informed that the fortress of Hiresolmya, in Iudian territory, has been ransacked by a pack of barbarians that knew of its ins and outs, as if informed by a member of the local garrison. They were led by a tribe from the Arabia wildlands to the south east of there, who bore this insignia. Do you recognise it?"

He held up a sketch scroll, showing an insignia of a 4 pronged star, with a circular background behind it. Blinking, Mashri nodded, while General Habbinus finished with some damning remarks:

"According to these confessions, taken from those captured when the backup garrison re-secured the fortress, 3 months ago you ordered the release of a specific prisoner, a Saddle Arabian horse male, by the name of Kalmai. By their confessions, his later escape, no more than 2 days after your departure back here to the metropole, was possible because of inside information. Do you deny it?"

Mashri knew the evidence was damning, and unfortunately, true. She nodded her head, shame covering her hung face as General Habbinus asked somewhat less sternly:

"You are a respected soldier, especially given your sex and race for your rise through the ranks. But why would you betray your fellow soldiers there for one prisoner, why would you let him escape, when he came back leading an assault on the very fortress key to our imperial influence in the provinces there?"

Pausing, and as she saw General Habbinus was waiting for her to speak, Mashri gave a gulp, her brown furred body trembling as she simply remarked:

"I was interrogating prisoners. When I came to Kalmai, he recognised me by a notable fur patch on my flank… Kalmai, is my older brother."

Surprised, Habbinus let her finish, but he was no less stern than before:

"I never knew my family, I was left behind when the Empire came, panic ensued as they ran. I know the tribe I came from were raiders before and after my birth, but I talked, he talked, and I couldn't just sit by and let the only family I've ever found rot in a prison. I told him how to get out after failing to get him released, though I didn't mention he was my brother."

"Why not?"
"I feared my reputation if I was related to a barbarian.." Mashri admitted.

Staring hard, General Habbinus remarked on the decision, which on the scroll before him, had already been made:

"Military protocol must apply Mashri. Your act of family kindness allowed Kalmai to rally his barbarian horde against the fortress, storm it through points of weakness you revealed to him to aide his escape, and cause the deaths of dozens to a hundred deaths in the base before reinforcements drove them back. That is treason, intentional or not notwithstanding."

Gulping slightly, Mashri was silent as General Habbinus strode around his desk, the Chamois murmuring lowly as he stated her new position in the empire:

"Your brother has been captured, along with a few other barbarians, and will be delivered here to the capital to pay for his ways, either with his life, or by entertaining the masses. You however, are not a barbarian.."

Mashri was hoisted up by the two Chamois guards, while General Habbinus lightly gripped her face in a hoof grip, remarking softly: "You are skilled, valuable. Romane values such assets. Despite your treachery, you have a chance to retain your honor in the end of this."

Eyes widening, Mashri breathed somewhat out of turn: "How?"

"You will have plenty of time to muse on what the choice you will have to make once the Colosseum trainers have possession of you. And as of now, until either redeemed by your choice, or killed, you are stripped of any and all rank, status and position in the Romane Empire. When the time comes, you will have a chance to regain all you have cost yourself."

"I made one mistake sir!" Mashri cried out, while a Chamois guard hit her in the ribs painfully to shut her up as General Habbinus replied:

"Romane doctrine dictates punishment is due here." Habbinus remarked, as he nodded to the two Chamois guards to escort the devastated, angry Saddle Arabian mare from his office in ankle bindings to stop her running, only walking.

As Mashri saw the office walls blur by due to her unfocused mind, she realised how far she had fallen in the span of 2 hours, all the way from Centurion to pretty much slave and prisoner.

She would be a Colosseum entertainment source, until a time when the mentioned 'choice' came up. She would have to survive until then, whatever was thrown at her.

She'd already fought out of choice, re-enacting battles in the Colusseum for the masses that had come to celebrate her as one of many war heroes of Romane.

Next time she entered the massive arena, she doubted they'd be cheering, and she would be there by force.

She was now at the bottom of the Empire, her lowest point.

As the office walls blurred by, her mind raced. Romane's Empire firstly, because she served it loyally and many of its aspects and people had aided her in life.

But Kalmai had been family, and she had to help him. And he'd clearly used her knowledge with what he believed in via launching an attack, even waiting until after she had left the garrison base to do it.

But she had asked him not to attack that fortress.

And yet the Romane Empire was turning her into a slave basically.

Everything was a blur until she felt the cold hard stone floor of the Colusseum slave quarters rush up to snap her from her daze.

Grubby paws and hooves of other females, the quarters being gendered, meant she was now basically grouped in with prisoners, traitors and slaves sold out to the Gladiator trainers by less well off citizens.

Her one act of either loyalty or disloyalty, depending on perspective, that she could do to the family she never knew had begun a chain of treachery and loss on all sides.

She honestly didn't know if she'd done the right thing, or whether she'd been betrayed before or after Kalmai did, and whether he had betrayed her by doing what was his family's work before against the Empire she was a part of.

Sleep came quick that night as she grew tired from her inner turmoil and questions.

30th June 722 BNM

Late Morning

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, basement levels

A faint roar of a creature from one of the animal holds echoed in the resting quarters, as Mashri ruffled some dust from her mane after yet another gruelling morning of Gladiator practice.

Before, she'd only ever fought to kill prisoners in the arena when she ever took part here. But as a Gladiator, she was to be on the defensive. She was the one who had to fight harder, especially if she wished to live long enough to see Kalmai when he arrived here, with the others, who betrayed her trust.

She had to know their reasons, otherwise she was at a crossroads of her true loyalties.

Talk had spread, but being away in here meant she was more sheltered. The whispers about her were of treachery, foolishness, and other less savoury remarks from the Romane citizens that once idolised her as a war hero.

At this point, she didn't care about any of that. She had been rising up, and now as of 3 days ago, was down at the bottom most level of society.

Her gladius shoulder armor, with a gladius sword secured in a way for her shoulder to wield it and a shield on the other side, lay nearby as she finished scrubbing the dust from her mane.

This was her life now, until the one who she trusted was brought to the capital. What happened to him was to be determined, and all she had to go on was that it was in her best interest to survive until then.

As bitter as it made her feel, she knew this was punishment fit for traitors of the Empire, and accepted that. But she had a suspicion of why her recent brother was being brought to the capital. To be made examples of, just as she was.

2 hours later

Colosseum, basement levels

Low rank Gladiator quarters

Pulling open the bars of her cell door, her trainer, a grizzled, scarred Chamois male, gestured to follow him, muttering bluntly:

"You've got some visitors."

With a groan, Mashri rose to her hooves, remarking: "More citizens to gaggle at me through the bars…"

"No, in private. They paid well to get in here."

No more words were spoken, until the door was opened to the eating quarters, the trainer Chamois remarking: "Remember, they pay well, so don't try anything."

He regarded her with contempt, and doubt, just as he did all 'fresh' gladiators who had yet to see one proper match in the Colosseum. Even though Gladiators were not usually killed by each other, they stood a good chance of dying by the hands of the animals, more violent prisoners, or if they don't put on a fight good enough in their loss.

Gladiators were performers, and even in defeat, a well performed battle could save their life. So non-lethal combat was key to training. Mashri knew proper combat, and already had an edge. But that didn't stop the trainer's usual contempt for punishment sentenced gladiators. He felt it demeaned the sport to have rejects of society in it.

And he let her know it.

Leaving Mashri behind, the trainer was gone through the halls and out of sight.

Turning to face the two strangers in the room, both sat at the table before her with a spread of fruits and some bread and wine, the brown Saddle Arabian mare scowled in confusion at the sight.

Two robed unicorns, one grey robed with black fur, the other blue robed with grey fur. Both looked middle aged, yet their posture and eyes betrayed experience beyond that.

It was the grey, more bearded one that gestured to the seat in front of them:

"Please, take a seat. You must be hungry after training this morning."

Cautiously, Mashri sat at the table, but quickly snatched some fruit and bread off the platter before her to scarf it down, uncaring of manners.

Seeing the brown mare before them, Siral gave Starswirl an odd expression, as he telepathically remarked:

Recent events have certainly downsized her standing in the Empire.

Starswirl ignored Siral's blunt telepathic remark, as he asked, sensitively:

"It is an honor to meet you, Mashri Hurenus. I've heard many stories, even the recent ones."

"It's exaggerated, but true, most to all of it." She remarked, uncaring of these two strange Unicorns before her as she ravenously devoured another roll of bread.

With a slight sigh, Starswirl decided to get straight to the point: "When we saw you in the parade 4 days ago, you seemed to be a picture of loyalty to the Empire. And now you are down here, how might that have changed your view of everything?"

Putting down the bread, Mashri gave a slight glare at the Unicorn, while the black furred one gave an eyebrow upturn in an expectant expression. She spoke with some venom:

"I made a choice, I thought it was right at the time, and that is it."

"What choice?"

"That is none of your concern."

"Given the duration of fights ahead of you before your brother arrives from Iudian territories with the other prisoners he led, my partner wishes to know these things in case you fall in the Colusseum." The other Unicorn, Siral, was far more callous in his approach, leading Mashri to rise from her chair, standing imposingly over the 2 Unicorns, noticing she was a good head higher than they were.

"How do you know that!?"

As the silence rang in the room, it was the other, Starswirl, that urged her calmly while shooting Siral a disapproving stare:

"Calm down, and we shall let you know."

"Make sense of your claims quickly." Mashri remarked bluntly, sitting down once again with an unceremonious thump at the table.

There was much to discuss, but in the case of the two wizards, not one word of them being time travellers, or of the Prophecy she was signalled to be a part of, a being of Loyalty, was mentioned to her.

But revealing that they were Wizards helped to explain how they acquired wealth to bribe guards to let them see her, and how they managed to convince others to divulge internal military events around her. Magic was a powerful asset.

And Mashri respected power enough to listen to their words.

Author's Note

Mashri made a choice, helping her brother escape as a gesture to her only recently known birth family, met for the first time. But its complicated.

Her brother wages and sneak attack with the knowledge he got from Mashri to escape an Imperial base, but he had the decency to wait until she was transferred out as she said to him before he escaped. Romane understandably convicts her of treason, giving her a chance to make up for it if she lasts long enough in gladiator matches, easier for a trained soldiers, but the fact that she is in the gladiators, at a low level, is an insult in itself.

Where do her loyalties lie now? Family she was abandoned by when the Empire came and recently encountered and was sort of betrayed by, Empire she grew up with for longer but is currently stonewalling her, or herself?

LOYALTY V: Venatrix, brisk departures.

25th July, 722 BNM

Early Afternoon

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Colosseum, arena.

The yellow fur of Kalmai was exposed, his black mane flying, as he charged the large dog gladiator, bloodthirsty to spill blood in anyway associated with the Romanes. They took his sister, turned her, and he would make anyone associated with them pay for it.

As he had stormed past, clear of the blades of the other gladiators, Mashri had raised her sword, and readied herself. The brown horse, clad in her Centurion Armour, back stepped as her brother began to hack and swipe at her with the ends of his hooves.

As he swung, Mashri caught a glimpse of metal, and saw the familiar Iulian raider blade horsehoes they so frequently used, to cut and stomp at the same time.

As Mashri backed up, deflecting her brother's hoof swipes and the odd hoof held blade lance at her head with her shield and sword, the other 4 Saddle Arabian horses engaged the 4 gladiators.

The 2 Chamois males ducked as the two horses charged them, and with some quick thinking the taller Horse turned and kicked out suddenly, striking one of the twins in the hoof, breaking the joint and sending him dropping his sword as the hoof and joint shattered.

Falling back a bit from the pain and shock, the Chamois male saw the other get tackled by the smaller horse, screaming as he was hurled onto the ground. Rearing up, the Iulian fighter snorted as he brought the bladed horseshoes down.

Rolling desperately, the other Chamois cried out as one of the many hoofstomps sliced his flank slightly with a glancing blow. Adrenaline pumping, the Chamois gladiator drew his sword mid roll, wincing as it almost dug into his own skin, before he swiped out when his sword hoof rolled out from under him.

Mid rear, the crowds echoing the screams given by the horse, the lower leg went flying as the gladius sword cleaved it clean off. Staggering, the horse fell over, clearly unable to fight anymore.

As the Chamois male scrambled up, he saw the other of their two horse enemies striding over to where the other Chamois backed up, foreleg 'wrist' broken. Scrambling over to the wounded and bleeding horse, he ripped the horseshoe off his foot, ignoring the horse's pained yells at this.

Hurling it, the Chamois grimaced as it missed, but he had got the other horse's attention.

As the horse turned to him, the Chamois readied another horse shoe, bending over to pick it up.

Something shunted through his chest, as a spear tip protruded from his front all of a sudden. Yells from the crowd rose at the sight of the spear skewering the gladiator.

Keeling over in shock, the Chamois saw the horse he'd distracted turn from him back to the first chamois, looking pleased. Behind him, the 3rd horse, having broken away from the Minotaur Braxius, gave a roar of victory at this kill.

But the roar turned to rage as the other horse, mid turn, had been cleaved in the head as he turned to fight the same broken wristed Chamois he'd been distracted from killing.

Sword clutched in his hand, he pulled it from the blood stained hood and cloaked horse's head, the Chamois male falling back onto 3 legs as the horse's body fell down dead.

As the 3rd horse began to advance, a loud stomping sounded behind him, as a Minotaur, whom he'd merely kicked in the face to near unconsciousness to help his comrade, snorted before raising the massive axe he wielded.

Braxius bellowed as the axe came down, the horse leaping aside before being cleaved in two. His face was bloody and scratched from the spiked horseshoes to the face, and he was livid beyond anything else.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE FINISHED ME AND NOT HELPED YOUR FRIEND!"

Surging forwards, the Horse drew a knife and lunged for the Minotaur's neck, while his axe was still in the ground. Raising a hand to grab the knife, Braxius was slightly to slow.

The knife plunged into his hand palm, but imbedded there, and while Braxius wrenched away in pain, the knife came with it from the horse's hoof. In instinct, Braxius lunged out with his other arm, knocking the horse down with a blow to the face.

Dazed and concussed, the horse staggered to his knees as he gaped at the sight. Braxius winced, but curled his hand into a fist, the knife imbedded there forming a spike from the top of it. One hand then wrenched forwards, grabbing the horse by the mane painfully, while the backhanded attack with the knife came.

The crowds bellowed as Braxius slammed the dead horse down to the ground from his hands, knife still in his hand, roaring his victory himself.

Seeing Mashri still backpedalling, Kalmai not letting up but clearly being unskilled, Caikus outran his opponent, the horse continuously chasing him.

Why hasn't she killed him yet? She has more skill, its obvious!

Then it clicked:

She may not be able to kill her own brother.

No matter how loyal one way, killing a family member was hard full stop.

Seeing he had his own problem, Caikus suddenly turned, dashing in his sprinting towards the wall. By the sounds of it anyway, Braxius would want a go at Kalmai once he finished off that wounded, 3 hoofed Horse the only Chamois gladiator that died had wounded.

As he turned, the walls of the arena came up, while Caikus suddenly stopped, whipping around to see the Saddle Arabian horse come lunging at him, blades out. Side stepping, Caikus winced as a hoof strike suddenly hit his punch swinging arm, the horse faster than expected.

Rearing up, the horse went for the kill, but Caikus rolled back and thrust his own legs out, catching the hoofs mid air with some bleeding and pain from his feet to show for it.

Wincing, Caikus saw the bloodlust in the horse's eyes, through the cloak hood, as the horse's weight forced Caikus's legs to beneath him. But Caikus braced himself for pain, as he made his move.

Lunging up as much as he could, Caikus grabbed the torso cloak of the horse, and rolled backwards, the horse shoes slicing his skin slightly as he rolled back, and kicked the horse backwards into the arena wall only 5 feet away.

A loud crack went up as the horse slammed into the wall head first, bending the neck at a fatal angle. Crowds roared, and some cheering bystandars leaned over the edge of the wall to see the victorious dog.

Caikus winced, breathing hard as he saw the slice and gash marks on his legs. He would live.

Over in the centre of the arena, the last fight was going on.

A roar went up as Braxius had taken his axe and finished off the wounded horse, cleaving the horse's head in two. Snorting, hand hurting from the knife, Braxius looked around, seeing Kalmai still assault Mashri with his blades. She was clearly holding back.

"More for me."

Braxius's bellow mirrored the crowd as he charged. He was liked by the crowds for being a brute force, while Caikus was overall a skilled fighter with strength greater than his size let on.

Mashri was military trained, burly, but clearly unwilling to kill a family member.

That issue was an easy fix for him.

Stomping over, getting used to the hot stinging in his knife stuck hand, Braxius bellowed to the 2 fighting horses:

"You're supposed to be the Venatrix, HAH! Let me at him, I'll deal with that slimy little barbarian!"

"Stay out of this Braxius!" Mashri bellowed, while Kalmai gave the Minotaur a look of puzzlement, but turned into outrage as he saw that the other 4 of his followers were dead. One of them had been a higher rank than him among his tribe, the best fighter.

Braxius began to run faster towards them, and Kalmai seized the moment as Mashri lunged out with a sword, aimed for his ankle. Sidestepping, Kalmai headbutted Mashri and grabbed her back armour by one hoof, shoving her towards Braxius as she was dazed by the blow.

As Mashri stumbled, Braxius angrily shoved her aside with one arm, the horse stumbling to the ground, regaining her senses as the Minotaur descended upon the horse she'd been fighting for 3 minutes straight now.

Kalmai was tired, and Braxius was bigger. The yellow furred, black maned horse was faster though, as he leaped sideways to avoid the massive axe come crashing down to cleave any part of him off, and the horse leapt forwards, hoof outstretched.

Some blood flew as the spiked horseshoe slashed Braxius's face again, the Minotaur's face now bleeding very noticeably. Utterly enraged, Braxius seized Kalmai by the neck, standing upright to hoist the horse into the air as he choked him with one hand. Gasping and struggling, Kalmai kicked desperately, the spiked horseshoes slashing at the Minotaur's torso armour uselessly.

Struggling, Kalmai then thrust an arm upwards, and caught Braxius under the lower arm, the pain from the shoe spiked going in there making him drop Kalmai.

Dropping, the horse wrenched a knife from under his cloak, and plunged it into the side of the torso, in a gap in the armour.

Hands shooting out, Braxius caught the stab by Kalmai's foreleg, the knife not going in very deep, but he felt it. At the same time, the knife blade protruding from Braxius's hand palm went into Kalmai's foreleg, making the horse scream slightly through the pain as he clenched his jaw for the final strike.

Weakening from the blood loss and diminished strength, Braxius breathed heavily as he held Kalmai's knife holding hoof with both hands, as he saw Kalmai pulled back his hoof to punch him in the face again.

A brown and Centurion armoured blur tackled Kalmai, the knife wrenching from Braxius's side, and the knife from his hand slashing and cutting Kalmai's foreleg badly as it came out. The Minotaur staggered onto his knees from tiredness as Mashri panted, letting Kalmai struggle on the ground while she stood nearby, spear in hoof.

Getting slowly to his feet, Kalmai drew his sword out in the forehoof that hadn't been stabbed. Again he charged, clearly slower this time. Mashri was tired too, but she wasn't wounded.

His sword hammered her shield, but she flicked it up to send his hoof and blade flying up. Spinning, she drove her forehoof into Kalmai's head, staggering him. As Kalmai recovered, spitting blood slightly as he slashed upwards, Mashri backed up, swinging her shield sideways, catching his forehoof as he swung upwards, knocking the curved blade from his hoof.

Blood and saliva flying, Kalmai charged, his bladed horseshoes constantly swinging wide and hard, no technique at this stage. Backing up, blowing aside one swing with a shunt from her shield face, the Centurion mare swung her sword, drawing some blood from a slice on Kalmai's rear leg.

Staggering to a stop, Kalmai glared at her as she stood by, before he made one last swing with his hoof, before Mashri caught it with her sword, slicing his hoof badly before she then swung her shield around, smashing the metal face into Kalmai's to send him sprawling on the floor, broken and beaten.

