And that's when Maleficus, finally began to stir. His body suddenly twitching, and the sound of air being sucked in and muscles shifting stiff metal bones could be heard from him. And then, he spoke.

"..................What.........................did...................................you...................................do................to..................them........" It was barely heard, but Maleficus' lips were moving and his once dull and blank eyes, were starting to gain focus. And Luna from where she lay on the ground, could see the familiar looking burning spark within those eyes growing. Whatever this intruder's answer would be, it had better be good or he would be in for a lot of pain.

"You have no need to know abomination." The winged humanoid, an angel by the looks of it, answered in a cold and stoic tone while sheathing the blade he had used to absorb the two souls. His answer, was by far the worst one he could have picked.

Maleficus slowly stood up, his head rose, his eyes slowly starting to glow crimson as his voice rose in strength and volume. The rage barely contained with his vocal cords, exploded out of his lips and his eyes began to shine red. And took a large heavy step forward, and then another, and another, towards the angelic being. "I......said....what....DID....YOU.....DO....TO....THEM!?"

"And I said, you do not need to know." The glowing angel stated before turning around, unconcerned about the approaching alicorn, and spread his wings a if to fly away. Not even glancing over his shoulder pads.

He would come to regret that decision.

A loud resounding crack was heard and the golden armored figure flew into a tumble across the snowy field as the hoof of the black alicorn slammed into the back of his helmet covered skull. Snow bellow through the air and Luna had to shield her eyes as Maleficus marched through snow, his eyes literally burning with crimson fire.

As the alicorn stallion marched through the white snow-field loud clicking sound could be heard as metal began to appear out of thin air. Metal circles knitted themselves together into chain mail, metal plates with nails and screws attached to hardened leather covered up the chain mail and began to cover his body except for his head and neck. A set of scale like metal plates covering his entire spine from the lower neck, between his wings and to the base of his tail.

And finally, a pair of pauldrons emerged upon his shoulders, the white bony head of a bull-horned dragon emerged upon his right side while a pauldron covered with sharp teeth emerged upon his left side.

Reaching down he grabbed the angel's sword with his right hoof, and with a glow of his horn he levitated up the angel who reached out and grabbed onto the crossguard of his sword to wrench it from the alicorn's grip

With a wordless scream Maleficus slammed his forehead into the angel's visor, a loud crunch was heard and golden ichor erupted from the holes of the visor. The Angel cursed and stumbled back, when suddenly his back slammed into a solid surface, a wall of solid ice appearing behind him from the snowy field.

Stepping forward Maleficus stabbed the golden sword into the icy wall, just next to the angel's neck, even stabbing through the angel's floating halo in the process. He pressed his left foreleg up against the angel's throat and screamed out into utter fury into the angel's visor as his eyes burned with crimson fire. "WHERE ARE THEY!?"

The angel struggled, trying to get the equine being to release him, trying to grab hold of the so called abomination's foreleg with his right mail covered fist, only for his divine strength to lose against the alicorn. Said alicorn pressed the angel even harder against the wall of ice, cracks forming within the ice itself, while the angel coughed up golden ichor as more pressure was made against his throat. "ANSWER!"

Realizing it could not get free of his grip the angel decided to taunt him instead. Letting out a drawn out and strained chuckle it verbally provoked the alicorn, practically spitting in his face. "Kuhh...kuhh...kuhh...kuhh... You will never see... them again... you freak... Kuh... They have broken... the laws of heaven.... Thus they shall... be punished by... the Seraphim..."

The taunt worked, thought not as intended by the angel. As rather than breaking down into tears of despair, the alicorn's eyes narrowed and he flung the angel against the ground, pulled out the sword from the ice wall. Then he walked over to the angel, put one of his hind legs' hooves on his torso and pressed the blade against his throat.

Glaring down at the celestial being he snarled out, his angry eyes glowing like a pair of red suns. "Unless you want me to rip off your wings and stuff them up your ass. You better tell me where they went. NOW."

"Kuhuhuhuhu! Fool. No one can breach the Heavens, least of all an unworthy heathen such as yourself. The All Mighty One will never allow- GAAAAHH!" The angel's taunting was interrupted when his own blade stabbed into his shoulder, straight through the bone and out the back, nailing his torso to the snow covered ground of the mindscape.

Looking down at the angel with burning eyes Maleficus spoke up in a steady and cold voice. The atmosphere of the mindscape was both chilling and burning, the physical shape of the alicorn stallion flickering with black and green flames. "That is all I need to know. All I need to DO now. IS to get there."

He reached down to the angel, grabbed him by the throat and hefted him up into the air, tearing him and his sword off the ground, spraying golden ichor into the wind. As he held the angel up in the air, his black fur and hair began to spark and shift into fire and his shape began to grow, taking on the near feature shape of black and green flames. Soon his spectral shape stood ten times the angel's size, holding its entire body with a hoof of fire. His horn had melted away in the darkness of the fire as the last of his fur and flesh transformed. In its place was a massive green eye upon the forehead of the draconic and equine shaped head of fire.

Thus Maleficus had transformed entirely into being of dark flames, the same manner of transformation he had used, when his mind was invaded by Nightmare moon over fifteen years ago.

The angel struggled in his grip, even as the jaws of his maw opened, revealing a mass of various manner of horrors within the center of the jaws. He struggled as panic began to settle into his celestial mind, for what lay beneath those jaws, was unnerving even for an angel. And so did the thought of what the former human, was planning. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"You invaded my mind. You apparently thought yourself hot shit and all powerful. Thinking you could punish my mother and father for their apparent sins. Well you are about to learn something very important you pigeon shit." The burning head of Maleficus growled as he slowly lifted up the angel he was now holding with a talon of fire, who was starting to struggle to get out of the claw of fire gripping his torso.

Maleficus' voice cracked like thunder while screeching like iron nails dragged across a blackboard. His jaws opened and closed, each time revealing the horrors sealed within his spectral flames. While the surroundings began to becoem a burning inferno. While the darkness above them, began to shimmer and twinkle, with twisted eyes appearing where there had once been stars. "In the world of dreams. He who is awake. Is God. This is something I learned, when I devoured my first unwelcome visitor and absorbed their knowledge into my own."

And as those words rang through the mind of the angel, it felt chills. The implication of what he alicorn had done to another intruder of his mind. And what he had said about needing to know how to reach Heaven, gave the celestial being all he needed to know to realize, that he was fucking screwed. "...No... no you can't mean to. This is insane! THIS IS BLASPHEM-URKGH!"

The talon gripped the angel tighter, ending his crude attempts of speaking. And the burning phantom shape of Malefics, snarled out , before raising the angel above his head. Glaring at the struggling angel within the grip of his claw. "No. What this is. Is simple. It is Poetic. Justice."

"Now. Learn the folly of your Pride. Angel. For it will be your doom." And with those final words Maleficus opened his jaws and the angel let out a horrified scream as he fell down into the twisted neither of the Lord of Terror. With a loud crack the jaws closed, the burning teeth pierced through his divine armour and flesh, spraying olden ichor into the air.

He screamed out in agony. And then the jaws opened and the angel tried to struggle free to fly out of the burning maw. But that option was denied when a hundred limbs of claws, pincers, hands, stump, talons, hooves, tentacles and more, reached out from within the throat of the fiery jaws, and grabbed hold of his body.

Then the jaws began to close as the angel found himself being dragged down into the abyss that was the core of the Lord of Terror. He was barely able to let out one final scream of horror, before the mouth snapped shut. Silencing him forever.

Closing his burning jaws Maleficus' swallowed the anger and his burning shape began to glow for a few seconds. His three eyes narrowed and he lowered his head for a few moments, remaining silent for a while.

Then, slowly, his burning shape began to shrink. And soon he was a pony size again, though still made out of green and black fire, with his three eyes bared.

"Luna... Keep my mind safe. I am going to save my parents." He said after a while his voice no longer rumbling and crackling like the combined voice of a tyrannosaurus and a sawmill. Luna, who had been watching the entire spectacle just gave him a reassuring smile and gave him a gutsy foreleg pump.

"Give them a taste of Tartarus Maleficus." Was her contribution to his agenda. For she knew, if the roles had been reversed, she, and her sister, would have done the same.

Maleficus' fiery shape smiled and he nodded, feeling relieved to have such a good friend. And so he stood up on his hind legs and spread his forelegs apart, and a crack emerged within his mindscape. soon taking the shape of a swirling portal of gold and white. "Oh believe me."

"I intend to." And with those final grizzly words he stepped into the portal and left his mindscape. Leaving Luna to keep things in order for his return.

(Scene Skip)

It was night over Equestria and the moon was steadily shining with its bright silvery glow, while the dark green and black flames of the specter was giving it an eerie green glow. All was well and quiet through the soothing cool winds of the winter times. A layer of white snow lay over the streets and rooftops, twinkling in the moon and starlight as crystals of frost had grown over the white powder layer.

Over the streets lay flower petals, wrappings, candy sticks, dropped food items, and small vermin scattering over whatever edible remains they could find. And through the silent streets, were small beacons of light slowly moving along the alleys and over the walls of the city walls.

The Town Guards of Canterlot wandered the streets with their lanterns, shields and spears, keeping safety and order through the streets even when night had fallen over the tired city.

No pony could have been expected for the vigilant protectors of Canterlot to cause the next great unrest of the city, especially when not even a day had gone by since the joyful celebration of the wedding between Happy Meal and Grand Music. With their wonderful melody sung to the honour of Golden Cross.

Yes, no one could possibly have known.

A group of young guards were walking over the main street leading from the main gate of the city and directly towards the Royal Castle. Five young ponies, two unicorns, two pegasi and one earth pony, each wearing the uniform and armour of the town guard. While being armed with round shields, bronze spears and carrying brightly glowing lanterns hanging from a set of curved hooks sticking out just beneath the spearhead.

"It's very quiet. It's almost weird, just two hours ago the party was still going strong. And now, it's as quiet as a graveyard." A unicorn stallion murmured as he raised his lantern to get a better look down an alleyway.

The two pegasi mares just rolled their eyes and spoke to him in unison. "Must you keep comparing every quiet moment to a graveyard? / Must you keep comparing every quiet moment to a graveyard?"

The earth pony mare just shook her head and patted one of the two pegasi mares on a shoulder to get their attention. "Stop bothering him, there's not much else he can compare it to. I mean, heck, we have been here a year longer then him and we keep comparing silent nights like this to graveyard duty."

The other unicorn, a mare, just sighed as she levitated her spear and lantern to scare away a small group of rats nibbling on a pile of syrup apples. She levitated the pile of rotten food into a oiled leather sack, which was already nearly full, before closing it up with a set of ropes sewed into the neck of the opening, sealing it near air tight. "Well the smell can be compared to it. Why must we be the ones to clean up whatever junk we find?"

Rolling his eyes the lone male of the group levitated a half eaten pie into his own sack after having wrestled it out of the teeth of a particular large rat. "Because since we are the only ponies working night shift in the streets are we those who gets wrestled with the duty for cleaning up the streets. Since leaving all of this garbage about will only attract vermin and wild animals and we do not need a repeat of the 'rabid squirrel incident'."

There was a shared moment of horrified shivers at the mention of that particular disaster.

In short words. A group of ponies had left a lot of food in the park, the squirrels had eaten the food. And the unbalanced sugar levels of the food caused the squirrels to go into a sugar rush rampage across the park and to all nearby streets. Tearing up wood, fabric and denting metal as they ricocheted across the streets like projectiles. In their mad frenzy of energy they consumed up to a ton's worth of sugar.

The incident only ended after an hour but by then was two blocks torn apart ,five buildings needed to be demolished and the fifty squirrels died of a collective heart attack as the collective sugar in their bodies clogged their already worn out hearts after the sugar rush ended, and ended up dead all over the streets.

Since then was it forbidden to feed the animals in the city sugar rich foods, and even then was no one to feed wild animals or leave food behind. But the rule was only two years old and thus had not been enforced as it should have, thus the clean up duty came to the unlucky sods of the Town Guard who patrolled the city day and night.

After a moment of contemplation of the horrid incident the group returned to their duties. And that's when the pegasi sisters noticed something was off. The normally white, and slightly green tinted, snow, looked much brighter now, although still a bit green. "Hey. Does anypony else think that things are a bit bright right now? We've never had a night as bright as this right? / Hey. Does anypony else think that things are a bit bright right now? We've never had a night as bright as this right?"

The others looked around a bit, a bit confused but soon took note of the oddly brightness of the moonlight hitting the ground. But the earth pony mare just snorted though and rolled her eyes. "Oh goody. The night is a bit brighter and now we are all doooooomed~ For buck's sake if you're that concerned why not just look at the moon to see if its still fucking there and not replaced by a second sun if this is a matter for concern."

And one of them did do that, the unicorn mare looked up towards the moon, something many did not enjoy doing because of the glowing spectral fire upon its surface creeping them out. And she let out a strangled meep as her eyes grew into tiny dots and her body froze.

The stallion noticed her odd behavior and walked over to her, the others taking note as well as he approached her. "What's the matter Night Watch?"

"T-the P-phantom of the Moon. I-it's, it's, look, just look at it!" She squeaked out in a tiny almost choked voice filled with fear, while reaching and hugging herself to the surprised stallion. Tears streaming down her cheeks.

While the stallion tried to calm down his fellow unicorn the other three mares looked up and they too suddenly darted towards the young stallion and hugged them, while letting out screams of utter terror. The group ended up falling into a pile on the street, their reinforced lanterns clattering over the cobblestone street.

The stallion looked up from his trapped position as the frightened mares screamed and hugged him, not really something he minded, but it still felt incredibly awkward. And he nearly blacked out at the sight of the moon.

Up there, on the silver surface, bearing the formation of the Mare in the Moon, was the burning specter known as the Phantom of the Moon. But it was not the same. Normally the Phantom would be resting its head on the opposite direction of the Mare, which was the left side of the surface of the moon. With the Mare being on the right side of the moon's surface.

However now, was the mass of black and green flames, rearing outs its neck, outside of the surface of the moon, revealing a trio of bright glowing eyes upon its draconian skull, the third, being on the forehead, glowing a bright crimson. All three eyes were glaring and the normally grinning jaws of teeth was open in a vicious looking snarl.

And reaching out from beneath the neck, from behind the visible surface of the moon, was a massive limb of black and green fire, ending in a five clawed talon that was gripping a glowing golden orb of light that was just a short distance away from the moon.

It looked as if the Phantom of the Moon, had taken hold of one of the stars of the night sky. And was attempting to either destroy, devour, or throw it down at the world beneath the moon.

