Chapters Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 2
Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, looked down upon the stallion who had stood proud and strong before her a moment before. She shook her head in confusion as she saw him just slump to the ground unconscious.
She frowned in thought as she observed his form from the top of the hill and she voiced one thought in particular that was bugging her,"What the hay just happened?!"
Pinkie's hair was at about half of its normal poofiness as she looked down at the unconscious stallion nervously,"I don't know Twilight. But that was really scary even for me and that's saying something."
Twilight nodded absently at her friend's response to lost in her own thoughts at the moment. Her horn glowed its brilliant magenta as it pulled a notepad and quill from her saddlebags. She started down the hill as she turned her head to Pinkie Pie for a moment,"I don't think he or it or whatever it is can hurt us right now. It should be safer to get closer for the moment."
"Are you sure Twilight? I mean its all icky and gross and smells bad!" Pinkie's nose scrunching up as the offending odor of blood and death penetrating her nostrils. She stayed up at the top of the hill for the moment looking ready to go get help at a moment's notice.
Twilight had to scrunch up her own nose at the smell as she got closer and replied firmly,"Yes Pinkie. I'm sure it's safe to get closer for the moment."
Her horn glowed as she concentrated on a spell that would hopefully cancel out the smell near her for the moment. With a small flash of light from her horn, the spell triggered and a small breeze carried the scent away from her so she wouldn't have to smell it. Bringing her notepad and quill beside her, she trotted closer to the unconcious being before stopping right next to him.
Pinkie observed Twilight and the being for a moment and when nothing happened moved down to stand beside Twilight,"I guess your right Twilight. He's out cold."
"Of course it's out cold. It used a massive amount of magic during that fight that it must have suffered magical backlash and exhaustion." Her quill making a note of it on her pad as she moved even closer to the being.
"Pinkie I'm going to need you to remain quiet while I study it. Its going to require concentration and quiet for me to learn everything I can about this creature." Twilight quietly said.
"Okie Dokie Lokie,"Pinkie replied a little more cheerfully as a bit of her mane's poofiness returned,"I'm going to go get someone to come help." With that she dashed off before Twilight could make a reply or try to stop her. All she left behind was a cloud of dust shaped like her that looked like it was waving. Then the cloud dissipated leaving behind a befuddled Twilight.
Twilight stared at the cloud for a few seconds while saying,"What?" She shook her head and sternly told herself,"No don't think about it. Its not important." And with that she went back to looking at the unconscious being.
Going into full Twilight research mode she started to dictate to herself as she observed it. "Subject appears to be a unicorn pony wearing some sort of strange armor I've never seen before. I will now perform a spell to determine if the subject is indeed a unicorn."
Her horn glowed magenta yet again as she focused on the spell she wanted to cast setting the matrixes into place in her head. Firing off the spell, a soft glow enveloped the unconscious figure as her spell scanned it. It fed the information right back into her head through her horn as she continued her dictation with a surprised tone in her voice,"Subject is indeed a unicorn but with a strong magical field around him unlike anything I've ever seen before. I will observe the magical field in a moment after I determine what type of metal the armor is made of."
Reaching out with a hoof, she touched the cold black armor on of the spots not covered in the now dry green ichor. Concentrating on another spell designed to analyze the armor, she cast it on the armor. Only the armor itself this time was scanned and a lot of information was relayed to Twilight.
Continuing her dictation in a curious voice,"The armor appears to be composed of some kind of alloy unknown to ponykind. Its nothing like the iron or steel tools we can make for ourselves. According to my findings the armor's alloy is twenty times stronger than steel and 10 times as light which is why the stallion can wear it so easily. The armor also appears to have its own magical field separate yet connected to the stallion's magical field."
She cast yet another analyzing spell on the armor as beads of sweat appeared on her forehead due to all the magic she had been using. This spell ended up scanning the magical field of the armor.
Awe entering her voice she continued,"The magical field is designed to make this armor accessible to the wearer by constantly feeding a steady flow of magic from the user's mana pools to a sort of pocket dimension of some sort. At least it appears to be some sort of pocket dimension but there has to be more to it."
Fear entered her voice mixing with the awe,"There also appears to be some sort of intelligence to the armor. As if a soul of some kind is trapped in it yet is content to be there instead of trying to get out. I'm also detecting necromantic magic of some sort."
Continuing to concentrate on the scanning spell while dictating her horn ended up with a thin layer of overglow,"It would appear that this necromantic magic is not harmful to the user or corruptive like normal necromancy magic would be. The question is how is that possible?"
By this time Pinkie had returned with another pony to come help with the stallion but they couldn't get to close at the moment because of Twilight. Pinkie had been trying to get Twilight's attention for the past 10 minutes with all sorts of things including a pair of symbols. However nothing was breaking Twilight's concentration.
Pinkie turned to the friend she had brought with her observing a beautiful white unicorn with a gorgeously styled purple mane,"I can't get through to her Rarity. What do we do?"
The aforementioned Rarity replied calmly,"We should let her be for the moment darling. I don't fancy getting between her and her studies at the moment."
Pinkie frowned,"But what if something bad happens?"
Rarity replied,"Pish Posh darling. Twilight knows how to handle herself in magical situations. She will be fine."
With that the two of them went quiet again as they watched Twilight go about her research with the unconscious stallion. An hour had passed since the research had begun and the sun was high in the sky.
Twilight had hit a dead end trying to analyze the magical field of the armor. And it frustrated her to know end as her need for knowledge pressed down upon her. Her quill had been inscribing her notes frantically onto the notepad and had almost filled the whole thing up by now. Twilight had already levitated a second notepad out of her saddlebags as she turned to scanning the unicorn's magical field.
After casting yet another scanning spell she continued her dictation,"The subject appear's to have abnormally sized mana pools which are still being drained at the moment to maintain the armor. They are almost completely drained even the the subject himself is not casting any magic or spell. It seems to be a passive spell of some sort that is attached to the armor after the initial casting. Subject appears to have suffered magical burnout due to the initial casting."
Realizing that the stallion was in danger a frantic note entered her voice,"I will be attempting to cut off the magical flow so the subject does not die." She cast one more spell using an invasive spell to enter the mana stream and attempting to cut off the flow of magic entirely. However the magical flow fought back and her horn gained a tremendous overglow as she fought against it.
Rarity watched Twilight continue with her research before noticing the overglow and the intense effort and concentration she was pouring into a spell. She frowned when she realized it was draining Twilight considerably and she might suffer magical burnout as a result.
Calmly speaking to Pinkie she said,"Stay here darling. I have to help Twilight with a matter." She trotted forwards over to Twilight and stood beside the struggling unicorn. Her horn glowing a brilliant white she added her own mana pool to Twilight's after synchronizing with her. With the additional magic Twilight should be able to safely use her spell.
Sweat was running down Twilight's face now getting into her eyes as she continued with her spell. She was close to suffering burnout when she felt another source of magic link with her own and knew another unicorn was helping her. With the additional magic she put more mana into her spell and successfully cut off the unicorn stallion's mana flow.
With a flash of light, the armor and mask disappeared leaving behind the unconscious unicorn stallion. Twilight panted in exhaustion as the sweat beaded at the tip of her muzzle before falling onto the ground. Sweat was running down her whole body after such an intense effort and even Rarity who had helped only for a little bit was sweating a bit herself.
Twilight turned to Rarity and between pants gratefully said,"Thank you for the help Rarity. Without you I might have been in big trouble."
Replying a little out of breath Rarity said,"Think nothing of it Darling. That's what friends are for."
Twilight nodded after panting again and then looked back at the now unconscious stallion. What she saw was a ice blue unicorn with a frosty mane with sweat rolling down his body as he shook with cold.
"We need to get him to the castle for now. I don't think taking him to the hospital right now would be a good idea."
Her fellow unicorn sighed but relented,"If that's what you think is best Twilight." With that she waved Pinkie Pie over while saying,"Pinkie dear. We need you to help carry this poor stallion to the castle where Twilight can look after him."
Pinkie bounced her way over with a,"Okie Dokie." Rarity then carefully levitated the unconscious stallion onto Pinkie's back only then noticing the strange device and the satchel that was laying on the ground nearby. "Twilight please get the satchel. And after we get back to the castle you might want to look at this thing on his foreleg."
Twilight nodded and enveloped the satchel with her magic only to yelp,"ouch." and step back as the satchel flashed for a moment. After the glowing of the satchel disappeared she frowned and enveloped the satchel in her magic again only to get no reaction this time. Curious about what could have happened she brought the satchel over to her and looked inside.
Just as she peered inside one of the blank chips gained an image of her face smiling happily back at the onlooker. And titled underneath the picture in small hoof writing was,"Twilight Sparkle, Warrior of magic."
She frowned only seeing the blank SD cards and the one bearing her picture. She shrugged deciding to study the satchel and its contents more later and turned back to Rarity and Pinkie Pie still shaking a bit from exhaustion. "Come on girls, let's go."
With that she led them into the distance towards her castle as the girl's replied an affirmative to her.
Once at the castle Rarity carefully levitated the still unconscious stallion onto a bed in one of the guest rooms. Turning to Twilight with concern in her voice she asked,"Twilight just how long will the poor thing be unconscious?"
Twilight sighed as she turned to Rarity and replied,"I don't know Rarity. It could be anywhere from another couple of hours to even a couple of days. I hope he'll be okay but I can't say for sure until he wakes up."
Rarity nodded and gracefully turned to the door and walked towards it as she called back,"I have to get back to my shop. I have orders to fill. I'll be by later to check up on you and the poor dear."
Pinkie bounded to stand by Rarity as she spoke up in a much happier voice with most of her mane back to how it should be,"I have to get back to the Cakes. They need me to watch the twins for a couple of hours. Then I'll stop by to see how you are doing Twilight."
Twilight nodded to them both with a small smile gracing her muzzle,"Thanks you two. I couldn't have done this without you." She gave them a small wave goodbye as they waved too. They left after that without saying another word to her as they talked among themselves about the mysterious stallion.
Ten minutes after her friend's left Twilight turned back to the stallion with a frown as her curiosity grew yet again. She levitated a fresh notepad to herself as she decided to continue her magical research. The quill hovering beside the pad with a bottle of ink. She fired off a low powered scanning spell which would give her basic information and with that she continued her research.