The crowd began to chant, the call for death ringing in Mashri's ears. She saw Kalmai on the ground spit up some blood, peering at her through his tired, but still rage fuelled eyes:

"They trust your loyalty only when you kill me, your own brother! That's who you abandoned your family for, savages!"

"No Kalmai. They want me to kill a criminal, and an enemy of the empire. And you were willing to kill me, your own sister, so don't preach of savagery to me."

"I see no sister of mine, just a Romane piece of filth."

Seeing the hurt, but mostly anger in Kalmai's gaze, Mashri raised her spear above her head, but paused.

To kill her own brother, to live with it. Could she do it?

The crowds chanted louder, demanding death. Mashri made her choice.

"Romane morality views killing family as wrong. I can't kill you." Mashri decided, not at all regretting her choice.

Kalmai spat at her, which Mashri ignored, while the crowds grew angrier. Turning, she knew how to get the crowds on all their sides:

"But you must die for your crimes against Romane anyway."

She ignored the roaring crowds as she approached the weaker Braxius, the Minotaur looking thankful as she came over and hoisted him up, visibly struggling with his weight.

A few choice words into Braxius's ears, and as Mashri handed Braxius the spear, the crowds roared positively once again. After all, it was fitting that Braxius get the last kill, he'd been the most impressive. Mashri lasted longest, and she had proven her loyalty. But Braxius would have over half the kills in this match thanks to Mashri being 'generous'.

Kalmai scowled hard towards Mashri, as she watched impassively, not enjoying or regretting her choices. Removing her helmet, the brown maned and furred Mare gave him a look of certainty, and sigh of relief as she saw Braxius come to stop, looming over the brother that had been one reason for all her recent troubles.

Overhead, Braxius grinned widely as he hoisted the spear up, while Kalmai harshly spat one last time at Mashri, before the spear plunged through his cloak and armour into his back.

The crowds exploded, while the guards then swarmed the arena to escort the 4 living gladiators, 3 of whom needed medical help, back to their quarters.

But staying behind slightly, Mashri stood over the speared body of her brother, laying a single hoof on it as an impartial farewell to him.

She was free, redeemed now, and had her rank back. And yet, such hard choices that she hadn't expected to be altogether at once.

29th July, 722 BNM

Early Afternoon

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Romane metropolis

Tavern

A few days for her to recuperate were granted, before she was to begin to serve under her old rank and in the same army force as before.

Her commanding officers had welcomed her back, and so had her comrades, but they would never again think of her possibly committing treason after the events she went through.

In a larger Romane outskirts tavern, where there was a small rented room she resided in, until she returned to the garrison, Mashri had met with the two wizards who had strangely confided in her during her Colosseum days.

One of them had intervened, engineering the events that gained her freedom, saying he merely made what was going to happen separately happen together, her earning her freedom mixing with confronting the very person she was both helping and betrayed by.

Tavern eating area

Siral had been quiet, while Starswirl had apologised on their behalf, saying Siral was too intervening, while he himself perhaps wasn't involving himself enough.

"In short, we had disagreements over whether destiny is left alone, or should be interfered with."

Taking a small gulp from her cup of wine, the brown horse having only a few more questions:

"You are very strange, you two. Starswirl the Bearded, and Siral the Savant. Odd names. But why again, and I know you are hiding something from me, but why me?"

"We are seekers of knowledge, we want to see what examples of certain virtues are, so we can pass them on as teachings proper to others we meet." Starswirl's words were honest, but still hiding something. She knew she was unlikely to get more out of them.

"Romane has plenty of philosophers and Priests, I don't think you'll find much here that hasn't already been a subject for them."

At Mashri's remark, Starswirl gave a small laugh, while Siral continued to look a little sheepish. Noticing this, Mashri turned to the black Unicorn, saying with honesty, both brutal and thankful:

"You helped me, and action speaks louder than words. As painful as what you organised was, it worked, as many a hard decision in life is. But don't go behind the backs of those that could help, its not smart and causes trouble."

With a strained nod, Siral said nothing while Mashri then reached into her tunic pocket:

"I wanted to give you something, a token of my thanks. Its not much, but it's better than just memories."

Reaching in, she pulled out a rather unremarkable looking object. A gladius sword, though the edges looked worn from use. Her chief weapon from her gladiator time during which she had to decide, and prove her loyalties to Romane, and against her own Iulian blood kin.

"I won't be needing this with the equipment the proper army shall give me. And, it may well serve you as well as it did me in a time of great need."

Blinking slightly, Starswirl reached out with his blue magic hue, engulfing the sword in its light, before he remarked with some thankfulness:

"Thank you, and a way for me to easily carry it is all I will do to it."

The sword flashed blue as it shrank to the size of a money purse, and Starswirl placed the miniaturised sword, sheathed and all, into a pocket lining his cloak.

With not much more to be said, Mashri stood up to bid the two wizards goodbye.

As Starswirl and Siral rose however, the brown horse engulfed each of them in a one hoofed hug, patting their backs before letting go. The noticeably larger mare then gave a smile, with a quick salute, before she made to leave with a few parting words:

"Good fortune to your travels, Siral, Starswirl."

That would be the last either of the two wizards ever saw of Mashri, as they left without another word hours later, heading for the mountains north of Romane's metropolis.

During their next era of visitation, Romane itself would have dramatically changed, and undoubtedly time would have consumed the mare they came to know, with only a shrunken gladius sword to remember her by.

30th July, 722 BNM

Early Afternoon

Chamitaly, Romane Imperial Homeland

Mountains north of Romane metropolis

Hidden mountaintop.

It was secluded, and cold, but not too high for snowdrifts to ever fully cover its expanse.

But within the small valley, the two wizards stood by, while Starswirl readied to drink the familiar blue potion that had first sent him through time.

He'd already sensed when the prophecy prompted his time travels to come out next, and with a bracing breath, he turned to Siral:

"I take it you shall be following?"

Pulling out a white liquid bottle, Siral remarked with some rare mirthful humour: "Like a shadow, you won't lose me anytime soon."

In time, the shadow remark by Siral would take on new meanings, in more ways than one.

But for now, as the potions were drunk, the blue robed, grey furred and white maned/beared Unicorn vanished in a flash of bright blue light. 20 seconds later, after focusing, the Grey robed, black furred and white maned Unicorn had drunk his potion, and Siral once again had followed Starswirl to whenever he would appear next.

But the lessons of Loyalty, and its costs, had been taken by both as an education.

And more was to come still, this was just one of a few stops guaranteed to teach them.

Author's Note

The Loyalty arc is finished, next stop, the MAGIC arc. And in a rather different setting mind you. With the sort of themes of each arc, until things start shaking up slightly, the next arc or two may in fact only be 4 chapters long. Can't guarantee they'll be as short chapters as these Loyalty ones were though.

And Loyalty's artefact, a gladiator sword from Mashri. Personal items will come from each exemplar being.

GENROSITY V, Leviathan, Irvin: Altruist

22nd November 221 BNM

Late Morning

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord inland ice labyrinth.

Hidden hall

Stuffing any and every pocket he could, Irvin finally had all he could carry and still be mobile. He didn't want to tear his pocket stitches from weight of treasure inside them.

As he turned, the Fox realised what he'd been distracted from by his gathering of his fill of the treasure.

Captain Blythe stepped backwards, parrying the well wielded broadsword the Shetland Pony, Nayrington, swung to take his head off. The Gryphon replied with a slash, though the pony ducked backwards from the blade swipe, while drawing his blade back.

Blythe's wings beat to keep him upright, as he took flight to fully take advantage of his gryphon build. Surging around, Blythe hurled his hatchet at Nayrington's head, cursing as the pony ducked and let it imbed itself in the snow and coins behind him.

Blythe visibly panted though, he'd been a bit rash in leaping into combat with a newly replaced leg. His leg may have been healed faster by magic from Starswirl before this mutiny, but blood loss still tired him.

Noticing this, Nayrington was taking his time.

Knowing this himself, Blythe grounded again, using his wings just to keep his foreclaws off the ground in a bipedal stance, wielding his sword in two clawed hands against the charging Pony, the broadsword strapped to his forearm having much greater power behind it.

Blythe slashed, Nayrington parried, then a swift and brutal hoof to Blythe's face with the other forehoof, sending the Gryphon reeling away, stumbling on his new, and slightly aching wooden peg leg of just under an hour's experience.

Advancing, Nayrington slashed downwards, though Blythe met with a blade on top of it as he backed up, locking their blades on the ground. As Nayrington tried for another hoof punch, Blythe's other foreclaws leapt forth to catch the hoof, forcing Nayrington onto all fours with his sword leg digging into the snow and treasure.

Blythe brutally headbutted the pony, and as Nayrington reeled back with a loud yell, sword drawing back as he staggered, the caverns shook slightly yet again.

As he recovered, Nayrington saw a third figure scrambling towards the crevice hall's entrance, as a certain Fox second in command made his escape.

"IRVIN, YOU LEACH!"

"Take what you can!" Irvin merely shouted back, as Nayrington made to go after the Fox.

"Ye aren't going ta' leave your mutiny unfinished are ye!?"

A cackling insult preceded a blade whistling towards Nayrington's head, but the Pony backstepped a split second too late, as the blade caught his flying mane and a small part of his shoulder, leaving a small slice on it.

Gasping, Nayrington backed up, dropping his sword leg to the ground to rest it mid shock as Blythe gave a shallow breath, his sword down. But then Nayrington span around, and kicked with his back legs.

Blythe went hurling across the floor, slamming audibly into one of the piles of snow that now blocked off one of the beast holes.

Wincing, Blythe staggered towards the entrance, as Nayrington advanced on him, recovering his sword from the snowy ground and coins, a swift sword strike sending the blade hurtling from Blythe's clawed hand, and then beginning to send the Gryphon scrambling backwards in a panic to escape his armed opponent.

Bleeding slightly from the shoulder, Nayrington gave a small smile as Blythe staggered, and tripped over backwards on his newly pegged rear leg to fall on his back.

"Footwork in your fencing seems a little, shall we say, HALF hearted?"

Scowling, Blythe had a look of panic on his face as his eyes darted up and down from Nayrington, and his hooves.

As something shifted loudly behind him, Nayrington realized it was not his hooves, but the blocked beast hole the captain was staring at.

Spinning around in anticipation, Nayrington saw snow explode outwards as one of the creatures reared its ugly, scaly and wet black head, the seeking tongue lashing out to grab him from 10 feet away.

His sword slashed out, the tongue end flying off before it could fully wrap around him in a small spray of red blood, the creature shrieked horrifically as it recoiled back into the hole, as Nayrington turned to continue his bought with his foe.

A set of claws and wingbeat noises filled his ears as Blythe had tackled him, the Gryphon yelling as he pushed Nayrington backwards, falling to the ground just before the ice lip himself.

Scrambling, Nayrington felt nothing but ice, as he couldn't get an angle to stick the sword blade, mounted onto his arm, deep enough into the ice, to dig in. Blue and white ice like glass surrounded him, and he yelled as he slid into the dark abyss.

Very quickly though, the icy water at the bottom of the tunnel, like a pipe, gripped him like a lightning bolt, as the utterly freezing waters engulfed him.

Up on high, Captain Blythe scrambled up, catching his breath as he snatched up his fallen sword, while also grabbing his hatchet from the snow as he limped, and began to slowly run after a while, in the direction of the exit.

He was the last to exit the treasure halls.

Nayrington opened his eyes, he saw very clear water, despite the saltiness hurting his eyes.

In the dark tunnels, like a catacomb, he saw many other tunnels in the bone chilling depths under the ice, how the creatures had dug their way to what they sensed was a place laden with greed to prey off of somehow.

About 3 dark, serpentine shapes, with small stubby limps that made them look more like monstrous black newts stretched out, eels with stubby limbs, swam about in the dark waters. One of them swiftly turned to come towards him, the glint of teeth and a tongue he hadn't sliced off on this one filling his vision.

Bubbles flying, Nayrington lashed out his blade arm, hoping the first part of his body to enter its maw would harm it.

Teeth closed, and pain flared into nothingness for Nayrington as the water around him suddenly grew warmer for the briefest instant as his own blood filled it, as red amidst cold wet darkness was the last thing he sensed.

Late Morning

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord shores

Scurvy Blythe mooring site

As the crew stood at the ready on the beached ship, they saw the chests being hauled aboard by the 8 crew that had just arrived, 2 of the other crew in chains. They were waiting for Nayrington, their leader, to bring Blythe and Irvin.

The dangers out in the Fjord seemed forgotten on the crew as they stared at the treasure load the 4 chests they'd recovered held, 2 tonnes of treasure in total, made easier to lift with the crew's Shetland ponies having strong backs.

But staring out at the Fjord, then back at the treasure, Starswirl shook his head, remarking:

"Siral and I can teleport only a few each time, those chests would be an entire load in themselves."

Nearby though, Siral surveyed the Fjord, mentally thinking over the layout there. But there was also the pressing matter of where the hell Nayrington was with the Captain and First mate.

Siral and Starswirl couldn't help but notice the black eel like monsters seemed to patrol closer to the beach since the crew had come with the treasure chests, even more so with their pockets full of extra jewels too.

Siral however, had enough as he heard a few murmurs among the crew:

"Some way ta' magic the ship to not get sucked down in the current? We can deal with the creatures s'long we stick ta' the rim oh' the fjo-."

"NO! ENOUGH OF THIS!" Siral suddenly bellowed. The crew turned to the black Unicorn, as did Starswirl, who was taken aback by Siral's outburst.

"I did not come on this venture to see your lust for treasure blind you to the dangers this entire place is to those behaving like yourselves. Nor have I the patience to further indulge in such pointless, MEANINGLESS QUESTS WITH NO TRUE GAIN TO BE HAD!"

Livid now, as Siral stood his ground, the wizard bellowed: "You can consult my foolhardy colleague in helping you escape WITH your treasure, whereas I shall only help those willing to abandon this lure of those beasts waiting for anyone to set sail with even a single piece of the treasure!"

As he gestured with a hoof to the bay, Siral noticed a few daggers and swords being drawn among the crew, and one of the treasure chests being shut and stood by very possessively. The Black, scarred Unicorn stood his ground though, remarking to Starswirl:

"When this is done, I shall come and find you. I won't stand by and help in this doomed venture, the opposite of what YOU sought in this venture."

Without another word, Siral vanished in a flash of grey, though if one glimpsed hard enough, a slight grey flash would be seen on the other side of the Fjord, atop one of the ice cliffs overlooking it.

Stood by, shocked into silence, Starswirl turned to the rest of the crew, who looked at him pleadingly, though greedily too. The grey wizard cast his gaze towards the labyrinth entrance, seeing no sign of Irvin.

A faint shout came though, a grizzled voice:

"-utineers, scum! I'll quarter ye meself for this!"

Captain Blythe came quickly limping out of the Labyrinth, hatchet and sword in his foreclaws as he walked, his peg leg causing him ache now. Starswirl's expression widened with shock, as he had not seen Irvin come out before Blythe.

The crew clearly thought the same, and while the 2 restrained crew gave sighs of relief, the others quickly scrambled to restraint their captain in a very brief swarm of fists and rope. Despite his threatening stance, Blythe was not in good shape right now.

Dragging Blythe aboard, he spat curses as he also recollected their boss's demise:

"Yer Nayrington, e' screamed like a welp as one of the beasts burst from its buried pit, and after he cut off its tongue, ah shoved him down into da' abyss, where it fled, to his doom! An' he had it easy, ye are gonna be wishin' ye had his fate, aftah ah get-."

"Oi, tie 'im!" One crewmember, the makeshift leader this time, a young Gryphon, called out. The crow's nest fox boy, Little Max, ran forward to ring the rope around the mast, tying Blythe in place, though Starswirl noted an air of uncertainty in the boy, and other crew, now that their leader who inspired them to mutiny was dead by Blythe's hands. Standing off to the side, Starswirl asked Blythe:

"Where's Irvin?"

"Little bugger scampered off with half a ton o' treasure in his pockets. Ah' must've missed him somehow, or he hid. Greedy little bastard."

Standing with his face towards the Fjord, Starswirl mourned Irvin for a moment. Not the Fox himself, he hadn't proven himself. But he wondered if this journey was for naught, like Siral said just then. This journey had proven a disaster, more so than the mess with Nahia in the jungle centuries ago.

But this mutiny was founded off the idea to profit off growing political threats which included Equestria in a potential for great conflict with the New Gryphon Empire. That itself raised questions of where Starswirl had his priorities.

As he introspected, Starswirl only barely heard a few curt voices from the crew, as Blythe fell quiet:

"Well Wizard? Will ye help us?"

Staring at the crew, Starswirl saw minds, once nothing more than people who lived off of their line of work, albeit its illegality, that had been poisoned by this veritable wealth. Siral had been right, this treasure was cursed, marked by the beasts as a lure.

And Irvin had fallen too, like Nayrington, though Irvin was more self-serving, wishing to have the wealth but not answer to a higher authority.

Blythe was the only truly innocent face, that and the 2 crew among them tied up too, and there was potential for sense recovered among the crew who had lost morale with Nayrington's death. Deciding on a compromise, hoping it would work for the best, Starswirl gave a small sigh, as he worked his blue magic on the ship, and on the treasure chests.

"Listen, I have tried what I know. Those creatures are lured by the treasure, as they lure prey, YOU, for them. The chests will hide the treasure from their senses, known and unknown. Any and EVERY piece of treasure you have collected must be put inside the chests. These creatures are like dragons guarding a hoard, they know if you have any of their treasure on your being."

As the sail masts and hull flared blue slightly, before dimming, Starswirl remarked: "This ship will sail, until it is out of the way of the current caused by the big creature, as if on still water. It won't protect against attack, if the creatures sense living beings or treasure aboard here. No magic I have will be able to protect this entire ship if they decide to swarm the ship. I can save the crew if that happens, but not the treasure."

"We're takin' this out with us." A few stern voices followed, as a few pirates were already taking out many gems and coins from their pockets and other places and throwing them inside the chests.

Seeing their decision, Starswirl remarked idly, even pleadingly: "I'll remain behind, go where Siral went once I see you're through. Heed my advice, it'll protect you from the beasts."

Starswirl however, thought to himself that the spells he'd implemented, if done right, would only protect against what they'd seen so far out in the Fjord.

His hoofs clacking, Starswirl took a gaze back at the ship as he stepped onto the shore from the plank, watching as it was pulled aboard before he focused on the ship with his horn.

Slowly, the snow and sand shifted as the ship slowly slipped into the water, the oars already setting to work from those aboard in the lower decks.

Turning, Starswirl focused his magic senses, trying to find his supposed exemplar of generosity, a failure in his mind.

He sensed, and he found Irvin's presence. Behind him.

Turning around, Starswirl saw the Scurvy Blythe now 50 metres away, moving steadily as if on still water, just as his spells did. But he sensed Irvin was aboard the ship.

The fox had snuck aboard somehow, out of view, likely while the crew were arguing as they loaded and fawned over the treasure, and as Siral and he had been looking to the bay for solutions.

If Starswirl had wandered along the shore, to a small rocky alcove a hundred feet away, he'd have found fox tracks leading to where the Scurvy Blythe's bow had been sat on the beach, where he'd climbed aboard out of sight.

But now, Starswirl stared at the ship, knowing, hoping, that Irvin had heard his warnings to the crew. He was sure the penchant for eavesdropping meant the fox had known what to do.

30 minutes later

Late Morning/Midday

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord, ice rim cliffs

Scurvy Blythe

Below decks, Irvin had double checked the chest's locks. He'd indeed overheard Starswirl on deck as he waited here, while the chests were stowed down here. And despite his misgivings, he'd stashed his pocketed jewels, every one, inside the nearest chest just before they set off on the water.

The Fox waited inside, tense as the ship creaked through the water, the magic making their trip as smooth as still water, the rowers working slowly to not cause much wake.

Up on deck, as he was tied to the mast, Blythe had been sure to hook his claws into the rope binding him, working slowly. At last, he felt a rope snap, and the bindings slackened. He could escape now, but he decided to wait and see what happened.

Nearby, he gave a quick wink and gesture to his own ropes to the tied up 2 crew members, who understood the message. But they were just as tense as everyone on the ship.