The poor town guards could not be blamed for reacting as they did, collapsing into tears while sobbing and screaming in utter horror. And this group was not the only one, the other patrols soon took notice and while many ended up reacting like the first, would some raise the alarm or rush to report to the sleeping military officers of the city.

And thus ended the joyful day of the Wedding of Happy Meal and Grand Music. With the ponies of Equestria being woken up at after midnight, to screams of horror, ringing alarms, and the horrified sight. Of the Phantom of the Moon, clutching at one of the stars of the night sky with a massive claw.

Not even the calming words of the Believers or Princess Celestia herself, could make the ponies calm down. And for nearly a week, the ponies of Canterlot, could barely sleep.

(Scene Skip)

Inside of a glowing realm of white clouds and clear blue skies, stood a massive wall of clear white and silvery blue crystal. Spread out like a vast line of crystallized glory and wonder it stretched for miles through the realm, seemingly acting as a border of reality rather then a wall. The vast fortification reached an height, unimaginable for a mortal being to even consider for a wall, it dwarfed most mortal castles with its height.

And beyond it lay an even more brilliant sight.

Buildings, towers and floating crystal structures filled the space behind the vast walls. Each made out of the same silvery blue and white crystal material, stretching upwards until nothing could be seen, for miles upon miles. And there among the top of the skies. From the very peak of the tallest and largest of the structures, there was a bright light shining like a sun, bringing a glorious light upon the realm.

And then there was the gate itself. It was tall and made in an oval shape, with the crystalline material shaped into blue and white wings stretching for quarter of a mile up from the midsection of the gate, until the very peak of the gate was reached, where a massive gemstone of some kind, was shimmering in a light of comforting blue.

While beneath the large winged shaped top of the gate, laid an upside down pyramid shape made out of a pure white material, with a large exotic looking eye embedded with a golden orb as the pupil. Two prismatic cones were sticking out of the ground beneath the oval gate up to quarter of a mile, and thus covering the lower half of the gate.

The two tall cones were framing in the pyramid shape of the lower half of the gate, and it seemed like they were merged with the gate, and thus one could imagine an identical pair of cones were sticking out of the other side. Each of the cones were made out of a dark blue material, not seen on any other part of the walls.

Before the large gates was a pale blue staircase of glass like material, reaching down to a square shaped layer of clouds. And other opposite side of the oddly shaped cloud layer, was a prismatic stream of light flowing downwards towards a floating platform of crystalline like the walls and gate were made of. And upon the center of this platform was a circle made out of what one could imagine being a glowing slime or jell from a distance.

But up close was a different matter. It was made of what looked like glowing solid light, and it was not in a state without motion. No. Within the glowing matter that made up the circle there was a swirling image, something that would remind a human from earth of a vortex one sees when flushing the toilet.

The surface of the circle looked to be flat and motionless, but the imagery upon the surface of the circle was a chaotic vortex that seemed to be flushing golden light and black matter into a endless tunnel that did not appear on the other side of the circle. And just seemed to appear as an image upon a flat surface.

It had been in a state of activity for an unknown time, and it had never changed it shape, colour or size ever since it was active. But as of right now, as of this moment, would something change that.

A green tint of light seemed to spark within the center of the vortex tunnel. At first it seemed like nothing, just a small speck of green discoloring the center. But then it grew more potent and brighter and soon a bright green glow appeared to be moving through the swirling vortex within the circle. Coming towards the flat surface.

And then the surface was broken as a pair of crimson eyes appeared within the green light and an intense rush of heat erupted from the swirling circle And then it erupted. A bright flare of green intense light seared across the cloudy landscape, smearing a bright and intense green glow upon the once white and blue coloured walls of the massive citadel.

The circle was gone. In its stead was a burning pit of jagged stone, spewing forth ash and molten magma upon the once pristine surface of the platform.

And then something moved out of the fiery pit, climbing out of the flowing mass of molten rock and green fire. What emerged was the black furred shape of a horse sized equine, with an exoskeleton like claw for a horn upon its forehead and a large pair of crow like wings sticking out of its side. Dressed in an exotic and dangerous looking armour.

The crimson eyes of the alicorn looked upon the realm around him, and then he let out a disgusted snort. Before he stepped out of the molten pit of stone and fire. As his metal hooves struck the glass like surface of the platform, it obtained a greenish colour upon where he stepped. And as he took another, the green 'stain' he was making spread, like oil upon the surface of water, like an inky mass of green sickness.

He stepped towards the prismatic bridge of light and stepped onto it, the multi coloured bridge let out a loud static like noise as he stepped upon it. And as he stepped upon its surface, turned that point of the bridge into a mass cloud of ash and green cinders.

The bridge of light was slowly transformed from a brilliant beam of solid colour into a bellowing bridge of smoldering ash filled with green coloured cinder.

The stairs before him looked to be quite long, about a mile at least, so he decided to speed things up. And just leaned forward, focused his energy through his legs, and leaped. He came about halfway across the stairs, almost slipping when his hooves struck the glass like staircase. But he could care less, he took another leap and landed before the large gates of the citadel.

Once upon a time he would have been in awe of the place. But because of what he knew, what he had gone through, he knew very well that it was all a lie. The knowledge he had absorbed from the so called angel, offered much information. And thought it was not easy to understand it all, did he get the gist of it. And he knew, that this realm might appear divine and holy. But it was anything but.

He reached out to push the massive gates open when he heard something from above. Leaping back he saw a burning sword strike the ground he had been standing at, it was not the same as the one the angel that invade his mind had been wielding, it was a silvery colour rather then gold and looked much more plain ,except for being on fire. And then an angel, even larger then the one he had fought within his mind, with even thicker wings of light, fell down from above, dressed in a highly refined plate armour out of some silvery blue metal. The large angel had landed before the sword, reached out and gripped the handle, pulled the weapon free, and point it at Maleficus.

"Intruder! Turn away! This is the Gates of Heaven, you are not welcome within the Divine Citadel or the Realm of Heaven! Begone abomination!" The echoing voice of the angel rang out over the silent cloudy realm and the glowing eyes beneath the silver helmet were of a golden colour, rather then white like the other angel's eyes had been.

Maleficus had come to gates that would take him to the inner core of the realm of the heavens, to seek out those who had punished his parents. And he was not going to let some pumped up pigeon winged man with a torch for a sword block his way.

Standing up on his rear legs Maleficus turned his neck, cracking the bones properly into place with metallic cranks. He raised his left front leg and a telekientically pulled the golden sword strapped to his back free and held it out, pointed at the angel before him. "I have come here to give you a resume about one of your employees. They lacked the skill for their services and I did you a favour by terminating their contract. And now I am here, to give you a deeper education in pain, free of charge."

The angel's reacting was hard to discern, the glowing golden light beneath the visor seemed to fade for a few seconds, before reigniting. And then he made a jabbing movement towards the alicorn with a cry of anger coming from his helm. "Foul beast! You shall pay for your insolence!"

A stream of golden fire erupted from the sword and engulfed Maleficus' form, ash and smoke erupted from the impact, but the angel did not let up the assault. More and more fire seared forth and the floor beneath the angel began to to bubble and hiss as the heat of the flames made the glass like surface to melt.

The golden flames suddenly erupted into an explosion of green light. The angel felt his body being pushed back by the explosion, and as the explosion ended, was the upper half of the staircase covered with toxic green and tar black flames.

A thick scent of burning tar and sulfur began to fill the air, and within the sea of green flames, emerged three glowing eyes, two red, with an even darker green eye above the two. And a rumbling voice spoke out from within the fire. "Ooooh? Did I hurt the turkey's feelings? I guess I will just have to leave you alone, with a complaint."

There was a sudden movement from within the fire, and the angel had no time to react as a massive red skinned muscular multi segmented limb lashed out from the fire. At the end of the thick meaty limb was a pitch black stinger the size of a lance. The tip struck the silvery breastplate of the angel, pierced through it, and erupted out of the back. A splatter of golden ichor erupted from the front and back as the angel let out a echoing cry of pain.

Reaching out the angel tried to grip the limb and tear it apart. But then he felt his power begin to fade, and he looked down and stared in horror as the golden ichor that was bleeding out of his body, was being absorbed by the stinger. Thick glowing green veins began to appear over the red flesh of the limb as the ichor was being absorbed. And the limb shivered and twitched, shaking the bleeding angel around like a rag in the wind.

And there was a rumble coming from within the flames, and the limb, and the stinger impaling the angel, began to expand in size. The angel let out another cry of utter agony as the stinger impaled through his torso expanded into twice the size. Then there was a loud sickening crackle as the metal plate split apart, and the angel's upper body split apart, erupting into a spray of golden ichor before collapsing into a pile of ash.

The limb retracted into the flames and the eyes glared up towards the large gates blocking the way. The misshapen form of Maleficus Victoria took a step forward out of the flames. Most of his body was still shrouded by the green flames, but out of the flames, came a thick meaty limb covered with red blood coloured flesh.

Upon its massive tree trunk sized limb were several finger like appendages growing out of the outer sides of the limb, out of the flesh were the joints were located, and along the back of the hoof. At the end of the thick finger like growths were claws sticking out, some just a few inches ,others up to six feet long and bout five inches thick at the base. And at the end of the thick limb, was a large thick and cloven hoof the size of an ox.

The flesh twitched and squirmed beneath the crimson hide as the limb moved, the cawed fingers twisting and grasping as if trying to tear everything nearby apart. The thick hoof was hefted off the ground by the massive limb, raised high, and then it was pushed forward with the speed of a truck. And as the massive hoof struck the crystalline like gates, was a loud crack hear as cracks appeared all over the surface.

The limb was reared back for another punch when a rain of golden spears of light struck the ground before Maleficus' twisted form. with a loud crackling boom was Maleficus sent back into the flames as a shock wave erupted from the strike of golden light. His three eyes glared out of the smoke, ash and flames at where the light had come from.

Up on the top of the gates and the walls was a host of angelic beings, wielding various kinds of silver weapons. Their glowing wings and halos making it appear as if an army of saints had come to battle the lone invader.

"Hear my words abomination! I am the Valor of God! General of the Angelic Host! Your doom shall be swift Intruder! None have dared to invade the Realm of Heaven ever since its foundation! And you and your soul shall pay the ultimate price for your Sins!" A particularly large angel shouted out from the top of the gates, wielding a pair of sickle like blades and dressed in an ashen grey robe with a helmet of red tinted gold on his head.

Maleficus just glared at the anger and his eyes seemed to rise up higher within the flames. "And yet, here I am. Unimpressed. And Unharmed. Geez, who knew the so called 'Angels' of Heaven were such push overs."

It was a taunt, not a complex or even a well hidden one. Most of the angels knew it and did not react to it. But there were far more among them who did NOT enjoy this freak of nature mocking their angelic brethren, or themselves. And sought to bring the truth of Heaven's might to him, through example.

"Kill him!" No one of the angels knew who cried that out but a swarm of over a thousand angels flew toward the flames, bearing swords, spears, axes and many other types of weapons. and then they charged into the flames, unafraid of the consequences, seeking to impale the intruder upon their weapons.

When the first angel flew into the toxic green and tar black flames his glowing wings and halo was practically swallowed out of sight. The angel flew straight towards the three eyes he was watching, only to suddenly feel a sudden pain in his back, and everything went dark.

Next came a group of thirty, they flew like a stream of comets towards the glowing eyes within the fire. But as they came closer upon the eyes, were they intercepted. A forest of blackened claws and jagged spikes erupted out of the lower parts of the flames around them. Before they had a chance to scream, were their celestial bodies impaled upon the spikes in multiple areas, rendering them dead before even a sound could be uttered. They would then disappear as the spikes and claws retracted down into the flames.

Another group, this time a swarm of over a hundred angels, flew like a row of aerial fighters, throwing glowing spears of light into the flames as they flew through them.

A blackened shape came rotating out of the flames around them, an inverted curved claw that looked like a combination of a praying mantis claw and a scythe. The claw had jagged teeth across its entire edge and in a brutal show of strength the claw swung into the row of angels, who had no time to evade or block the ambush, and slammed straight into them.

But they were not just cut in half, no, they were grasped by the saw like claw which then folded itself, and crushed the angels against the rows of jagged spikes and finger like claws coming from the lower portion of its limb. Those who survived the initial impact let out gargled screams of agony ,as the claw began to grind itself against the rows of clawed fingers and spikes, essentially sawing them apart.

Finally a horde of over three thousand swarmed the sea of flames, essentially flooding it with their numbers. they flew towards the glowing eyes, wondering where the earlier attackers had disappeared to. A row of over a thousand lances and swords stabbed towards the glowing eyes, only, for them to pass through the coloured fires that had made up the eyes.

Nothing more then an illusion, or rather, three eye shaped fires coloured differently then the rest.

"Where are you coward!?" The leading angel of the assault force cried out into the realm of fire they found themselves within.

There was a moment of silence, before suddenly a low rumbling was heard, and suddenly the flames went from harmless, to intensely burning. And the angels within them screamed out in pain as they suddenly caught fire within the fires.

Before the first angel could die as he began to fall as his body was being incinerated by the toxic flames, came a giant trio of eyes out of the lower parts of the fires. The massive misshapen head upon which those eyes rested opened its twisted maw and snarled out in a voice that made the area shake and shiver. "Right here."

As the screams died down within the fires the remaining angels outside looked at the toxic green flames in worry. The large angel, who had called himself the General, by the massive gates raised one of his sickles and pointed towards the growing area of green fire. "Fear not his deception! He is but a harmless worm of a twisted mortal soul! Unable to fight our combined might without his trickery! Bombard his cursed sea of fire with our holy light! Cleanse this area of his taint!"

The angels upon the Walls of Heaven reared back their arms, and conjured spears of light in their hands. Before throwing them at the toxic green fire. it was like the stars of the night sky had all decided to gall down at the same spot. The searing heat and brightness of the holy spears were like a second sun.

Sinking into the sea of fires the angels watched patiently as explosions upon explosions erupted within the flames. After a few moments was smoke and ashes flowing out of the flames, but nothing else occurred. Many of the angels looked at each other and their leader with anxiety.

The General frowned and conjured a spear of light himself and chucked it at the sea of fire. This spear was far more powerful then the other spears had been on their own, the explosion it caused was like nuclear bomb, the powerful shock wave, bright light and almost mushroom cloud like effect proved this.

And yet the large angel's eyes widened in as the sea of green and black flames seemed to grow in size after his explosion ended. "Impossible! This mortal may be powerful his he does not have the strength to withstand our combined might!"

A loud chuckle emerged from the sea of fire. And large, heavy and steady crumbling footsteps, which sounded more like large boulders striking ground, began to resounded out over the area. As the intruder within the fires, began to talk, as he walked towards the gates once more. "Ooooh you are partly right about that. I might have been unable to fight you all, ONCE. But as of a few moments ago. That is no longer the case."