"The subject's magical field has no taint from any necromantic magic at all. It seems that the subject's magical field exudes a type of magic I've never seen before that overrides the corrupting influence of the necromancy magic he used. So he can safely use it without becoming evil." The spell winked out as he magic she fed to it was cut off and she turned to look at the satchel.
"The subject has a satchel of some sort filled with some kind of small blank mechanical objects. One of these small objects has somehow obtained an image of me and i can feel my magic pulsing through it and oddly enough it feels like a bit of my soul has become lodged in the object. My magic can't pull the piece of my soul back into me and resists all attempts when I try it. I theorize that it obtained the piece of my soul when my magic touched it the first time."
Turning back to the stallion and his foreleg with her curiosity burning bright with even more questions as some of her unasked question's were answered she continued in her research mode.
"The subject has some sort of mechanical device on his leg that cannot be removed by magic or with just my hooves. The device appear's to have a screen of some sort that my hoof and magic slide's across easily. There are 6 slots to the side of the screen arranged in a circle. One of the slots appears to be occupied by one of the small mechanical devices from the satchel."
Reaching out with her telekinetic magic she tugged on the device within the slot but it refused to budge. She tugged a bit harder and then experienced a harder shock then the time she'd picked up the satchel. Reaching up with a hoof, she rubbed her horn and muttered,"The small object refuses to come out so I will have to move on. Within the circle of slots there are three buttons all different colors. The middle button is green while the button to the left is red and the one on the right is black."
She frowned and pressed on the red button with her magic and with a click it pressed down. There was yet another click and then the SD card in the device popped up halfway. She then tugged on the card and pulled it out of the machine the rest of the way and held it before her. It bore the image of a creature she had never seen before.
"I have managed to pull the small device out of the bigger device by pressing the red button on the bigger device. This small device bears the image of some kind of creature I've never seen before. I'll have to do some additional research to see if I can determine what kind of creature it is. My scanning spell reveal's that what seemed like a soul in the armor is definitely a soul after all. And that soul is stored in this small device of some kind. I'm getting a feeling of contentment from the soul so its not unhappy or displeased to be in the device. But that just bear's the question how did it get in here and how did a piece of my own soul get stuck in the other device."
She set the SD card chip down into the satchel and frowned as she got up off her seat and sighed as she finished her research for now. It would be best for her to go find spike and ask him to stash her notes away for now. She decided she'd also ask him to cook a meal for herself and maybe the stallion when he woke up. With that she trotted out of the room.
Unknowingly for her it was right at that moment when the stallion's body twitched and his eyes opened slightly as he let out a small groan. Hos eyes closed again and he slipped back into a restful sleep this time.
The SD card with the image of BlackWarGreymon glowed a bit as the soul residing within said audibly,"Hmm well this will be interesting. I wonder what the other's will think when they appear." And it went silent as the glow on the card subsided.
Meanwhile 3 more of the SD cards glowed as magic filled the and images started to appear on each of them.
Author's Note
Hey guys.
I hope you all liked this second chapter. This is still just the beginning of the story but I thought I'd have good old Twilight due some research to give you a faint idea of what the magic of the device is like. Also appearance of Rarity for you all.
You can also private message me with an OC of your own that you'd like to see appear in my story as a brief appearance or one the chips themselves as an occasional use thing. Just be sure to tell me details like appearance, personality, and powers or weapons.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 3
The following day after bringing the stallion to her castle, Twilight was deep in her books trying to reference the image of the being on the chip. She was trying to see if it matched any beasts or monsters in any of the tomes that she possessed. But sadly for her she was not finding anything in any of her precious books. Frustration marred her face as she continued to pore over her books hoping to find something. She let out a yelp of surprise when the door behind her slammed open admitting a small purple baby dragon.
Spike rushed into the room having been the one to slam the door as he called out,"Twilight hurry. The new guy is waking up." He was waving his hands frantically at a loss for what to do.
Twilight snapped her head towards him at this information and wrapped him in her magic as she darted for the door,"Thanks for telling me Spike but we have to get back to him now."
She had completely forgotten that she could teleport in her haste to get to the stallion and her surprise that he was finally waking up in the first place. She didn't believe that he could be left unattended right now as he could still be dangerous. She rushed through the halls of the castle doing her best not to crash into the walls as her hooves made frantic clopping on the crystal floor. She only hoped nothing happened in the time it took her to get from her library to the guest room where the stallion was at the moment.
It was now 9:00 of the following morning of his arrival here in the land the stallion had only ever watched and dreamed about in his previous life. He was finally waking up from his shocking ordeal the previous day that had drained him of all magic and energy. With a groan his mind was now half awake as he moved his hoof lazily about in the air.
He groaned out,"ugh why do i always leave those stupid drapes open. Now I have to get up and close them if I want to go back to sleep." For indeed light was spilling forth from a window right across from his bed.
Spike was also in the room at the time and with a gasp dropped the comic book he had been perusing in his boredom. "Oh my gosh he's finally waking up," he said startled.
One of Brandon's ears twitched as his mind woke up a bit more as he sensed someone else in the room,"Who's there and how did you get in my house? I'll call the police if I have to."
Spike backed up,"Ok. Something has got to be wrong with this guy. Must have hit his head a bit to hard or something. I'd better go get Twilight." With that he ran out of the room in haste slamming the door behind him.
As the door slammed Brandon bolted upright completely awake from the loud sound his mind going into overdrive as he looked around wildly. He looked around the unfamiliar room and the objects within as the events of yesterday finally caught up to him. The memories slamming home in his head as he grunted in pain and rubbed his head.
"Ouch. Must have knocked my head a bit to hard yesterday. There is no way this can be a dream because of all the pain I'm feeling right now," he groaned rubbing his head some more.
Looking around the room yet again, he spied a dresser located straight across from the bed on the opposite end of the room underneath the window letting in light. He saw a wooden door set into the wall to the right of the bed he was on presumably leading to a closet. A crystal chandelier hung overhead gleaming with brilliance as the light of the sun played across it. A wool rug sat underneath the bed that he was sitting on while a book case sat on the wall to the left of his bed. The bed itself was a feather mattress of some sort with a grand drapery over the bed.
He looked down at himself to see if he was completely intact and sighed in relief when he saw that he was. He looked down at the device on his leg as he muttered,"A lot of good you did me yesterday you stupid machine." He shook his leg a bit still wanting to get it off.
Of course it didn't come off at all and he looked to see if he could at least find the satchel that he had yesterday. Again sighing in relief he spotted it on top of the dresser although it looked like it had been opened recently.
He slid off the bed carefully and walked over to the satchel to see if anything had been taken from it. He nosed the flap of the bag open and took a look inside. Nothing apparent was missing from the bag as it was still filled to the brim with the chips. What he did notice was different were that four of the chips now held images and words when they did not before.
He tried to pull them out of the bag with his hoof but his hoof didn't grip onto anything as he grumbled. "How the heck are hooves supposed to grab onto anything?"
He tried a few more times to use his hooves to get the chips out of the bag and succeeded. But there was the cost of dumping a whole bunch of the chips all over the top of the dresser with a loud clatter. Luckily the chips that he wanted had landed close together so he could see the images and read the words.
The first of the chips bore an image of one of his favorite dragons from a game meant for all ages. The dragon in the picture was none other than Spyro the Dragon. And no it wasn't the original Spyro it was the second generation Spyro who's games consisted of just a trilogy. He just liked to refer to this Spyro as TLOS Spyro. The wording underneath the picture of the dragon read,"Warrior of Convexity."
Snorting at the picture he said,"Great so I now have another of these chips that I don't know what to do with. Yet it retains the image of one of my favorite video game characters of all time." He didn't hear the sounds of frantic hoof steps getting closer.
He looked at the other chips noticing that one of them bore the image of Twilight Sparkle. The wording underneath her image read,"Twilight Sparkle, Mage of Harmony". He smiled a bit at that while imagining himself a mage in his head.
The third chip bore an image of one of his favorite anime characters. The image of a teenage human boy with Japanese heritage smiled up at him. It was Kirito from Sword Art Online and he was holding his signature twin swords in the image. The wording underneath this image was,"Kirito, Master Swordsman of Aincrad".
The last chip is what drew him the most at the moment for it held the image of a being he knew but felt no certain love or hatred towards. It held an image of the legendary Pokemon Keldeo with writing underneath reading,"Keldeo, The sword of Justice".
He blinked in confusion and wished that he could pick up the chip to get an even better look at it but his hooves just wouldn't cooperate with picking things up. He pictured in his mind what it would look like if he could use a hand to pick up the chip and hold it in front of his face. With that his horn glowed with an an aqua colored aura as the chip was enveloped with a magical field from his horn.
He blinked in surprise letting out a,"What the heck?" which caused his horn to stop glowing and the chip on the desk stopped glowing. He frowned for a moment before grinning,"Cool I'm a unicorn so I can use magic like they do in the show. I just have to learn it first."
With that his ear twitched as the sound of the frantic hoof steps reached his ears and he started to turn towards the door. As he was turning the chip on the desk he had enveloped with his magic glowed with its own light and floated up into the air. It slipped itself into his device with a soft click without him noticing right as the door to the room slammed open. A panting Twilight Sparkle stood in the doorway heaving as she looked at him in surprise. Spike was on her back with wide eyes having held on for dear life as Twilight ran.
Twilight's mind raced with questions she could now ask the mysterious stallion only to notice the spilled chips on the dresser top. She then looked at his device to notice a chip slipped in and shouted at him,"Get that thing out of your device. I don't trust you with it."
Brandon frowned,"Uh what are you talking about?" He looked down at the device only to notice that one of the chips was now in his device and that the chip he had in yesterday was gone,"Huh?"
Twilight stomped on over to him and bumped her nose into his as their horns were just an inch from connecting as she shouted in fear and anger,"Just who are you? What are you? What is that thing on your foreleg and what are those small devices?"
Brandon backed up with a little fear in his eyes from Twilight's rage as he stuttered,"I-I-I'm a hu-unicorn." He managed to catch himself before letting slip that he had been a different creature entirely. He didn't feel now was the right time to tell her he had been a human being. His mind raced frantically as he thought of a name.