Crew not down below working on oars stood on deck, ducking to avoid the gaze of the creatures in the Fjord. They prayed the spells Starswirl had would hide the treasure from them. They had emptied their pockets of every coin and gemstone into the chests.

Out in the Fjord, the roiling waters at the centre of the contained Maelstrom beckoned, yet by Starswirl's magic they sailed as if on still water, hugging the ice cliffs of the marauding shelf on the north side of the Fjord as they sailed to the channel mouth they were sucked through.

Ducking low, high above in the crow's nest, Little Max shook as he saw one of the creatures pass close to the ship, turning away like a fish circling in a pond. Another dark shape flittered towards the ship, snaking towards them, though this one was deeper down, less pronounced, and disappeared slowly.

The ice cliffs creaked ever so slightly, as the rushing of the maelstrom, caused by the massive unknown leviathan giant beneath the Fjord, inside a massive underwater sinkhole, echoed in the bay.

Staring out towards the roiling white waters, one Fox breathed slightly as he backed over to the side of the ship away from that, the side facing the immense ice cliff. He could have sworn he saw a flash of teeth down in the deeper well of that massive whirlpool.

Leaning back, catching his composure, the Fox breathed calmly, while nearby, he saw a few other crew staring out as well.

As he stared out, he heard a faint splash, and his throat tightened very quickly at the louder noise, though he dismissed it as just an oar too roughly splashed.

Something wet and slimy then touched his paw on the railing ever so briefly, and the Fox's heart seemed to stop.

The dark grey/blue fleshy tentacle then launched around his neck, choking him, the flesh wet, cold and exuding a sticky resin on its ends. His gulping scream was enough to alert the crew, right before they saw him yanked overboard by the much bigger than normal tentacle, different from the tongues of the creatures seen swimming about.

Dragged into the freezing depths, pulled through the water at great speeds, the Fox crew saw it through the stinging saltwater, HER.

Grolstrom herself.

An immense beast, bigger than any ship, castle-like in size. She was like the smaller ones that were her spawn in ways, but bulbous, fat off prey, sitting at the bottom of a blindingly deep, piercing blue well in the undersea earth. Smaller jueveniles and males, like they'd faced, swam about her, some heading for the ship he was dragged from.

The Fox crewmate felt his lungs ache, and water flooded his lungs, drowning and unconscious before he could be thrown to the current up top to be drawn into Grolstrom's gaping maw as she sucked down the water.

Her immense gills filtered the water she sucked out, leaving only what solids she consumed to head down her mighty, cavernous gullet, where the bodies of sailors and would be treasure hunters had rotted, even that of the mighty Viking Warlord's crew who gathered the treasure she now coveted as her lure for more of the tasty prey.

Her mighty current sucked up many sea creatures, but those who sailed aboard the wooden not-living whales were ones of varying tastes she'd grown a liking for.

More of her many tentacles from her base, dozens of them, continued to stretch out in all directions, though some she moved to the ship she'd found as a food source now.

More splashes, and their cover had been blown. The 'mother' leviathan had probed the ship out of idle curiosity, not sensing treasure but always curious about this strange being that managed to overpower her current.

She sensed smaller beings riding it, and she knew that this was a ship, and also knew they were the greedy prey that always came, like they always were.

Greedy prey that she sensed had no treasure was still prey.

More grey/blue tentacles, 3 of them, leapt out of the water like snakes, as the crew flew into a panic.

Sword were drawn, but it was a doomed battle. Sailors were snatched up, until the ones rowing came up on deck, leaving half down below to put their backs into it.

Straining on deck, Blythe sprang from his bindings as he saw the two crew that were loyal to him struggle with theirs, the Captain freeing himself going ignored by the other crew. Bending down, Blythe cut through one Gryphon's bindings, while he set to work on the Fox's.

As soon as he undid the fox's bindings, a black tentacle snaked over the deck, a few sword marks on it, wrapping around the ankle of the Gryphon, yanking him away.

Leaping forward, Captain Blythe felt the creature's immense pull, as the Gryphon screamed at his leg being nearly pulled from his socket. But Blythe had endured a lost limb and blood, and was tired. Snapping back, Blythe helplessly saw a loyal crewmember pulled overboard, as others around the ship fought tooth and blade with the larger tentacles.

One of the smaller black eel creatures leapt onto the bow, snagging a Shetland pony in its maw while others hacked at it as it slipped back overboard, water spray and utter panic and madness consuming the deck.

The ship rocked as more creatures attack, and Blythe simply backed into a corner with his sword, as the other loyal crewmate he freed, the Fox, scrambled to help the others.

A tentacle, one of the 'mother's' ones, slithered over the deck towards Blythe:

"COME ON YOU DEMON!"

It lashed out like a snake, but Blythe let it wrap around his arm before he swung upwards with his sword, slashing it off, leaving only the tip stuck to him as it writhed at losing its sticky tip.

Captain Blythe felt more rocking, as below deck one of the smaller creatures began to bite at the ship's underside, intent on sinking it.

On high, Little Max cowered in the crow's nest, out of reach, but not danger. A tentacle coiled around in pursuit of a crewmate, its bulk catching the main mast and wrenching back as it grabbed the crewmate in its hold, snapping the treetrunk thick beam like a twig.

Right then, a large pair of tentacles had moved under the ship, and had seized it around the bow and stern, holding it in place. The rowers couldn't fight this power, nor could Starswirl's spell.

But Grolstrom was after the prey, not the boat, so it kept it there.

The ship rocked, and Max did nothing but scream as he fell in the crow's nest towards the ice cliff, thrown from the crow's nest on impact, the mast wedging into the ice cliff in a steep slant as Max clung onto the ice cliff 100 feet up with his claws.

But his hold wasn't good, and the boy screamed as he fell, falling just behind the stern of the ship, where not a few seconds later one of the smaller creatures was upon him under the water, teeth and maw engulfing him in his end.

Late Morning/Midday

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord shores

Eastern Beachhead

Staring in horror, Starswirl saw the sailors being picked off, realising why the spells had failed. He didn't prepare for everything this creature had because he didn't know everything. Grolstrom was more than any of them thought, as were her younger ones and males as seen in the chamber.

The magical 'scent' of greed was merely a tool to allow her to more easily find prey, the treasure also a lure for them. She could curiously probe like any animal, and she had a much bigger size than bargained for.

As the mast collapsed, and the ship became locked in place near the ice cliff, Starswirl made his mental steps to teleport to the ice cliff just above them.

Late Morning/Midday

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord shores

Western Ice cliff overlook

Stood atop it, Siral could see it all happening, and he could see the immense size of Grolstrom the Leviathan for himself.

As soon as he'd arrived here, he'd had doubts about their survival, even if he had stayed to help. He couldn't have forseen what exactly they were up against.

A creature of terrifying power that used greed to fuel itself, to lure prey to it, to track them, and make life easier for itself.

A magnificent horror the world.

Siral saw the ship locked against the cliff now by the half collapsed mast over the small gap of water between the vertical ice and the ship, and the unseen tentacles holding it in place.

The sailors had stopped bothering rowing, and decided on fighting instead.

A fool's wish.

And yet, with his magic, he saw many things.

Starswirl teleporting in steps to the ice cliff top just above the ship.

And he saw a certain Fox emerge from the decks, a medium sized sack over his back and tied as he scrambled upwards.

Late Morning/Midday

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord, north ice rim cliffs

Scurvy Blythe

Down below deck, as the ship was going to chaos, Irvin knew the sad fact. This venture had cost them so much. The ship, the crew, their unity. This whole venture had divided them, and the Wizards had seemingly realized this and left while they could.

He didn't blame them.

But he damn well wasn't going to leave empty handed, as he opened up the treasure chest, and had finished loading up the small sack on his back with as much treasure as he could carry without slowing him very much. He'd be rich after all this, whatever happened.

Though he wished it hadn't ended like this, he had many fond memories of this ship, he and Captain Blythe, what a pair they made, and because Blythe lost his senses in pursuing this once in a lifetime opportunity, along with his leg, Irvin had few regrets.

Lifting the sack over his back, tying it off so his arms were free, Irvin felt the ship begin to tip as the creatures began to pierce holes in the lower deck. He hated to imagine what became of the rowers if any were down there when the breached.

Dashing out onto the deck, Irvin ducked as a piece of railing went flying by a tentacle slamming down a crewmember before dragging him overboard, but as he looked up, he saw what he knew was his way out. He was a good climber after all, he kept his claws long for good reason.

Leaping up, Irvin grabbed a long rope and hook, knowing he'd have to freeclimb, and he leapt up onto the half collapsed mast to clamber up its length, up and towards the ice cliff it leant against.

Down below, he heard a faint yell:

"IRVIN! SOME FIRST MATE YE TURNED OUT TA' BE!"

As he clambered up, he spared a glance downwards, seeing Blythe staring up at him with a look of hatred, his wing bent badly from one bad blow in combat, sword in hand as he sliced another tentacle trying to get him. The ship was nearly gone of crew, and he was still fighting, though he was cornered.

Irvin kept the rope handy, looping it through the hook to throw it, hooking it over a small upwards jutting lip of ice that was sturdy enough to hold even a few tonnes.

With how long the rope was, Irvin knew he had plenty of length to get up the 200-foot cliff, and a small ice ledge two thirds the way up to rest in safety before he made his way to the top.

Leaping off the mast, he began to climb, but he felt the weight of the treasure in his satchel become heavier than it really should be as he climbed. A few telltale screams dragged his eyes back down as he reached the ice ledge 150 feet above the ship, out of reach of anything.

As he climbed up, he saw one thing, and failed to see something above him.

Up above, Starswirl had flashed into existence, seeing Irvin clamber up to the ledge 100 feet below him, clutching the backsack full of treasure no doubt, a few dozen pounds at least in weight he'd somehow hauled up here.

But Irvin's attention was below, as the last of the crew were being finished off, and Blythe stood on the rear of the ship, as it slowly began to sink. The old Gryphon seemed to surrender to his fate.

The Fox looked at the rope, and in a fit of panic, he hoisted it slightly and swung it in the direction of the ship, bellowing down:

"CAP'N, grab the rope!"

Up above, Starswirl was surprised, but since both Irvin and Blythe didn't wish to reply to authority, they had more in common than those who'd mutinied under Nayrington.

Grabbing the rope, Blythe began to grip, but to his predicted avail, Irvin couldn't hoist Blythe up, even if he used the ice ledge as a winch curve. The Gryphon swung into the ice cliff slowly, climbing up the ice cliff slightly as he saw the ship begin to finally completely go under.

"CLIMB, FLY!" Irvin's shout echoed as the shrieks of the creatures pouncing on the few crew caught swimming in the water piercing the air. Down below, Blythe gasped, as his wing, broken slightly as an attacking creature tentacle had thrown one debris too hard against it, didn't work properly. His wooden leg scrambled for purchase, meaning he was trying to climb with only 3 non-wing limbs, his 2 wings useless with only 1 not broken.:

"AH CAN'T! LEAVE ME, AH KNOW YA WOULD!"

Panting, Irvin thought of everything they had been through, how he'd done so much with Blythe, how he'd been the one person on the ship who'd treated him as valuable ever since he'd been born and lived in poverty, seeking employment, taking him in as everything but an equal partner, as he was captain.

And it was Irvin who suggested this place when they acquired the Wizards, and now they were here, their ship and crew lost, and the only treasure left that which he now had in his sack.

As he felt how heavy the sack was all of a sudden, Irvin then spared a quick glance at the rope, and then the ledge it was looped around. He wasn't strong enough to pull it, he couldn't lift Blythe's weight.

Scowling, raging to the open air, the Fox bellowed aloud:

"ARGH! DAMN ME FOR A FOOL!"

As he bellowed, he knew the rope would slide as he needed, and he made sure Blythe was holding on tight, the Gryphon's claws wrapped around the rope as a last form of comfort.

Holding the sack of treasure on his back, Irvin leapt off the ice cliff, the rope turning taut as he saw Blythe give a yell of surprise as he was quickly yanked upwards.

As he passed Blythe, Irvin gave a quick look of acceptance, as he made sure to keep the treasure as weight on his back, to pull his true friend and partner in life and crime up to safety. Blythe had seen sense before he had, he deserved to live.

And Irvin knew the treasure he'd hoarded would help him do that if he gave up claiming it. The water rushed up to meet him, and just before the cold water gripped him, Irvin saw Blythe grab the Ice ledge, managing to scramble upwards.

In a last glimpse, he saw Starswirl standing higher up, face aghast with shock.

Cold water slammed around him, and Irvin released the sack of treasure he'd hoarded, and had given up along with his life potentially, to help someone who deserved it.

The wreckage of the sinking Scurvy Blythe, and shadows of swimming creatures filled his visage, as he saw the sack of treasure, a potential life he could have lived with ease forever, vanish into the cold, wet darkness below him.

At peace, Irvin began to wait for the inevitable teeth as shadows began to move towards his idly floating form, his better cold resistant fox fur doing the barest minimum to keep him from suffering as much in the frigid waters.

Blythe stared down at the water as the splash dissipated, shocked for words at Irvin's utterly selfless, and uncharacteristic sacrifice to save him.

But on high, as soon as Irvin had leapt, Starswirl felt an all too familiar pulse in his mind, a purple aura overcoming him as the Fox leapt off with the weight of treasure no longer a selfish desire, but something to give up in a way to help a friend in the direst of need.

The Grey Wizard snapped out of his daze, but before he could do anything, he saw the splash dissipating too, as shadowy forms moved in amongst the water.

Further away on another ice cliff, watching from afar, the Black Wizard stood in awe at this turn of events. Such a turnabout, he had proven himself as an exemplar of Altrusim, generosity of the highest regard of self-sacrifice of his interests of gain, and along with it, his life.

The shadows moved in towards the last survivor of the shipwreck, floating just a few feet below the water, treading underwater to not be dragged towards the center immediately by the current. Starswirl had charmed the ship, not the crew, though the charm was gone now the ship had sunk.

If he was to be taken, Irvin wanted a creature to do it itself.

He had no regrets, none.

Still, the small part of him that willed survival meant Irvin began to kick towards the ice cliffs he could see behind him, as the shadows drew closer.

Surfacing, ignoring the sights of those 2 wizards and his captain who could see him, shivering only slightly in the frigid waters, Irvin saw a few black shapes drawing closer, as he backed against the ice.

Drawing his sword as the Fox continued to tread water, backed against the 250-foot ice cliff, he felt he could at least claim an eye or two from one of the smaller beasts in death for himself.

Take what he could after all.

Author's Note

Fox fur in comparison to the coats of others on the ship [Shetland ponies/Gryphon feathery/lion], would handle frigid waters better. Not well, but better.

Next chapter will finish off the GENEROSITY ARC, but it will also be a transition chapter for our two wizards, as some feelings expressed and before here come to final fruition at last, some matters and places left unattended for too long by either of them.

And the final arc, KINDNESS, before the Equestrian Civil War part, which will be a second half or slightly longer of this story, won't play out like any of the others did. Things will have 'changed' a bit in many ways.

Equestria’s tipping point

Midday
March 2nd, 72 BNM
Equestria, Canterlot
Magical academy, Starswirl’s study

Over a month, and he’d even subtly probed King Nova and Queen Aurora for any potential shady moves on their part. Aside from political briberies and scandal cover ups, nothing added up to the Royalists being the instigators of this new war.
And now slumped at his desk, as he’d hoped for some news to work with, Starswirl pored over the letter his Salamander associate in the Nationalist areas, Chack, had sent him.
Over the past month or so since his meeting with the 3 neutral fortress leaders and Meadowbrook, some strange events had begun to happen in Nationalist territories.
Riots broke out in places otherwise stable, and yet rumours spread of the village ponies of horned, wing or earth variety not recalling what set them off into violence as much as they did.
But famine suddenly setting upon their crops always proceeded it, along with a local leader being distracted by a newly acquired ‘friend’, always of the opposite gender. But even the speed and ferocity of the feelings of discontent were unusual, as within a week of the crops all dying and the leadership seeming too distracted by base desires to do anything, the citizens rioted.
Two large villages in Nationalist territories had fallen prey to the exact same pattern, the second of which Chack had been to himself.

Meanwhile
Equestria, Nationalist Territory
Riot and famine stricken Farmer Village

Further away in the fields, Chack saw the starved looking Earth Pony farmboy digging into the soil with his hooves, while Chack had excavated down as well in his far away spot. The wheat fields, 1 week prior to the riots about the food shortage, failed harvest and likely sexually procrastinating local mayor, had suddenly died.
The many dead wheat stalks had been cleared, as the cause of it was probed by some Nationalist Unicorns who had been brought in from a nearby town.
But digging down, Chack found the reason the wheat fields had died overnight. The roots had simply vanished, picked clean or utterly disappeared from within the soil. Without roots, the wheat crops died quickly, even with the fertile land they were planted upon.
But there was no infestation of underground bugs of some sort, no ground based disease.
Meanwhile, turning his eyes to the distant village buildings, Chack saw some of the smashed windows and burnt roof tiles from the riots a week ago, where the riot had crashed the mayor’s house and killed him where he was having his breakfast, his strange ‘concubine’ as some called the flirtatious Pegasus mare with bright green fur that had arrived and so distracted him from even trying to ask nearby towns for relief supplies, having vanished the night before.
Strange things were happening in Equestria, destabilizing the already fracturing peace. Chack had seen peace devolve into war in the past in Salaman, he knew the signs of inevitable war to come.

Mid Afternoon, same day
March 2nd, 72 BNM
North Equestria, Citadel fortress, lakefront road bridge

The bridge that ran across the lake’s shoreline acted as the only large road, with the Citadel rising up the hillside on the right, and the lake on the left.
Stepping down onto the small lake shores near the bridge, as it was there to allow wagons to be drawn to the citadel without sinking in the muddy ground, many of the castle occupants found it a relaxing place to sightsee in their free time.
Sat upon the shores as the lakewater gently lapped at the sand near her snakelike body, Iena gave a small smile on her siren like face as she pointed a single clawed finger down, leaning over the water.
The subtlest of deep blue magic from her fingertip directed a small school of minnows wherever she pointed, able to sway their rather miniscule minds to swim where she wished.
That village mayor had been just as susceptible to her as the minnows were, even if she had to exert more effort. A transformation spell, some mind ‘softening’ magic, and working her well-practiced skills of seduction for political insight from before she was taken in by Siral, made the mayor pony into wet clay for her.
How easy it was to make him forget he had duties to the village as it experienced a sudden famine, as if struck by a plague, which very quickly turned to vengeful hatred of their luxurious living village mayor.
Speaking of which…
Looking over to the lakeshores a few metres away, Iena gave a small smirk as the grey, bald skinned and stone armoured ape like being hurled the small stone out, skimming it across the lake from his massive clawed hand. It bounced 7 times before sinking, as Odi Viscer grunted in annoyance before picking up another, keen on breaking his record.
The former bald Earth pony was grumpy at his role in the village. He hadn’t done anything except stand around in a disguise and basically let the inbuilt emotions of anger build, and by a subtle magic Siral revealed they all had, ‘rub off’ on anypony nearby.
That was a key asset they all had, to radiate specific emotions that others would feel for no explicable reason, though made all the more powerful if they already were happy, angry, sad, lazy and so on.
His only satisfaction was in seeing the carnage the villager wrought on the mayor’s estate. Though through jealousy, he wanted to have joined in too.
Meanwhile though, in front of Iena, an orange, shimmering fat Minotaur trudged out of the waters near where her and the minnows she toyed with were. As Satio stomped over, a small satisfied smile on his face, Iena caught sight of a large fish’s tail vanishing into the Minotaur’s gelatinous like belly, being slowly absorbed into his insides.
“You’re still hungry?”
“Yes, nothing wrong with a bit of fishing. Now that I’ve tried raw salmon I think I prefer cooked still.”
Iena gave Satio an odd expression as she remarked: “Not sure it would have tasted good either, but again, you are still hungry after eating an entire wheat crop’s root systems from underground?”
Satio was quiet, as he remarked with a small shrug as he plopped his large form down nearby her: “I wanted something that didn’t taste of dirt.”
“You taste it even if you absorb it through your, ermm.” Iena went quiet as she gestured to his large shimmering belly, the last of the fish’s tail vanishing inside. Satio gave his belly a pat, as he remarked:
“Not as much as through my mouth, but yes.”
As Satio went quiet, he asked: “Did, anyone get hurt much in the village?”
“Just the mayor, torn limb from limb, nobody else.” Iena offered.
Audibly, Odi Viscer hurled a stone without skimming it with his massive strength, watching as the stone cleared the lake span while muttering: “Yeah, nobody else. Boring...”
Satio gave a small pondering thought, to which Iena noticed his trouble expression. Slithering over to him on her snake body, she laid a clawed hand on one of his bloated, shining orange Minotaur arms:
“What is it?”
“I just, I’m not sure what to think of you going around, basically seducing others, even if for gain for Siral’s strategy. …Do you ever mean any of it?”
Iena shook her head, as she gestured to her current, snake and siren, with changeling armor, appearance with a hand, remarking:
“Of course I do not. You seeing me like, this, shows you’ll be more valuable than any of them ever will be.”
“So, only I get to see you, in a way, au naturel?” Satio suggested, a slight joking tone in his voice. Iena scowled at his dirty mind, giving him a swipe with her hands as she pointed out:
“No, the others can too. No secrets among allies.”
“I wish you would keep it secret, you have no idea how irritating your open affection sometimes gets. If you need me, I’ll be in the living areas.”
Odi-Viscer stomped by, the ape-like being knowing those lower in the Citadel knew of their master’s ‘servants’ and were used to them by now.