"Gather in front of the gates! We shall prevail against this twisted evil and destroy his cursed soul with our might! Let his lies not deceive you from the truth and justness of Our cause!" At the order of the General the angelic hos flew down before the expanding sea of fire, they conjured shields of light, and created a solid phalanx wall of massive shields linked together.

The shield wall looked like a wall of half round lamps, shining like a wall of skylights at the twisted sea of fire before them. Behind the slowly growing mass of fire, were the clouds started to grow darker, sparks began to emit from the blackened clouds as green cinders and blackened ash flew out of the dark flames and into their sky.

All the while the massive steps echoing out from within the flames grew louder and heavier as they came closer to the gates and the wall of angels protecting it.

"Hold fast! No being can breach our shields! Hold strong and add support to one another! Let us all hold back the approaching plague and render its efforts futile!" The General cried out as he flew above the Angelic host, his sickles held out, one of them pointed at the sea of fire, while the other was pointing at the angels bellow him.

The steps grew more rapid and the entire foundation of the ground that supported the angel's city began to shiver and quake. And a loud rumbling voice, erupted like thunder out of the flames. As a massive shape could be seen, moving with a steady galloping momentum towards the angels. Three enormous eyes staring out from the upper portion of the massive being. "Oh that's where you're wrong. Here. Let me show you."

And then a massive cloven hoof the size of a truck erupted out of the flames, and a massive spike and claw decorated limb, covered in black flesh decorated with cracks of red, the size of a tower followed. The angels stood fast and tried to repel the massive limb but it was no use. The large hoof crushed a large group of shield bearing angels beneath its massive shape. Then a second limb reached out and did the same.

Then emerged a twisted head, in the shape of a mixture between a horse, a dragon and what could only be described as a spider's lower jaw. The upper portion of the head had a equine shape, with draconic features, scales, horns and spikes sticking out of it, all in black and red colouring. With a pair of crimson eyes upon the sides with a third toxic green eye staring out from the forehead, where a unicorn's horn would normally be growing.

The lower portion of the head had a split jaw, which ended with a pair of hook like triangular fangs, a row of triangular fangs along the inside of the split jaw, which open and closed with thick slimy membranes and veins acting as muscles to move them. A long blood red tongue with black veins hung out like a thick meaty rope, drooling green slime over the ground.

Down the neck was a row of thick plate like scales, reaching down to a thick lower body with the lower areas from the throat to the stomach covered in thick scales. the upper back from the base of the neck was covered in thick black spikes with green veins, their jagged forms going down the entire back, even along the shoulders, and eventually down along a long serpentine tail with spikes growing along its entire length until ending into a row of claw like spikes.

The rib cage of the front of the creature was bare and twisted open, revealing a thick ooze of green slime filled with dark shapes pressing their skeletal wings and hands against the surface of the slime ,as if trying to get free.

Out of the back where a pair of wings had been in his Alicorn form was a pair of massive multi jointed arms with a row of large meaty fingers with sharp claws sticking out of them along the elbows. On the inside of the elbows were lines of pulsing green skinless flesh, almost insect like, that looked like cables. And out of the end of the massive limbs were black, long, sharp, and needle like claws reaching the size of flagpoles, they were not straight, instead they had in a slight inverted curve.

As the massive creature emerged out of the sea of fire, ash and smoke, it roared out a gargled screech that was like the combined sound of a stone grinder and a screeching bird of prey. The sound was so intense, so vibrant and loud, that the shock waves from it was visible to the naked eye. And they struck the angel who had called himself the Valor of God, and even as the massive creature stomped through the gathered angels, was the General screaming out in pain while clutching his eyes as he flew backwards.

Right into the central section of the cracked gate.

[Start Battle Music: Skillet - Monster]

[Lyrics Altered by Staadnauthursil.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of this music, nor the music video, the lyrics I have slightly altered and thus are not the original, in their entirety. And nor am I posting this video to cause copyright infringements for the one who posted it. Please support the official music and its creators. And please support those who make it possible to listen to these wonderful songs on youtube.]

There was the sound of cracking and breaking glass, before the massive crystalline gate shattered and began to fall apart. And a deep resonating music began to sound through out the realm of the Heavens. And as the massive body of Maleficus Victoria, smashed through the parts of the collapsed gates, and his voice began to sing out without his jaws moving.

"The secret side of me, I never let them see."

The Angelic Host, scattered by the massive monster that had just torn through the very Gates of Heave, flew up to retake formations as the intruder slammed down a massive hoof upon the prone shape of the general, crushing him.

"I've kept it caged but now I don't want to contain it!"

Maleficus charged into a massive crystalline structure and broke through it, the shards of crystal like material flew out across the streets as he stomped forward. The collapsing structure fell with a loud groan, causing several more buildings to be torn apart by the impact.

"So I hope you are happy now, this beast is ugly."

A swarm of angels flew aroudn his head, trying to spear his skull with their magical spears of holy light. But his scales were too thick and as soon as they got too close, his jaws opened and he lout a horrific screech that shook the very air around him.

"Can you feel the rage now that I don't restrain it!"

The strength of the screech was enough to tear dozens of angels to shreds with sheer pressure alone. All nearby buildings and structures shattered by the intensity of the shockwave, while the taller buildings collapsed as the lower sections shattered.

"It's scratching on your walls, from the darkness, it enters your halls!"

Rearing back a massive limb Maleficus punched through another building, his clawed limbs lashed out like a pair of spider legs and actively impaled angel after angel, until they had to slam the twitching corpses against a structure to get room for more.

"It has comes awake and I choose to not control it!"

A swarm of large winged beasts bearign a strange resemblance of angel winged cherubs the size of yachts, flew down from the light coming from the massive tower at the center of the crystalline tower. The sixteen wheel sized winged babies let out holy Gloria choir like cries, as their bodies began to emitting intense light so bright it was burning the lesser angels.

"Once hidden with my dread, in my body, in my head!"

One of the Cherubs flew like a suicide bomber at the charging creature destroying the holy city by the gates. Maleficus answered the glowing giant baby's challenge, by grabbing hold of a large sharp piece of a fallen structure, and chucked it like a javelin.

"Why would somebody come and make me call for it!?"

A loud and meaty thunk was heard, followed by a choir like cry of agony, as the Cherub found its massively over-sized head impaled by the improvised weapon. As it fell into the ground, Maleficus stomped over the corpse, and impaled the head with one of his talons. And then he reared back and used the cherub as an improvised flail to swat down a swarm of angels.

"This shall be your end!"

Then something weird happened, as Maleficus' claw was impaling the Cherub's head, began his shape to twitch and spasm, as if experiencing nerve twitches. And as it did so, began his muscles to expand, the spikes upon his back began to grow. His tail grew out as he grew in size, and suddenly, out from a geyser of green goo, erupted a pair of massive insectoid claw like limbs out from the rear part of his body where the tail had been expanding.

"I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin!"

Maleficus rushed towards a tall egg shaped building, his new pair of limbs adding to his speed as he ran up onto the egg and jumped off it and onto a large tower. And began to use his clawed legs and arms to climb the crystal structure like a siz legged lizard.

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!"

Two Cherubs flew towards him, their glowing shapes melting parts of the crystal structures as they approached. But Maleficus was unconcerned and just focused on climbing, until he was on top of the tower.

"See just what I've become, but the nightmare's just begun!"

The two massive baby angels let out Gloria choir calls as they released golden lasers from their eyes at the twisted shape before them. Maleficus went low, slide down to the edge of the tower's peak. And then with a hefty push of his six lower limbs, jumped off the tower, making it fall as the force behind his push broke it off its foundation.

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!"

He flew through the air for a few moments, before his two forelegs slammed into the emotionless faces of the massive Cherubs. As he did so were several dozens of angels, impaled upon the spikes and claws upon his body, covering him in a rain of golden ichor. With fine precision, even as he began to fall down with the two giant baby angels held by his forelegs, he impaled their heads with his talon like arms.

"I, I feel like a monster!

Maleficus and the Cherubs struck the round rooftop of a large temple like structure. They crashed down upon a garden of crystal trees and fountains. The weight behind Meleficus' massive body shattered the cherub's heads beneath his hooves, spraying golden ichor across the area, without any meaty parts.

"I, I feel like a monster!

Once more the golden ichor was absorbed and Maleficus' shape began to twitch and spasm within the collapsing structure. His three eyes were narrowed as he gazed towards the sky above the collapsing building, where he could see an army of Cherubs and Angels fly down the the massive pillar.

"My secret side I kept hidden under lock and key!

As the building collapsed upon him, shrouding his shape in a dust cloud of crystalline matter, began the Cherubs and Angels to bombard the area with beams and spears of light. After a few moments of nonstop firing they relented and waited for the strike point to be revealed.

"I've kept it caged but now I can't bother to control it!

What was revealed as a section of the massive cloud of dust and smoke opened. Within this crack in the sea of smoke and fire was a massive area of molten crystalline glass. The angels let out a cheer of victory over the intruder. But then they noticed something. The song the intruder was singing, was not over, and his voice had not stopped singing either.

"'Cause now that I've let him out he'll tear you up, break you down!

And that's when a massive clawed limb the size of a skyscraper erupted out from beneath the angels and cherubs. It impaled seven Cherubs upon it before a second limb reached out, this one in the shape of a three fingered talon, grabbed hold of five Cherubs and several dozens of angels, before crushing them like grapes.

"Now despair for nobody shall come and save you from this, or make it end!

And then a massive tail covered in jagged spikes swung out and hundreds of angels were smashed apart by the force of the strike and the wind of the limb itself. As the tail finally disappeared emerged out of the burning city below, the remaining forces of heaven began to desperately to fire upon the large black shape that was now revealed, moving across the ruins like a massive snake.

"I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin!

The sound of flesh tearing, bones grinding, body fluids pumping and ooze bubbling could be heard from the massive cloud of ash, smoke and fire. And that's when the angels took notice of another horrific revelation, one fourth of their city was burning with green and black coloured fires.

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!

A massive trio of glowing eyes appeared within the smoke, larger then the limb that had emerged out of the smoke a few moments prior. The eyes moved forward, up and out of the fire and smoke, and revealed, just how big Maleicus had become.

"I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun!

His head was the size of a castled, his body had grown and expanded over a hundred new limbs along the length it had grown, he looked like some kind of demonic centipede combined with a demonic horse slash dragon at the front. And the massive head, opened its monstrous jaws, and let out a sound that made all of the angels above it, break apart.

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!

Maleficus ignored the raining drops of ichor and resumed his march towards the massive tower. Even as large as he had grown was he but a small worm compared to the tower's size. But he was not concerned about this. He was not her to bother with the technicalities.

"I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin!"

He was there for a very simple thing. Vengeance.

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!"

As the monstrous hundred legged creature that was Maleficus reached the base of the tower, reacted the glowing sun at the top of the pillar. And a swarm of Cherubs began to pour down, as well as another being that flew down with them, whatever it was was it even larger then the Cherubs. Even larger then Maleficus' current form.

"I, I feel like a monster!"

Maleficus took no notice of this as he was focusing on using his vast number of monstrous limbs to grip and climb the crystalline surface of the tower in a circular motion. Intent on climbing up to the top.

"I, I feel like a monster!"

A beam of light struck at him, not damaging the tower at all, but nearly splitting his body in half as it seared his flesh. He turned and glared at what was approaching, and almost lost his grip at what he saw.

"I am hiding in the dark, my teeth are razor sharp!

It was an island sized angel in the shape of a buxom woman dressed as a nun, bearing two large glowing wings and a veil over her large face. In her left hand was a Sword, and in her right, was a scale. Her skin was pitch dark and she had no halo, only hair of golden fire.

"There's no escape for you, I wants your soul, I wants your heart!

"I am the Justice of God, and you are to be punished for your crimes." Her booming voice did not stop his ascent, but he could not risk her hitting him, instead he made a move across the circular surface of the tower, and as the large angel reached out to crush him, he jumped off and landed on her hand.

"No one can hear you scream, know this is not a dream!

He crawled beneath the sleeves of her outfit and began to crawl up her arm towards her shoulders. The angel screeched out in a strange and alien voice, but it was clearly not pleased by having him crawling on it. A large hand the size of his own body tried to crush him beneath the cloth.

"Now that it's inside of you, join this monster!

Maleficus crawled around and into the armpit as the hand tried to crush him. Not stopping he went past the armpit and onto her back ,where the joints of her wings were sticking out. And even as she screeched at him to stop, he reared back both of his claws, and strapped them into the base of her wings, and began to tear and rip into the flesh, spraying golden ichor out like fountains as the angel screamed out in pain as Maleficus began to dig his way into her body

"You feel me deep within..."

The angel let out a cry of despair as the misshapen creature tore his way into her back. She could feel his skittering limbs tear and rip through her sacred flesh. His voice rumbled out from her body even as she stabbed the places she felt him move with her sword.

"I'm just beneath your skin..."

The pain grew larger and she could feel him growing within her body, his shape was squirming within her flesh and appeared like a large centipede was growling beneath her black skin. She slammed her back against the tower and tried to crush him within herself, even going so far as to have a swarm of Cherubs tear and rip at her skin whenever his crawling form could be seen. Her outfit was torn to shreds, thus leaving her naked shape laid bare to the Real of heaven as she twitched and squirmed against the Tower while trying to tear out the thing burrowing within her.

"You must confess that I..."

There was suddenly a moment of nothing as the shape stopped moving, Justice thought he had perished and let out a breath of relief. But then her eyes widened, as she felt her stomach bulge.

"Feel like a MONSTER!"

In a geysers of golden ichor, and what could only be described as 'intestinely' awful, erupted Maleficus out from the angel's lower stomach, his shape now growl to equal her size. And as he crawled out of her was her intestines dragged out ,as well as her other internal organs. The angel let out of a wailing cry of utter agony, unable to take the pain and horror she was experiencing, so when the creature climbed over her head she did nothing to stop it as it, in a brutal show of mercy, crushed her head.

"You may hate what I've become, but the nightmare's just begun!"

The Justice of God fell down from the tower, her headless, naked and nearly dissected body turning into ash before it even hit the ground. While Maleficus resumed to crawl up the tower, his shape was still growing and as he reached the half point mark was his body expanding as much down as it was going up.

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!"

With Justice dead the Cherubs were inactive, unable to act without a command, and no angels had approached the battle or been seen since Maleficus screamed them to death. But his progress would not be left unchallenged, as when he reached the halfway point he came upon a large platform sticking out around the large tower, and two large winged behemoths, equal to the size of Justice, stood before him.