Stuttering again he managed to answer her first question,"I'm Soul. Shattered Souls. But my friend's just call me Soul. And I don't know what this thing on my foreleg is." He said this last statement honestly and with sincerity as he truly didn't know what it is.
Twilight frowned angrily at him but backed off for a moment having heard the sincerity in his voice and believing that all of his statements for the moment were true until proven false. She asked in a more calm voice,"Can you please answer my last question?"
He nodded hastily as he spat out the lie,"I don't know what they were. I just came across them on a journey I was taking. If you don't mind me asking who are you?" He appeared to be nervous on this last question even though he was brimming with excitement.
Twilight blinked and then face hoofed as she replied,"Sorry. I was being rude. I'm Twilight Sparkle the princess of friendship. Welcome to my castle." She sighed as she looked at him,"Me and one of my friends came across you as you battled that Timber wolf yesterday.
A look of confusion crossed Brandon's face as he scrunched up his muzzle,"Timberwolf? I only remember being chased by some wooden creature out of that crazy forest yesterday and then everything after that is a blank."
Twilight's face shifted to one of thoughtfulness as she contemplated what could have happened yesterday. She voiced her thoughts out loud,"Hmm it could have something to do with that device on your foreleg. It must have activated instinctively to protect you the wearer. It must have some kind of intelligence to it because you spoke to us yesterday before you fought it after you had transformed. It must have been speaking through you and your magic."
Brandon blinked and frowned,"Magic. But I don't know how to do any magic."
Twilight looked shocked and yelled,"You don't know how to do magic? But your a freaking unicorn for crying out loud. How could you not know how to do magic even the most basic?
Brandon frowned and rubbed a foreleg with one of his hooves absently as he quickly though of something he could tell her. Coming up with something quickly he said calmly and in a sad voice,"I um. I lived somewhere where there were no magic users. So I never learned any magic." Which was technically true as earth had no magic at all.
Twilight went silent for a moment before scuffing the ground with a hoof and replying quietly and abashedly,"Oh sorry. I didn't realize."
He gave her a pained look,"Its fine. I'd rather not talk about it right now."
She nodded her head as her ears flicked at the sound of something approaching the window. With a loud crash the window in front of them shattered and shards of glass spilled all over the ground as Rainbow Dash burst into the room frantically shouting,"Twilight we have trouble. Some kind of weird dragon has appeared outside of Ponyville."
Twilight wrapped Rainbow in her magic as she pulled her down and closer away from the shards of glass. She had shielded herself and the other unicorn with a shield spell instinctively as the glass rained down on them. She glared at Rainbow,"Rainbow you broke another of my windows. This is the 4th time this month!"
Rainbow frowned,"Twilight that's not the issue right now. We have to go take care of the dragon."
Twilight frustratedly asked,"What does the dragon want?"
Settling down Rainbow replied,"The dragon is demanding gems and bits or else he'll smash the town into pieces. But what's weird is that the dragon is a dark grayish color with what looks like a broken tusk coming from the side of his mouth while another is coming from the other side looking like its made of ice. And it has this weird tail that seems broken somehow."
Brandon's ears perked up at the description as he gained a thoughtful look. Inside of his head he thought,"That sounds an awful lot like Kyurem from Pokemon. But how would a Pokemon from that universe end up in this one. Duh the same freaking way that I did. A freaking portal is probably the cause of his being here and he's trying to adjust to his surroundings."
Rainbow continued,"He actually hurt a couple of ponies including AJ. She's in the hospital right now being's treated for frost bite of all things and her back leg is in bad shape because of it."
Brandon's eye twitched as he continued to think in his head,"Ok, maybe not adjusting. More like trying to make a domain for himself to rule. He probably thinks all the ponies here are easy prey. Well I'll teach him otherwise. I'll teach him he can't be a great big bully. I will see justice done." This last thought activated the chip within his device as the screen lit up.
Twilight stopped talking with Dash as she has been as he thought and looked at him and the device and said worriedly,"Oh no its activating. Can you shut it off?" She was looking him in the face but saw that his pupils had disappeared leaving a blank look on his face.
The screen on the device said,"Synchronization rate with soul......100%. Magic flow steady. Time for use of form without exhaustion.....30 minutes. Soul Unison program ready."
Brandon's hoof reached up and touched the green button as his voice sounded out with a weird echo,"Soul Unison Activate!" He was enveloped in the ball of light and with a shout the ball shattered to reveal Brandon looking different yet again.
His coat had changed to a nice aquamarine color and his horn had changed to look bigger and more styled. A helmet running down his head with styilized eyes on the the top over his own eyes. The eyes inscribed on the helmet looked like they belonged to keldeo and the helmet now held a longer mane in place that was now a sea blue. Metal hoof guards connected with Brandon's hooves all gleaming with a silvery blue and greaves colored his legs stylized with waves. A gleaming sheathe embedded with sapphires was attached to the side of a pair of military saddlebags on his back. The handle of a sword sticking out of the sheathe.
Twilight backed up a bit and asked,"Who are you and what have you done to Shattered Souls?"
Brandon's pupil's had returned but they were now an icy blue as a voice came out of his mouth sounding youthful and happy,"Name's Keldeo and he's just sleeping for the moment. I'm a sword of Justice and I'll see Justice done if it kills me. Let me take care of the dragon. I know who it is." With that he turned towards the window and jumped out of it.
Twilight ran to the desk and window heedless of the glass shards on the ground as she shouted in fear,"Wait don't jump we're to far off the ground." Only to get a face full of water as she sputtered.
The form of Brandon called back to her as water jetted from the bottom of the hoof guards on his leg's,"Sorry about that. Been a while since I did this." With that he jetted to the ground on the water and the galloped off towards the giant dragon visible in the distance.
Twilight frowned and looked at Rainbow Dash,"Come on Dash we have to help him."
Rainbow frowned and flew over to her,"I don't know Twi. Your kinda bleeding right now. You did just step in glass."
Twilight looked down at her hooves which were cut and bleeding as she groaned in frustration,"Ok you go on ahead. I'll catch up."
Keldeo finally arrived just outside the town where Kyurem was. Kyurem was just about to bite down on a pony in frustration when Keldeo called out,"Stop right there Kyurem. I won't allow you to hurt anymore of these creatures. They've done nothing to you. You're just being a great big bully again and I won't stand for it. I'll see justice done for the innocent that you've already harmed."
Kyurem roared and turned towards Keldeo,"Who dares challenge the mighty Kyurem? I'll freeze you where you stand." He blinked in surprise as he recognized features of Keldeo on this strange ponyta type creature.
"What is this. You bear features of Keldeo yet you are not him. Who are you and what makes you think you can challenge me?" He was really angry now as he roared this out.
Keldeo grinned as he replied,"Cause I am Keldeo you stupid worm. And I stand against you because Justice is on my side." With that he drew his sword which was beautifully styled with depictions of waves and the other swords of justice upon the blade itself. With that he readied himself for battle.
Author's Note
Hey everyone. Here we are with the next soul unison. This time Keldeo is up to bat facing off against Kyurem of all things. Wonder how it will end? Let me know what other characters you'd like to see show up. And if you have any questions then go ahead and ask me in the comments. Again send me OCs if you want them to show up in my story. So now I bid you all good day.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 4
Keldeo twirled the sword by his side using his magical grip on the hilt as he stared down the giant dragon before him. Kyurem eyed him angrily waiting for the warrior before him to make the first move. He was very annoyed that another Pokemon had somehow ended up here in this world which he had gotten to first. He had come to this small village hoping to get himself set up as a kind of local dictator or something but Keldeo just had to appear. Although Keldeo did look a lot different then he normally did, more like one of these local creatures then his regular self.
But what confused him most of all was the fact that Keldeo was even alive as he remembered the last thing about the justice seeker. He and Keldeo had fought each other on more then one occasion back in their original world with Keldeo always coming out on top. That is until the last battle they had fought each other in where he had come out the victor. He had finally managed to entrap the annoying pest in a large coating of ice so that he couldn't move. And then Kyurem had done what had been forbidden him and all other legendaries by Arceus himself. He had actually killed Keldeo by bringing his claw down on the icy covering shattering Keldeo into pieces and leaving trails of blood all over the battlefield. Thus the Sword of Justice had met his end in battle before the dragon of ice and hunger.
Kyurem growled,"I don't know how you are alive Keldeo but I will kill you again without compunction."
Keldeo just grinned back up at him,"I'd like to see you try big guy. It won't be as easy as the last time." With that he charged with sword raised high ready to take down the greedy beast before him.
Kyurem roared and swiped downwards with a claw that glowed a brilliant white hoping to tear into the pest. Keldeo neatly sidestepped the claw that came crashing down into the ground leaving an imprint.
He taunted Kyurem,"Is that the best you got you half bit Magikarp?" He brought his sword down onto the exposed arm. The blade of the sword bit deep into the ice which covered Kyurem's forearm as armor. Keldeo tugged on the sword quickly as he backed up pulling the sword out with his magic as Kyurem roared at him.
Kyurem inhaled as he prepared another of his attacks and then released it directing his head towards his target. Keldeo was currently by a hill outside of the town while the ponies themselves stayed where they were in their fright. Unfortunately Keldeo was right near two of those town's ponies and he intercepted the attack instead of dodging it.
Having manifested a green hexagon styled shield, he watched as the icy beam attack emanating from Kyurem's mouth washed over him and the ponies he'd moved to protect. He dropped the shield once the attack had ended and charged forwards with a cry,"Yah!" Swinging his sword horizontally before him leaving a large crack in the icy armor of Kyurem's right foreleg as he roared in displeasure.
Kyurem stomped the ground with his massive clawed foot in frustration,"Why won't you just stay in place you pest?!"
Keldeo laughed,"Well it wouldn't be any fun if I did that now would it?" Moving away from Kyurem in the opposite direction he was facing. So Keldeo was leading him further away from the town and into the surrounding field's of Ponyville.
He stopped by the two ponies he had protected and observed them quickly to see if they were okay. They looked shaken but were fine and he eyed them carefully. One of them was a golden colored earth pony mare with a carrot cutie mark, who preferred to go by the name Carrot Top. The other was Rarity who had started out talking to Carrot Top when Kyurem had arrived to demand tribute.