Citadel, lower chambers
Forging hall

Staring at the vat, which slowly fluctuated in light blue to plain grey light from its vast liquid depths, the altered dragon creature heard Odi-Viscer come down.
The grey, stone and skin bodied golem like creature looked at the spider legged, serpentine black and yellow dragon, asking in a surprised tone:
“She’s still in there? It’s been 4 days now.”
Nodding, Golmov replied:
“I guess Siral was not kidding when he said he wanted her under for longer, to make certain she came out as expected.”
Odi-Viscer was quiet, as he finally asked: “Will we be able to finally stop lying to her about what we’re doing? She wouldn’t approve if she knew.”
“She won’t, she will understand when she emerges. Siral made sure she sees everything from all perspectives while she’s in there. Don’t ask me how, but some sort of mind magic to let her see why we must do what we are doing.”
Golmov finished this statement as Odi-Viscer’s grey, stone flecked face lit up slightly as the massive potion vat flared a light blue colour before fading again. Clapping the golem on the shoulder [slightly surprised when the golem didn’t budge an inch], the ex-dragon replied good naturedly:
“Relax. It is much easier this way than trying to explain everything to her. She was soft hearted, but open.”
“Is that why Siral had us do our raids while she was under?” Odi-Viscer asked, putting two and two together. Golmov was quiet, as he replied:
“She would have objected if she’d discovered before it was done. She will accept us now, be truly one of us.”
Despite the deceit, Odi-Viscer couldn’t help but feel relieved. He didn’t like lying to Ave-Dol much about him and the others going on ‘secret missions’, nor hiding their roles Siral had in mind.
“So, what do you think she will look like?”
“Well, so far we’ve had what are basically a Unicorn-Ape-Scorpion, a Dragon-Spider-Gryphon [pointing at himself], a Pony-Ape-Stone Giant [he pointed at Odi], a Pegasus-Siren-Snake, and a Minotaur-….blob. All I expect is she’ll be, different.”
Odi-Viscer looked at Golmov impatiently, muttering quietly: “Just say you have no idea, I don’t like having my ears talked to the point of bleeding.”
“Well, nobody is perfect. I like talking and treasure, you like violence and carving, we all have our traits.”
“Please be quiet.” Odi remarked grumpily, as he turned to leave. Coming up behind him, Golmov remarked as the pair trudged up the stairs, their voices carrying up the stairwell:
“Is the little rage beast on edge just because you were told not to attack anything?”
“Yes.”
“...Okay, would you like to go antagonise the stone giants in the valley?”
“Siral told me not to, I broke one in half last time.”
“A small one, it was only 50 feet long. Come on, we need to work off that anger of yours. You’re like a mongrel pet that needs walking.”
“Compare me to a dog again and I’ll-“
“Tear my 8 legs and wings off and ram them down my throat, I know. Come on, Siral’s not here right now.”
“…Fine, but only the big ones. I don’t want to break them when I mess around with them.”
As the conversation carried up the stairwell, Lady Ave-Dol, having volunteered, lay unconscious in her vat, developing more slowly than the others had for the key reasons Siral needed.
After Satio’s odd, but successful emergence, Siral insisted he’d be in charge of ‘enhancements’. But more importantly, the one most prone to objecting to the warfare would not awaken until the war started, and upon delivering the bad news, she’d fall in line before she even could voice protests on moral grounds.
Soon, Siral would have his 6th fully enhanced. And about time too, as these events would see him acquire number 7 at long last.
There was a reason why Teal Quirt had been sent off to Trottingham, and why Siral had left shortly afterwards to ‘fetch’ the 7th of their enhanced comrades to be.

Late Afternoon
March 3rd, 72 BNM
Equestria, Trottingham

It had come out of nowhere, but the culprit was blatant in their methods. The Nationalist markings on the platoon as they had cast off their merchant and market stall disguises made it obvious.
Within moments, fires spread from flaming arrows fired from mounted archery weapons or incendiary spells. Carnage rained down upon Trottingham, and among it, the dead began to climb in numbers fast.
Within an hour, the skies of Trottingham’s township were darkened with the smoke from many blazing houses and larger thatched roof buildings.
And on the outskirts, the Valhoof estate was stormed by a group of armed Pegasi, Earth Pony and a single Unicorn, all clad in Nationalist markings. But these nationalists were not true.
This attack was launched by the Nationalists as an act of war against the pestering Royalists, suggested by the Trumanes themselves. But the attack on the estate was not sanctioned in the attack.
Siral had become skilled at subtly swaying the aggressions of the leaders of the Nationalist movement, and their leading Alicorns with the Trumane lord and lady. The idea was his, while his identity remained hidden.
But in reality, Siral found the idea already in Trumane’s head. He merely ‘loosened’ his morality enough to actually order it.
The pieces of war once again were there, they just needed that extra mental ‘push’ from an outside, subtle source, so that war may come at Siral’s time of choosing.

Valhoof main residence

A powerful magic had coursed around the manor shortly after news of Trottingham under siege reached them. The Valhoof lord and lady were present, their children all gone in their various ways today.
Cowering against the wall, as fires began to consume the manor house they’d been trapped in, Lord Valhoof panted as even his Alicorn magic, untrained but powerful, couldn’t break the curse upon the house.
“You won’t be leaving, Alicorns…”
Turning to see the intruder, Lady Valhoof saw her husband suddenly thrown backwards against a wall by a green magic aura, crashing into the family portrait to shatter it and the wall in a series of cracks. Turning to see the teal maned, white Unicorn mare approaching them, the Alicorn mare flared her horn, recognising the magic:
“What magic must you have to block us leaving?”
Teal Quirt gave a small grin, as she let herself loosen up. As she felt her body change to her ‘true’, enhanced form, she saw Lady Valhoof’s face morph into utter horror, while Lord Valhoof snapped awake as she screamed at the sight of the creature coming for them both, the manor ablaze.
Outside, as the ‘Nationalist’ soldiers, brainwashed ponies under Siral’s command, continued to throw fire bombs onto the manor, they ignored the sounds of screaming, and a series of bright green flashes accompanied by slight rumbles from inside, as a large flash of purple and red magic each were snuffed out quickly.

Trottingham outskirts
Gaudium Valhoof’s estate

He stared in horror at the distant pillars of smoke, an entire town on fire. The beige brown coloured Alicorn’s red eyes, alight with worry, then caught sight of a black/grey flash nearby.
A grey cloaked, black Unicorn, scarred over his body, galloped towards the house, his eyes catching Gaudium’s in his frenzy:
“Gaudium Valhoof! You being alive, you have no idea the relief it brings!”
“What is happening in town!”
“Nationalists soldiers, they ambushed, set fire, they had powerful magic wielders too. They stormed your parents’ house!”
“What!?” Gaudium’s eyes were ablaze, but his hopes sank as fast as his anger had surged when Blackmane cast his eyes downward, remarking:
“I saw them, hung out and burning, in front of the house. I’m so sorry, but they’re dead. And news is that they’re tracking down your siblings and you. I came to get you to safety.”
Gaudium’s world had collapsed, as beside him, Blackmane tried to break through to the now blank, distraught Alicorn stallion, whose blue wings had fallen slightly:
“Gaudium, look, listen to me. We have to leave, now! The Nationalists are coming with the ones who killed your parents, we have to go!”
“Let them come.” Gaudium blankly replied, but a grey magic blast slapping him across the face snapped him out of it:
“THINK! Your parents fought back, both of them, and lost! Alicorn you may be, but we have to go!”
Casting a look back towards Trottingham, the black smoke rising from the town, Gaudium scrunched his eyes as he hardened his resolve, nodding to Blackmane before following him, putting a brown hoof on the Black Unicorn’s cloak to let him teleport them to a safe spot.

Valhoof main residence

She sensed the message from Siral by magical telepathy, that the 7th had been acquired. She did not know who, but she did her part.
Turning to the ‘Nationalist’ soldiers, who were in fact brainwashed prisoners for crimes or even personal soldiers from the Citadel, Teal Quirt ordered as she’d reverted back to her white with Teal maned form:
“Citadel soldiers pull back, the rest, fight and kill until you die. Do as much damage before death as possible.”
Among the false nationalists, 3 quarters of the troops, around 20 of them, dashed off with battle cries and brainwashed bloodlust, while Teal and the 4 from the Citadel garrison made ready to leave.
“We are done here.” Teal ordered, as she gave a last glance around. The Valhoof estate was ablaze, and hung on the railings were the mutilated and magically incinerated bodies of the Lord and Lady Alicorns of the house, high ranking Royalists, them and their 4 children, all abroad.
She knew Gaudium was to be selected, and she found little reason to care that they were destroying his family, disappointment from them as he may have been, to acquire him and start a war all at once.
But the damage across Equestria had been done. Peace had shattered, Siral had all his assets ready, and the 3 factions were set against each other once again, with greater ferocity than before.
And with newfound ferocity came the use of means of power not seen before, or considered morally right even in war.
Whatever transpired, Siral would be superior himself or through his 7 beings, 5 of whom were already complete, with number 6 almost done and unconscious, and 7 about to begin his process of being melded to a useful servant of Siral, without knowing it.
Teal Quirt and the 4 Citadel soldiers disappeared from the Valhoof front gate and its 2 hung and burnt owners, as Trottingham succumbed to the suicidal charges of the brainwashed, faux Nationalist ponies.

March 5th, 72 BNM
Equestria
Citadel, lower levels
Forging chambers

She had been fused large with a Windigo strife feeding spirit, but also a Phoenix, and in short, she was still largely Alicorn in rough shape, but her light blue coat now glistened with a sort of aura, like breath on a cold day always fogging the air. Yet her once blond mane was now a fiery orange trail of feathers along her back, and her entire visage had taken on a birdlike look to it, her glistening electric blue fur half feathered all over, the fur and feathers merging seamlessly.
On her back were 4 sets of wings, both aflame with ghostly blue aura, but feathered nonetheless. At best comparison, she had become a birdlike Alicorn with 4 sets of wings, and a sort of fiery looking ‘cold’ element to her entire body.
But what was on Lady Ave-Dol’s mind was the sombre news that Siral had to share, that not even the arrival of another ‘unfortunate’ case, in the form of Gaudium.
“It was, unavoidable. The others went off and did what they could-.”
“Say no more Siral. I know what they are to you, why you do this. I care for them, not you. If they choose to serve your cause, they may. I will ensure their well-being, but I won’t take part in what sort of things they do.”
Siral blinked a few times. Lady Ave-Dol knew the true purpose of the others, and she refused to serve her role, subtle as it may have been. In truth though, she wasn’t stopping them, she was merely conscientiously objecting to any actual violence herself.
But if push came to shove, he had ways of making her do his bidding.
At least where they stood meant they could still work together. She knew why he was doing this, but like the others, she did not know the extent of his meddling in their lives prior to meeting them.
He had exposed Iena’s flirtings, disgracing her family into cutting her off that she’d used her charms to put in higher standing.
He had been behind the claiming of Satio’s land unfairly.
He had ruined Odi-Viscer’s health and had him cast out of his village in fear.
Only Golmov and Teal Quirt were unaffected by his schemes. And yet even now, he had yet again subtly ruined another’s life to acquire them.
Gaudium was as good as his now, seeking sanctuary in the Citadel, learning fast and actually being better accepted and not cast aside.
He too, would have his uses further down the line.

March 5th, 72 BNM
Equestria, Canterlot
Royal Palace, throne room

King Nova had told them that war had come. The meeting with ambassadors had failed before it even began.
Around the throne room, Queen Aurora looked down in disappointment, while Celestia turned to Luna with a consoling one hoofed hug, as the sisters couldn’t help but also feel her parents’ failure to maintain this fragile peace.

Elsewhere, in his magical academy office, as his Salamander contact in Nationalist territory had returned to his forge business for further instructions to come, Starswirl had angrily blasted the office fireplace with a large burst of magic, sending wood fragments all over the floor as the Unicorn seethed at his utter failure. Whoever this was, they had done this.
The Civil War had come again, this time with a malevolent force orchestrating its beginning, and letting it play out while turning it into their playground.
The magically telepathic feeling he’d felt of the 6th being awakening, the one of Sloth, had nearly sent Starswirl spiralling into a fit of depression the day before. But the Wizard knew he had to keep calm, as cool heads prevailed in times of madness.

Author's Note

I now bring the conflict to bear upon Equestria.
Enough said.

Battle of Tartarus, Valley of Violence

April 1st, 71 BNM
Dawn
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress

Not every scout had been captured, and while the full extent of the enemy was yet to be determined, the warning bell had sounded.
A large gong reverberated from atop Tartarus’s mountain ridge, and the pyre had been lit to signal for aid, the distant pyro on a mountain top 5 miles away already alight as well. Messages had been sent, any help was welcomed.
But the sounds of an advancing army echoed in the valley as the gong of Tartarus fell silent, the calls for help sent out.
Rushing out to the rampart, General Slickhooves stopped as he came to shuffle through a line of archer ponies that had taken up position, a mere fraction of 3000 other garrisoned ponies of all kinds that stood fast to defend the immense fortress.
“How many?”
“10,000 at least, 15 at most.”
The archer captain’s reply did little to ease Slickhooves’s nerves, but the black Pegasus merely leant over the rampart to see the other towers and walls along the mountain ridge being filled with stationed guards, catapults and ballistae made ready.
Vats of oil were heated by Unicorn magic, made ready in case the bridge was taken or the chasm between the mountain walls and the slopes bridges somehow by ground forces.
Staring out, the General saw the specks that were the Nationalist armies amassing, pouring around the valley rim to the east like a horde of ants attacking a picnic. Flying ones above them confirmed pegasi were among the hordes.
Beside him, a Unicorn corporal pointed out to her superior:
“They’ve got siege weapons, looks like they know they might be in for a long battle.”
“They’ll send in air attacks first, probe us. Archers, be ready! Protect the siege turrets, we’ll need them when the horde comes upon us!”
As Slickhooves bellowed out, a loud echo of archers coming towards the front of the ramparts across all the walls rose into the dawn air.
Ahead, the army pressed onwards.

Tartarus valley

Murky white and blue colours flowed everywhere, the Nationalist armies marching down the valley in their horde, war drums and chants resonating over the thousands marching to battle before them.
At the forefront, a few of the soldiers gulped at the sight of Tartarus’s foreboding walls, imbedded into the mountain ridge two miles ahead. Many of them were conscripts or fresh recruits, fresh blood for battle in the worst cases, and fought because their landowner nobility wished it of them.
The Nationalist legions marched forwards, with the Pegasi surging ahead.
Near the front of the advancing army, the white and teal maned Unicorn mare gave orders to the generals:
“-siege engines ready, and have the magic divisions sent up once the wall has been reached.”
As the armies advanced, Teal turned to Aubelles, who was pacing beside her now in his bronze armour:
“Aubelles, there are two other Alicorns in this army with us, you know them I presume?”
“Yes, we have spoken…”
“And you know what I have ordered you and they to do?”
“Yes. But if I may, even for 3 Alicorns, going head on against that fortress is not daring, but foolish.”
“So much for your bravado then…” Teal remarked, to which Aubelles sternly spoke to her as he turned his head to face her, still marching beside the Unicorn mare he had to tolerate as his superior:
“You show contempt for sending me and them into their waiting teeth, yet you are one to sit back and wait with the armies. You may not know it Teal, but you have given me, and those two, an opportunity to prove why experience will trump assigned authority.”
“I don’t understand your outrage. You and those other two are Alicorns, you should be fine, unless you aren’t as powerful as some tales tell. Besides, I expect you and they to be an inspiration and a boon to this battle, regardless of your fates. Now go, and fight as you would best when you get there.”
Aubelles stared at Teal Quirt, the Unicorn that so callously had stated she cared not for what happened to him and the other two, her contempt for Alicorns clear.
“We’ll have words about this when I return, believe me!”
As Aubelles spread his wings and took flight, a few of the soldier ponies in the hordes cheered him on, as a pair of other Alicorn soldierss that had flown up further back flocked to join him. Still marching with the army, watching the Pegasus squads already having reached the fortress from afar, Teal Quirt couldn’t help but smile lightly at the prospect.
If any of the Alicorns fell in battle, it was merely one less in the long run.

Tartarus prison fortress

Arrows flew, flaming and magic enchanted, across the skies, the hundreds of Nationalist aligned pegasi darting and firing their own weapons, be they back-mounted crossbows, fire and tar bombs and some special weapons.
A rampart tower went up in flames as a cluster of fire bombs were flung by a daring Pegasi squad, archer ponies screaming while others fired back, a few pegasi spiralling down from hits to down them, arrow or magic.
A Unicorn stallion captain hollered to keep firing, his own magic shooting a diving pegasi mare out of the sky with ease. But as she fell, her other companions, 2 stallions, released their weapons, which began to miraculously glow as they shot towards them.
A sticky ball the size of a crocket ball stuck to his flank, glowing and feeling very warm as it gently hummed against his flank. Wrenching to use his magic to rip it off, the Stallion felt it seize to his fur, before he gave it another tug.
The rampart wall he stood on was engulfed in a bright white explosion, the bomblet disintegrating the stallion in a superheated grey puff of smoke and dust, a few fragments of fur and armor flying from the blast.
“Watch yourselves! Curse balls!”
Curse Balls, an invention that originated from the mages of the Royalists, but very quickly defected to the Nationalists under bribery. Magic spells turned to potions of simple, one time use, with a wide range of surprises when they went off. All of them stuck to whatever surface they landed on, though more and more had been shown to actively seek enemies like bees.
Both sides used them, though they were usually weapons of infiltration or for smaller conflicts, not large scale attacks.
Disintegration into dust and ash, torture, stun shots, or even magical tracers. Designed to give soldiers of non-magic a one-time use means of basic magic to be made combat available.
Tartarus had its own stockpile, and made ready to use theirs in turn.
But ahead, as the rain of arrows and fired spells continued to fly, a trio of heavier magic attacks rained down from an incoming flight.
A new wave of a hundred pegasi approached the walls, led by 3 more armored ponies in flight. One of them sporting bronze armor.
The magic of the Alicorns cut across the rampart walls like a scorching beam, but the walls were merely burnt, not broken. Enchantments lay on them that flickered a faint glasslike fog, strengthening the walls beyond what their stone makeup would give them.
Diving headfirst into a maelstrom of arrows, Aubelles’s shield took a battering as the pegasi group split up, aiming for the flocks of archers along the lower walls.
Swooping low, Aubelles’s magic swept along the wall like a broom, sending Earth ponies and Unicorns flying as he smashed through them, flying upwards.
He winced as a number of arrows and spells flew his way, the sheer volume of them at this range enough to overwhelm him.
An Alicorn could defend against incredible attacks, but not from so many different directions and sources, without it becoming too much.
Glancing around, as he flew further up, Aubelles saw the youngest of the other Alicorn soldiers take a spell shot to her flank, forcing her to dive away to recover for a moment, while the other Alicorn stallion visibly was straining to keep his shield up as a heavy barrage of spells and arrows filled the skies as he made another pass.
Down on the ramparts, Aubelles didn’t need to hear what was bellowed to know what he and the others had inadvertently become:
“Focus on the Alicorns!”
While the hundreds of Pegasi flocking and diving before the quarter mile long rampart walls were fired on heavily, the 3 Alicorns became a prime target whenever sighted.
Grunting at the prospect, Aubelles cracked his neck, bellowing aloud for the pegasi and other 2 Alicorns to hear:
“Show them real hell!”
Diving down, Aubelles rejoined the fray, muttering as he drew in closer to arrow and spell range once more:
“I’ll live to tell this tale, I swear it!”