They hefted their weapons, one holding a large sword and the other holding nothing but a massive thick shield. Their bodies dressed in fine white robes, one of them bearing a hood with a crimson halo while the second had a helmet with a cross visor on it, with a blue halo. They spoke as one as they stood in his way. "Halt Intruder! You shall not pass! Prepare to face the might of the Sword and Shield of God!"

"You see it deep within, it's just beneath the skin!"

Maleficus charged forward, his body was almost half the length of the tower by now, but his thickness was about one third greater then the height of the angels. So he would not bother playing games and just rushed at them. Shield rushed in front of Sword, and hefted his shield against the massive centipede like demonic force before him.

"You must confess that I look like a monster!"

A shield the size of an island, a force to defend as much as to protect. And yet its massive form, was dented by the impact of the rushing shape of Maleficus as he slammed his two forelegs with their now mountain sized hooves into the front of the shield. The force of the impact was enough to send Shield crashing into the wall of the tower.

"I've gotta lose control, here's something radical!"

"Die abomination!" Sword cried out as he charged from the side, having used Shield's shield to hide from sight as to flank the enemy. His efforts were proven futile however when a bulge of flesh grew out of Maleficus side and a limb bearing a sharp looking mutated crab claw, erupted out like a mutated tumor growth, and grabbed his sword.

"I must confess that I feel like a monster!"

"Sword!" Shield cried out as he charged to aid his fellow angel, his large shield held for a large tackle against Maleicus' shape. But Maelficus was not playing games, and even if he was would he not even bother playing fair. He ripped the sword out of Sword's hands and brutally threw it, point first, at Shield.

"I, I feel like a monster!"

The sword penetrated not only the shield, but Shield's head behind it, making the angel fall down with a slump ont othe ground. While Sword cried out in despair at the sight of Shield dying by his sword. "Shield! No!"

"I, I feel like a monster!"

His cries were silenced into gurgling as three spike like claws impaled his body from behind through the neck, the chest and the head. The angel splattered and twitched before falling limp. Maleicus then impaled the dead shape of Shield, and kept going up the tower, his size expanding ever further with the absorbed powers of Shield and Sword.

"I, I feel like a monster!"

Even as his song began to reach its end, even as his flesh and bones expanded beyond the height of the massive tower, even as the he saw the top. He knew his goal, and he would fulfill it, one way or another.

"I, I feel like a monster!"

And with a final roar he reached out with his cloven hoof and heaved his body up onto the top of the tower.

[End Battle Music]

(Scene Skip)

Seven tall angels dressed in fine robes and armour were gathered upon the peak of the tallest building of the Divine Citadel, the Tower of God. They were the Seraphim, the Arch Angels of Heaven, and it was their sworn duty to protect God and the interests of Heaven.

Already had five of their numbers fallen to the intruder, Gatekeeper, Valor, Justice, Sword and Shield. But the remaining members were unconcerned. For while the intruder may have dealt with the five weakest of their council, would he no doubt fall to the collective might of their remaining seven members.

Floating above the massive open top of the tower was a massive clear glass orb, the size of a large island. Within its clear surface was a swarm of white shapes, moving in a rotating pattern within the orb like a swarm of fish. They were the source of the strong light emitting over the Heavens.

The orb was decorated with a massive triangular shaped band of gold, bearing countless sigils, symbols and runes. With a circle shaped seal upon the center of the triangle bad, bearing a triangle with a circle inside of it ,with a smaller triangle inside of the circle, with a smaller circle within the smaller triangle. All of these markings were glowing with a bright blue light.

Above the massive orb were two floating platforms the size of small islands. Each of them were bearing seven golden swords embedded into seven pedestals. Well one of these swords were missing on the right platform as one of the pedestals were empty.

Connected to the two platforms with a pair of ramparts was a hexagon shaped platform with a four clawed bottom, and a circle shaped contained on the top of the platform, holing a pool of blue liquid.

[Start Combat Music: Immediate Music - The Path I Have Chosen (Epic Choral Action)]

[Disclaimer: I do not own this music nor the music video. All parts belong to the original creators and I am not claiming ownership of anything. Please support the official releases and support the great youtubers who make these great music videos.]

The calm and serene nature of the area was being disturbed by screams, explosions, the sound of battle, and the tell tale roar of a monster. But the seven remained where they were standing, completely assured of their superior strength. Even as the tower began to shake and shiver and massive heavy clicking and cracking sounds could be heard.

Then a massive cloven hoof reached up from over the edge of the top of the tower and rasped onto the flat surface, and then the monstrous head of Maleficus rose over as his second row of legs grasped onto the top of the rows, sinking twisted and jagged claws into its surface. The massive centipede like monstrosity that his body had taken shape of rose up higher and higher, until he was almost at the same height as the lower half of the floating orb.

The angels were not intimidated by his size, even as he stood above their mountain sized bodies, they felt assurance in their own might to make him pay for his crimes.

"You know why I am here." The monstrous voice of the abomination rumbled out as his three eyes glared upon them.

"Foul twisted mortal! You have invaded the Realm of Heaven, broken the Sacred Walls and Sanctum of the Divine Citadel and desecrated the Tower of God with your presence!" A female Arch Angel spoke out in defiance to his words, nto answering his statement.

"Oh I highly doubt this place could be called heaven, nor do I think any God worth his salt would let something like this occur. After all, with parasites like you draining the power of human souls for your own ends, doesn't strike me as very Holy, at all." There was a collective silence as the Arch Angels gripped their weapons.

It was true, they were not in fact divine beings. This realm was one they had created, utilizing the souls of dead humans who had passed on. Taken before they could reach their intended afterlife.

In other words, this Realm of Heaven, was nothing more, then a Realm of Thieves. But they would never reveal this to anyone, not even those who knew the truth.

After all, once this intruder was dead, there was no need to fear him spreading the truth.

"In the name of God, I the Voice of God, say this. Destroy this foolish mortal for his lies." The female spoke out once more, holding out a golden scroll before her, and the arch angels held out their hands. And began their attack upon the intruder.

The Arch Angels fired beams of golden light out from their palms. All were aimed at Maleficus' massive head.

But he was prepared for this, there was a sickening crunching and ripping sound as his scales and flesh split apart on his head from his snout to his neck. And then, the split skin began to pull to the sides. And there was a loud sickening crack, as his skull, brain, throat and spine were cracked apart, and fell left and right.

He had effectively split his own head apart. And thus made the powerful laser beams fly past his split skull and then reassembled it together. A massive limb lashed out, the angel with the ribbons cried out as her stomach was pierced by a massive needle like claw.

Another Seraphim tried to save her by cutting off the claw with his scythe, only for one of the large finger claw on the limb to reach out and impale him through the head. The female died a few seconds after he did.

"Death and Hope are gone." Voice stated to the remaining five who refocused their efforts in destroying Maleficus, this time summoning forth pillars of fire, swarms of insects, swords of ice and other mass area attacks. But the thick body of the transformed alicorn was able to tank the strikes.

Maleficus opened his jaws and a swarm of skeletal angels erupted from his maw, they flew like howling banshees towards the Arch Angels. Crying out for aid while tearing at them with skeletal limbs.

The two remaining male angels combined their spears and fired a focused blast of plasma upon the specters, the swarm was dispersed, for a few seconds. Before it overwhelmed the pair, as they struggled to fight off the spirits, were they slowly but surely torn apart, bit by bit until nothing remained and the specters disappear, as Maleficus closed his jaws.

"This is not good, both Wisdom and Sight are gone now, this just leaves three of us." A Seraphim stated as she swung her axe through a set of tentacles with screaming beaks.

Voice spoke out to them, even as she conjured a swarm of diamonds to tear a massive claw to shreds. "Do not falter Courage and Love! As long as I remain I can restore everything that God has let us create through the Divine Scroll!"

She realized the error of what she had just said when Maleficus turned his eyes on her and spoke up with a smirk on his draconian jaws. "Oooh? So as long as I take out you or your scroll, there will be no more issues in taking out the rest."

"Voice look out!" Courage cried out as she tried to shield her from a limb of flesh covered with jagged iron spikes. She was crushed for her efforts.

The silent Love, even with just her and Voice, swung her morning star at Maleficus' head. But he just caught the orb, ignoring the searing holy fire burning his flesh, and yanked it. Love blinked in surprise when a limb that ended into the jaws of a shark appeared before her, and bit down, devouring her whole, before a row of saw like tear, ripped her to shreds inside.

She never made a sound even as her ichor was released out from the closed teeth, it looked the shark mouth was drooling gold. And Voice, realizing she was on her own. Decided to take desperate measures.

The Voice of God flew upwards, bearing her scroll, and raised it high to summon an intense fire equal to the surface of the sun upon the top of the Tower of God to incinerate the intruder. Or she would have, had not her left arm, which was holding the scroll, and her two legs, to been sliced off her body when a swarm of piranha faced worms erupted out of a massive boil on Maleficus thirty seventh limb. She fell crying out in agony and shock, but still alive.

Maleficus snorted at he downed angel, one of his many limbs reaching out and taking away her golden scroll. He then looked up and raised his upper body high to look at the massive orb the so called angels had called God. "I learned more and more of you and your race of parasites as I devoured you. But you 'arch angels' held the most knowledge. Especially about... this. The so called 'God'."

He looked at the swirling shapes within the orb with am upset expression on his monstrous face. "A massive orb used to trap human souls. Constantly growing to adapt for the constant influx of souls you thieves take. Using your Soul Stealing Swords to steal souls form other realms, before absorbing them into the orb. You also take those who have died or hoped for a peaceful afterlife, lie to them, give them a false sense of hope, false promises and a fake heaven. Fooling them to think of your Divine Citadel as Heaven. And then you seal them here to power your sick little race of soul snatchers."

Voice coughed and placed her remaining hand at her bleeding stump and glared up at the twisted freak who had invaded the realm she and her kind had worked so painstakingly long to build. But she had an ace, as long as the freak killed her she would resurrect by using the power of the souls making up God, it was a crude way to reassemble yourself but she knew she had little other choice if the Realm of Heaven was to survive.

So she kept her mouth shut and began to trace the magic upon herself as the thing kept talking. "I can only guess my parents were only able to contact me because they had yet to be taken to 'meet' God. Feh. God. It's nothing more then a giant battery for you parasites to utilize the power of human souls for your own purposes. This is not the Heaven my parents were told of."

Then she knew things were starting to turn bad, when the unnatural mortal did not just kill her after speaking those lines. And she looked up, to see him glaring at her. But not approaching, and she felt a chill, wondering if the creature knew about her power of resurrection by sacrificing human souls.

"And this is not the Heaven they were promised. Trapped within a large glass orb to be processed into power for you parasites to use like common batteries." Maleficus growled out as he glared down upon the badly wounded arch angel as her golden ichor poured out and stained the once clear blue crystal floor of the tower.

His massive centipede like body raised its front part and the monstrous form of Maleficus began to gag and hack, before with a loud wet splat, he barfed out something from his split jaws. A golden sword fell down, covered in green and black slime from the interior of Maleficus' massive body.

Before the weapon could strike the ground it was gripped by a pincer like claw sticking out of one of the many misshapen limbs of Maleficus' body. The sword was raised up and Maleficus glared upon it, before glaring towards the orb that was 'God'. "This Soul Taker was used to take my parents within it. Now it shall be used, to free not only them, but all whom you have held prisoner here."

"Look upon your false God, one last time. For now. It ends." He reared back his twisted limb and with a wordless shout threw the golden sword like a javelin, it flew with a screech towards the clear glass frame of the orb with the speed of a falling star. The swirling mass of white figures within the orb, watched as the sword flew towards their prison.

But then the voice of the arch angel cried out as she flew up and held out her one remaining arm, and conjured a shield of diamond like crystal to block the sword. "Nooooo! You shall not destroy God!"

[End Combat Music]

There was a loud resound king crackle, like lightning striking ground, as the sword struck the angel's shield. There was a bright blinding light from the impact, a loud pained scream, and then a loud crack was heard. And as the light subsided, was the angel slammed into the frame of the massive orb. Cracks had taken shape upon the surface behind her. But compared to the rest of the orb's massive size were they not even one thousands of the size.

Panting the angel held up her remaining hand and glared at the demonic creature that had nearly cost her everything. Her hood had been torn off by the explosion, exposing a humanoid head of black energy, with hair of golden fire. With the golden hair exposed, and her hood gone, was her once glorious halo no longer there. Even with her bright white wings she looked far from angelic in Maleficus' eyes.

"You insane freak! You nearly destroyed everything! Countless years of efforts! This entire realm is tied to God! If you destroy it will Heaven be no more and these souls lost! All for your misguided sense of right and wrong! There are no such things! They are inventions made up by your human society! All it takes to alter them is your own opinion which may as well be clay with how much you change them!" Her ranting echoed over the decimated tower, her fury almost making the entire area shake and shiver.

Maleficus just stared at her, unimpressed. "Well that's just YOUR opinion then."

She sputtered and almost frothed in fury. But then Maleficus spoke up again,and her eyes widened. "But your opinion matters little, parasite. The opinion of those you have held prisoner, matters more if you ask me."

[Start Dramatic Cut Scene Music: Calliope Music - Testament (Epic Grandious Orchestral)]

[Disclaimer: I do not own this video, nor do I proclaim myself to do so. The music is owned by its creators. Please support the creators of this wonderful music and those who are making such fine music videos with them.]

And he turned to look up at God, and she looked over her shoulder, and felt a slight shiver as she saw that the souls within the orb of God, were no longer moving. They were all motionlessly still, floating in place like a horde of onlookers, looking down at her and the intruder, as if noticing them for the first time.

Then that accursed interloper opened his jaws and spoke out to their audience. His voice echoing out over the peak of the tower, resonating across the Realm of Heaven.

"Hear me! Souls of Mankind! You are trapped within a shell made to power the ambitions and desires of these false angels! You are forever trapped with a giant glass orb, forever to be utilized like a source of power! No better then pigs being harvested for their meat!"

"So I ask you! Now that you have a choice! Do you intend to remain like this!? Trapped forever in a ball of glass!? Or do you take this chance to make a choice!? Now that your freedom and liberty are mere inches away! Remaining trapped here or finally freeing yourselves! WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE!?"

The word echoed over the area and for a few moments a breath was held.

Then the arch angel let out a sigh o relief and turned with a smirk towards the demon like creature before her and spoke at him with an arrogant voice. "Your efforts are futile, they do not wish to forsake God by breaching the orb! Humanity will not submit to the whims and lies of a twisted creature like-"

And that's when it happened. A single spectral being of white, almost transparent, moved towards one of the cracks, and reached out with a spectral hand. And gripped the handle of the sword, and began to visibly try to pull it. It did not budge and inch.