He grinned as he winked at Rarity and said,"Sorry for the scare ladies. You should get on out of here while you can." With that he took off away from them in a sprint as he resheathed his sword while he ran.
Rarity blinked in surprise at the strange stallion winking at her and before she could reply he was gone in a cloud of dust. However she had heard what he said and started to herd Carrot Top away from the area with her head,"Come on dear. We need to get to safety."
Carrot Top was still dazed from the attack that had almost frozen her and mechanically walked away from the area. Rarity had to give her nudges with her head every now and then to keep her on track. And they had just started to get out of the area just in time as Kyurem thundered right past them with large ground shaking steps.
Kyurem roared his anger to the heaven's as he chased the annoying pest that was trying to get away. There was no way he was going to let Keldeo live after his taunting insults and the damage he'd done to Kyurem's armor.
Kyurem roared furiously,"Get back here you blue pest so I can crush you into paste." He fired off several hyper beams in a row, each one impacting against one of the rolling hills and leaving large smoking craters where they hit.
Keldeo stopped on top of a hill 2 miles away from the town as he looked at the large lumbering giant. He panted a bit and then looked down at the device which was embedded in one of the bracers on his forelegs. The display read,"Energy at 80 percent. Time remaining for form 23 minutes...."
He panted,"I...need to...finish this...quickly" He unsheathed the sword at his side with his magic yet again as Kyurem finally reached his area. Kyurem fired off yet another hyper beam but this time Kyurem cast a spell which made the blue sword glow. He brought the sword up at an angle and the hyper beam bounced right off of it being redirected right into the sky. The beam collided with one of the fluffy white clouds and made a large fiery explosion with smoke filling the sky.
Kyurem panted a bit himself,"Finally...You stopped running. Now face me you yellow bellied coward."
Keldeo chuckled having recovered his breath,"Sure. Glad to oblige you fat dragon." He charged forwards with water jetting from the bottom's of his metal hoof guards as he put on more speed. He aqua jetted towards his opponent who brought a glowing white claw down toward's him.
Keldeo's eyes widened as he realized too late that he couldn't redirect himself and the claw came down tearing into his side causing him to holler in pain,"Aaaaaaahhhh." The claw rending into his side and tearing the armor on his sides to thin ribbons as a rather nasty gash was left in his side with pieces of the armor sticking in his wounds. The wounds bled heavily and he couldn't move without massive pain. To make matter's even worse one of his hoof guards was completely missing so he couldn't jet around anymore.
He was lying on the ground on his side as blood started to pool underneath him from his wounds and he looked back up at the big dragon and coughed,"Well you got me."
Kyurem rumbled to himself rather pleased that he finally hit the blue rival of his. "Now to properly finish you off for good." He raised his claw again as it glowed white yet again. He prepared to bring it down on his foe as he said,"Any last words rat?"
Keldeo coughed up a bit of blood as he struggled to get back to his hooves but found his leg's wouldn't respond,"Nothing you would understand."
Kyurem rumbled and brought the claw down quickly only to have it hit something very solid and hard before it reached the pest. It had impacted against a lavender colored shield with a furious looking mare looking up at him standing protectively in front of Keldeo. It was none other than Twilight angry at the giant dragon who had threatened the town and hurt her friend.
"How dare you! How dare you come here and threaten my town and my friends! How dare you hurt my friend! She's in the hospital because of you!" Her horn glowed angrily as she stepped backwards by Keldeo and let the shield spell go. She touched her horn to his.
Keldeo's eyes opened and widened as a tingling feeling filled his horn and then his body as magical healing energy entered him through his horn which was in contact with Twilight's. The huge gashes and claw marks in his side were able to heal enough so that the bleeding had lessened and he could stand again albeit with a limp.
Twilight panted as she looked at the would be hero,"Sorry that's about all that I can manage right now. I'm not really good with healing spells and that took most of my magic to cast."
Keldeo nodded solemly,"I understand. Now get out of here. I can handle him better than you can. He only got lucky." He restarted his magic and his aura wrapped around his sword's hilt yet again.
Twilight nodded to him and quickly ran out of the area despite being a bit out of breath. She didn't want to interfere with this fight anymore as she just didn't have the energy.
Keldeo glared up at the still confused dragon who was looking from his claw to Keldeo and then to the fleeing mare. Kyurem finally growled,"Well looks like what little help you had has now fled. Now I will finally kill you without interference."
Keldeo growled,"We'll see Kyurem. I'll see justice done for what you've done here."
He closed his eyes as his magic wrapped more tightly around the hilt of his sword and he poured magic into the hilt which spread the the sword. The sword grew longer and brighter as the magic flowed into it. It grew to be about 20 feet long and a foot wide as he held it up in his magical grip.
Kyurem growled as he backed up a step,"So you still have access to that secret technique do you. Well that won't help or save you. You'll die just like you did before." He brought down his glowing claw wanting to end the stallion before he could attack.
Keldeo quickly moved the sword sideways and brought the blade of the sword down on the descending arm. The glowing blade passed through the ice encased form arm like a knife cutting through hot butter. But instead of shearing the arm right off it caused it to pause and then Kyurem let out a loud roar of pain as his arm started to convulse. He backed up and held his arm with his good one and glared at Keldeo.
"What have you done you blue pest?"He growled in pain.
"Oh nothing much other than met out the same pain that you gave to those ponies emotionally for scaring them like that. And this next strike you'll feel the pain of the pony that you physically hurt." He brought his sword straight up over his head the blade glowing brighter,"Secret Technique. Sacred Sword of Justice!"
He brought the hilt of his sword down quickly and hard and the blade of light came down on Kyurem's right shoulder causing him to roar in pain and lash out with his good right arm which ran along Keldeo's helm and neck and into his shoulder. But still Keldeo brought his sword down despite the pain that he was feeling. The blade once again passing through Kyurem's armor easily and coming down through his left leg before it buried into the ground and then returned to the wonderful blue sword.
Kyurem howled in pain as his good arm came back with the claw covered in red blood. A long line appeared where the sword cut into him and then frostbite itself creeped onto his skin as he felt what the poor mare he'd hurt had and still was feeling. Kyurem finally crumpled to the ground from all the pain as his eye glared out angrily and in pain at Keldeo who was kneeling on the ground coughing up blood.
Keldeo spat out a wad of blood before glaring at the Kyurem,"For what you did Kyurem I made you feel their pain tenfold. Now Justice has finally been meted out and is satisfied. Now return to our world and never come back. This land is protected by the Swords of Justice and we will not allow you to harm the inhabitants here." With that the spirits of the other three swords of Justice appeared behind him and glared at him.
Kyurem growled in pain,"I have been bested and thus will abide by the rules of our duel and your demands....for now!" With that a portal opened up next to him which he promply crawled through back to his home of the Ice Chasm so he could healm himself. The portal closed with a pop leaving Keldeo behind looking to where the portal had been. He sighed in relief and then heaved as he coughed up another wad of blood.
His helm was now rent and torn on the left side as long thin lines trailed down his neck from the tips of Kyurem's claws and they bled red. His shoulder had been cut open and down deep so that he was bleeding heavily there as well. He was loosing blood very quickly and his host would die soon if he didn't do anything. So he closed his eyes and let out one last weak spell which ended the transformation. He was enveloped in a ball of light and then it shattered leaving behind Brandon with wounds in the same places but not nearly as bad. Keldeo having transferred most of the damage to his soul directly.
The chip containing his image popped up from the device and the image itself was grayed out with cracks running all through the image. It would take time for Keldeo's soul to heal and reform. For now he would be unavailable to help. Brandon himself looked around wearily as his wounds bled if slower.
Twilight reappeared from around a hill and raced over to him."Oh my your really hurt. We have to get you to the hospital now." She was looking at him frantically as Brandon looked back in a haze of pain before his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out.
Twilight became more frantic and her horn glowed as she mustered what magic she had left and teleported the pair right outside the hospital. Frantically calling,"Please somebody help. I have another wounded pony here and we need help."
A couple of nurses came running out of the hospital to see what was going on only to see Twilight beside the mangled form of a stallion. One quickly ran back in and came out again with a stretcher which they brought over to the stallion. They got him onto it and then took him into the hospital quickly so they could do emergency surgery. Twilight tried to follow but was stopped by one of the other nurses who was none other than Nurse Redheart,"I'm sorry miss Twilight but you'll have to wait out here. You'd just get in the way.
Twilight managed to calm herself a bit by taking deep breaths but nodded,"Right. Thank you Nurse Redheart." With that she went back outside to go check in with her friends to give them an update.
She quickly galloped to the Carousel Botique where she knew Rarity had probably gone to hide while the dragon was around. She skidded to a halt outside the doors as her hooves wore ruts into the ground. She quickly knocked on the door with her hoof as she called out,"Rarity let me in. Its Twilight."
There was the sound of trotting from inside coming towards the door and then it stopped. The door swung open to reveal a frazzled looking rarity who's mane was out of sorts from her frantic pacing she'd kept up since coming to her shop. "Twilight what's going on? Is that dreadful beast finally gone?"
"Let me inside and and I'll tell you what's happened,"Twilight replied out of breath.
Rarity nodded and stepped to the side to let Twilight through. Twilight nodded a thanks and stepped through the door into the interior of the store as she stopped a moment to catch her breath. Rarity moved in front of her and looked her over and calmed herself down,"Well darling your out of sorts aren't you. Let's get you to a seat so you can calm down and tell me what happened."
Twilight nodded again as she said,"Thanks Rarity." She followed Rarity into her sitting room and took a seat on a cushion by a table. Rarity went through another door into her kitchen where she put a kettle of water onto boil for tea. Coming back into the sitting room she sat down on her own cushion as she gestured to Twilight,"Go ahead dear. Tell me what happened."
Twilight let out a deep breath as she started,"Well you already know about the dragon and what it did starting out. Actually you'd know that better than me seeing as how I was in my castle at the time. But I arrived at the battle just in time to save that stallion's flank. He was on the ground bleeding out Rarity! Lying their dying in a pool of his own blood and he would have been finished if I hadn't stepped in and used one of my shields." She looked down at her hooves for a moment as if to imagine the blood having been on her own hooves when it never had been.