Opposite mountain ridge

Gazing at the unfolding battle, Chack could use the magic of the sword of Everfree to see further than normal. The Pegasi hundreds and 3 Alicorns were darting across the walls, taking out archers, Unicorns and the occasional siege turret.
But the fort was immense, and the fliers were in a storm of defence that could afford to fire from cover.
And Chack could see his friend was right in the midst of it, something he never did.
“Why Aubelles, its suicide… But maybe that is it.”
Glancing at the advancing army in the valley, getting into position to set up defensive lines in the valley already, massive siege engines forming into place 500 yards from the castle, out of the range of the arrows and spells from the actual fortress itself. Normally they might place the siege weapons, ballistas, catapults or the newer Trebuchets closer, but given the sheer size of the fortress, accuracy was not as crucial. And with some of the clearly magic laced weapons, as it seemed surprises from more than just Alicorn soldiers and the Citadel were in play on both sides, accuracy was even less of an issue.
But staring across at the unfolding aerial conflict, which as the forces were continually peppered, the sheer defence of the heavier siege turrets tough for even the Alicorns, Chack found himself growing worried.
Without pause, knowing he would have to take part in the battle at some point, he darted off down the mountain slopes, Everfree blade and his trusty katana in hand.
He sensed only the being of Envy here amidst the armies, but it was too hidden. For now, he’d wait, until the battle was more progressed, before he made his move.
In the meanwhile, he had concerns for a brother in arms he’d not seen in a very long time before now.
His magic sword making him invisible, Chack clambered down the steep hill face towards the plains a half mile below, knowing the battle was far from even begun at this point. He would have to get to the base of the fortress, or into its walls, the hard way.
He just hoped that the Royalist reinforcements were ready for what was on track to arrive by nightfall tonight from the north east.
By the time he’d reached the valley’s river in a half hour, the first of the Nationalist ballistas had fired, a shot to probe the range on the many siege weapons being set up in its ranks. And in that time, the siege turrets in the fortress had only lost two.
The enchantments and stone of Tartarus was too much for all but the most dogged of aerial assaults, as dozens of dead pegasi already showed, Chack glimpsing their bodies falling like flies onto the slopes, or even vanishing down the moat like chasm between the slopes and the mountain wall.
The first of many to come in the battle.

Late Morning
Nokotaford, Royal Palace
Main atrium

The palace was in uproar, the pyre beacons, magic message letters, all calling for reinforcements to Tartarus, clearly the 3000 stationed there insufficient against the perceived enemy already assault the fortress.
Her advisors and two generals beside her, her black dress matching her dour mood, Queen Aurora nearly barked to them as she advanced to the main foyer:
“I want them there by nightfall, any that can be spared! Every soldier, every reserve, don’t let them seize Tartarus while I still draw breath, or heads will roll!”
“Yes your majesty!”
As a few of her advisors scampered away to their duties, the older General Pegasus leaving ahead of her, Queen Aurora magically stopped the younger General, a Unicorn Mare, as she spoke lowly:
“General Fleecehorn, send word to General Slickhooves, though I expect he may ask if things go badly. You will gather those trained enough, tell him the secret weapon will be ready to use by their arrival there. It is time the Nationalists learn the full extent of what we have unlocked, they are not the only side with powerful forces to unleash.”
With a quick bow, General Fleecehorn darted off to send word to the few elite Unicorns and non-nobility Alicorns by any means to head to Tartarus. Turning away, Queen Aurora stared out the window in pondering thought, murmuring lowly:
“Retribution for Canterlot at last…”
“Mother, we’ve heard, what is to be-!”
“Be still daughters, reinforcements are on the way to Tartarus, and the enemies shall be repelled with as much mercy and swiftness as they attacked with when everything is in place.”
Queen Aurora spoke as she turned to see Celestia and Luna, the pair of them having darted to find out what was going on. As a moment of quiet came upon them, Celestia asked bluntly:
“You authorised that secret weapon to be used, didn’t you?”
Aurora nodded without pause, as Luna looked at Celestia with some uncertainty, before she saw the look in Celestia’s purple eye before she spoke after a brief sigh:
“We can’t sink to their level mother…”
“They deserve as much.” Aurora remarked bitterly, to which Luna quietly replied:
“Must it be used full force? If we could use it to ward them off-.”
“They attacked, retaliation is justified at this point. It has been for too long.” Aurora replied, to which Celestia’s next request came as a surprise:
“Then let me go. I’ll see it is done in the best way for all.”
As a few servants rushed by, respectfully averting their eyes from the exchange in their hurrying to their duties, Queen Aurora turned to see Celestia’s staunch tone and stance before her.
“No.”
“I won’t be in battle, and that advanced magic is much more controllable in Alicorn control.”
“..And when were you going to inform me that you’d used your royal status to probe secret research behind all of our backs?” Aurora asked sternly.
Luna’s eyes turned away, a light cough under her breath as she replied:
“Umm, not all of them.”
Turning to Luna, Aurora at this point wasn’t surprised: “Of course not, you two hardly ever keep secrets between each other… But my word is final!”
“We have a duty to serve our people, and if we can minimize death all around-.” Celestia began, but not before Aurora sternly walked towards the elder sister, the Queen replying darkly:
“I will not let my two daughters walk into a warzone...”
Luna then spoke up calmly, a level head between the mother and her elder sister:
“Let us help with the weapon, and it won’t be one for very long, with less death as a whole.”
Looking at her two daughters, Aurora blinked a few times, asking incredulously at them with a voice mixed between gruff disdain and hysterics:
“And what would you do? Use it in warning only? Ward them off, they aren’t so easily frightened!”
“Is it not worth trying to avoid such cost, just for once? They are ponies, like the rest of us, enough to see sense. Let us go mother, don’t let protecting us cost needless lives…”
As Celestia’s words rang true, Aurora then heard Luna speak up, the smaller blue Alicorn gently walking up behind their mother as she spoke in her serene voice, more certain now then ever before:
“If Equestria is to ever be united, we must give the other side the chance to see sense…”
Turning to face the atrium’s window, Aurora saw the faint reflection of her two grown daughters in the glass, and her own downcast eyes. Shutting them, she spoke calmly:
“The moment you are in danger, return. No less.”
Looking at each other, Celestia and Luna shared a smile, the elder sister proclaiming confidently to their mother as they turned to leave:
“We will make you proud mother.”
As Celestia wandered off, Aurora turned her head to see her white elder and blue younger Alicorn daughters galloping down the halls, catching up with the wandering General Fleecehorn about the secret weapon of Tartarus.
“I always have been, as was Nova.”
Turning back to the window, Queen Aurora delved deep into her thoughts for a moment, before more becks and calls from panicking advisors about the mobilisation of Royalist reinforcements came back around yet again.

Meanwhile
Royal palace, front gardens

Glancing around, she couldn’t help but feel sorry as she saw the drowsiness and rather laid back state her passing left in some of the guards on duty. It was amazing how ‘mellow’ the once alert guards appeared as she passed by, even invisible.
Lady Ave-Dol sensed about, darting into a palace garden so as to avoid ‘slothing’ any more guards. Unless she was in her ‘unnatural’ form, she always gave off her field of relaxation and lethargy inducing magic, also causing drowsiness and mental slowing to convince them to be truthful, or even temporarily forget things.
But she searched for a magical presence unique from others. Using a spell, she probed the castle, her hoof pressing into the grasses as she hid amidst some pony shaped bushes.
The castle and grounds were roughly shown before her eyes in her mind, she sensed many presences, a lot of weaker to medium powers, and a handful of very powerful signals from Alicorns, royalty or those there for other reasons. Oddly, four of them were altogether whilst the strongest, likely the queen, was alone.
But it was in a more closed off area, where a diminished magic signal, older than others, resided that interested her.
Sensing the bearded wizard was in a smaller, lower level chamber, the invisible Alicorn made her way through the castle gardens, already knowing some staff passages she could use to avoid the main atriums and hallways.

20 minutes later
Late Morning/Midday
Royal Palace, Infirmary chambers

Passing through, invisible to the naked eye, Ave-Dol sensed a mere handful of ponies in these chambers, asleep and resting, making the magic she gave off redundant here. But the single chamber nurse on duty might be affected, which meant a necessary enchantment was needed.
As the Unicorn mare rounded through the doorway leading from Starswirl’s chambers, she turned to see something shimmering and blue materialise in the chamber before her, amidst her lesser patients’ beds.
It resembled an Alicorn mare, but it had a flaming feathery mane, and a shimmering glasslike body of a Windigo of all things. Staring at her with piercing blue eyes, the creature slowly advanced, a wispy voice carrying from her:
“Please, do not scream, I mean no harm…”
“No…Harm…” The Nurse’s eyes dilated, as a blue glint overtook them. In her vision, this strange creature suddenly morphed into a blue bodied Unicorn nurse who had come to relieve her. To anyone else, the creature appeared as it had at first, the deceit on one pony only.
“Yes. Now, open the door, and lock it, I must tend to him alone.”
“Very well… Do not be too long.”
As the nurse pony obliged blankly, opening the door to the darkened infirmary room, Ave-Dol nodded in appreciation to the nurse, passing by without a word. As soon as she was through the doorway, the wooden door creaked behind her until it shut.
Turning to leave, the nurse pony’s eyes slowly returned to normal, as she put a hoof to her head with a small groan:
“Wha-Was I always this, maybe I should take my break early…”

The Alicorn/Windigo/Phoenix hybrid stared at the bedded Unicorn stallion, his rear leg clearly swollen and infected, by more than just mud and bleeding from his ordeal over a week ago in his stint in the Citadel.
Sensing with her magic, Ave-Dol sensed dark magic at work, the tell-tale signs of disruptive magic of a green hue that Teal Quirt perfected as a form of long term attack to anypony who she couldn’t deal with immediately. A magical disease of sorts, embedded into Teal’s mutated body’s scorpion claws.
Her own magic, the ‘laxing’ field actually helpful here, began to slowly peel away at the mental barriers and blocks caused by the green magic infecting Starswirl, as well as his own magical barriers in his subconscious.
“It is time to see both sides…”
She probed deeper, hoping to pierce the Wizard’s mind and shed answers for herself, and give him insider knowledge from another who could see Siral for what he had become now.
She merely hoped it wasn’t too late for this exchange.

Later that day
April 1st, 71 BNM
Mid Afternoon
Mid-Western Equestria, Mountain Range
Tartarus prison fortress

The stones and projectiles were hurled back and forth at distances over 500 yards, be they normal boulder, one use potion/magic ‘warheads’, as the trebuchets, catapults and ballistas mounted on the wall and brought by the army exchanged blows with no remorse.
Stones crashed into the ground of the army, a few soldiers taken out, but there were the magic forces as well, many of them deflecting the non-magic shots altogether a lot of the time.
A warhead projectile launched from Tartarus’s wall smashed into the ground, but on impact a sizzling disc of red magic shot outwards, slicing a few unfortunate soldiers in half and blasting back those further away like being struck with a whip. Disintegrator warheads rained down, some homing in on targets and detonating on impact if not shot down before landing.
Nationalist Earth ponies advanced, holding thick shields aloft in formations to keep dozens at once protected across the plains as they slowly began to march up the hill towards the fortified mountain face.
The walls and ramparts of Tartarus flickered with the watery/glass like magic rippling, the centuries old collection of enchantments reinforcing the walls holding firm, even if not protecting the soldiers on the outermost reaches as much.
Nationalist pegasi pulled back, as the attackers had focused their archers and magic users around the siege engines, making the targets too hard to hit now.
Amidst the hundred dead pegasi from the expected high casualties, there was also the one slain Alicorn stallion, peppered with half a dozen magically enhanced arrows and even more spells as he fell wounded from the skies.
A faint green mist floated off his body as it finally stopped rolling down the hill, that magic that evaporated off all Alicorns in death emanating off him giving a morale boost to the Tartarus defenders.
Hauling the other, wounded Alicorn mare from the aerial battle, Aubelles flew over the multiple divisions beginning to march up the long hill climb to Tartarus itself, as the bombardments went back and forth between both sides, casualties in the hundreds already for the Nationalists, and less so for the defenders.
Bitterly, the Bronze Alicorn would relish when the walls came down, and the cowards could stop hiding. The enchantments and stone wouldn’t last forever as more and more siege engines were set up, and the army advanced on the base of the walls itself.

On high though, climbing up the long walls of Tartarus, having leapt across the chasm enough to begin literally stabbing his magic enhanced sword and katana into the wall stone to climb, a single Salamander made his way up.
Chack knew the real battle would be upon or within Tartarus itself, and he ignored the exchange of arrows and spells high above, and prayed that a stray boulder or magic warhead didn’t find hit him as his invisibility field kept his climb unseen.
One such stray boulder smashed the wall a dozen metres above and left of him, prompting him to freeze as debris from the shattered warhead rained down to his left, a translucent ripple of the magic coming from the walls themselves.
The fortifications wouldn’t last forever, that was certain. The battle would retreat inside, especially given the heavier hitters on route to aid the army’s assault.
And inside or at the gates would be where he expected at least one of the seven he needed to target to be. He only needed one.

Author's Note

Part of a multi part ‘chapter’ in this story, as a lot of things come to head. But this battle is far from the end of the story as a whole, but the ‘beginning’ of a major turning point.

Citadel’s Fall IV, Discord takes root

Shortly past midday
April 6th, 71 BNM
Nokotaford Royal Palace
Queen Aurora’s office chambers

She’d received word of Starswirl’s ‘dreamwalking’ and coming into contact with the Wizard in the Citadel, Siral, and his seven powerful beings. But it had been the Salamander, Chack, giving a witness account inside the same dreamscape that lended the credibility needed to not doubt it.
A letter from Luna in the Crystal Empire, saying she’d sensed erratic activity over the vast dream world, corroborated the events of last night.
Now she, Starswirl, Chack and a pair of key generals collaborated in her office chambers.

“You are sure?”
“Yes. I don’t know how it works exactly, but when these dreams come, they’re always right. Whatever happened, Siral has been somehow, silenced, and the minions he has have been affected, they’re disordered, it is like an echo I hear from them in my dreams. That blasted prophecy makes me too aware of them for my liking.”
Reclining back somewhat in her throne seat, Queen Aurora asked suggestively:
“Perhaps this is a good thing? They’re falling apart by some cause we don’t have to contribute to, leaving them weak.”
“Not the way it is happening. Right as I felt Siral’s power growing with theirs, right as they were slowly seeming to blur together into one presence far away, something just snapped. I fear they might have rebelled against him, maybe killed him.”
“Again, perhaps a good thing?” Aurora pondered, to which Chack, the salamander having been standing away from the 3 ponies and Wizard, remarked bluntly:
“Given their powers, and their violent streaks that Siral’s clearly been stoking like a fire, I would not call them being unleashed a good thing…”
Grimly nodding, regarding the Salamander at half an Alicorn’s body height with less scepticism than her two generals, she turned to them, her expectant look speaking for itself.
General Broadwing, of the Pegasus cavalry groups, shuffled on his hooves slightly as he weighed the knowledge they had, sketchy as it was:
“Less than a day has passed since this, but I see no reason we can’t divert some scouts to investigate. I can have them sent off within a week, equipped and with a Unicorn in case there is still a stronghold there they risk attracting eyes from.”
General Obsidian Aura, a Unicorn stallion of the army, spoke now:
“As for the beings, under Siral’s hoof or not, I can reallocate resources to the new spell development. If they have grown disarrayed, it may give us some breathing time to better improve the Tartarus ritual spells.”
At the latter point, Starswirl’s brow darkened slightly. He had his misgivings about using such raw power, but given he’d been studying Necromantium spells as a last resort, to voice his concerns would be hypocritical of him.
Chack on the other hand, voiced support as he stood near the door:
“I saw enough of that weapon, and of the beings, a few of the at least, at Tartarus. Boosting effort into the only thing that truly did damage to any of them is best, I was in the Nationalists long enough to know they’ll still be scrambling to even scratch the surface of how it works.”
“That settles it then.” Queen Aurora surmised, though Starswirl kept his look of dubiousness to himself, only being shared secretly by Chack.

Same Day
Mid Afternoon
North midland Equestria
Citadel fortress
Upper towers

Pouring through Siral’s personal records, Teal Quirt had taken it upon herself to be the defacto leader of their little group of 6, plus one now mentally emptied seventh.
Countless scrolls, tomes, books and personal notes of the Wizard littered the now disarrayed office, but the scorpion/ape torso’d hybrid was focused primarily on the writings on them each.
Mumbling under her breath, her green magic hovering the papers around her as she read, what she murmured to herself wasn’t pleasant in its implications when it came to long term plans:
“…Mental link, empty minds to make control much easier. Seventh to be created must include small fragments of each of the six to ensure he can manipulate them better. Mind to be easily wiped in event of rebellion on Gaudium’s part…”
Scowling at this, Teal stroked her chin with her ape hand, while her scorpion claws on her lower body snipped at the odd paper stacks lying around the office floor now in aggravated thought.
She made a mental note that Golmov would want to hear this, as would Odi-Viscer. They both shared sentiments on Gauidum that she did as well, and knew of the risks of that Draconeraqus being alive, mind erased as he was.
Caution was a key lesson they willingly maintained from Siral after all he did to them.

Nearby mountains
Labyrinth entrance

The entrance tunnel was deserted, as Golmov sat in the clearing just before it as passively as usual.
He and Odi-Viscer had a simple task, make sure that any survivors didn’t try to flee until they were sure of their next move, be it killing them or offering them a deal of some sort.
So far, only one, a kitchen staff pony, had been bold enough, and likely smart enough without knowing he was waiting, to head out of the labyrinth. His ashen skeleton now rested at the entrance mouth of the tunnel.
The centipede like dragon hybrid fluttered his 4 clawed wings impatiently, yellow eyes fighting off boredom from his end.
Looking at the dirt, he fired a small beam of yellow magic, the dirt compressing many times over until it then flashed a yellow colour, a small pile of raspberry sized, orange sandstone crystals sitting before him.
Looking at the crystals he had created with a glint of draconian greed, Golmov’s expression faltered slightly as one of his centipede like legs fondled the pile. Giving a snort as he carefully examined it, he remarked:
“It is not the same satisfaction, of things taken…”
Flickering his eyes to the entrance again as he sifted the pile of seemingly unappealing, self-made gems, Golmov figured that the satisfaction of his own horde of treasure would come as it always did, gathered, not homemade.