"Fool you cannot hope to breach my power with such a futile attempt! Return to God and know peace again! Do not listen to the monster before you!" The angel said with an unconcerned tone. But Maleficus' face just smirked at her as he witnessed the soul struggling to push the sword through the diamond like shield of the angel.

And that's when another soul flew towards the cracks. It too squeezed through the tiny gaps of the cracks in the glass. It too reached out with spectral hands and began to tug at the sword. Still no real effect.

The angel started laughing at this point. But Maleficus just smiled and slowly raised his head up closer and looked upon the soul's struggling to push the sword. And then he looked at the rest of the human souls trapped within the sphere. And he could see them looking at each other in contemplation. Before slowly, another brave soul left he hesitant billions and slipped through the cracks, and also joined in the efforts.

Now three souls had pushed out of the cracks and were pushing at the sword. And then a group of four slipped out. They too gripped the sword and began to pull and push it towards the orb. Then a group of seven followed. And a group of ten. Twelve. Twenty. Thirty. Forty. Fifty.

And then, like an invisible dam had been broken, flooded the souls of humanity towards the cracks and urged over the startled angel to grip the sword holding their salvation.

More and more spectral being flew out of the orb and gripped the sword, it was like a spiraling hurricane of ghosts trying to push the final nail into their own coffin. And as thousands upon thousands slipped through the cracks, the pressure of the sword began to increase.

And slowly, cracks began to appear upon the surface of the angel's diamond like shield.

She let out a scream of utter despair at the sight and frantically swung her wings at the mass of souls before her, they scattered like locust for a few seconds, before returning like angry wasps and pushed even harder against the sword.

"Noooo! What are you doing!? Stop it! This is blasphemy! Do not defy God!" She cried out as she frantically tried to push even more power into the shield while pushing away the souls.

But her efforts were in vain. As when the sword slide deeper and deeper through the shield. The resounding echo of a billion voices, rumbled out from the orb that was 'God'.

"WE HAVE CHOSEN!!!"

And then the sound of breaking glass was heard, as the sword split through the angel's shield. The golden blade's tip penetrated through her chest, right below the throat, making her release a strangled echoing cry of agony. Then the blade, and the angel, were impaled into the cracked surface of the orb.

As the blade struck the orb, the sword itself began to glow. And the souls of humanity, were sucked up by the sword, and entered the arch angel's body, and exited through the tip of the sword inside of the orb, then moved out of the orb, and entered the sword.

Resume and repeat.

The arch angel's body was growing bloated and crackling with golden light, as more and more power went through the sword, through her body, and into the orb. Cracks began to grow over the orb as the arch angel's power began to run out of control and she screamed out in strangled agony while the smirking form of Maleficus looked at her.

"Poetic Justice. At its finest, don't you agree? Enjoy your final moments with your 'God', parasite. Let this wicked place end with you, your lies and your false Heaven." With that final taunt spoken, Maleficus' massive body broke apart into blackened ash and green cinder, the corpses and ichor of countless angels spilling out of his grotesque form as it broke apart.

Like a massive organic domino filled with corpses of angels, the massive centipede like body began to burst apart, spilling its gory content all over the Divine Citadel from the top of the Tower of God an down towards the Celestial Wall.

Back by the Gates of Heaven, the tail end of the massive body burst apart and Maleficus, back to his alicorn form, ran down the cracking and burning realm that was the so called Heaven. The burning pit that was his exit out of this realm was looking rather unstable and the alicorn speed up his momentum even more.

And then ,as he was mere inches away from the portal. The false arch angel, known as the Voice of God, let out a final gargled cry. Before detonating, and the Orb of God, shattered along with her. A bright light shoot out from the ruined peak of the Tower of God, breaking apart everything it touched. Right at the same moment as Maleficus jumped into the portal pit.

The light reached his location in a near instance and the no longer transformed alicorn found himself flung faster then intended through the pit and felt himself lose the connection he had on the other end. As both it and the fake realm known as the Realm of Heaven, disintegrated into nothingness.

[End Dramatic Cut Scene Music]

(Scene Skip)

In a realm of pitch dark sky and snow fields was a single portal of black and green flames was illuminating the landscape with its sickening glow. Just a bit away from it was Princess Luna watching the vortex intently, now that the mindscape was more or less restored she could sense the proper passage of time again.

It had been a week since Maleficus left his mindscape through the portal he had opened after devouring the strange intruder who had taken his parents' souls.

She was getting a bit worried that he had bitten off more then he could handle. But then the portal began to pulse and shiver, as if it was being stretched and torn at by invisible claws.

At first she intended to move forward to try and stabilize it to keep Maleficus from being lost to his own mind. Then she saw something moving through the center of the portal's vortex like structure. And decided to get out of the way as the familiar shape of a certain black stallion came flying towards her.

The portal detonated like a small bomb and a loud collection of meaty thumps was heard, but Luna saw none of the actual movements as sh e was busy having her head buried into two hooves height's worth of snow.

As she pulled her head out of the snow she saw the rising shape of Maleficus as he struggled to stand up, only to fall over a bit.

Walking over to the disoriented stallion she gently reached out and helped him stand. "Are you okay Maleficus? What happened within that portal?"

Maleficus rubbed his head, trying to remember he was not in the shape of a massive monster centipede, nor did he have the power of several thousands of angels anymore. It was disorienting to go from being so powerful to less powerful. It was like he would have to learn how to walk all over again.

"Let's just say that things did not turn out as intended. Though I still managed to free both of my parents, did I do much more then that. I will explain later, for now, I really need to wake up and move my body. I need to be alone for a bit." His body faded from the mindscape and Luna looked after his disappearing shape in concern, but then the snowy field vaporized, and reformed into the familiar looking building she had been hosted inside.

"Well I might as well go and watch something, been too long without a TV." She said to herself before striding into the entertainment room and sat down on the couch, and for the first time in over half a decade, she relaxed. Which was only possibly now that Maleficus had recovered.

(Scene Skip)

It is day upon Equestria, but on the other side of the planet, is something most interesting occurring. Upon the surface of the Moon, the clutching shape of the Phantom. And as Maleficus returned to his mindscape, with the fake divine realm destroyed, the Phantom broke the star.

Its burning eyes grew narrow as it clutched its talon one final time around the golden star, and a bright flare of light illuminates the world beneath it. Those down upon the surface staring in fear at the sight of the dark fire burning upon the surface of the moon, destroys one of the stars of the sky.

The spectral fire retrieved its limb back and laid downs its head upon the surface of the moon once more. Returned to its original position, it stopped moving. But the action it had taken had been noticed the world over through out the week. And thus, things were going to get a bit different, now that the denizens of the world had realized something.

Whatever the fire on the moon was, was it not as inactive as they had once thought.

(Scene Skip)

Maleficus' eyes opened and he stood up from the sand of the moon's surface. His body was heavy and unsteady, but he felt much better then inside of his mind. Slowly he walked towards the Interface, the floating structure of solid light screens began to shine and shift as he approached it and he smiled a bit as several screens lit up with images and texts.

Sitting down on the snow he reached out to the oldest of the reports and began to watch and read it. He had a lot of things to catch up on before he could resume his work.

And so the alicorn sat there, swiping through the screens, watching, listening and reading. Scowling at some parts, smiling at others. And when he saw the wedding of his two young charges, he smiled and cried tears of joy, tracing his hoof over the image of the happy couple hugging each other. *I wish I could have been there.*

He let out a deep sigh and kept going through the flux of information. And that's when he came upon a specific set of information about a specific set of beings, his eyes grew wide. He quickly reached out and activated the viewing function of the Interface, the screens with information floated away and the large floating line of circle shaped disks shifted in angle towards a specific point of the planet above him.

Standing up on his hind legs Maleficus conjured forth a sphere of moon sand and infused it with magic, forming its once grainy mass into a fluid mass of light. And then he shaped the mass from a shapeless lump of clay into a pyramid. He then focused and lines of runes began to etch themselves into the surface of the Solid Light, before being absorbed.

As the final line of runes disappeared he let the pyramid float up a bit and closed his eyes, and the pyramid, suddenly went fro ma white colouration to a mixture of black and green. Before erupting into a black mass of almost oil thick gas. The gaseous shape suddenly altered its form and took on the shape of the front body of a pony, with the back body being a black, almost slime like, mass of smog.

Three eyes appeared upon the head of the gaseous shape, two red on the left and right sides were the eyelids were, and a green one appeared upon the forehead. The shape looked around a bit, testing out its body movements, then it looked upon the still form of Malefiucs, reached out, and poked him on the nose.

No Reaction.

Nodding the shape suddenly imploded into the pyramid once more, leaving the once white mass of solid light as a black pyramid that looked like it was made out of solid darkness. And Maleficus opened his eyes again and shifted his neck, left and right, stretching out the stiffness of his bones.

He then reached out for the floating pyramid, held it out to the first of the circular shaped lenses of the Interface's Telescope, and pressed the pyramid against the surface.

There was a black flare for a few seconds, then a black blur shoot along the lenses until erupting out like a flying blob of tar towards the planet.

Maleficus activated the Interface's viewing functions and utilized his floating satellites of solid light around the surface of the planet to keep track of the pyramid. Making sure it went were it should.

The black pyramid did NOT land where it should, instead of landing among the Foal Mountains if flew further south, past the Haysed Swamps and straight into a large tropical jungle, yet to be explored by Equestrian ponies.

Frowning Maleficus conjured another pyramid of solid light from a hoofful of moon sand, his accuracy was far off then it once was. He would have to try several times to hit the right spot. Until then he would have to try and work on his control and focus, he was not looking forward to it. But he knew it.

He had lost a lot of his control over his magic and that would not do well for him in the long run.

(Scene Skip)

It had been six nights of bone chilling fear of Equestria ever since the Phantom of the Moon grasped one of the stars of the night sky. But just as abruptly as the fearsome image came, it disappeared.

As on the seventh night had the ponies of Equestria grown fearful of what manner of plans of the Phantom of the Moon, or rather, Maleficus Victoria, was preparing. But as they looked upon the moon once more they felt a great sense of relief at the sight of the burning specter once again having assumed its rested position on the opposite side of the Mare.

But that did not remove the fact of what had occurred.

The disturbance would cause many to wonder, just HOW well sealed are Maleficus Victoria and Nightmare Moon for one of them to be able to manipulate the night sky in such a horrifying manner. It would leave many sleepless even weeks after the events that had caused them such great distress.

All the ponies knew, was that Maleficus Victoria was still active, even when he was sealed upon the moon. And it made many of them wonder, just what manner of horrifying acts had he been committing during these long years?

(Scene Skip)

[Current Date: 1/1 - 122 AD]

A wave of blue water splashed up against the frame of a large wooden vessel travelling over the clear blue sea known as the Celestial Sea. A large dual masted boat beating four sails each was moving across the water towards a large land of crimson sand, black mountains and thick jungle vegetation. The vessel was long, wide and had a sculpture fastened to its front in the shape of an pegasus mare spreading her wings.

The Dragonlands was what it was named. A fitting name for the main home of the winged creatures that had struck awe and terror upon the world for untold ages. And now was one of its inhabitants, returning.

Sitting on top of the wooden deck of the Reckless Spirit, the name of the ship, sat Clash the heir of the Rockfire Clan. He had recovered, his wings restored, and his wounds mended. Only scars remained, ones he bore with pride, to show that he had survived something few could.

He was sitting alone on the deck, except for the various crew members and soldiers working. No one interacted with him outside of his students, and he was fine with that. Clash had not spent the last three years working with the ponies to let their behavior disturb him right before things could improve.

The red dragon puffed out a small gust of smoke and inhaled the smell of the sea and the ash and sulfur coming from the volcanic mountains beyond the thick jungle. He let out a pleased humming sound before turning his head to look out to the other ship sailing next to the Reckless Spirit.

It was an almost identical ship, only with a longer body with the head figure of a merpony. It was the Sea Maiden, and it was there with the weapons to kill him should he act against his students or Equestria itself. But they were also there for a secondary purpose.

To colonize.

If things were to turn for the better would the ponies have to have connections with the nations on the other side of the ocean. Which included the dragons. And so the first ever Colonization Project had been made by the Equestrians, gathering not only materials but volunteers as well.

While it had been a bit concerning at first was Clash more then willing to allow it, as long as it meant less hostilities between his kind and the ponies. But for that to work out he needed to prove that he and his students could bring forth reason to the rest of his kind, by force or other methods mattered little to him, as long as it got done.

And that's when he noticed it. A black shape flying out from the volcanic mountains, he looked and nodded, it was a small shape, near his own size. Clearly a young and curious dragon who wanted to inspect the boats approaching. Ignorant of the dangers.

"We have an approaching young drake, I suggest you ponies prepare yourself it it should prove hostile." At his words the ponies went into a frenzy of activity and the two boats brought out their weapons and troops, ready for a confrontation should the approaching dragon prove hostile.

A young blue dragon flew over the boats, but did not attack, instead it circled around a bit. It looked rather confused but at the same time intrigued. It then spoke out to the ships, it was male.

"Hey you! What are you doing on these floating things and what's with the ponies!?" Clash was at least glad the stranger did not ask if he could eat them, it probably meant he was from one of the less aggressive or predatory clans.

"My name is Clash, of clan Rockfire, and I am returning home. After having been defeated in battle by ponies ,as was the majority of my clan, when we enacted our annual Grand Feast." That stumped and shocked the blue dragon who almost fell out of the sky by surprise alone. But he quickly regained his balance and slowly flew over to the front of the ship, flapped his wings as to slow down, and slowly landed on the front ,careful to not break anything as he was unsure how stable the boat was.

"Okay. I was NOT expecting that to be the answer. Normally you Rockfires are all about eating and being stronger then others. This is a big change. Did the ponies actually beat your entire clan?" Clash just sighed and nodded at that, it was a fair point.

"Why don't you fly over to the pony nation, which is called Equestrian, and ask my grandfather, Talos. I believe his head is being mounted as a trophy in one of the cities." Again the other young dragon felt shock and almost lost his balance when the boat was hit by a particularly heavy wave.

"Aahh.... you're joking right? Talos the Terror? The Magma Spitter? The Strongest of the Five Dragon Lords? Killed by ponies?" The bafflement of the dragon was clear and Clash knew that had he been in his situation ,he would probably have reacted worse.

"No. I am not. You can ask young Bright Light over there just how skilled ponies are at killing dragons. She's been holding a knife to your throat ever since you landed." At those words the dragon went still and slowly turned his head and almost went pale at the sight of a young mare dressed in a mixture of leather and plate armour, with a helmet with a bar lined visor covering her head. A curved dagger, held against the softer scales of the young dragon's throat.