"I was so scared Rarity. I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to fight that dragon all on my own. And I was already nearly out of magic having fended off that one claw swipe. I used what little magic I had left and put it into a healing spell to help the stallion. I've never been very good at those kinds of spells but it was enough to heal his nasty wound enough for him to get back up. He told me to go get to safety for the moment so I did. I watched from a hill top as they fought."
She was looking a little frantic at this point and Rarity tried soothing her,"Calm down Twilight. Its okay. The dragon isn't here and everything's ok." She put a comforting hoof on her friend's arm until she calmed down.
Twilight let out another calming breath which eventually calmed her down and she looked back at Rarity with a tiny tight smile,"Thanks Rarity."
Rarity nodded with a smile of her own,"Anytime Darling. Now let me go get the tea." She got up from her seat and went to the whistling and boiling kettle and made herself and Twilight a couple cups of tea. She then brought them back with her into the sitting room and levitated one over to Twilight. Twilight smiled a bit wider and accepted the cup with her own levitation field and took a sip which seemed to calm her more.
She continued after a moment in a calmer voice,"So the stallion who named himself as Shattered Souls poured magic into that blade of his and made it grow real long and bright. As if with some kind of holy light and then he brought it right down on the dragon as it swiped at him. The blade passed right through the dragon's arm and caused it a lot of pain wihtout any cuts. How is that even possible?!"
She shook her head in confusion before continuing,"Then he brought it down again and the dragon seemed to suffer from frostbite. It gave up and went through a portal to somewhere. I'm not sure where. The Souls collapsed and his armor disappeared and I ran over to him. I had to quickly get to the hospital."
Rarity put another comforting hoof on Twilight as she started to spaz out again,"its okay Twilight. You got him the help he needed. You can't do anything else now. Come lay down on my sofa and get some rest. You need it."
Twilight nodded looking at Rarity with exhaustion."That sounds nice. Thanks."
Rarity nodded,"Of course." And let Twilight to her couch and helped her get comfortable before letting her drift off to sleep.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. Here's the battle between Soul Form Keldeo and Kyurem. I hope everyone enjoyed the battle and then the talk Twilight had with Rarity afterwards. I tried not to make Keldeo overpowered as I really don't want him to be a Gary Stue. Nothing worse than that. So it will take time for him to recover. Again if you want your ocs to appear in the story just send me a private message telling me about them. Or just leave a comment for what character you'd like to see Brandon soul unison with.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 5
Brandon awoke with a groan as his eyelids fluttered open and closed again to the harsh light coming from a window somewhere. He tried to move his body and got his forelegs to move a bit before they were forced to stop by something. He opened his eyes more slowly to let them adjust to the light so he could see. Once he could he saw that he was in a small, white room that smelled of disinfectant and seemed sterile to him. Wincing in pain, he looked around the room a bit more. He saw a row of medical cabinets on the wall to his right at the end of the room above a small desk for someone to sit at. There were no pictures that he could see and he was on a white hospital bed with an iv drip in his right leg.
He looked down at himself to asses the condition of his body and saw that his sides and stomach were wrapped in a swath of bandages. He groaned in pain again as he saw his shoulder was also wrapped up in bandages. He felt up along his neck and felt more bandages along it and his head just behind one of his ears. His groans of pain must have alerted someone outside because his ears twitched as he heard hoof steps coming closer.
A small wooden door to his room opened admitting a white mare with a reddish mane all done up in a bun with a small hat looking thing on top of her head. The hat bore a red cross sign and he could see she that the mark on her flanks was that of a red cross as well. The nurse smiled warmly at him as she set a clipboard she had been carrying down on the desk in the room.
Walking over to him she kindly asked,"How are you feeling sir? You seem much more alert then you were the last time you woke up."
Putting a hoof up to his head along the bandages, he winced,"Well things have been better. I feel like I've been run over by a truck or something."
The nurse gave him a confused look,"A truck sir? What is that?"
He silently cursed himself and replied,"Oh did I say that. I meant wagon mam."
Nodding with understanding she examined him,"Well that does make more sense. And you appear to be healing very nicely for now sir. You had to undergo extensive surgery but you'll be right as rain in a couple of weeks to a month. And do you have a name?"
He sighed internally as he gave her a small polite smile,"Yes mam. My name is Shattered Souls."
She nodded and picked up the clipboard again quickly writing the name he gave her down on it,"Thank you Mr. Souls."
"Your welcome mam. Now if you don't mind what is the condition of my body and why did I need surgery in the first place,"he asked confused.
She gave him a puzzled look as she answered,"Well you had a torn up and chewed shoulder with a lot of claw marks running down the side of your head and neck. And more claw marks that went deep into your side. You also had several broken ribs that were close to several major organs so we need to do surgery to get them back into their correct places. So your saying you don't remember why you had to come in here in the first place?"
He nodded,"Yes miss...."
She blushed,"Oh excuse me. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Nurse Redheart."
"Its quite alright Nurse Redheart. And no I don't remember. The last thing I remember is miss Twilight standing over me before I passed out completely. I do remember a lot of pain but that's about it."
She gave a light smile,"I see. Well Miss Sparkle was able to get you here quickly so we were able to take care of you before anything truly permanent happened. Once your fully healed you'll probably have some nasty scars on your side and shoulder but other that you'll be fine."
Brandon nodded,"Thank you."
Smiling she turned to go,"No problem. I have other patients to check up on but either I or the other nurse will check up on you from time to time. You've had a couple of anxious ponies come by trying to see you so maybe they'll show up later."
He nodded,"Ok. I'll keep an eye out then." With that Nurse Redheart nodded and then slipped out of the room. The door closed behind her with a soft click leaving him in peace once again.
Grumbling to himself he looked around the room with a bored expression again hoping to find something new. His eyes widened a bit as he saw his satchel sitting by the side of his bed along with his favorite green hoodie. He thought that his hoodie had disappeared the first time he'd been unconscious from his first fight. That purple pony must have brought it by to return it.
He sighed as he realized that he wouldn't be able to put his hoodie on right now due to all the bandages he had on. So he moved his hoof towards his satchel and managed to hook the strap with his hoof. He lifted the satchel up onto the bed as he carefully nosed the flap open. He stopped before moving the flap open as he realized that the satchel had been at the castle the last he could remember of it. The purple pony must have brought this by as well deeming that it wasn't a threat along with the contents.
He finished opening the flap with his muzzle, looking inside to determine if anything was missing. To his relief all of the blank chips were there along with the ones that bore the images of characters he liked. He frowned as he noticed that the one with keldeo's image had changed. He looked more closely at it as it lay on top of the pile of chips. The image had grayed out and it looked shattered and broken all over.
A sudden beep from the device on his forleg caught his attention causing him to snap his head to look at it. Looking at it curiously, he saw the screen was lit up with some sort of message. Reading it, the words made out the message,"Keldeo Soul Unison unavailble at this time. Soul is shattered. Time for soul to reform completely.....2 days."
He frowned and looked back at the chip with Keldeo's image and muttered,"Poor guy. Must have had it rough fighting whatever dragon showed up to terrorize the poor villagers." He searched his satchel again and blinked in surprise to see the chip with BlackWarGreymon's image was once again in the satchel laying further away from the Keldeo chip but still on top of the pile.
He sighed,"it would be great if I could get some sort of explanation for all the crazy stuff that's been happening lately. Just why have I been blacking out so much lately? And why do I keep waking up completely exhausted or injured?" He closed his eyes knowing he wouldn't get an answer of any kind.
Once he had closed his eyes a deep voice rumbled out,"You should have just asked if you wanted an explanation kid."
Snapping open his eyes he looked around wildly as he spoke up fearfully,"Who just said that?"
"I did kid. Down here in the bag,"the voice responded gruffly.
He slowly slid his eyes down to the bag, seeing the chip of BlackWarGreymon was glowing with a soft black aura as it floated above the pile of chips. "Wha.....What's going on?"
The chip slowly floated up out of the bag in front of his face as the voice responded,"I'm talking to you obviously. You had some questions and I'm here to answer them."
Brandon's eye twitched as he looked at the chip,"I see. Just who are you? And what has been happening to me lately?"
The voice from the chips grumbled irritably,"Who do you think is talking to you kid! You can see my picture right on the blasted chip." The now revealed BlackWarGreymon moved his chip away from the bed as it glowed brighter. Then with a flash a transparent version of him appeared with the chip disappearing.
Brandon's eyes bugged out completely as he looked at the being before him. Here was one of his favorite characters standing next to his bed looking fierce and intimidating just like in the show. How could it be possible that BlackWarGreymon was even real. Then he shook his head as he remembered it shouldn't even be possible for him to be here as a pony. He looked back up at the quietly watching Digimon.
BlackWarGreymon relaxed his stance a bit although he kept his arms folded as he watched the pony on the bed. "You asked what's been going on lately. So I'll tell you what. Me and Keldeo ended up borrowing your body for a bit to fight foes that were threatening you before. Well one of them was threatening you at any rate. Keldeo just wanted to save all the pathetic villagers that were in trouble."
Brandon remained silently but dipped his head slightly in reply,"And why did you take control of my body?"
BlackWarGreymon snorted,"Because you were being hunted down by that wooden beast and would have been mauled had I not stepped in. In your case it was all about survival and for some reason I couldn't just let a weak pathetic creature like you die. I still don't understand why I did it but I did and now I'm bound to that device on your foreleg and the stupid chip.
Looking puzzled Brandon asked,"What? What do you mean bound to this thing?" He shook the foreleg with the device on it.
BlackWarGreymon rolled his eyes,"I mean by appearing and saving your but it bound my soul to that chip so that you could call upon me in the future. It basically ripped my soul from the afterlife and stuffed it in the stupid chip. I can't get back to my peaceful afterlife anymore but frankly it was way to boring. And that device has a name. Its called the Soul Archiver. It catalogs souls and binds them to chips so the user can call upon them for battle when needed."
Brandon looked down at the device,"Huh. Well that's interesting. But why do I have it anyway and why have those other chips appeared with images?"