Catacombs, Underground lake bridge chamber

Slithering to the cages, Iena gestured with a clawed hand towards the nearest one, as each of the former staff ponies clambered fearfully into the creaking metal cage suspended over the black lake.
Their fearful eyes would wander over her serpentine body, the changeling plating on her back and siren ears further showcasing her frightening appearance to them. But from what little they knew, she was paltry compared to who was making sure they arrived here.
His footsteps echoing as they made heavy thuds on the bridge, Odi-Viscer’s grey, stone and flesh coated ape like body came to stand a few metres from the cage as the last pony clumsily walked in, Iena’s dark blue magic sealing the door.
“Alright, that’s it, we can hold them here until we decide what to, do…”
As she spoke, Iena turned to Odi-Viscer, but she trailed off as she saw him staring at the cage, and at each of the staff ponies regarding him with terror from inside. His red eyes lit up slightly, and the staff ponies were bathed in a red light as he looked them over.
As a silver glint reflected in each of them, Odi-Viscer grunted to Iena with a growing rage:
“Siral’s influence is in them all.”
“Yes, but we can get Teal, use what she did to Gaudium, free them.”
“You saw Gaudium. Freeing them from Siral’s rule may as well be death to them in all but body as was shown.”
“And I have no reason to let any remnant of Siral endure.”
“Please, we served the master loyally, why are you doing this to us!?”
A desperate plea came from one of the imprisoned staff cooks, a skinny Unicorn stallion who had suddenly grown silent as Odi Viscer and Iena gave him looks, though the latter’s was more of subdued anxiety.
“You are corrupted by his influence, reason enough.”
As he finished, Odi-Viscer’s eyes flared red, as a pair of twin beams shot out, severing the heavy chains suspending the cage above the black lake, a foot out from the bridge. Screams rang from the cage as they began to fall.
But dark blue magic seized the cage, as Iena’s magic caught them mid fall. But the moment the cage stopped in her magical grip, just below the bridge, Odi-Viscer’s tone turned as stony as his skin armour:
“You dare let them live!?”
“We can’t just kill them, they only served the place, nothing more!” Iena rebuked, as she slowly levitated the cage upwards to
“Siral has tricks everywhere, he could use one of them to return somehow. We cannot take chances if we are to be free of him. He must lose everything for what he did to me!”
“He ruined my life too Odi, if you recall our near shared brainwashing yesterday…” Iena drawled, as Odi-Viscer then drew up above her, his massive form double her height as his eyes glowed a fierce red:
“All the more of a betrayal by saving them.”
As she stood her ground, Iena shut her eyes as red flared out.
But as she was bathed in red light, the screams and smell of burning flesh behind her alerted her to what Odi had done.
As she turned, the cage hovering in her magical grasp had been melted in half, and charred remnants of the ponies inside began to slowly spill out to splash below into the water. In shock, her magic released the cage to fall as well, the leeches already swarming to try and gain any edible parts they could.
As she looked on in shock, she turned to see Odi-Viscer standing as impassively as ever, the red in his eyes vanishing as his hard expression contradicted the conciliatory words from his mouth:
“It has to be this way. In time, you will understand.”
Without another word, he left, the stomps of his footfalls echoing over the noises of the leeches down in the lake swarming the sinking cage and the charred pony bodies in there too.
Her snake tail coiling about uncomfortably, Iena rubbed her arm, thinking to herself before she murmured darkly, hesitant in her train of thought:
“I understand. But agreeing is not the same thing.”

Deep catacombs, hidden storehouses levels

Footsteps, and a sort of slithering noise with each step, echoed up the hallway.
Inside the darkened room, they heard the noises.
They had been searching for survivors hiding, rounding them up and trapping them, or else killing them outright. A few screams had echoed already through even the underground sections away from them and above in the upper basement levels.
Wedged between barrels of grain, Tacit Scrivener was within eyesight of the door as it began to open, hued in orange magic.
The pileup of barrels before the door, desperately and hastily erected as a barricade, was a desperate ploy to save them a few minutes.
Squeezing through a small hole between the barrels like a jellyfish, the being of Gluttony came into the darkened grain storage room, body lit up in orange light as its shape changed to a fat minotaur with glowing orange fur and horns.
Satio’s eyes widened at the sight of at least 4 of them hiding here, including the mute scribe, Tacit Scrivener. His own orange ones meeting the terrified Unicorn’s own, Satio looked him over thoroughly from the door barrel pileup, only 10 metres from his hiding spot between grain store barrels.
Giving a slight sigh, Satio slowly shuffled forwards, as the portly orange Minotaur saw every pony he saw hiding in this grain storeroom cower further back into their hiding places. The room was alight with his orange glow, and their fear reflected in their eyes.
Coming up to a barrel, Satio’s orange eyes met Tacit Scrivener’s terrified grey ones. With a small flick of orange magic, the barrel’s latch unhooked, letting a small stream of grain out from the storage, falling into an orange hued magical bowl of sorts.
Slowly, the Minotaur’s gelatinous form sat down, quiet taking the storeroom as he began to quietly, but rather swiftly, eat large quantities of the wheat grain, compressed into large cake-like lumps as he ate them at a nervous pace.
“I needed this, food to calm the nerves…”
As the hybrid Minotaur snacked, the hiding 4 ponies spared slightly nervous glances from their spots, while it was Tacit Scrivener whose gaze was the one Satio was closest to.
“…We’re making our choices today, things could get heated, violent even, if things go wrong. We’re all going to be there in a few minutes.”
After a few moments, as Satio’s gelatinous body levitated some crushed ‘biscuits’ of grain to enter his skin for more direct consumption, he stood up, giving a suppressed belch as he turned around and murmured quietly while he began to compress his body to squeeze back through between the barrels.
“We can afford to leave the maze unguarded while we plan, it is not like you’ll have the initiative to leave while we’re distracted.”
As he remarked these words, the orange morphing shape vanishing through the piled up crates and barrels at the door, Tacit Scrivener turned from his hiding spot to see the other 3 in the storeroom with him.
“Blessing upon us, mercy among the rebel creatures.”
One chambermaid’s whispers carried through the storeroom, though Tacit kept quiet, the Unicorn knowing they still had to get out in the first place.
A echo, from the bridge and lake dungeons it seemed, reverberated through the main hole ridden hallways outside the doors.

Upper hallway levels

As she heard the commotion downstairs from the dungeon lake, the echoes carrying through the holes burst in the floors from the battles less than a day ago through the hallways, Ave-Dol hung her head in despair and lament.
So much paranoia about anyone who followed or gave into Siral’s service, how long before they turned on each other.
As she walked sullenly, her hoof clicked as she came across something metal, discarded amidst a pile of rubble beneath a burst hole in the hallway’s ceiling. Peering down, the Windigo/Alicorn hybrid saw a strange amulet half buried amidst dust and small stone debris loads.
Her light blue magic pulling it out, she saw the blood red gem, and the dark grey metallic Alicorn carving on the amulet. But as she felt it, she felt an echo of pain, and a tinge of sinister power.
All of a sudden, a burning flash in her mind gave her an image forever burned into her mind.
An Alicorn, skin sagging and screaming as he was drained of life and power, his essence and magical power being absorbed by the amulet, one of a fair number.
Dropping it, she gasped at the knowledge that this artefact was born of an Alicorn’s death, and that it was one of many Siral made, wherever the others were.
Carefully, as she saw this horrific item, she blinked a few times, her mouth going dry, before something started to stir in her mind. Thoughts she’d dabbled with among two of the others, but now made certain to her as the right path.
Her light blue magic enveloped the amulet, hovering it to store inside of her flowing, ghostly blue mane, with magic in a way to seal it in there, tangled but removable when needed.

Late-Afternoon
Citadel, Iena’s quarters

They sat in silence, having discussed much between the three of them.
Ave-Dol shifted in her position on the floor, the glowing, Windigo/Alicorn hybrid looking to the other two:
“So we agree then?”
Satio shuffled, the portly orange Minotaur remarking:
“I am. I can’t do this anymore, especially not what may well come later.”
Iena’s coils slithered on her bed slightly, laying a scaly hand on Satio’s thick thigh as she remarked sternly:
“I’m not a monster, but I won’t do anything I don’t want to anymore. Those three can go on with whatever they wish. I want no part either.”
With a slight sigh, Ave-Dol pointed out:
“We cannot leave him though, not in their care. Teal did enough, but the others…”
“I know he suffered, but he’s gone Ave-Dol. He’s aware of how to use his body enough to live, but nothing.”
“I know. But I can’t leave him here. Mind shattered or not, I’ll never be able to live with myself if I leave him in their care.”
Ave-Dol was adamant, while Satio merely grunted as asked:
“When?”
“Before sunset.”
“They won’t let us leave, you know that. They’ve made it clear they want us to be united still.” Iena reminded them, though her expression made it clear she was on board as well.
“We are disunited already. It is too late.”
“He responds to what is immediately before him, like a child. That is all I need...”
Ave-Dol would say no more, only knowing they would have to be swift when the plan came.
Suffice to say that Satio’s prediction of conflict between them with this split would prove correct.

Sunset
Upper catacombs
Garrison quarters

He stared at the wall, seemingly transfixed by it. His red and yellow eyes were blank as his mind however.
Gaudium was passive, placed in this garrison quarters, out of the way, not reinforced for reasons that he was too passive at this point.
But a sound of hooffalls caught his attention, as he slowly turned around to see a light blue glowing figure he vaguely remembered from earlier today. She had a glowing blue body like an Alicorn, but yet also not. Her mane was a fiery red, but her body an ethereal blue.
“Listen to me, we have to leave. There are ones here who might want to hurt you, and we have to leave now. Do you understand?”
Blinking slowly, Gaudium nodded to this strange figure, though her tone was comforting to him, yet somehow, familiar. As if he had heard it a long time ago, that he knew her once.
Slowly standing to his feet, Gaudium the figure, Ave-Dol, take him into a sort of embrace of light blue magical energy, helping steady and hurry him alone as they began to leave.
“Hold on, don’t get scared, I’m just helping us leave swiftly.”
As she began to summon light blue magic to teleport them, Gaudium’s eyes widened ever so slightly at the feeling of cold energy surrounding them.
In a flash of blue, they vanished.
Elsewhere in the castle, a silent alarm spell was activated from Gaudium’s holding area.

3 minutes later
Sunset
Citadel, opposite lake shoreline

Stood in the treeline, just away from the lake shores glistening red on the sunset, the 3 of them were gathered together, Gaudium attatched to Ave-Dol by a magical light blue leash of sorts, the draconeraqus passive and disengaged as the others quickly spoke of their plan.
“We head south as fast as we can, split off in the worst case.”
Ave-Dol finished her remark, as Satio and Iena got ready to teleport. Standing to face Gaudium, Ave-Dol gazed at his snuggle toothed face and spoke calmly, as if she were a mother addressing an unaware child with no understanding of the situation:
“Stick with me, I’ll keep you safe.”
Glazed eyes met hers, as Ave-Dol saw no recognition in Gaudium’s eyes still.
As Satio and Iena were charging to teleport however, a rustle of wind caught their attention, as something flew overhead.
Pausing, Ave-Dol looked around just in time to see the Minotaur and former Pegasus go flying, as something massive shimmered in the air as it had grabbed them and hurled them across the lake.
His massive form glowing yellow as it came out from invisibility, Golmov looped back as Iena shot out a series of long strings of dark blue magic to slow her landing. Satio on the other hand crashed into a small tower of the Citadel, a few bricks falling as his shapeshifting form distorted from the impact and bounced off, drooping in a crumpled heap as it landed in a Citadel garden below.
From up above, in the highest tower, a green light began to grow in brightness as Tea Quirt teleported down, seizing Satio in her claw to hurl him skywards, a green magic aura catching him to then slam him into the ground with a hiss at him:
“Turncoats!”
Back on the shoreline opposite, Ave-Dol urged Gaudium:
“We have to go, they-.”
A loud crash sounded on the hills away from them, as something landed from a massive jump across the lake.
Red light filled the forest beyond as something massive came charging her way, before Odi-Viscer tore through the treeline, red eyes ablaze with all killer instinct trained on Gaudium.
The Draconeraqus’s eyes lit up with subdued fear, all his emotions and reactions subdued in his damaged mental state. But Ave-Dol’s light blue magic shot out, deflecting Odi-Viscer enough to send him charging past to a stumbling halt at the lake’s edge.
As the battle between the beings of Greed and Envy took place against the ones of Lust and Gluttony in the Citadel itself, Odi-Viscer’s red eyes glowed brighter as he stomped up the shoreline, his figure towering over Ave-Dol’s, and standing at least a head taller than Gaudium’s draconeraqus form, yet also much, much more heavily built.
“Odi, please, we don’t have to do this.” Ave-Dol pleaded.
But the being of Wrath would not listen to the being of Sloth, despite her heart being in the right place in what little calm mind existed in him in wake of the treachery to their unity.
“You aid a slave of Siral, corrupted, both of you. Soon, dead as well.”
“Odi, this isn’t you, you’re better than the anger Siral urged you to embrace for power!” She pleaded once more, but the large creature slowly stomped forwards, the stony spikes on his body actually growing as he advanced faster and faster towards her, as she used her magic to shuffle Gaudium behind her:
“It is all I have left after all the lies, as even those who suffered cannot see he and all who are corrupted must die, even you!”
Flaring her light blue magic on Gaudium, before herself, she whispered to the Draconeraqus as the being of Wrath began to charge, hurling a large fir tree aside with a single swipe as a dust cloud rose in the distance from a conflict in the Citadel grounds.
“Stay with me, I’ll protect you.”
All Gaudium could comprehend was that there was danger, and this light blue one was helping him, and the grey and red eyed one wanted to hurt him. Perhaps it was a blessing he was unaware of how much Odi-Viscer wanted him dead just for what he was, what he’d been turned into before losing his mind.
Ignorance was bliss, especially in the wake of such discordant violence unfolding across the valley in the two conflicts.

Author's Note

Anyway, now comes the closing part of the Citadel’s fall, and the splitting of the seven. There are two distinct groups in them now, the militants of Teal Quirt, Golmov and Odi-Viscer, and the ones who wish to not get into such trouble right now with Ave-Dol, Satio and Iena, with Gaudium being rescued for his own sake by Ave-Dol.
Given the danger Gaudium is by his existence, if he regains even a sliver of Siral’s mind or his skillset, the militant three want him controlled or dead, and n this circumstance, dead is more likely by necessity.
All the while though, this is happening too fast for the Equestrians, Starswirl included, to do anything effective yet.

ENVY/GREED: The Problem of Alicorns

31st May, 71 BNM
Late Evening
20 miles north west of crystal empire
Frost mountains

The northern lights flickered their greens and blues high overhead in the evening skies, the sun low on the horizon, bathing the mountainous, snow capped ridges in red light. Passing through their reaches, an Alicorn mare was dwarfed by the peaks she flew by.
Queen Aurora flew overhead, her eyes cast downwards towards a plateau atop one of the mountain ridges.
A creature stood, scorpion bodies on the lower half, with an ape-like torso atop its end, akin to a centaur's body structure. Pointed legs, a pair of claw graspers, and two more strong arms on her torso, made Teal Quirt an intimating sight.
Not intimidated herself however, Queen Aurora flew down to land atop the snow capped plateau, some powder kicked up by her wingbeats as she landed on all four hooves. Stood before her, Teal Quirt's smile was sickening as she spoke in greeting:
"You made it I see. Was your journey pleasant?"
"Where are they?" Queen Aurora snapped, at which Teal Quirt's coy smile turned to a thin line on her face.
"Skipping manners then? Very well, lets get straight to the problem at hand."
"Which would be?"
As Queen Aurora spoke without a hint of pleasure, Teal Quirt raised one of her ape arms to point at her, her tone and face turning darker then Aurora anticipated.
"You. All that you are, is the problem... You and all the others! Your daughters, your husband, all the Royal and National Alicorns, all of you, atop everypony else!"
"You wield your power, political and magic, ruling with your word as law. A nigh-impossible mantle to clamber onto for normal ponies, and all too humiliating to come so close to never be able to reach it, always considered second rate!"
As Teal Quirt spat this, her form slowly morphed into her origin, the white Unicorn mare with a Teal Blue mane, and a slightly crooked horn on her head. Gesturing angrily, a few tears and a shaky tone in her voice, she visibly trembled as she jabbed a hoof at the Queen angrily, green magic cracking the ground beneath her as she vented her rage at her:
"I served your magical court for years after leaving Siral's academy! I gave my life to serve, promised greatness at the way I was progressing. And one day, guarding one of your ambassadors to Salaman, I suffered an attack that harmed my magic, enough where I would never become an Alicorn. And I was always regarded as 'damaged', a cripple, afterwards. I blamed that Salamander at first, but soon I saw the truth I was ignorant of because I had the chance to become one. How I came to be viewed, is how your kind views all below you: Second rate citizens. Servants. Slaves."
Regaining her composure, Teal Quirt saw that, predictably, the icy Queen Aurora had not budged. No sympathy, no consideration. A few calming breaths, and she finished with a less shaky tone:
"Too many like me, who strive for your levels, only to fall short. But being so close, yet not a part of you, I saw more clearly then anypony from the outside. You are all corrupt, rotten with power. It nearly took me, but being denied it, let me see the truth."
As she finished, Teal Quirt's frame changed again, once more into the centaur shaped body with a scorpion torso lower and ape upper body. Her claws clicking as she spoke, Teal Quirt glared at Aurora with venomous green eyes:
"And worse, in wake of Tartarus, you clamour for still greater power. Power to wield the heavens themselves. I've seen it, I fought that day, and the northern lights are no longer timed as they would be, days and nights last differently enough to see for those with the skill to do so. Your ilk are tampering with nature itself, you are risking everypony else you claim to rule on behalf of, for your own selfish desires for more of what you already have an abundance of!"
"So that is why you kidnapped my daughters? You'll wish you'd thought this through better, now where, are, they?" Aurora spoke darkly, the Alicorn's black mane shimmering slightly as her white body stiffened beneath her silver armour, horn beginning to glow white. Before her however, Teal Quirt shook her head, the ape-faced creature's 4 headdress style horns not glowing at all:
"No, that was to get your attention. But I am not here to fight. No, that is why HE's here."
She pointed to a nearby mountain ridge a half mile away, as the sun's red light across the skies shone down on its slopes. A black and gold striped dragon climbed over the ridge, fully grown to 200 feet, and with yellow eyes burning with bloodlust and fire behind them. Yet as he crawled over the slopes, the dragon's wings split into 4, 2 of them with hand claws on them, and his legs shortened as a centipede like leg array sprouted from him. Mandibles flanked his mouth as he opened its yellow glowing depths, something stronger then fire brewing in his gullet.
Blinking at the newly emerged creature staring them down from the half mile away ridge, Aurora turned to face her again as Teal Quirt remarked offhandedly, a slightly coy tone in her voice as she spoke to the Queen:
"How easily Draconian pride is wounded, your daughters rescuing the Crystal Heart all those years ago from his hoard on him taking it, and just by yelling if I recall what he said."
As she saw Aurora's stone-faced look, Teal Quirt couldn't help but give a sick looking smile as her quiet voice carried across the plateau they stood on:
"He is the one who killed your husband, though he did have help. You obviously recognise me. I started the battle in the throne room, but it was Golmov there who dealt the finishing blow..."
"And now, he wants to make your daughters suffer. As if killing their father wasn't enough, he wants you dead as well."
"And what do you gain from this? Aside from sick pleasure I'd wager."
"I wouldn't trouble yourself with what I get from this. You'll soon have bigger problems, your majesty..."
In a flash of green, Teal Quirt suddenly vanished from the plateau, leaving Queen Aurora alone.
But up on the ridge, Golmov's four winged form took flight, the centipede like dragon powering through the air to come to circle above Aurora'a plateau, slowly descending in wide helix formations around the Queen, who stood her ground with her horn ablaze.
"Draconian tradition, a Kar'drag! To the death! If you wish to free them, you must defeat me. If I win, I will show them your corpse before I crush them like the wretches they and the rest of your ponykind are. But tell me this, Queen Aurora. Do you fear me, he who slaughtered your mate as your palace fell?"
"You will not intimidate me! I will avenge him, mark my words..."
As she hissed these words, with Golmov slowly circling the plateau she stood upon, Aurora's horn lit ablaze with white magic as she slowly murmured the incantation. Overhead, the stars seemed to fluctuate, and the Northern Lights actually dimmed very slightly as she charged the powerful, cosmic level magic. As she charged her power, Golmov turned away, arcing upwards to charge his own magic into a beam from his mouth:
"Then you will die braver then most I've ever encountered!"
A yellow beam burst from his mouth, carving up the mountain like a sword through the rock and snow, deafening to Aurora as she kept her white shield up.
The mountaintop burst apart, small avalanches flying everywhere as Aurora shot skywards, white light engulfing her as Golmov gave chase, yellow hued magic pulsating around him as he pursued the Alicorn into the sky.