"Ah. Yes. I totally believe you. And I am not going to make trouble, I am not into eating ponies." The pony held the dagger in place for a few more seconds before removing it, and jumped off his shoulder. She landed almost completely silent, except for a soft shifting of her plate and leather, and gave the dragon a final stare before walking away. The dragon rubbed his throat nervously while looking at a smiling Clash.

"She is one of the Equestrian Dragon Hunters, they are trained to hunt and kill dragons who would cause harm to her nation. But even the common warriors of Equestrian can kill dragons if they have the skill or the equipment to do so." At those words the other dragon just nodded and slowly took a breath before letting it out, calming himself down.

"Well. Okay. This is going to baffle father when he gets to hear about it." The blue dragon said with a sigh as he looked at the ponies who were no longer pointing strange looking devices and weapon at him.

At the mention of that, Clash got interested. He did not know who this dragon was, let aloen their father. "Oh? Whose your father? And for that matter, what is your name?"

"Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Torch of the Ironclaw Clan, the only hatchling of Pyre, the Dragon Lord of the Ironclaw Clan."

"Greetings Ironclaw. I hope you and me can prevent the possible extinction of our species." Clash said with a slight smile as he held out his claw in greeting to the other dragon. Talking as if he was talking about the weather and not about the end of their very race.

"Yeah, that would be a real bummer." Torch said with a twitchy smile and reached out to shake Clash's claw.

And so Clash the heir of the Rockfire clan, meet Torch, the only hatchling, and heir, of the Iron Claw Clan.

(Scene Skip)

Once upon a time would the worlds holiday, semester or honeymoon have about as much relevance as a common work day. But with the development of Equestria had many such days become great events of festivities, joy and recovery of the mind, soul and body.

Ponies could take longer breaks, enjoy days without physical or mental efforts. To spend time with family or friends. Even go on vacations or long trips during their honeymoons or anniversaries.

Grand Music and Happy Meal were no expectation and many expected them to take a while to enjoy their new life as newly weds before returning to Canterlot.

But none had foreseen a three years long honeymoon. Ponies had almost gotten into a panic when it became clear a year later that Happy Meal and Grand Music had not returned yet from their honeymoon.

Although to call it a honeymoon would be bit of a stretch. The two knights were constantly pulled into one adventure after the other as they journeyed the Equestrian roads and towns. It was like the Gods wanted to keep them distracted from enjoying themselves.

And for some unknown reason would they always be forced to move to the next problem as if fed breadcrumbs of mysteries and dangers along the entire time.

Luckily were there no real issues among the Order or Equestria for the past three years, it was peaceful period. And the married couple had more then one reason to enjoy their lives.

Happy Meal had given birth to twins, a pair of fillies. Cutie Pie and Twinkle Twinkle. But apparently had two fillies not been enough and during their honeymoon she had gotten pregnant a second time and given birth to a colt by the name of Grand Symphony.

At first they had wanted to name their little colt after Maleficus, but they felt like Grand Symphony was more fitting for some reason.

And so the duo returned to Canterlot by carriage once more, with Happy Meal and Grand Music dragging said carriage. With their happy foals sitting on the back, cooing and awing at the sight of their parents' hometown.

"There she be little ones, this be ye ma and pa's home. Canterlot." Happy Meal said with a grin while her husband smiled. They were happy to be home once more, the time spent away had been some of the most fantastic adventures they had been through. But they were more then happy to be back home.

"Your grandmother is going to be so disappointed she missed your first couple of birthdays, so be prepared for a lot of food and lecturing." Grand Music said with a grin while his wife gently bumped him in the side with her hip, giving him a mock glare, which he returned with a smirk.

(Scene Skip)

A single black streak fell down the night sky. It looked like a piece of the night sky had been gathered together in a blob and fallen down from the dark heavens. It streaked down across the clouds, over mountains, seas and lakes. Before finally it slammed into the side of a lone mountain peak.

Just on the other side of the valley next to the mountain, stood a tall mountain city built from the middle of the mountain to the peak. It was a large city made with stone and wood structures. This was the city of the Vikings, Järngård, or Jarngard as it was spoken of by the ponies and other horses.

It was the main home of the Vikings and held a larger structural significance then one would expect, as the city of Jarngard would become one of the most famous cities in the known world very soon.

It was a large place, built with four great walls, splitting the city into four district because of the tall stone structures circling the mountain. Each wall had a large gate, and gatehouse, located in a different navigational direction.

The lowest wall, the one separating the city from the lower parts of the mountain, had a large wood and metal gate decorated with fine tribal carvings and symbols of dragons and horses. Two great statues stood on the other side of the deep moat before the drawbridge, each one in the shape of a pair of large horses, dressed as vikings, one a mare the other a stallion.

This gate was located in the direction of the valley, which was East. The inside of the district, known as the Stone District, was home to most of the town's farmlands, common homes and public markets. There was also a lot of woodlands and smaller shrines through out the Stone District, with wild animals, priests and shamans being common sights.

The next gate was on the other side of the mountain, located to the West. It was separated from thee Stone District by not only a drawbridge and a gatehouse, but by a secondary gatehouse behind it. It was the thickest of the four walls. Behind this gate was the Bronze District.

It housed much of the shops and stores, as well as many housings. It held the most taverns, breweries, parks and arenas. The Vikings were not just warriors but merchants and knew how to handle both steel and gold as any soldier and merchant could. There was even a few auction houses and a large lake, where most of the town's fish and water was gathered.

The next gate was located to the North, and was located on an out sticking cliff side a good fifty meters above the ground. It was the tallest of the four walls, being seventy meters tall with the natural stone below it, and had a large gatehouse with two draw bridges. Behind this gate laid the Iron District.

It houses most of the military facilities, the blacksmiths, the training grounds, the barracks, richer housings, several specialized shops, meeting halls, judgement circles and a large Colosseum that was essentially a massive fighting pit. Outside of the architecture there were also several temples, shrines and even monuments dedicated to worship and important horses.

The following gate was located in the direction of South. The wall it was connected to was the smallest of the four walls but it was the most defensible. As it had more then twice the number of towers, the gatehouse itself was connected to a tower that was one hundred meters into the Iron District. One needed to walk a one hundred meter long draw bridge to even reach the gate, at an height of thirty meters.

Behind this gate, laid the Steel District.

It housed the Palace, a large stone and wood castle built in the accordance of the old Viking traditions, but with stones replacing much of the wood. It was the housing of the Great Jarl, the chosen leader of the Vikings. It housed the Jarls, the lesser members of nobility and military matters. It housed the Sky Yard, a large tower that stuck up like a giant cylinder of stone with a circle shaped platform on top with a large ship shaped building on said platform.

There was also the main military headquarters, the Main Temple, the Sacred Garden, a garden of various trees and plants made in reverence to the gods the the Allfather. But most important was the large pond of water, not as large as the lake in the Bronze District, but much deeper, with its artificial rain cloud pouring down an endless source of water for the city.

Out of the side of the mountainside in the Iron District, poured a waterfall down into a system of channels and artificial rivers, and poured down to the mountain until it reached the lake in the Bronze District, where it poured out into a single river into the Stone District.

And upon each of the four walls, laid a collection of towers and fortifications, holding soldiers and siege engines at the ready for unexpected assaults.

This was Jarngard. The home of the Vikings.

And they had taken note of the black star which had struck the mountain opposite of their home. The Great Jarl, wasted no time, and had words sent out to send scouts to find out what had happened, while also conversing with his Horadrim adviser located within the keep.

What they found, would change many things, and not just for the horses.

(Scene Skip)

The following day had the leader of the Horadrim gotten words of the matter and swiftly traveled to Jarngard, luckily he had already been nearby when words reached him through the message sent by his fellow Horadrim.

As the elderly looking horse entered the Palace where the Viking Leader and his Jarls were waiting for him around a large oval shaped table. And upon that table, rested a pitch black pyramid that seemed to be so black, it was absorbing the light around it. When one put a candle next to the triangle, it looked as if the shadows caused by the candle ,and the light itself, were being sucked into the darkness of the small pyramid.

"Well this is interesting." Asclepius, or Cursed Blessing as he was sometimes called, muttered as he looked at the strange artifact. It reeked of magic, so much that it was almost like one could taste it in the air. He slowly reached out, and touched the triangle, before slowly grabbing hold of it before lifting it up to examine.

"What is that Asclepius?" The Great Jarl, Mjölnir, or Thunder Hammer as his pony name was, asked as he walked over to the Hroadrim leader's side. He was a tall muscular stallion with red mane and tail with a dark brown body pelt with black hooves.

"It's defiantly magic, very magic. I am having a hard time determine what it is or where it comes from. But the magic within it feels... almost famili- ack!" His trail of thoughts and words were broken as the pyramid suddenly let out a loud crackling sound, and thick black smog begins to trail out of its surface.

The Vikings draw their weapons while Thunder Hammer pulls back Cursed Blessing as he drops the pyramid. And he pulls out a war hammer and stands at the ready as black bellowing smog erupts out of the pyramid, shrouding it from sight. The moving mass of darkness then seems to shift and become more dense, before the shape of a large equine front body, floating from a cloud of dark smog like matter, grew out of the darkness.

It looked almost like a black version of a genie. And when three eyes of red and green opened upon its head, with the green eye upon the forehead, the horses began to realize what they were seeing.

And then, the being spoke, in a familiar, if echoing, voice. "Testing. Testing. Ahem. Can you hear me?"

"Ah... Creator? Is that you?" Cursed Blessing asked nervously as he walked past the baffled Thunder Hammer.

The black shape looked upon Cursed blessing and nodded. "Yes. I have managed to develop a way to by pass the Elements of Harmony's block on my ability to transfer my consciousness onto the planet. I have been trying for the past three years to send you messages through these, let's call them Black Beacons, for now. But I haven't been able to reach you until now. And not to mention have not all of them remained intact when hitting the ground, or lasted past the atmosphere."

"But Creator, you have succeeded, and that is all that matters for now. What do you wish of us?" Cursed Blessing asked with a wide grin as he felt relief and joy fill his heart at the thought of serving his Creator directly once more.

The black smog figure let out a sigh and rubbed a limb of darkness against a non existing forehead, since it too was only darkness. "I have been keeping track of your progress with your projects. I can see you have finished the preparations for completing Skyheim and Golden Apple. The ways you have built the cities and the foundations of the projects make this very clear."

Cursed Blessing nodded with a proud smile on his lips. "Indeed Creator, we have almost completed project Golden Apple. We just need to find a proper way to utilize the Mana Engines to power the array to enact the project in practice."

Maleficus nodded before reaching out and grabbing hold of a blank parchment and began to write across it with his black murky hooves, as if the letters were being written by an invisible writing utility. "You have completed most of the requirements for the engines. But you need to think of the scale you are going to be using it for. Thus you need to consider the amount of power necessary for the array to be able to function without the power being to little, too much or too unstable."

"Indeed Creator, thus far have we only been able to utilize Golden Apple on two places, and they are only the size of large monuments not anywhere near the size of the Skyheim Projects." Cursed Blessing said with a sad frown on his lips.

"Then the answer is simple. Create a network of multiple Mana Engines, and add sympathetic links to the arrays. Keep the arrays spread out as to not cause interference between them. And make sure to add a back up system in case the mana engines fails, gets sabotaged or are destroyed." After saying that Maleficus held out the parchment and Cursed Blessing accepted it, and began to read it, his eyes slowly widening as he read.

"Follow those instructions and you should be ready to construct and activate Golden Apple with Skyheim within the next year or so. Might be later but that's only if you run into trouble. But I cannot foresee the future. I will be leaving you this Black Beacon. If I need to contact you will I be sending a cloud of smoke from the Beacon." The vikings bowed to their leader's commands and Cursed Blessing nodded eagerly as he kept reading the parchment, memorizing everything upon it.

"For now I need to return to the moon and rest. I haven't been sleeping for two days straight. And that's not even counting the amount of time I have spent overworking the past three years. So be well." With those words spoken the smog like form of Maleficus dissolved as the darkness was once more absorbed by the pyramid, leaving it laying down on the table once more.

Asclepius (Cursed Blessing) smiled bright and quickly left the room, speaking eagerly with Mjölnir (Thunder Hammer) about the future of the Horadrim Kingdom and the way the creator's instructions would escalate Project Golden Apple into completion.

But in their haste they, and Maleficus, forgot something rather important.

While it was true that many of the beacons Maleficus had sent were destroyed during the transfer. What about those that remained intact?

(Scene Skip)

A group of gathering figures meet upon a circle shaped table once more. Their robed shapes hidden from view, this time not even chairs had been prepared. With the return of the Grand Master of the Order of the Golden Cross and his wife things could not be done as easily as before.

But that was not the only reason. Princess Celestia's Magical Academy had started on a project, to produce Communication Orbs, in a larger quantity and quality. The change in development was worrying ,especially for a hidden group of conspiring traitors such as themselves.

As the one of them spoke, could no one tell from where the voice was speaking, it was being distorted among the chamber. So that it could not be pin pointed where the voice was coming from. yet another safety measure.

"We hath completed the preparations. The initial part of the plan shall be engaged within the next year."

"And then We shalt incubate the project for at least twenty years until it hath become good enough for the secondary part of the plan."

"Indeed. Without a long stage of preparation art Our plans doomed to failure. We shalt need to investigate the Sun thoroughly, not just her history, but her personality, her likes, her dislikes and so forth. We shalt need to be able to foresee and prepare for everything."

"We hath to prepare not just for the Sun, there art unknowing interlopers who could shake Our plans if they get involved. We shalt need to make certain that no pony be able to interact with the Sun so closely that it be risking the success of Our plans."

"Indeed. We shalt not let it go to chance that the Sun will meet others that can cause disorder for Our plans if We art unaware. So We shalt hath to find ways to 'handle' anypony who art unwise, or unlucky, to get close to the Sun."

"And in the end, We shalt be free of the alicorns and Our nation and people, in turn. shalt be rid of them."

"Aye. Keep the progress recorded and keep the incubation period in mind. Our initial strike will be within the next twenty years or so."

"Oh just to be clear. When thee sayth 'handle' thou art insinuating We kill them correct?"

"...Aye. We thought it obvious that, that was what We hath meant."

"Just wanted to make it clear."

"On another note. We hath received words from one of Our... supporters. They hath discovered something of extreme magical power that they think will be interesting to study."

"Oh what could it be this time? A magic mirror that already hath been broken? Oh wait! We know the answer! It hath to be a book that devours thou very soul!"

"Nay. By the description given, is be a pitch dark pyramid the size of a pony's head. The entire surface of the object art pitch black, but if one were to flows magic through it. One may see a complex networks of runes and arrays within it shouldst one do this."

"...Okay We doest admit that be slightly more interesting then We hath been expecting."