Shaking his head BlackWarGreymon grunted,"Because they willingly came from the afterlife in order to help you out here. You don't know it yet but the dimensional barriers of this world are weakening letting enemies through that don't belong here. It has also awoken something that dwells in the shadows. What that is I can't tell you as I don't rightly know what it is."
He sighed,"Ok. But just why is it I have this device in the first place? And why are these dimensional barriers weakening?"
The digimon shifted a bit,"You have the device because you've been chosen to be the first Soul Warrior. And the dimensional barriers are weakening due to all the wonky time and space magic that has been cast around here within the past year. The barriers weren't meant to take that kind of damage and as a result they are breaking down. They are slowly healing but it will be years before things are fixed. Its because of their weakness you were able to come here in the first place."
Brandon blinked and looked back at the digimon one of his unanswered questions now being answered. "Ok then just what is a soul warrior?"
The digimon sighed,"Its obvious from the name right? You fight enemies that threaten this world with the help of warrior souls that have come from the afterlife to help again. Guess that means I have to help protect this place to. Your supposed to just be the start of this whole thing. There should be others in time too."
He nodded and said,"Well that's certainly interesting. But how am I supposed to transform without you guys doing it for me and exhausting me?"
BlackWarGreymon started to answer when his transparent image flickered and he looked at himself,"Hmm. Sorry kid i can't answer anymore questions right now. I'm about out of energy and I'll need to rest. One last thing. Keldeo took a majority of the damage that had been inflicted on your body onto himself and his vary soul. In essence it shattered his soul and its being put back together piece by piece thanks to the Archiver." With that his image flashed out and the chip reappeared with the image grayed out to show the being within was resting now.
It slowly floated back into the bag as Brandon grumbled still having so many quetions to ask but now having no one else to answer him. Well at least he knew the name of the device now. He figured he would just call it the Archiver rather then the full name. Seemed a lot cooler that way and less tedious. He set the bag back on the ground as he looked up at the ceiling. He might as well rest anyway. The road to his recovery would be a long one.
He had fallen asleep some time ago and was just now waking up again because of some knocking on the door to his room. He sleepily called out,"Come on in."
The door opened softly and Twilight came on into the room,"Um hi."
He looked at her blankly for a moment mechanicaly saying,"Hello." They stared at each other in awkward silence for over 5 minutes before Twilight started to speak agian.
"Um. Look I'm sorry about all the hostility I showed back at my castle. That wasn't right of me. I was just really scared that you were dangerous or were going to do something to hurt other ponies."
He nodded wincing and turning his head,"Um yeah. I can understand that. To be honest I really don't understand what's been going on with me lately. I also don't know what's up with this device on my foreleg." He lied through his teeth on that last part as he did not feel like parting with the new information he had just received. He didn't trust Twilight yet because of the hostility she had showed.
She sighed and looked at him sadly,"Yeah. You just showed up out of nowhere from the Everfree forest and changed into that weird black armor. I thought you would attack me and my friend had you not fallen unconscious. But at the same time I couldn't just let you die. But that's not what I came here for. I came here to apologize for what I did and ask for your forgiveness."
Brandon took a deep breath and then with a small smile on his face replied,"I accept your apology. Now please let bygones be bygones. I'd rather us be on each other's good sides rather than bad sides."
She nodded happily,"I couldn't agree more." Her face shifted to a thoughtful look,"So if you don't know anything about that device or what's been happening to you then how did you get here in the first place."
He frowned and lowered his head from her eyes,"I don't know. I don't really remember anything beyond waking up in that forest with the device on my foreleg and the satchel full of those small machines. Oh and my hoodie." He was lying through his teeth of course about remembering anything from before.
She nodded but continued to look thoughtful,"So you have amnesia. Your lucky that you remembered your name at all if that's the case. I've read that longterm amnesia patients can take years to regain their memories if at all. And even then its only usually bits and pieces."
He nodded his head looking uncomfortable,"Um yeah. Moving on. I was told by the nurse that you brought me here. Thanks for that. I don't remember how I got so injured but thanks for getting me here."
Twilight muttered lowly to herself,"Must have been the head trauma that caused his blackout this time." She looked up at him with a polite smile,"It was no problem. I would do that for anypony. You were injured because you fought the dragon that came to threaten the town."
Brandon's eyebrow raised,"I did? Funny I thought I'd remember something like that. The last thing I remember is talking to you back in that room in your castle."
Twilight wrote what he said onto a notepad she had levitated out of her bags as she said,"I see. So you don't remember confronting the dragon and leading it away from the village before defeating it?"
He shook his head,"No. I literally don't remember anything from the time I black out there to waking up here."
She nodded and put her pad away,"Well you fought off the dragon but sustained heavy injuries. At one point I had to step in and heal you a bit before you could continue fighting. You used some kind of stylizized blue armor and had a blue sword. That in itself was strange. So what did the nurse say about your condition?"
Replying tiredly Brandon said,"The nurse said I have a couple of broken ribs and a lot of deep cuts. They'll need to keep me here for the next couple weeks to a month to keep watch over me and my injuries."
She nodded,"Well I'd always be happy to let you borrow books from my castle's library. I know they have books here at the hosital but its not a very big collection."
He nodded,"Thanks that would help a lot." His eyes started to droop,"If you don't mind I'd like to sleep."
She gasped a bit,"Oh yes. Sorry. I'll just go now so that you can get some rest. I'll be back later with a couple of my friends to check up on you."
"Ok. Thank you for stopping by,"He replied even more tiredly. His head drooped back against the pillows behind him.
Twilight quietly walked out of the room and closed the door behind her as she heard the poor stallion nod off into dreamland. It would be a very long and painful road to recovery and she'd be there to help him along. She hoped they could be friends in the future if they already weren't.
Author's Note
Hello Everyone. Here is my next chapter. I revealed a bit more information through BlackWarGreymon. And I of course had Twilight show up to have a conversation with Souls. Its been nice to know that several people at least like this story and come back to read it each time I put up a chapter. Feel free to leave a comment with constructive criticism or comment on what you liked about the chapter.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 6
Brandon, or Shattered Souls as he liked to refer to himself as now, was a couple of days into his recovery, while still at the hospital. He was really bored and tired of looking around the small white hospital room that he was still in. He wasn't as bad off as he was before since he was now able to sleep and wake up on a regular schedule. Twilight hadn't returned yet and he suspected it was due to the fact that she was still trying to figure things out about him. He hoped that eventually he'd be able to become friends with her seeing as that was one of his dreams. He wanted to be friends with all the mane six and participate in adventures with all of them.
The current time was 10:00 in the morning on his third day here in the hospital and he already wished his stay was over. Nurse Redheart opened up the door to his room, giving him a small warm smile.
Smiling back a little he asked,"Good Morning Nurse Redheart. I was hoping that I could go out to the gardens or something. Could that please be arranged?"
Nurse Redheart moved closer to him while checking her clipboard and looked up at him,"Just let me take a look at you real quick. If I feel your in good enough condition I can arrange for someone to take you out to the gardens."
He sighed while nodding and moved a bit so that she could check him over. Checking his bandages and wounds, she hummed a little tune as she did her work. Soul's ears twitched as he listened to her humming what sounded like a version of the Friendship is Magic theme song. This pleased him enough so that he was able to relax in to pillows behind his back while she worked. Satisfied that he was in good enough condition, she gave him a warm smile while writing down the results of her examination on her clipboard.
"Well Mr. Souls I do believe that you are good to go. I'll go speak with the nurse at the duty station and we should have someone in here shortly to help you out to the garden. You'll be in a wheelchair and I must advise that you stay in it."
"Can do Mrs. Redheart," he saluted while giving her a small smile. Dropping his gaze to his satchel, he pulled it up towards him with a hoof having finally figured out how to grip stuff with it. It was a lot of trial and error but he was glad he'd finally learned how to grab stuff with his hooves as he still didn't have access to his magic.
The nurse smiled while slipping out the door and closing it behind her. Souls was left in peace for a moment while looking at the different chips in his satchel. Enough time had passed for Keldeo's soul to have been fully repaired and the image was back to what it had been before.
A few moments later an unfamiliar pony came into the room while pushing a wheel chair in front of themselves. Observing her carefully a moment, he noted that she was a familiar cream coated mare, who was a roommate with Lyra Scratch. In other words the mare before him was none other than BonBon, or secret agent Sweetie Drops. He gave her a small smile as he hummed a bit. She smiled back at him as she came into the room fully showing off a small had she was wearing that read Volunteer on it.
"Hello Mr. Souls. My name is BonBon and I'm here to help you out to the gardens," She politely nodded to him.
"Thank you Miss BonBon. I'd be most happy if you could help me out of this room," He politely replied while widening his smile. She came over with a bigger smile herself and gently helped him into the wheel chair. She pushed the wheel chair in front of her with him in it while he silently looked around the area humming to himself.
The white hallways of the hospital loomed before him with many open doors leading to empty rooms. Nurses walked down the hallways giving him a polite nod or warm smile as they passed him and BonBon. He could see other patients inside of their rooms eating or performing various other activities to keep the boredom at bay. He blinked as he noticed a familiar orange mare with three apples on her cutie mark in one of the rooms. She seemed to be having a conversation with Rarity and Pinkie Pie who were trying to keep her occupied. Her right hindleg was bandaged up and in a cast while she lay on the bed.
He winced as he remembered they said she had ended up with frostbite due to Kyurem's attack. He really hoped their magic had been able to heal her leg enough in time to prevent permenant damage from happening to her leg. He saw all this for only a moment before BonBon had pushed him past the room and towards a set of doors leading outside to the gardens.
Smiling contently as he gazed up at the sky, he continued to him a nonsensical tune to himself while observing the gardens. Seeing other less injured patients walking around the gardens, he wished that he himself could also do that. He pointed at a more secluded area of the gardens and looked back at BonBon.
"Um If you don't mind Miss BonBon, I'd like to go over there to that part of the gardens," He asked nervously.
Smiling encouragingly she replied,"Its no problem Mr. Souls. Just let me wheel you over there and I'll leave you in peace for a while."