Further away in the mountains, watching from afar as the pair took to the skies, Teal Quirt gave a small smirk at her minor victory, and how things were falling into place.
But behind her, a blue flash preceded a grey bearded Unicorn coming to stand behind her, horn alight with his blue magic.
Regarding Starswirl with a mixture of contempt and surprise, Teal Quirt slowly turned on her many scorpion legs to scuttle around to face Starswirl. Her reply was laced with a tone suggesting she had little care or concern for his presence, even if it caught her slightly by surprise:
"You don't have the power to stop me Wizard."
"Why are you doing this? What does this madness accomplish!?" Starswirl bellowed, gesturing to the distant thunderclaps in the sky, white and yellow light colliding high above in the cloud banks building among the mountain range.
"Struggle among them. To let them destroy each other as they squabble over power in wake of their Queen's passing, and to deal with others not caught in the conflict personally. A dangerous plague removed from the world."
"You are talking about killing so many ponies." Starswirl was vehement, unable to comprehend this ex-mare's mindset. But Teal Quirt's response drew an increasing level of horror from the Wizard as she spoke:
"Many already have been. I and Siral kept tabs on how many are left. Do you want to know how many Alicorns have already died in this war? Dozens, nearing fifty if my estimates are correct. Not enough..."
Shaking his head in dismay, disbelief and outright mortification, Starswirl pleaded to the logic he knew Teal Quirt possessed:
"So that's your plan? Genocide? What of Alicorns who ascend naturally if you manage to kill all of them? What then?"
"There are plenty of ways to ensure none arise, but only once no more Alicorns exist. They give help to normal ponies they see the potential in, or breed to make more. They are like a flame, they ignite more fires and grow in power. But once the flame is extinguished, there is no more fire to be had."
As she finished, she clicked her scorpion claws in anticipation, but Starswirl could only look at her with confusion now. His blue magic faded from his horn, while in the distance a loud roar echoed from the battle unfolding in the distance, a yellow flash peeking out from behind a mountain ridge they'd flown behind, white light firing in kind back at Golmov. His question was pointed, as he asked with a suddenly dubious tone in his voice:
"Then why did you rebel against your master if you agreed with what I presume are his motives?"
Her tone faltering, Teal remarked with an offhaned have of her ape hand, the green in her eyes flaring slightly for a moment:
"I did so to carry out a cause I agreed with, while keeping my free will intact."
"Is it really? I saw others, I saw Iena, Satio. When they neared death, hesitated in their cause, a trace of Siral's dark magic consumed them, enraged them to act out as he wished them to be, monsters, animals. You are still corrupted by his influence!"
"You lie!" Teal Quirt shot back, at which Starswirl stood his ground, the Wizard stomping the ground as he made his horn ready, though his words cut right to Teal's doubts:
"Prove me wrong!"
"No, I want this!"
"How can you be sure it is not a desire drilled into your head by Siral you have missed in exorcising his influence?" Starswirl fired back, this time bringing Teal to a loss for words. The scorpion/ape hybrid stared at Starswirl, her eyes flickering with rage, and doubt.
But with a slight sigh, she replied calmly:
"I distrusted, disliked Alicorns, before Siral did anything to me. And even if what you say was true, you said it yourself, only if I hesitate. And I have no qualms over my course I intend to take."
"And I have no qualms in stopping you by any means..." Starswirl replied, to which Teal Quirt gave a derisive laugh, while Starswirl began to mumble under his breath:
"How? The last time we fought I wounded you, nearly killed you. Otherwise you would have witnessed Tartarus's... What are you doing?"
Behind them, another rumble came as a flash of yellow came from a skywards fired beam, a white flash glinting as Aurora had taken flight, firing a wave of energy back at Golmov in the distance. But on the ridge, Teal heard the dark chants coming from the Wizard, his frame becoming consumed by dark magic.
"No... You wouldn't..."
As she spoke quietly, her head became wracked with images, as Starswirl's mental penetration dove into the deepest part of her mind.

Teal Quirt's mind

A cloud bank was what filled Teal Quirt's inner essence, as he dove deeper. Siral's tainted touch on her soul and mind was everywhere.
Green haze was everywhere, corrupted by a dark taint throughout it like smoke inside fog. But as he dove further in, he saw the glistening light that was Teal's soul, and whispers coming from its core.
"A damaged soul is easily read. OBEY my will in your name!"
Suddenly, the whispers turned sour, harsh, as a fierce green and black barrier fired back at Starswirl. As if being electrocuted, Starswirl growled in the mindscape, fiercely demanding again:
"A damaged soul is easily read. OBEY my will in your name!"
"Get, OUT!"
Green light filled Starswirl's vision, and then the burning started.

Mountain ridge top

The all-too brief mental battle concluded as Teal subconsciously opened fire, green magic firing from her four head horns to slam into Starswirl's torso. The Wizard snapped from his necromancy trance, screaming as he went flying down the mountainside. Only his instinctive energy shield stopped the attack from ripping him in half.
As she collapsed out of mental strain, Teal scuttled slightly to see Starswirl engulf himself in a blue shield, protected as he slammed and rolled down the mountain slopes below, coming to rest at the bottom of a snow embankment.
Clutching her forehead in pain, Teal's eyes bulged in anger as she glanced about. In the distance, a large burst of light came as Golmov and Aurora's energy beams collided, and lit up the valleys across the mountains.
Looking down at the Wizard, Teal gave a snakelike hiss, as she then slammed her scorpion claws into the rock and snow, burying them with burning green magic pulsing into the ground. Like cracks formed by tree roots, the green magic spread out as she focused, shooting outwards like lightning arcs across the mountain side.
Finally, as she finished, the green light flared once as she hurled her claws upwards in a flourish.

Down in the valley, climbing from the pit he'd fallen into, Starswirl heard cracks from high above, as he saw green mosaic shaped magic carve into the mountainside looming high above him.
Then, the green burned and burst along its lengths, walls of snow and rock bursting upwards as they unleashed their power.
A tidal wave of rock and snow shot from the mountain, as avalanches and landslides came from below the cloud of incoming destruction. Green lightning was laced throughout the debris cloud casting a shadow over the valley, as Starswirl teleported down the valley in a panic.
As he reappeared a half mile down the valley, he saw where he'd been standing get buried under half a mountain. But the green lightning arcs wreathing the debris field seemed to rear up, angling towards him, before turning like a thousand snakes to fire towards him, locked onto him like a predator to prey.
As he saw the incoming maelstrom of magic, Starswirl heard more thunderous bangs from overhead, as Golmov was sent hurtling across the skies by a white blast. Aurora flew in pursuit, the Queen engulfed in white light that burned hotter then a star's.
As the noises of the lightning storm coming towards him grew audible, Starswirl was forced to divert from helping the Queen, as he fled for his life, hoping to lose this honing attack.

Mountain ridge

Seeing the Wizard in flight, as well as Golmov and Aurora deep in battle now, Teal Quirt finally relaxed at long last. She'd done all she needed to, and if this was not enough, more was on the way.
In a flash of green magic, the Being of Envy slipped away to many of the icy caverns that lined the mountains, and waited.

Meanwhile
Late Evening
Crystal Empire, outskirts

The army marched forth, crystalline based armour protecting the Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth ponies as they were given marching orders.
Ahead, far in the mountains, the flashes of yellow and white flared like distant lightning bursts, and a fleck of green and blue every now and then happened within the same region.
"They are occupied, search for the Princesses while we have the chance, go!"
The Pegasi were first ahead of the army, while the Unicorns and Earth ponies stuck together to stay in formation as they advanced. Having given the order, and taking command, Sombra watched from afar as he saw the Crystal Heart being taken from the main plaza by other guards, and under Princess Amore's orders, hidden away in a lower chamber until it was clear.
A pang of distrust, possessiveness, filled Sombra, but he buried it. There were bigger issues at hand.
As the army advanced, Sombra focused his own magic, the his black horn glowing a similar colour as he became engulfed in his black magic, taking flight behind the pegasi that had gone on ahead.
As the army advanced, the storms of battle raged on.

Minutes later
20 miles north west of crystal empire
Frost mountains

Coming to a stop on the ground, Aurora focused her white magic upon the ground, as Golmov came screaming down from high above, massive in size compared to her.
The snow and rock burst open as crystals and ice shards formed, shooting upwards to form a maze of needle sharp points around herself. Pumping his wings, Golmov veered overhead, clear of the forest of ice and crystal spikes as he turned to make another pass.
As he passed overhead, Aurora flared her magic yet again, the shards of ice and crystal firing like a massive salvo from all around her, launching towards Golmov. Taking a footing on one of them, Aurora stood fast as she rode the massive crystal shard amidst the snakelike maelstrom of ice and crystal spikes chasing Golmov.
Twisting in midair, Golmov's wings glowed a bright yellow as he flapped all four, and a hurricane force wind blew towards the hail of shards Aurora rode upon. The hail burst apart, though Aurora kept her larger perch flying as her magic gathered all the rest up to spin in the air, firing from all directions towards Golmov.
His shield raised, the draconian being's yellow sphere was battered from all angles, the ice shards smashing into his shield along with the crystals. Hails of ice dust and crystal fragments flew as the assault carried on, while Aurora strained with her white magic to get any through his shield.
Then, to her horror, the shield began to grow in size, the field of fragments increasing right before yellow magic flew outwards in a burst, a wave of heat engulfing the valley. Crystal shards were melted to molten slag in the air as it burst outwards, and ice shards vaporised into steam from the heat.
Her own shield raised, Aurora leapt off her crystalline platform as it was reduced to molten rock, her white shield shimmering as the intense heat scorched everything around them, blinding her.

The light pulled back, revealing a half mile wide section of the mountains that had been scorched black, rock turned to glass in some areas, crystals and rock turned to lava in others. Thick banks of clouds filled the valley, vapour from the intense heat, and rivers of water filled the valley from the melted snow and ice.
Through the cloud vapour, Golmov came, mouth wide open and yellow energy bristling in his throat. Veering to the side, Aurora ducked mid flight to avoid Golmov's wings as he passed, her magic firing and reflecting harmlessly off his enhanced dragon scales. As Golmov's abdomen passed, he had twisted in midflight, and the razor sharp centipede like legs swept past and caught Aurora's shield, shattering it and sending her spiralling away.
Landing roughly on the mountain slope, Aurora recoiled as her hoof had accidentally trod too close to still molten rock, as she panted in exhaustion upon seeing her opponent's silhouette flying around in the cloud banks he'd whipped up.
With a flare of her white magic, a rush of air came down a cleared the cloud cover, revealing Golmov hovering a quarter of a mile away, his clawed wings alight with yellow energy.
Suddenly, Aurora saw her armour engulfed in yellow, as she began to be dragged forwards, while Golmov's magically enhanced voice carried across the valley skies to her ears:
"Such precious treasure shouldn't decorate such a pathetic being."
Before she was dragged too far from the mountain slopes, Aurora used her magic to unclasp all her silver armour, as one by one her metallic armour pieces were yanked off her by Golmov's magic, flying towards him much faster now that they were free of her resisting form.
Giving a small scowl in challenge to Golmov, Aurora saw the glint in his eyes as her armour was melted and reshaped in the air, turning into more armour that welded itself to his body in a yellow glow. He slowly was taking in treasure to strengthen his defences, a living, breathing hoard.
Glancing skywards however, she saw the Aurora borealis glowing in the skies, and a nugget of an idea began to form.
As Golmov finished reshaping her armour to his chest scales, he grinned maliciously at her from afar, his wings spreading wide as he readied to battle.
Knowing he was out for blood, Aurora backed away, taking flight once again in a flash of blue as Golmov charged, and the chase resumed yet again.

Elsewhere in the mountains

The green lightning arcs had chased him for so long, but now Starswirl felt their power fading.
Each time he teleported, he fired a single beam, which cancelled out one of the many hundreds of green arcs chasing him. He'd lost count of how many times he'd done this, but by now only a dozen remained.
Materialising once more in a flash of blue, Starswirl readied to fire, as the lightning fast beams arced towards him from above the mountain ridge he'd just teleported over.
As he fired his blue beam to take out one however, a flurry of magic spells, coloured black, formed a wall that took out the green lighting snakes chasing Starswirl incessantly.
Turning swiftly to his saviours, even if more of convenience then outright life-sparing, Starswirl saw Sombra, the council leader under Princess Amore, land in the snow beside him, Crystal Guard Pegasi flying around and into the mountains ahead. Sombra's offhand remark was laced with amusement, but also a hint of nervousness at what caused the attack he had stopped.
"I expected a Wizard to be able to contend with those attacks.?"
"There were hundreds before, and they always chased me too fast for anything but one at a time."
Starswirl's gruff excuse was brushed off by Sombra, as more blasts from inside the mountains echoed. Off to the side, a stream of water had run from where Golmov's attack had caused a large melt 'crater' amidst the valleys, as well as cloud banks Aurora's magic blew away for vision's sake.
"She is in there, the creature, the dragon, he's after her."
"What of the princesses? Which cavern are they hidden in?" Sombra asked quickly, as the guard pegasi vanished over the mountains, scouting out for the princesses.
"I am uncertain where. And the other being, the scorpion creature, she's vanished."
"We have the local garrison coming in to sweep the mountains, they will find the princesses if we have to turn the mountains inside out to do so."
"A useless ploy if even one of those beings is running unaccounted for. She may execute them while the other fights the Queen." Starswirl remarked, to which Sombra replied:
"If she wanted them dead, would she not have done so already?"
"Yes, which means she is plotting something. This seems too simple..." Starswirl replied. At Starswirl's remark, Sombra looked further back across the snowy plains, seeing the army garrison beginning to come to the foothills of the mountains. Further beyond, the spire of the Crystal Empire's castle poked out from the tundra and plains.
"You must find that other being, or the cavern. I will aide the Queen."
"Be careful, these beings are not to be taken lightly." Starswirl warned, to which Sombra engulfed himself in black magic as he barked back:
"I never take threats to the Empire lightly!"
In a plume of black magic, Sombra took flight over the mountain ridge, towards the most echoed sounds of battle. But as Sombra took off, Starswirl sensed the dark magic that traced in Sombra's own. With a wary expression, the Wizard turned his gaze towards the mountain pass that he saw many pegasi and other guards heading through, deciding that escorting them was best.

Nearby mountain pass

In a few minutes, he was in flight through the mountains, escorting crystal guards as his blue hued magic sensed the faint signature of the princesses in a vague direction.
The rumbles of the battle, their yellow and white lights, raged on still. But Starswirl fully expected a new hue of colours, or one devoid of colour, to join the fray.
Yet as he pushed in, the Wizard couldn't help but spare a glance towards the south, the direction of the empire.
"Something is coming. Something angry..."
"Sir?" A guard earth pony inquired at the Wizard's unease, as the other dozens of guards with him noticed the Wizard seemed distracted by something to the south, not in the direction of the battle raging to the west a few valleys away.
"Send word to the armies, tell them to not all venture inside, leave most outside. She's lured us into a trap. She's lured someone powerful to wreak havoc on the Empire."
"What is it?"
"The Destroyer of the Citadel, the ruination of Canterlot, he's coming to the Empire. Fall back your forces, you six with me! There is now more at risk then a pair of princesses!"
At the Wizard's suddenly alert tone, the guards didn't hesitate, as 6 of them remained behind while the other few dozen flew back the way they came, word spreading fast to form up their forces to counter a threat incoming from south.

100 miles south of the crystal empire
Tundra mountain pass

The bronze Alicorn stallion saw the crater left in the ground, as large as a hot spring pool, with two deeply imbedded footprints in the centre.
"He is moving faster now, about a mile between landings."
Aubelles turned to Chack, who sensed over the crater with his own enchanted blade. The Salamander's sword then emitted a low voice ringing out:
"Be swift, he is upon the crystal empire, lured by their cruel intended leader."
"Why lure him here?" Chack asked aloud, before Aubelles remarked grimly:
"To do what he does, spread devastation and grief."
As he looked ahead, across the blank tundra plains of the frozen north, Aubelles remarked aloud with a hint of ironic amusement:
"I never envisioned myself doing this, going to the aide of Royal aligned territory. I wouldn't ever wish what is falling upon the Empire on anypony though."
"Take that as your way of not feeling as much a traitor as the Nationals may label you." Chack offered, as he sheathed the enchanted blade to look ahead to the north.
"I'll be working to establish my belief against royalty, and clear my name, after this is done."
"Believe me, many problems will end with these beings gone." Chack replied coldly, as he slashed the air before him, a green tear in space appearing which he quickly leapt through. Taking the hint, Aubelles vanished in a bronze flash himself, heading north with the Salamander.

It was a few minutes after the Salamander and Alicorn had passed through, but their presence was marginal compared to that left by Odi-Viscer.
Leaning down, pawing a hoof at the crater left by the Being of Wrath's landings on his cricket-esqe journey across Equestria, Ave-Dol forlornly looked north, her light blue eyes alight with worry.
Taking flight, she glowed a light blue as she set forth into the frozen north's plains, towards the crisis unfolding around the Empire's territory.

On the snow capped plains that were barely within sight of the Crystal empire, a rush of air proceeded a massive crash, rock and snow flying as something landed like a meteor, and then leapt upwards and out of sight just as rapidly and violently, red energy crackling around him as he took to the sky yet again.
As the creature made its way north, its red gaze was set upon the Crystal Empire, and the gathering of forces it saw to the north mountains, along with lights from some battle.
Soaring through the sky in mid leap, Odi-Viscer growled as he felt the familiar energy:
"Golmov... But where is she?"
Gravity took him again, as the Being of Wrath's super powered jumps kept him powering north, towards the battlegrounds.

Author's Note

Teal Quirt is the orchestrator of this entire crisis unfolding, where many key players are converging upon what initially seemed like a revenge fuelled duel between Golmov and the mother of Celestia and Luna, the latter of whom humiliated him in earlier history.
Yet why she is hanging back while chaos unfolds will come to play later on. But there will be three key features upcoming. Golmov and Aurora's bout, with Sombra coming to her aide, Starswirl and the others sneaking to find Celestia and Luna imprisoned without gaining Teal's attention [wherever she is], and whatever carnage Odi-Viscer certainly has in store, with Ave-Dol heading there herself for uncertain motivations, and Chack and Aubelles there in pursuit of him.
But the short of it is, it gets real here, and it gets fatal here, for more then a few.

Through the eyes of the Elements.

62 BNM
Unknown dimensional plain
Starswirl's perspective

Nothingness, silence, the void.
Here, time had no meaning or concept, no way to perceive its passage.
As Starswirl observed, his mind wandered.
How can I make sense of this place, hope to send the message to claim the Elements?
Before his eyes, the world suddenly warped, turning into a faint nebula soaked backdrop of the heavens, distant stars all around him as Starswirl's figure materialised. But his figure was warped as well, as if a smudged, watery painting of him lived instead of his solid corporeal form.
"My thoughts shape this place. A manageable existence I suppose. Now, to do what I must."
Reaching out, Starswirl saw a mirage portal form before him in the void, as a pair of faint silhouettes of two Unicorn sisters in deep slumber in the monastery home appeared. As they slept in the New Gryphon sanctuary he'd made for them, Starswirl reached out, seeding images of the Everfree forest, the alcove, the crystalline tree.
"There, now we wait."
His content voice echoed, as the landscape fluctuated in its celestial void around him.

In the mirages that plagued his existence, Starswirl floated ethereally. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do these days.
A pair of Unicorns reached out with their magic, stood before the tree of Harmony. The 6 gems separated from the tree, and a great glow enveloped both sisters.
Now stood before the tree were two Alicorns, both of their manes and tails glowing more then even before they'd lost their Alicorn status in the cataclysm. Celestia now stood with the rainbow mane and tail that would become synonymous with her, and her mark of the Sun glowed more prominently on her flank. Beside her, Luna stood with her deep, glowing blue mane and tail, the white moon mark glowing just as brightly.
"Good, they found them. And they'll know what they must inherit from Discord."
Starswirl stared on passively, it was all he could. Their fate, their decisions, were to be made by them. He only provided the means to shape it for greater change, for greater good.