"We will discuss the matter of this... pyramid item once it hath been retrieved. But for now doest We call the meeting adjourned. Unless anypony else hath something to mention?"

"..."

"Very well then. Meeting adjourned! All Hail the Society of Heraldry, Independence and Trade!"

"Hail!"

And without further sound the ponies left the chamber. Unwilling to risk of their plans or ambitions being taken note of, not with the rising magical and military strength of Equestria turning towards communication. They could not risk anyone overhearing, even if by mistake, so they had to be careful. And for some reason that included while talking inside of a sealed underground chamber deep within a mountain.

(Scene Skip)

[Current Date: 1/1 - 123 AD]

Princess Celestia looked out over her city, down in the courtyard were several lines of troops doing drills and plans. The time would soon come that the Third Crusade would commence against the greatest foe of her nation. As she looked out she could see twinkling snow drops fall down over the city's white covered roofs and walls.

So many ponies had come to her nation in the past twenty years. It had been two decades since the Second Crusade, many of those who had fought in the First were not as strong as they used to. But they served as mentors, seniors and even as teachers to the next generation of soldiers. It was a very warm thought just knowing that her ponies were working together to end the plight of their nation.

Even those who were not working to aid in the war effort were contributing in different ways. Among them being the Dragon Hunters who were working out from the first Colony of Equestria, located in the Dragon Lands. Though she was uncertain if the name the colonists had chosen was... appropriate. She could not really understand why someone would name their town Bangcolt. It felt... a bit off.

But the Hunter's Guild, as it had come to be named, was well worth the weird name of the colony. With the aid of Clash the Hunters had been hunting down any hostile dragon with brutal efficiency. Over fifty dangerous dragons had been brought down this year alone and none of the Dragon Hunters had died.

One particular member had been responsible for twenty of those kills on their own. There was never any official names written in the reports, as to keep the hunter's identities secret from ponies not involving in the matter. Least things could turn badly for the colony if somepony or some dragon figured out how to take advantage of the information.

But the pony had a nickname a most fitting one. Dragon Slayer. Apparently it was a mare, well trained and armed. Dressed in a leather armour with protective chain mail and some enchanted metal plates on various vital areas. As well as a strong helmet decorated with a pair of dragon horns, a bar lined visor.

This mare had brought down a lot of dragons and Clash in his letters admitted that she was his best and most liked student. And not just that, she was creating a reputation as an unstoppable hunter of the wicked dragons, it was resolving a lot of morale issues that had once been cropping up after the Incursion.

Clash was in contact with his clan and was going through a set of tests to determine if he was to be the next heir, as there were still others that wanted to succeed Talos. And thus was there were promising reports. The turncoat dragon was even on good terms with one of the future heirs of one of the other Dragon Clans, a certain dragon named Torch of the Ironclaw Clan.

So things were going excellent on the other side of the Celestial Sea. Even at the western edges of Equestria had some ponies been exploring what was now called the White Tail Woods, one of the larger forested regions to be discovered to the west. And to the north had large fields and thin woodlands been discovered beyond the Neighagra Falls. There was even reports of sightings of tall mountain ranges covered with frost and ice.

But she knew those areas, after all, she and her sister had fought and sealed away a great danger there before the Fall of the Green Star. The Crystal Empire was still gone so there was little point to explore the region, least someone might disturb the foul creature who had sealed away the Empire and escalated events even further. No better to leave it alone.

Though much of the regions had been changed with the fall of the Green Star, like how the Ever Free Forest covered far more of the region south of her city. And the mountains that had been blocking her path to the place she founded Canterlot, had not been there before the Green Star fell. So many question unanswered for how things have been changed so much.

But except for an uncertain amount of altered landscaping had things been going pretty excellent thus far.

And that was a bit of a problem.

She could feel a certain amount of unease however. With how peaceful the last couple of years had been it was almost unerring how well things were going. She felt anxious, uncertain, itchy and constantly watched. It was like danger was constantly around her and she could not see or find it.

And with the Elements of Harmony now used as anchors to keep Discord sealed within the statue in the garden, was she no longer able to utilize them to keep herself calm. Many nights after the First Crusade when she had been depressed, angry or anxious she had went down to the secret vault where the stones were kept and utilized them to calm herself down, it had been working for several years before Discord's statue started breaking.

Now she could not properly handle her emotions ,she had been lashing out in anger and frustration at things. No ponies, thank the gods. But she felt like she was about to crack. Not to mention, she knew that the next time she had her heat period, she would not be able to handle it like she had done before. An alicorn was only fertile during their heat period, unlike ponies who could breed every time of the year, but were most fertile during their heat period.

She had bee negating her heat by utilizing the elements to suppress the urges. She had been doing it one time ever since she and her sister defeated Discord, an alicorn's heat period was once a century and Celestia's heat would come within the next forty years. She had never experienced an uncontrolled heat period before. But now she was without the elements and she did not have her mother to offer her guidance, nor could she ask another pony for help. How would they react knowing that their Princess did not know how to handle her heat period?

Celestia felt trapped with her own body and uncertain if she could handle the strain of the heat period she was to experience. And most of all ,she felt frightened what she would do and what the consequences would be.

Not even the approaching Crusade could make her feel distracted from the unease and fear eating away at her soul.

The Princess of the Sun was gradually losing control of herself. And there was nopony there who knew about it, and nopony that could do anything about it.

Her eyes glowed green for a few second as she contemplated the anxious future of her heat period, and for a moment she blinked. Before her eyes narrowed, and she turned to look towards the training troops outside. Her mind, as if given a new focus, seemed to burn with anger and fury once more as she put down the cause for her suffering as one certain pony.

Maleficus Victoria. He was the cause of her sister's fall and now he intended to cause her own fall. She would seal herself into the Sun before she let him win.

(Scene Skip)

A large green dragon was walking past a set of rocky hills. His eyes were narrowed, his nostrils were flaring and his mouth was in a frown. His name was Haze, a member of the Stormfang Clan. He had been a scout for his clan for over six hundred years and he had never sees such things as he had the last couple of months.

Several dragons had gone missing. Only bloody trails could be found at most, and even then was there hardly any sight of a struggle or battle. Even the hoards of gemstones they so painstakingly had been gathering and guarding were left pristine and untouched. It was unnerving many.

And now had words reached his clan that the Rockfire clan was not as inactive as they had thought. They were not leaving their region of the land but they were no longer hiding among their caverns and lairs. Instead they were gathering by one of the larger volcanoes and had been there for over a month now.

The Trial of the Burning Rock was no doubt occurring. But the timing was off, the remaining heirs to the clan had been either unwilling to take the Trial or been too young. And yet now someone was taking the test.

It was worrying his clan's Lord and thus he was sent out to scout the borders between the Stormfangs and the Rockfires lands.

Thus far had he found several empty caves and a few aggressive mothers guarding their eggs. But nothing unusual.

At least. until he reached the north western edge of the border.

He caught a smell of blood i the wind and the sound of a roaring dragon, possibly someone hunting for food or fighting a rival. But the latter was not possible since he could not hear another dragon.

So he decided to investigate and as he passed by a few rocky hills, after having landed as to not be noticed, he looked up over the top of the hills and was shocked by what he saw.

The dragon was someone familiar to him. It was a dragoness by the name of Flare. A member of the Rockfire Clan. She was a notorious hunter and aggressive dragon, even fellows of her own clan avoided the lands near her home.

She was tall, easily twice the size of Haze who was as larger then a small hill. Flare was not the oldest of dragons but her unusual size and aggressive behaviour made her one of old Talos' favourite subjects. A merciless killer and hunter of anything that caught her fancy, even other dragons.

And she was currently wounded, severely wounded. One of her wings were hanging limp to the side, clearly broken. she was clutching her side were a deep cut was made. And she was running on two legs, she was not fighting, she was fleeing. And where there had once been a smirking face of arrogance with eyes filled with barely restrained ferocity and blood lust that was now a face of utter terror and eyes that looked broken and hollow.

He looked past her and he gaped in shock at what he saw further ahead.

It was not Flare who was screaming out in a battle cry. It was another dragon, this one a male, and he was brown in colour with a set of bull horns and a barbed tail. And he was fighting a small four legged figure wielding a small round disk and what looked like a fang on a stick.

The brown dragon was Gorge, a well feared hunter, of lust. He was one of the more notorious dragons, he belonged to no clan and was among one of the most hated. A brute who forced himself into the nests or lairs of female dragons and beat them up before ravaging them ruthlessly, even going so far as to eat their young or eggs if he's feeling particularly nasty.

For some unknown reason had Flare been chosen as his next victim, it would explain why she looked as she did. But the small figure who was fighting him was no dragon. That much Haze could tell.

Gorge was breathing acid in a great green cloud of melting death, but the small figure seemed to run out of harms way. The rapist tried to swing his tail into the tiny figure, only to cry out in pain as something sharp suddenly flew out and struck him in the armpit of his left upper limb.

The big brute reached down and pulled out what looked like a stick with a pointy metal tip out from his flesh. He then glared at where the shoot had come from and roared out again as he let out another burst of acidic gas. Only to cry out in pain a few seconds later as the small figure suddenly jumped down from the cliff side behind him and stabbed him in the neck with its weaponized fang.

Haze was distracted from the struggle as he saw Flare, still running straight forward, which was in the direction of the hill he was behind. She was limping and looked unnaturally pale, she was clearly losing blood quickly and would more then likely bleed out before she could get to safety.

And while he might just be a scout and not the bravest of dragons, was he not willing to let a wounded dragoness run off to bleed out. He raised his head and waved at haze with one of his wings and called out to her, trying to not draw the attention of Gorge and his opponent.

"Hey! Over here! Take cover behind the hill!" Flare did not appear to notice at first as she kept running ,but she did not change direction and ran over the hill, and stumbled over and would have severely injured herself further had not Haze managed to reach out and catch her.

Haze took hold of his long green mane and cut off a big chunk of it. It had taken a century to grow but it was for a good cause. He quickly began to use the hair as an improved way to seal the whimpering dragon's wounds. And tried to verbally comfort her as he covered the deep gash on her side. "It's okay you will be okay."

Flare reached out and grabbed hold of him and spoke out in a voice dripping with fear. "Keep them away from me. They're both monsters."

"What?" Haze was baffled why she wanted protection from the tiny figure and Gorge when the tiny figure was clearly helping her, at least that's what it looked like to him. But that's when he heard a loud and heavy thump and quickly turned his head to look towards the fight.

Which had ended with an unexpected result.

Instead of Gorge chewing on the dead corpse of the small being, as Haze had been expecting the fight to end. Was he not. In fact lying there, on the ground, on his side, not moving or breathing, was Gorge, dead. And standing on top of the side of his skull, stood the small figure. Which Haze now could see and recognize as a pony, dressed in a metal and hide outfit. And it was currently pulling out, from the back of Gorge's skull, a blade made out of sharpened dragon scales.

The pony then pulled out a whistle of some sort and blew into it. And a few seconds later, came a group of thirty winged ponies, carrying ropes and chains. And began to drag away Gore's corpse.

Gorge's killer sat on top of his head even as his corpse got dragged away and stared in Haze's direction, making a slicing motion over its throat with one of its front legs before disappearing beyond the hills and cliffs with its kill.

And Haze got pale himself as he slowly realized something.

It was not Gorge who had been causing the disappearances of the dragons.

It was the ponies.

The ponies were hunting dragons.

"We're getting out of here." He whispered to Flare, who just made weak nods. Haze glanced back at the site where all that remained of Gorge was some blood splatters and some melting ground, before slowly guiding the dragoness away from the site and towards Stormfang territory.

The Lord of the Stormfangs would have to be informed.

(Scene Skip)

Maleficus stare with a smirk upon the imagery he was looking upon. For the past year had he been improving his deteriorated control over his powers. It had taken some efforts but now he felt like he had obtained control once more. And that he could focus on a project that he had been eager to try out ever since he found out there were dragons in this world.

The image before him was the collective scans of the corpse of Talos, the dragon who had tried to burn Equestria to the ground. His horses had been more then willing to utilize the Black Beacons to let him scan the dragon more closely and now he had all the data he needed to start his experiments.

He walked away from the Interface, with a single Solid Light screen next to him to record his attempted transformation. Once he got about fifty meters from the Interface's location he stood up on his hind legs and held out his right foreleg. Like when he created the flesh body of Achilles did he attempt to conjured the image of what he wanted to transform into.

He focused his eyes upon his hoof and began to alter his physical form like when he did when he transformed into a pony. It began slowly but surely, his hoof began to melt and shift, becoming almost like a liquid metal. Shifting and altering into a skeletal claw with no flesh or skin. That was stage two.

Strands of flesh and nerves began to grow over the bony appendage and then began a network of thick scales to cover the flesh. The stumpy ends of the appendage twitched and shifted a bit before long sharp claws grew out of the tips. And he had it. His right foreleg's hoof had been transformed into a dragon's four fingered, including thumb, claw.

Clenching and shifting his new appendage he smiled a bit. It felt enjoyable to be able to move fingers again. And he slowly undid the transformation, remaking his hoof by removing the scales the flesh and molding the bone back into a hoof.

Letting out a silent sigh into the empty void around him he slowly turned towards his left foreleg, and began to repeat the process. slowly transforming it into a claw, and then removing the transformation.

Doing it like this had several points and reasons.

It would let him learn to transform his body into a shape it was not used to, which was logical since he had never actually transformed himself into anything that was not a pony .he had been possessing flesh golems, but never actually transformed his physical self. So he had to be careful.

The process was slow but it would get him the familiarity of transforming into something. Since normal transformation magic did not affect him, it had been painful to realize that he could never actually use the transformation spells developed by the unicorns. An attempted transformation from alicorn into a griffin only ended up with him reverting to his old self, although, very painfully.

By repeating the steps, over and over, he would soon not need to focus so much energy and effort into the transformations. And thus require less time for it. It was a mental, magical and physical training exercise to let him transform at a quicker rate then what he currently could.

And most important of all. It would let him feel the new body bit by bit until he got used to it. And thus not have to relearn how to walk, move or breath while in the shape.

It would be a time consuming effort of mental strain and fatigue. But the opportunity, just the smallest of chance, to become his favourite mythical creature? To soar and fly with wings like hurricanes, tail like thunder, breath of fire and death, claws like spears, teeth like swords, and a hide with the size and endurance like a mountain? It would be beyond priceless.

And he had time, it was one of the few assets he had, being on the moon.

Plus Luna was not helping in restraining him as she found his fascination with dragons and possibly being a dragon, both cute and interesting. That he could still retain his childish desires and dreams after experiencing so much pain and suffering, it made her admire him a bit.