Nodding happily, he looked around some more as she wheeled him over to the spot that he wanted. Once he was there, he nodded back to her before observing and smelling the flowers in front of him. Happily sitting in the wheelchair, his ears flicked as he heard the hoofsteps of someone coming up this part of the gardens. Letting out a small sigh, he looked to the curve of the path to see who it could possibly be. Around the corner of the bend came a tan unicorn. Said unicorn was wearing a short sleeved shirt, with a skull pattern, and a pair of red shorts of all things. His eyes were aqua blue and he carried some kind of sword on his back. This looked like a pony one didn't mess with for just any reason.
Stopping at the bend of the path, the unicorn looked at him with a startled expression not having expected to see someone else on this part of the path. He looked unsure of what to do until Souls lifted a hoof and waved at him in a friendly manner. He nodded as he returned the wave and walked further down the path towards Souls. He stopped a few meters away and looked at the injured souls with inquisitive eyes. He was wondering just what could have happened to injure the stallion this badly.
Souls got a better look at the sword on the unicorn's back where he had to blink in surprise at the design of the sword. It looked very similar to Dante's, from Devil May Cry's, signature sword. He turned to look back at the unicorn himself wondering what he could possibly be doing here at the hospital.
Finally deciding to speak before things got to awkward, he quietly said,"Hello sir."
The unicorn blinked at the sudden greeting before shaking his head and responding,"Uh Hello."
Souls decided to ask why he was here,"If you don't mind me asking. What brings you here to the hospital gardens? You don't look like your injured at all."
Scratching the back of his head with a hoof, the unicorn responded sheepishly,"Well... I heard that a friend of one of the people I like was here at the hospital and I was hoping I could run into my friend."
Souls nodded,"That makes sense. Well I hope your able to run into your friend real soon. And that's a cool sword you have there."
The unicorn grinned a bit as he looked back at his sword momentarily,"Yeah. It is a pretty cool sword. I wouldn't give it up for the world. So why are you in the hospital."
Souls nervously replied,"I'm in the hospital......because of the dragon attack."
The unicorn winced,"Ouch. Sorry to hear that. I would have fought the dragon myself but I was out of town on business at the time. I did hear that some crazy blue unicorn with an aqua colored coat managed to beat the thing. They said he was a sword user himself. I'd like to meet him sometime."
Souls' ears flattened backwards a bit,"Well it is nice to hear that someone beat that dragon back. I have to say that it scared me quite a bit. I still wonder why it decided to threaten Ponyville though.
The unicorn nodded in reply,"Yeah. Oh yeah I wanted to ask. What is your name? My name is Jack Hunt. I'm sort of a guard for the town of Ponyville. I try to keep most of the monsters at bay or away from here all together."
Feeling more relaxed Souls happily said,"Cool. My name is Shattered Souls. I don't really have a job at the moment or specialization."
Jack Hunt raised an eyebrow,"But your cutie mark says you have something to do with beings souls. I'm guessing your talent has something to do with a field of magic."
Souls sighed,"Yeah I guess. I've just been having some problems lately."
Jack nodded and gestured to the Soul Archiver,"So what is that thing on your leg anyway? Is it some kind of new device?"
Seizing up on the inside, Souls quickly replied,"Oh this is just a new kind of watch. I was asked to test it out and give the results to the creator. I get to keep the watch for myself."
Jack raised an eyebrow at the too quick reply. "Well Its good to hear that you've been asked to do something like that. Anyway I'd better get going. I have to catch up to my friend after all."
Souls nodded again,"Yeah. Maybe I'll see you around and we could talk again."
Jack Hunt returned the nod,"Right. See you around Shattered Souls." With that he continued by the unicorn right as a chip in Souls satchel started to glow. Souls had hidden the satchel in the side of the wheelchair, between him the side of it. Jack didn't notice the glow until it was to late. Before he knew it he felt a short jolt of what felt like electricity,"Ouch. What the hay?"
Turning back around he saw that Souls had dropped a bag that he had not noticed before. The bag had smoke rising from the inside of it but otherwise seemed to be fine. Souls looked a little frantic and really nervous. He trotted back over quickly to him.
"Hey do you know what just happened? I just got zapped by something." He rubbed his side where there was a little singe mark.
Yelping in surprise Souls turned to him,"Yeah. Don't scare me like that. Something in my bag just started glowing and let out electricity. I don't know why."
Grimacing in pain, Jack moved to the bag,"I'll just take a look at it."
Souls was about to call out to him to wait but it was already to late. He had moved over to the open satchel and looked inside. The smoke had dissipated now and he could see clearly. Looking over the contents, he saw the chips that bore images of creatures he'd never seen before. One of the chips was glowing a soft blue at the moment which died down after half a minute. That chip did nothing else so he brought his head back out of the satchel and turned to Souls.
"Well whatever it was seems to be over. Just please try to be more careful with your things." He levitated the bag over to Souls while grumbling to himself.
"Yeah sorry. I just recently acquired these so I don't know everything they can do yet. I'll try my best not to let it happen in the future." Souls replied nervously.
Sighing in frustration, Hunt nodded and moved off away from the unicorn again. He headed quickly into the hospital leaving Souls alone in his part of the garden. Souls looked down into his satchel to see one of the chips gain an image of the unicorn he'd just met. A little icon on the top of the image denoted that this was a rare special chip that shouldn't be traded or given away. Underneath the little icon were the words,"Dragon/Pony hybrid warrior". The caption for the image read,"Jack Hunt, Swordmaster of Lightning.
Quickly closing the flap of the satchel, Souls sighed as he stashed the bag away in the side of the wheel chair again. He really didn't need to deal with this right now. Going back to observing the garden, he relaxed and let his worries wash away.
Jack Hunt had exited the hospital a couple of hours later heading for his home on the outskirts of Ponyville. He was secretly a pony/dragon hybrid although he tended to stay in his pony form the most. His father had been a dragon and his mother a unicorn mare, who had fallen for his father. Together they ended up having him and they loved him dearly.
The townsfolk had taken to him happily and said he was one of the most adorable foals they'd ever seen. They helped to take care of him when his parents were too busy with their jobs to care for him. So he had grown up in a loving environment. He had started out as just a unicorn foal but as he grew he felt a fire in his stomach.
Telling his father what he felt, his father said he might actually be able to turn into a dragon. And as he grew older the changes made themselves apparent as he gained draconic features such as horns, wings, and a tail. Training his magic, he was able to gain control of his body and switch between a pony form and dragon form. After doing so, he decided to take his training a step further. Taking up the sword at age 16, he had managed to train through the years to become a master swordsman. He had had added mastery over lightning magic to his repertoire as well as that was the element he was most connected too.
He had ended up defending his village from many threats that came along and repelled them easily. The mayor eventually decided to hire some guards for the town once the town's budget had been adjusted. He had ended up training those guards and they defended the town alongside him. Finally at age 22, he decided to go out and see the world for himself.
Traveling by his lonesome, he experienced many new things until he came to Ponyville and saw all the trouble it got into all the time. He decided to settle into the town and help defend it from trouble. He stayed in the outskirts though because he didn't want anyone to figure out he was a hybrid. And it was honestly the best place for him since he could stop monster threats before they could enter the town.
Reaching the outskirts quickly, Hunt saw a flickering of wild magic half a mile away from his position. Jack had been seeing these quite a lot recently and figured it might have something to do with the dragon that had appeared a couple days ago. Racing towards the disturbance, he heard a crackle and saw a portal open up before his eyes.
The portal glowed a sickly green color and was the size of 2 ponies standing on top of each other. Out of the portal stepped another dragon of some kind. This one had no wings but did have all four legs and a tail. It had shimmering blue scales that shined in the light. A crested rige rose from the back of its head as spines jutted across its back. Its tail ending in a curving blade of some kind. Its eyes denoted a cunning intelligence behind it but at the same time it didn't seem that smart. The portal closed behind it completely once it finished stepping out of it.
Sniffing the air with large nostrils, it turned its head to him and let out a piercing roar. He charged at him roaring again as saliva dripped from its fangs. Drawing his sword from his back, Jack yelled out his own battlecry as he charged the sword with electrical energy. Running towards the weird dragon, he gripped the hilt of his sword with a telekinetic grip. Horn glowing brighter then before, he fired off a couple of spells that summoned ghostly looking blades, shining an eery blue in the sunlight.
Finally remembering what kind of dragon this was, he recognized it as a lightning drake. These things were nasty to deal with and were actually immune to all electrical damage since they were tied into the element of lightning quite heavily. He turned off the electricity to his sword right before meeting the charging drake. Jumping up into the air, he avoided the snap of its jaws coming down right where he had been.
Landing square on its back, he galloped hard along its spine while bringing his sword point down into its back and dragging it along with him. Roaring in pain, the drake lashed out with its tail along its back. Jack was forced to duck under the swing only standing back up and continuing his gallop once it had passed over head. Although the blade of the tail had managed to shear some of his mane straight off and narrowly missed his horn.
Jumping off the back of the drake he whirled around, directing the ghostly weapons to hack at its legs. The flew over and started biting into the drakes legs opening up gashes that flowed with black ichor along with the long gash on its back. Maddened by the pain, it lashed out with a flury of swipes from its claws and another swipe of its tail.
Hunt brought his sword around in time to deflect the first claw swipe knocking it off to the left but the right claw managed to dig into his right leg. Yelping in pain he backed up as blood started to flow freely down his leg from the claw that had left its mark there. Luckily the wound was shallow but it still hurt. But the drake had already brought its tail around and the back of the blade slammed into his side driving him to the ground. He plowed into the dirt hard as the blade tip left a long scratch across his side. It started to bleed thinly as he shook his head having lost concentration on the ghostly weapons causing them to dissapate.
Getting back up quickly right, he moved out of the way just in time to avoid a claw that came down right where he had been. Summoning the ghostly weapon again and picking up his own sword he charged the beast. The weapons hacked into the drakes legs again until the ghostly sword he'd summoned severed a tendon in the drakes right forleg causing it to stumble into the ground.
Its face became buried into the ground and Hunt took the opporutunity it presented. Charging ahead even faster he jumped into the air and with a loud cry brought the blade down on the drake's neck cutting deep into it. He quickly did it several more times before the drake could recover and severed its head from its neck.