As Discord threw aside the bag of seeds, laughing hysterically at the idea that he would be overthrown by two newly arrived Alicorns wielding a trio of measly gems each. The combined magic of the elements fluctuated Starswirl's realm in pulsating light as it claimed Discord, his laughing figure solidified in stone for the forseeable future. Seeing the defeat he manufactured these for, Starswirl gave a small smirk in his bleary ethereal form, alone in this place.
"His overconfidence was his downfall. Spreading seeds, as if they'd be a threat. But still, don't trust anything he does."
But as he saw the vision playing out, Starswirl frowned, mentally reaching out as he replayed the vision from the perspective of the two Alicorn wielders. He saw the seeds Discord was casually throwing aside.
"Wait, those seeds... He must have been watching the Princesses, tracked where they received their Alicorn ascendency."
Sure enough, he saw the seeds already taking root deep underground, having crawled to the Tree of Harmony's site. But the tree's inherent magic held them back, repulsing their growth with no signs of letting up any time soon. At this, Starswirl's frown vanished slightly, though his relaxed nature wasn't devoid of caution as he remarked to himself, by speech or thought he didn't entirely know.
"Parasites of his. Still, the tree's magic will endure long enough for somepony to notice them. Even if they are, the Elements need only recharge this tree."
Time warped again, as he saw Celestia's horn glowing a fierce yellow, and the sun rising as the earth span to her magic. In the same vision, Luna's blue magic seized the moon and gave it the nudge to bring it into its usual path.
The future would see a return to routine of celestial behaviour, the sun and moon rising more akin to what they once did before the cataclysm, and before Discord took over with his irresponsible lack of coherent schedule.
And ponies flocked to their rule, thankful for stability and calm after 6 years of a puerile tyrant's rule, even the memories of the civil war seemingly forgotten in wake of it. And sadly, it would be forgotten by many ponies as history went on.
Not that Discord had left much history or culture unaltered in his 6 year rule, many libraries and their books destroyed or warped beyond comprehension once he learned them so nopony else could.
History would start anew, the cataclysm of the civil war largely made murky, a vague war that was seemingly interrupted by a cataclysm that saw Discord's emergence shortly afterwards. It was for all intents and purposes not false, just full of gaps. But to those who had witnessed events long before, they would know.

18 BNM

As the Elements had been getting charged, ready for use by the two sisters, through their eyes he saw it happen. As the Elements' power was drawn on, his window into reality sharpened, though only through the perspective of those who used the Elements.
The dark King Sombra, after overthrowing Princess Amore, corrupted by the mad drug that was power in the crystal magic, used a last powerful spell. The Crystal Empire vanished, along with all its denizens. As the Princesses stared on in shock, the powers of the Elements fading as their intended target had gone, Starswirl cursed on the astral plain. He knew exactly what trick Sombra had pulled.
"That sneak, he vanished the kingdom. The same trick I and Siral used to timejump, but he took a whole nation with him. And before the Elements could quell him, the coward. But cowards endure... He'll return with the kingdom in time."
Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last time the Elements would see intended use against a pony that lost their way.

0 BNM/ANM [After Nightmare Moon]

Celestia gathered the Elements in his window to the real world, and Starswirl hung his head in shame as they claimed the being that was Nightmare Moon, and banished her, the evil that had claimed Luna, to the moon she had wielded, presided over.
"Why must Alicorns succumb to the drug that power is? Its just yet another vindication of Siral's paranoia."
As Celestia quietly wept in the vision, Starswirl found himself berating Celestia like he never would have in real life, berating her virtues for compromising her performance:
"If she'd confronted Luna's feelings instead of being willing to shoulder the burden unequally, Luna would never have felt neglected and forgotten. Curse her blind selflessness."
As the time warped, he saw Celestia shoulder the burden of managing the moon on top of her sun duties, and ruling the Nation of Equestria. She had councils, ministers, who died to age while she endured. Yet the burden remained hers.
"Prove Siral wrong Celestia. Prove that at least one Alicorn can remain good, and powerful."
His words rang through the realm, as time passed without knowing how many years did. But Starswirl remained adamant, as the ages wore on, as he watched.

590 ANM

Before him, a slowly growing body of light interacted with Starswirl, almost like one's shadow on the ground behind one's self. It mirrored him, reflected his behaviour.
But at times, it paused, and Starswirl felt its curiosity. He knew he wasn't truly alone here, somehow.
"This intelligence within this realm, its borne of the power of the elements, but, it learns from me. As the Elements grow, their collective power develops a consciousness of its own. To wonder what it could develop to, fuelling and being fuelled only by the best qualities one could have, is an intriguing possibility."
The grey cloud in the realm concentrated into a silhouette of a pony, but he turned impatiently, an air of bitterness at the loneliness here coming into his tone:
"I would share this knowledge with others, but obviously, I can't."
The white light mass merely shimmered in wordless response, to which Starswirl's voice grumpily rang out in the void:
"And would it be too much to ask if you, my only company, could speak for yourself?"
The being said nothing, it only watched. Like a pet, like a child, it learned, it didn't have much of a mind of its own, for it latched onto the mind it fed off of.
Even so, Starswirl did see something. As the faintest silhouette of a white Alicorn raising and lowering the sun and moon filled his vision. And all over the world, to varying degrees, her necessary power was acknowledged.
"I see that she hasn't found a permanent fix for the moon and day cycles yet. Maybe if she wasn't busy ruling a nation and having to maintain the cycles as they are she might have done something with her time. Honestly though what was I expecting, Discord was a being powerful enough whose defeat needed these elements, I shouldn't expect Celestia to do it. Still, at least she still has humility after however long it has been."
Still, the white mass said nothing. This wasn't much of a comfort to Starswirl, as his grey cloudy form seemed to hover in a pacing fashion before it, only half acknowledging the other being that was like a learner to him:
"And now I'm talking to a being who may as well be an echo... If it is learning from me it likely to learn what it means to go insane from being alone..."
Glancing at the faint visions of Celestia ruling, with no truly cataclysmic threats in an undisclosed number of years it seemed, Starswirl grew impatient for a moment, venting his complaints:
"How long as passed since I merged? Its not as if these flashes of reality whenever the Elements are used give a time date. Just a glance at a calander, a clock, surely she could manage that?"
The silence reigned, as Starswirl's sigh filled the void.

968 ANM

A presence snapping awake, one the Elements' banished enemies, triggered the first different vision Starswirl had since he was here. He saw a grey, shining landscape, from the perspective of the younger sister's mind awakening.
The moon it seemed, if the shape of the Earth hanging high above was any indicator.
"Huh, she has awakened, but is still imprisoned. I wonder what could have triggered..."
Glancing around, Luna/Nightmare Moon's entrapped vision saw the shape of technologically advanced, suits, walking from a rather metallic looking craft of some sort, as if a cricket had merched with a ball and was standing on the grey rocky ground.
As Luna became excited at the prospect of visitors to her prison, Starswirl could only stare in shock, his impatience with not knowing any bearing on time growing thin:
"...Gryphons on the moon... How long have I been here!?"
Silence yet again was the answer, as even the white energy's presence behind him gave no answer, its increase in self awareness still not enough to get any worded answer or reply from it.
Whatever it was, it didn't think like a living being did, no emotion, only logic. Not that Starswirl would complain about a constantly calm being, but he imagined conversations with it wouldn't exactly be lively.

September 13th, 976 BNM

The sight that unfolded was unexpected. Celestia was fighting for her life against a being that seemed intent on causing death to her, with no discernable motivation except the rage that consumed him. Yet he wasn't a being of immense power, but a mere Wyvern, wielding strange gear on his body that was likely why he wasn't dead already if it came to Celestia drawing on the Elements for power. The rough looking town road was their battleground as the Elements charged, and were fired at him. As the beam collided, Starswirl mused pointedly aloud, to the white energy being that watched passively with him like a calm child, and also to himself:
"So first they're used against Discord, then Luna, and now she's using them on a Wyvern? How is it her uses are getting more and more lower risk? And why is he attacking anyway? Why must I be deaf to the real world in here?"
Yet in the vision, he saw the Wyvern somehow, miraculously, powering through a magical blast that had imprisoned, banished, or harmed beings much stronger then even Celestia. And yet he had no magic.
Staring at the Wyvern, Starswirl saw the magic heating parts of his gear by the smoke, and his black scales, yet it was dispersing like water fired against the prow of a fast ship, burning and lighting up the ground around him as he slowly pressed through the attack.
"Wait a moment? What's he doing? Oh no, no, he can't, how's he, disrupting the magic somehow. He's not resisting, he's deflecting, ingenious!"
The Wyvern advanced, Celestia's fearful gaze as the Elemental burst beam kept firing. His grip reached her face, but then swiftly strained to her horn as he was at his breaking point from the heat buildup. Celestia's shock registered with Starswirl's
"Oh no..."
The horn shapped, and lightning bolts shattered through the ethereal plain as white light consumed the vision.

But later, he saw the same Wyvern stood over Celestia, trembling as he stared down at her, and up at the sun, dropping the knife in his grip, his wings burnt and snapped above the gripping claws, as he threatened her one last time before he limped away to his unseen allies.
"The sun. He spared her because somepony was needed..."
Starswirl was quiet as he contemplated this. But in the vision, as it blurred past, he felt the connection to see through Celestia's eyes fading, as she recvoeed after an uncertain time, aided by many, many Unicorns to ulfil the crucial duty of the Sun and Moon cycles enough to preserve global normality.
That Wyvern nearly killed the world, and his common sense thankfully prevailed over whatever madness claimed him. He robbed her of the Elements, but not the world of stability.
"She'll heal. But...She can never use the Elements again."
As he murmured this, the white energy being fluctuated, as its colour flashed in the 6 shades of the Elements each time. Getting the message, Starswirl agreed, his form unseen in the grey void that he was in.
"But, I suppose others can always rise. Virtues to use them are not as rare as Alicorns are... It is how I found those other 6."
Starswirl's memories swam now, the images of the 6 previous ones, whose examples went into the creation of the Elements, blurred past. Mashri, Hinai, Claupe Frello, Nahia, Irvin and Chack.
He settled down, saddened, but knowing the future always had options left.

October 9th, 976 ANM

It had been perfectly normal in the void, as Starswirl felt not much time, however it flowed here, had passed since Celestia's tragic confrontation with that Wyvern.
All of a sudden, the void he was in began to glow, and fluctuate with blue and white lightning arcs, almost like microfractures in glass.
The vision to the outside world opened up, yet he saw no Celestia, nor Luna, as the perspective. It was unmoving, in the centre of somewhere he didn't know, a faint white energy field building in a sphere from all directions.
"Now this is something. Its a crater, but, what are those metal ropes leading here. And-."
As the energy slowly built, not used immensely as it had in the past, Starswirl heard something he'd not heard at all before here.
Voices.
But these voices were distant, innumerable, even peaceful. Some lamented, others rejoiced. He'd never heard so many voices before.
"Starswirllll."
The voices carried, as Starswirl glanced into the void. Away from the vision into the mysterious crater, the Elements' light illumnating its nighttime atmosphere, he saw other shapes further into the cosmic void.
He saw 5 lights, the 5 colours of the Elements not including the green of kindness. They beckoned, as he felt them drawn to him.
"You're here, all this time..."
He knew the voice. It was the first of them.
Mashri's vague Saddle Arabian horse shape stood strong. bathed in a red glow, clad in the Romane soldier garb she'd sported so proudly, a pleased smile on her muzzle. And behind her, the others emerged in order.
"After all this time."
Hinai's voice echoed as she flew to hover far from him beside Mashri, her ethereal pink fading as she solidified, older then when they had been friends, but wiser and still in the best age of her life. Powerful, proud, and yet at peace, the Eastern Dragoness's serpentine body snaked to a stop far from him.
"What took you so long mon frere?"
Claupe Frello's Faroench stallion form bounded to a halt beside her, the blue glow around him calming as he waved from the ethereal expanse between them. His voice, which Starswirl had never heard, rang out with a heavy accent as he greeted:
"You had a eventful life, and still do..."
Nahia's drawl came next, the tigress prowling in her yellow glow among them. She came to a stop, proud, low bodied as always, but a pleased smile on her toothy muzzle nonetheless.
"More trouble then its worth this life of yours innit?"
Irvin strode confidently behind them all, as the fox came to stand beside the others as the purple haze around him faded. His bushy tail wagging, the scoundrel gave a pleased smirk as Starswirl looked on, his face turning expectant as he waited for the sixth.
And he kept waiting.
"Where is Chack?"
"He never arrived." Hinai's voice spoke up, to which Starswirl remarked aloud as it echoed on the plains. Behind him howver, the white energy being that lved with him tried to get his attention to slowly approaching motion in the vision to the real world:
"You mean-?"
"He never died." Irvin shrugged, the Fox stating the obvious as the other 4 seemed to agree. Starswirl was puzzled by this, even as the white presence beside him all but tapped on his metaphysical shoulder:
"I know he still had a number of years in his body, but...What is it?"
Spinning to the vision, Starswirl saw a shape, a Wyvern, but a different one, wracked with mourning grief, slowly walking to the source of the Elements' magic.
Turning his gaze, Starswirl saw another being approaching, ignoring him entirely.
A faint Wyvern female, clearly from the realm beyond.
"Tul'rok, help me!"
Her pleas carried, as Starswirl stared on in sympathy, but more in intrigue. This was new. And all around him, the strange energy those, cables, were putting into the Elements continued to shift, to alter the realm he'd inhabited for who knows how long.
"..I'm not alone, but no one is here! Where are you Tul'rok? Please!"
The Wyvern male, Tul'rok, passed through the boundary field the source of the Elements had created. Beyond it, Starswirl saw two more beings rush forwards, trying to stop him approaching, blinded by reuniting with his dead mate. But the energy field repulsed them, even the magic resistant biology of that strangely familiar black Wyvern and the Komodo female with him not stopping the blowback.
"Tul'rok? Is that you?"
As Starswirl watched on, he saw the mated female Wyvern, the stronger of the pair who died tragically a short while ago, reunite with her lover through the conection between living and dead. But he saw how dangeroulsy close to the source of the power the male Wyvern, Tul'rok was.
But the source, he saw it. Celestia's mutilated horn, rigged to cables supplying a non-magical energy.
Then, the breaking moment came.

October 9th, 976 ANM
Midnight
Dingolia, central mountains.
The grief stricken Wyvern was ignorant of the pleading Wyvern male being pulled from the energy field, trying to save him from whatever strange energy caused this. He only heard his love through the abyss it opened.
"..Tul'rok, I loved you. And Varkan treasured both of us, as did Faral...
Tul'rok broke down, his screams lost over the humming the horn's field emitted: "I killed you, I loved you too much to try and stop you. He was right, I KILLED YOU! I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED YOU!"
Tul'rok grabbed the glowing horn, hoping to get a stronger connection with Sa'ral. The moment his claws touched it, the humming suddenly grew in volume.
Tul'rok saw stars, galaxies, the Universe, time, trillions of past, present and future lives ignoring the rules of time as they mingled after joining the cosmic infinite.
In front of him, Sa'ral was there, fully fleshed. But her brief, tearful smile turned to horror at what was happening to Tul'rok.
He was fading, and beside him, a greyish form was slowly forming like a mist solidifying.
..No. Not this way. Fight it, don't let it take you! We can't be together if you let it take you!..
Tul'rok screeched, despite his determination to see her again, and try and bring her back, he lost the fight against infinite, and the being he was taking the place of.
In the real world, Tul'rok's form was silohuetted in the near completely white half sphere, but it was being slowly dissolved, ripped apart at a molecular level by the energy field. He held onto the horn, unable to let go, as his essence was slightly dispersed into the Quintessenite rocks below, but mostly across the cosmic infinite at the same time.

In the astral plain, Starswirl felt his body burning, as he saw the 5 he'd seen come from the plain of the dead scream in panic as they were cut off.
But not because they were fading, because he was going. He felt something he hadn't felt in what seemed both an eternity, and an instant.
Pain.
Beside him, he saw the screeching male Wyvern forcibly yanked back into place.
The white being of light he left behind seemed to go into a catatonic panic as its 'master' and parent was ripped away, not knowing better. And it latched onto the new 'host' as it felt Starswirl ripped away, the Stallion's link to this plain, as the Element's host, being replaced.
"Its claiming him! No, I have to stay, noo-!"
Starswirl's scream was lost as the stars, the astral plain between living and dead, a plain of pure energy, vanished in a rush of blinding light.

Starswirl felt air, cold, night air, and darkness of the night, for the first time in 1038 years. But to him, he hadn't any semblance of the passage of time as it was.
But as the ground rushed up, he felt the impact on the dirt and rock covered ground, the smooth Quintessenite rocks around the crater wracking his body with pain as he fell in a crumpled, smoking heap on them.

Varkan, the other Wyvern on site, fell to his knees and claws as he saw Tul'rok being dissolved, and Faral, the female Komodo soldier behind him, stumbled back in shock.
"TUL'ROK!" Varkan's scream was lost as the humming boomed shortly afterwards. From the white field, a grey glowing form had been ejected off to the right, settling in a smoking heap as the energy field began to contract.
Tul'rok was gone, and the white field shrunk, and exploded briefly to send a slight shockwave out, rocking the clearing of rocks slightly.
The world fell dark again, the old horn of Celestia having stopped glowing.
Varkan didn't say anything as he stared at it, unable to think.
Quietly, Faral wondered over to the grey heap.
She prodded it, and it groaned slightly. Pulling it over, she saw, to her shock, it was a very old, grey and brown, bearded Unicorn male.
Starswirl's vision swam, his eyes bleary, but he was thankful the night sky was dark, it made no pain of intense daylight on his eyes that hadn't seen proper light in a long time.
He stared blearily at her, and wondered groggily: "I'm, free? How? I-"
He slowly shuffled on the ground seeing the setup with Celestia's horn, the Quintessenite rocks around the clearing, and the overall sense to his own knack for it that high magic had been at work here.
It dawned on him, what he'd seen, what it entailed.
"Who, who did it take?" Starswirl asked.
The Komodo female, Faral didn't know where to start, but Starswirl saw the Wyvern now, lying on his knees, looking at him. His eyes were slowly shifting, where blankness gave way to building rage.
It was the same Wyvern that took Celestia's horn as his own in rage. Varkan.
He slowly shuffled up, beginning to walk over, a knife being pulled from his pocket of his uniform. Starswirl felt weak, tired, he couldn't fight back, and kept submissive in his posture. He had no chance in this state.
"Faral. Retrieve the equipment and horn, be careful of any heat or energy left."
As she left to cautiously begin recovering the equipment, Varkan stood over Starswirl the bearded, his grip ironlike around the knife. Starswirl stared up, still weak from his 'ejection'.
"You were spat out of that mess, just as I lost Tul'rok. By my reckoning, you were in there, and maybe even did that."
"No, I-"
But Starswirl's plea was not one the Wyvern wished to hear. The emptiness in his tone unnerved Starswirl, as he was interrogated, threatened. He was completely at their mercy.
"Shut, up. You're in no shape to take risks. You will answer my questions, or I will begin making you wish you were still wherever you came from."
Starswirl didn't know where to start, but he knew from the Wyvern's tone that he was facing a quick death so soon after returning to the real world if he didn't cooperate.
And yet, as he stared around at the crater, where this anomaly went in, he coudln't help but gaze towards the horn of Celestia, as the Komodo female worked on the equipment first, the horn's light still fading.
Whatever leftover energy from the Elements retained a link, and whatever they did here, caused this switch by way of that link.
Careful to keep his tone quiet, Starswirl first asked:
"Very well. But, how, how long have I been there? What year is it?"
Varkan's grip slackened on the knife slightly, as Faral too looked over from disassembling the exeperiment equipment that caused so much disruption, and cost them a dear friend today.
But for the Wizard, he didn't know at all whether to be free now was a blessing, or a curse, considering his company, the circumstances.
Only time would tell.

Author's Note

And there we have it, Starswirl is catapulted into the modern era. Well, 976 BNM, about 24 years before the start of season 1, and 29 years before Volume 1's start according to my scheduling.
For future reference to where this picks up, see:
Volume 1, chapters 11-12.
Volume 2, chapter 4.
But this story is almost done.
As to where it will end, I left some 'unfinished business' that Starswirl was contacting some to investigate at the end of Volume 3, but the main story is about done, just wrapping up now.