(Scene Skip)

"Grandma! Grandma!" Grand Feast smiled brightly as three voices cried out a greeting as she opened the door to her eatery and got tackled by three happy little foals. She gently warped her forelegs around them and hugged them close. The three foals were dressed in winter wear and were covered in slight amounts of snow from the snow covered streets outside.

"Oh this is a wonderful surprise. Ye all came to visit your poor ole grandma did you?" She asked with a wide grin as she looked down at the giggling foals hugging her.

"They were eager to come mama. After all yer foods da best in da world." Happy Meal said a she came walking over to the entrance. Grand Music was there behind her, levitating a basket of exotic fruits and vegetables.

"We bring some exotic food we got as a gift from General Rough Stock last week. It's apparently imported from Bangcolt." Grand Music said with a kind smile as his adoptive, and step, mother smiled at him before patting the heads of her three grand children.

"Well do not stay outside now. Come inside. We were just about to get ready for the big day and We can't have Our cute little foals and grandfoals stand out in the cold." Grand Feast was pushing seventy, a respectable age for an earth pony mare. But she still looked rather healthy and spry for her age. Or as her husband like so say. She looked not a day past thirty.

"Sour Green, Sweet Red, Grand Harvest, Pink Lady, Grand Meal! Your older siblings are here with your nieces and nephew!" The two older ponies were greeted by their five younger half siblings who came over and hugged their nieces and nephew warmly. As they all went inside could they see a large group of ponies with apple shaped cutie marks, some members of the Blue Grass Clan and Grand Feast's own husband waving over with his part of the Apple Family waiting for them.

Their half siblings were mostly active with the Apple Family or worked in their mother's business at different locations.

And so the annual Family Reunion of the Grand, Meal and Apple family began. A tradition that would grow to become a common sight once every year. The specific time of the reunion would wary, but it would mostly be occurring during great times of celebrations or convenience. As there were few times that all Apples were gathered together.

The only thing that could have made the reunion better in the mind of Grand Feast and her two oldest children. Was that if a certain honourary family member could have been part of it all. They were certain he would have enjoyed it, and that the rest of the family would have liked him.

Perhaps he could be part of it the next time he returned from the Moon?

(Scene Skip)

The Warlords of the Horses of the Horadrim Kingdom were gathered upon one of their Sky Ships, the Skeid longboat named Sky Dragon. They were flying above the city of Jarngard were Project Golden Apple was about to commence.

Upon the deck stood the Great Jarl Thunder Hammer, the Warlord of the Vikings, dressed in a leather armour with fur and chain mail, his trusty warhammer hanging over his side. Next to him stood Daimyo Strong Valor, the Warlord of the Samurai, dressed in his samurai armour with his nodachi resting on his side.

Next to the Daimyo stood a tall mare dressed in a thick plate mail armour, with her long yellow mane and tail braided. She had a dark orange fur colour and had a longsword strapped to her back. Her name was Sacred Sword, also referred to her Horadrim name, La Tizona, she was the Warlord of the Knights, and their Knight Commander.

Next to Sacred Sword stood another mare, this one with a white mane that was cut short, while her tail was kept tied in a braid. Her fur was reddish brown, a red wood like colour. She was dressed in a segmented bronze armour over a red silk tunic. Her legs were covered with engraved bronze plates and a red mantle was draped down over her back. She had a longbow of dragon bone and a pair of gladius blades sheathed to her back.

Her pony name was Wild Mare, while her Horadrim name was Hippolyta. And she was the recently chosen Archon and Warlord of the Spartan Horses. The Spartans had decided to pick their leader based upon skill, deed and personality. She had been one out of a hundred candidates to be chosen as she was not only a good fighter but also skilled tactician and had a keen mind to adapt to unexpected situations, she was also well spoken and knew how to interact with those who were not horses.

Which was rare among the Spartans.

And behind these four Warlords stood a group of warriors, scholars and officers of the various tribes of the Horses. Most of them were Horadrim mages and scholars but there were plenty of members from the other tribes as well.

And in front of them all, facing them, stood Lord Asclepius, also known as Cursed Blessing. The chosen Elder Sage of the Horadrim and the temporary leader of the Horadrim Kingdom. He had a wide grin on his face and was looking over them all eagerly. "I welcome you all to this grand moment of our history. We shall soon engage Project Golden Apple for the first time and start an age of wonder never before seen in this world."

He held up a Black Beacon, which was swirling with darkness, three glowing eyes staring out of the interior of the pyramid. "Our Creator will be watching us as well and though he may not be able to openly appear, as he does not wish to cause unnecessary trouble for us all. So be will watching from this Beacon. So let us all make him proud and show the world what we can do!"

There was a collective cry of 'Ora's and 'Hurray's from the horses before him and the old horse smile almost seemed to grow impossibly wider. He then placed the Beacon upon a small pedestal that was standing by the edge of the ship and when he got the confirmation that Maleficus could see properly, he walked over to the railing and raised his right foreleg.

A sphere of blue light emerged out of the air before his hoof and he shoot it out into the sky above the city. And it exploded into a shower of glittering sparks.

Down below a lone horse was looking out with a pair of binoculars from a small wooden tower located by the mountain side in the Stone District. At the sight of the blue explosion he turned towards a bronze pipe sticking out of the floor of the tower and he shouted into the pipe. "Blue Light Confirmed! Activate the Mana Engines!"

The voice echoed down the pipes, flowing down beneath the wooden floor of the tower. Crawling past dirt, soil and through stone. It kept moving, sliding past meters upon meters of solid mountain. Until it emerged out of an opening, within a large chamber, within the center of the mountain.

"Blue Light Confirmed! Activate the Mana Engines!"

The chamber was circular in shape, almost like a dome, it was the size of a football stadium. And yet the voice echoed through out the chamber like it was spoken from an elder dragon. There were several lines of crystals embedded into the walls, runes of gold and iron were engraved upon the surfaces, a vast networks of arrays and runes were lining the interior.

A massive pillar of crystal like material, engraved with runes and arrays upon its surface, was standing in the center of the room, piercing through the rock from floor to ceiling and beyond either surface for an unknown length.

Standing at ten different points along the walls, were a set of large stone cubes. The cubes were around the size of a human jeep. And upon the front of each of these stone cubes were a set of runes engraved, along with four large levers, each one marked with a set of symbols.

Inside of this chamber were over thirty horses standing. And there were two of them standing by the stone cubes as the words echoed through out the chamber. And they grabbed hold of the first lever to the left, and pulled it down. While crying out to the room- "Initiating Phase One!"

A great humming sound began to fill the chamber, the runes, once dormant and colourless, began to glow with a light green glow. And the pillar of once clear, almost glass like ,crystal, gained a toxic green glow.

Ten horses were standing by the crystal pillar, checking instruments and readings from various areas around it. And then one of them cried out to the rest. "The power levels are stable! Phase One is Complete! Proceed to Phase Two!"

"Initiating Phase Two!" The horses by the stone cubes cried as they pulled down the second lever to the left. This time the entire chamber was vibrating and the runes were glowing a dark purple. The crystal pillar in the center of the chamber took on a bright indigo colouration.

After a few seconds the team around the pillar cried out to the other horses. "The Mana Output and Power Flow are still too weak to Initiate Activation! Initiate Phase Three!"

The third lever was pulled down and once more the voices of several horses called out to the others in the chamber. "Initiating Phase Three!"

Now the entire chamber was almost shaking, but not as much as a speck of dust was falling from the ceiling. The runes were glowing a deep red now and the pillar had taken on a bright yellow colouration. And then something seemed to change.

A streak of red flew up along the pillar's inside. And then another, and another. and soon it was like a constant stream of laser beams were flowing upwards along the pillar. The horses around the pillar cried out in joy as the shaking stopped and cried out to the rest of the team.

"Power levels are nominal and stable! The Mana Flow is steady and has attained circulation through the Power Arrays! Initiate Activation of Golden Apple!" One of the horses cried out and a single horse, who was standing by a particularly large lever, nodded and buck kicked the lever. There was a loud crank as the lever was kicked down. And then a loud shiver could be felt as the runes suddenly lost their intense glow, still glowing, but just gently. The pillar was still flowing with red streaks of light but it had lost its yellow glow and once more almost transparent, only the streaks of red light giving it colour.

And that's when a loud crumbling could be heard as, the mountain city of Jarngard, began to shiver and shake. And the horses on the sky ships above the city, and the horses within the city, began to cheer and rejoice. Music began to flow through the skies, and as one, the Horadrim Kingdom, began to sing.

[Start Theme Music: Rasmussen's Higher Grounds]

[Lyrics Altered by Staadnauthursil]

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"Nation in the making."

Jarngard shook and shivered, loud fissures were taking shape down at he base of the mountain's roots. The horses' structures were unshaken by the vibrations, having been prepared for the approaching events. It was like the mountain was a sleeping giant that had been woken up and now wanted to stand up.

"Bound for a higher shore."

"Sky for the taking."

"Horses back forever more."

"Boarding and hoisting sail."

"Yes, victory has prevailed."

A loud crack was heard, and a line of glowing crimson runic lines and arrays engraved into stone and iron plate, emerged from the shattered stone of the base of the mountain. As the horses sang out the Mountain of Jarngard, broke free of its foundation, and began to rise up.

"Raise the Mountain into the air."

"Make your mark and see it rising there."

"Be the first to rise above."

"Take the leap to land on higher ground!"

Horses began to dance and chant as the mountain began to float up from the ground it had been broken free of. The lower parts of the mountain was covered with miles lone bands of metal plates and stone columns, engraved with a vast network of runes and arrays.

"Taka stökk til hærri jörð."

"Taka stökk til hærri jörð."

The mountain continued to rise further and further upwards. Its massive size covering the mountains and valleys beneath it in a vast shadow as the sun shone brightly upon it from above. Flags of the Horadrim Kingdom were hoisted upon flagpoles and standards, waving in the strong winds as the mighty mountain and the city upon it flew past the tallest peaks of the mountains it had once been part of.

"They call it, surrender."

"Still, does not feel like defeat."

"Horses laying down their swords."

"Each of their own accord."

The sky ships flew after the rising mountain, their crews singing together with the townsfolk as the mighty structure of Jarngard, flew skywards. Like a sight out of living myth, the tale of a castle in the skies, or the giant whom dwelt among the cloud within his fortress. A vast and otherworldly sight that only those who were watching, could understand just how mighty such a view was.

"See the mountain in the air."

"Make your mark and see it floating there."

"Be the first to reach above."

"Take the leap to stand on higher ground!"

Cursed Blessing cried tears of joy as he watched the city and the mountain it rested upon float through the winds. The time and effort spent on not just research but construction of the arrays utilized to allow the mountain to attain altitude had been harsh but worth it. All for the sake of watching a mountain become airborne.

"Raise the banners to the sky!"

"Face the future and hold your head up high!"

"Oooh-oooh, oooh-oooh!"

"Take the leap like you were bound for higher ground!"

The mountain split through the cloud layer above the mountain peaks, reaching higher then any mountain had ever done before. And as it reached through the sea of white and reached past the cloud layer, was the banners glittering with droplets of moisture in the winds, while the horses were singing out together.

"Taka stökk til hærri jörð."

"Taka stökk til hærri jörð."

Beneath the mountain were three waterfalls flowing down from the edges of the Stone District. The pouring waters flew down and began to spread out across the winds and into the clouds below. And a shimmering image began to take shape beneath the mountain, until finally, were a group of rainbows taking shape beneath the water falls as the sunlight flew through the spread out water and took o nth image of multicoloured rainbows.

"Fly the mountain in the air!"

"Make our mark and leave it hanging there!"

The mountain stopped rising, its massive mile high shape floating like a divine sight out of the old tales above a sea of clouds, which broke apart in the distance to reveal the sight of the Foal Mountains and in the distance beyond them, the Hayseed Swamps. The horses' voices rang out over the cloud layer and echoed through the skies, bolts of light were fired out from the airships, detonating in bright explosions while the city sang.

"See the Mountain in the air!"

"You made your mark and left it hanging there!"

"You're the first to turn around!"

"Having taken the chance to stand on higher grooooooooooouuuuuuuuuund!"

"Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

The mountain began to float northwards, the clouds beneath its moved like waves as its large shape began to gain a slight amount of speed. And as it did were the airships followed it from all sides. The voices of the horses echoing out one final time, as the sight of a mountain flying through the skies of Equestria, disappeared towards the north.

"We're the first to rise above!"

"And has taken the leap to live on higher ground!"

[End Theme Music]

(Scene Skip)

Maleficus watched the events with a smile. The sight of a mountain attaining flight was amazing. He had never thought his mana engines would have been utilized like so when he first designed them, but the horses had developed a way to utilize them in a way he had never foreseen.

*It makes me wonder what else they may be capable of. I had designed them to be not just strong but above average intelligence, well in most cases. Perhaps I can have them work on some of my own projects in the future?* And as he thought this he never actually considered the possibility that the horses had been developing on their own. He had never considered the possibility, or had outright told himself that he could never have created something with a will of its own.

They say that the biggest critic of a person's work is that person's doubt. And doubt, can cause a great amount of misfortune for those unable to bear or ignore it. Even for those considered to be powerful beyond mortal limits.

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Staadnauthursil: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentines Day, and happy whatever else I completely missed. I apologize for my long absence but I have recently gotten into a lot of economical issues. And I also received the news that one of my oldest DnD friends, and my first DM, has recently passed away. And some other stuff I'd rather not talk about.

Pinkie: Oh no worry Staady! You are back and better then ever!

Staadnauthursil: We will see. For now am I going to state this. I am officially opening my first ever Patreon page. And will be posting the link at the end of this Author's Note and upon my Profile and on my story's front page. This is to give myself a chance to keep not only being an author but to also to prepare myself for starting my own first Youtube Channel. I am planning on recording some of my old DnD adventures, in honour of my first GM, and hopefully some people will find them fun or interesting enough to read.

Pinkie: Ooooh! That means that if you get enough bits, you can write more! Excellent plan Staady!

Staadnauthursil: Thank you Pinkie. But that also means that I will have to work on meeting the goals I am going to be setting for my Patreon. If someone pays a certain amount of money, I will have to offer them something in return for their financial efforts. And I am pretty limited in what I can offer, but I can say this much. I will never offer any spoilers of my story's progress, as I do not wish to spoil anything, at most I will offer OC spots, Plot Twists, Songs and maybe even some artwork. But not much more. As I am pretty limited in what I can offer right now.

So be sure to check out my Patreon Link if you want to support my future work as an author and possibly even my future work for youtube.

Thank you.

Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/TreasureHoard

On a Side Note: In a few days will be the second year anniversary of this story. And I am thankful for all of you readers for reading, commenting and rating my story. And I hope you will keep enjoying the future chapters I have planned.

Thank you everypony.