Having bested his foe, he backed up and panted hard. Regaining his breath after a few moments, he finally dismissed the ghostly weapons and took note of his injuries. His horn glowed with his magic as he cast a healing spell on himself which managed to close up the wounds he had aquired. They did leave scars behind but for the most part he'd be just fine. Looking back at the dead drake he grinned at having gained another trophy for himself. And with that he went about collecting the head and gathering ingredients from the body. So a new hero has arisen for the town, fighting in secret to protect the town and its inhabitents.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. So Here's a new chapter. We check in with Souls again but we also have a new face. Jack Hunt does not belong to me. He is an OC belonging to Fimfiction user Knives. Thanks for letting me use him and I hope you enjoy this chapter. If anyone else wants me to add in their OC just pm me. Go ahead and leave comments about what you liked in the chapter or just leave constructive criticism.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Jack Hunt Vs Jack Hunt (Wait What?)
Chapter 7
It was now a week and a half into Souls recovery while staying at the hospital. He had received visitors only once since Twilight came the first time. It happened his fifth day in the hospital. Twilight had come by with her friends Rarity and Pinkie Pie and they had a small conversation about his health and how he was doing. Pinkie Pie had promptly got in to his personal space and proceeded to tell him that she was going to throw him a super duper party once he got out of the hospital. In person the hyperactive pink pony scared the ever living crap out of him. Rarity had politely said he should come by her shop when he could so they could talk. After that the three of them left and he had been left alone again. Albeit with two new chips bearing their images. They had each taken a look at the strange devices and after they left the images had appeared.
Souls was now allowed out of the bed and was able to move around on his own using a crutch designed to help him stay up. His shoulder was still far to weak to handle his weight along with the rest of his body so he had to walk around using it. His side was healing nicely although there would be scarring from the claw marks. His ribs on the inside had been set and were also healing nicely with the addition of healing magic that sped up the healing process. his neck and side of his head were doing fine as well despite the claw mark. Again there would be a lot of scars but they were nothing compared to being alright in the first place.
When he was out and about outside of his room, he had to have a nurse or volunteer accompanying him. Most of the time it was BonBon who accompanied him out of his room. It seemed she really liked to come volunteer here in her free time when she wasn't spending it with her room mate Lyra.
He hadn't had any conact from BlackWarGreymon's spirit or any of the other spirits since that first talk with BlackWarGreymon. It seemed the device was keeping itself quiet as far as that went for which he was grateful. During his time alone in his room he ended up reading books belonging to the hospital and from the library. It was just as he expected the whole place to be. Apparently Twilight and her friends had taken care of the Storm King only 5 months prior to him coming here. They hadn't faced the shadow stallion yet which he was grateful for but he wondered when it would happen. He also wondered just why he hadn't seen Starlight yet but guess she was probably out spending her time with her friends.
Heading towards the gardens, he gave a soft smile to BonBon who was accompanying him yet again. Souls pushed open the doors leading to the gardens and limped out into the bright warm sunlight. He grunted in contentment as the warmth of the sun played along his hide and bandages. Although the warmth did start making his bandages itch quite a lot from the heat. Ignoring the itching he turned his head to BonBon to ask a question.
"Excuse me Miss BonBon but could I perhaps be left in peace for a bit over in my usual spot?" he asked calmly.
She nodded her head with a soft smile,"Of course Mr. Souls. I won't be to far away so please call me when your ready to walk around the gardens some more or ready to head back inside." She trotted off to help with another patient who was having a hard time as he settled into his secluded spot in the gardens.
He figured now would be as good a time as any to take a look at his Archiver again and hopefully get it to work without his body being taken over by a spirit again. Setting his satchel down on the ground beside him, he sat on his haunches and opened the flap to look inside. Lazily picking one of the chips up in his hoof, he slipped it into one of the Archiver's slots with a soft click. He had just picked on at random while looking at the flowers for a moment.
The screen of the Archiver lit up as it analyzed the chip inside before beeping up at him. The screen had several messages for him to read at his leisure. He looked down at the first message that read,"Scanning of Keldeo Soul chip complete. Keldeo's soul is fully repaired and fully functioning again. Sychronization rates with Keldeo soul at this time is at 40 percent. This unit does not recommend using the Soul Unison at this time with the current Synchronization rate."
Frowning he dismissed the first message as he started reading the only other message,"User Shattered Souls is too injured to fully utilize Soul Unison at this time. This unit recommends the user recovers more before trying a Soul Unison." He swiped at the message with his hoof to dismiss this one as well grumbling at the machines attempts to stop him from investigating. He sighed and pressed the red button on the Archiver which made the chip slide up from its slot.
Taking the chip out of the slot it was ejected from, he put it back into the bag. Souls fished for another one and held it up to his face this time to see which he had chosen. He sighed as saw he had chosen BlackWarGreymon's soul chip and moved to place it into the device. Gently placing it into the Archiver, he heard the click and pressed the green button in the middle. The Archiver made a humming noise before beeping at him again with another message.
He moved his gaze down towards the screen of the Archiver again in order to read the message. It read,"Scanning of BlackWarGreymon's Soul chip complete. BlackWarGreymon soul functioning at full capacity. Current Synchronization rate is 80 percent. Soul Unison with BlackWarGreymon is possible at this time." He blinked in surprise at this but quickly dismissed the message with a flick of his hoof on the screen.
Frowning at the Archiver in thought, he reached down and pressed the green button in the middle yet again. The machine hummed again but did not stop this time even as it beeped up at him. The message he read this time simply said,"Please say the initiation phrase for Soul Unison program. Each soul chip may have a unique initiation phrase if the user wishes. This unit will record the user's voice and phrase and catalog it with the chip in use at the time."
He nodded to himself as he got to all four of his hooves and closed his eyes. Moving his hoof in front of him, he held his foreleg horizontal as he prepared his program initiation phrase. Finally deciding on the phrase he called out,"Time to Warp Digivolve! Soul Unison BlackWarGreymon!" The machine hummed and beeped with one last message even as the white light started to gather around him.
The last message on the machine read,"Initiation phrase recorded for BlackWarGreymon Soul chip. Phrase recorded and tagged to chip. Soul Unison program initiated. Time limit for current form......10 minutes." The light formed around him and he closed his eyes as he felt the changes happen.
Inside the ball of bright white light he could feel the different parts of the armor forming around his body and locking into place. The deadly claws of the armor attaching to the hoof guards on his hooves as the cast on his foreleg completely disappeared. The armor finally finished locking into place around him as the two halves of the shield appeared and attached with a heavy click to his back. Feeling a heavy coldness on his face, he knew that the mask/helmet had just appeared on his face. The bottom part of the mask appeared underneath and clicked into place with the top part making his appearance complete. He felt the sudden urge to just lash out with his claws so he did so. This shattered the ball of light around him letting golden triangle shaped pieces of light float to the ground around him.
He looked down at himself and finally saw the armor that had been described to him by Twilight. The first armor he had been seen wearing fighting off that Timber Wolf the first time they had met had been a mystery to him for a while. Observing the deadly claws attached to his hooves, he smiled at the feeling of familiarity from seeing the armor of BlackWarGreymon on himself.
He winced when he suddenly felt some kind of sensation in the back of his head. It felt like there was someone observing him all of a sudden as if questioning what he could possibly be doing. Then he heard BlackWarGreymon's voice in his head,"Kid why the heck did you call on me if there is no enemy to fight? Its a waste of time and energy. Besides I can do all the fighting myself. All you would do is hold me back."
Grumbling he spoke out loud,"Oh sure. Just let you take control of my body again to do all the fighting. That's not going to happen. I'm doing this to become experienced with the Archiver and so I can keep control of my body during these soul unisons. I'd like to keep control of my body thank you very much."
BlackWarGreymon sighed in his head,"I see. I guess that makes sense kid. Your just trying to get some training in. Well if that's what your going to do I'd suggest actually trying to use my attacks rather then standing there like an idiot. I believe your body can handle it despite being injured."
Nodding to no one in particular he moved towards a secluded clearing in the gardens farther away from BonBon. BonBon hadn't noticed the light or sounds because she was still busy helping a nurse out with the difficult patient. And no one else saw anything because they were in different parts of the garden. Finally arriving at his destination, he brought his good hoof out in front of him. He closed his eyes and got a feel for his body. He could feel some kind of tingling energy coursing through his body which he suspected was his body's innate magic keeping the transformation going. He felt more of it concentrated around his bad shoulder and leg. So his magic was probably reinforcing the damaged limb so he wasn't yelling in pain and could actually do stuff.
Opening his eyes he growled out in a bad imitation of BlackWarGreymon,"Dramon Killers." The claws glowed a bright white as he lashed out with his good leg leaving trailing lines of white light in the air. The lines of white light were in the shape of the claws and faded after about 10 seconds of hanging in the air. After he didn't make anymore slashes after another 15 seconds, the claws stopped glowing altogether and went back to normal.
Moving his hoof and leg backwards out to his side, he concentrated as he forced the energy in his body to move towards his claw. He called out,"Terra Destroyer!" And the energy rushed into the claw before forming a glowing bubbling black ball of flames in it. It was a ball of energy about the size of a baseball and that seemed to be all he could manage for now. Tossing it out in front of him he watched it sail quickly through the air before impacting against a hill in the distance which caused an explosion that sent smoke up into the air.
Unknowingly to him, Jack Hunt had been walking near this part of the gardens on his way to try and catch his friend in the hospital again when he saw the orb of energy fly off. Jack saw it cause the explosion, which caused him to quickly draw his sword off his back in his telekinetic grip. He galloped off towards the direction the orb came from only to skid to a stop when he saw the being before him. He could tell it was a unicorn before him wearing some kind of armor. He looked into the unicorn's eyes only to see a glowing red looking back at him.
Right before Jack Hunt appeared before him Souls heard BlackWarGreymon comment,"Kid that was one of the weakest attacks I have ever seen. You need to put far more into it. Just let me take over for a moment to show you how before this form disappears." Right after saying this Jack appeared in the clearing with drawn sword and glaring at him.
"I don't know who you are but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Someone like you is only going to cause harm to the ponies around here and I can't let you do that." Jack growled at the unicorn before him.
Souls made to reply when BlackWarGreymon replied for him instead after taking over his body,"I'd like to see you try to make me leave kid. Luckily for you my time here is limited. But I'll leave you with a little parting gift first." He held out his claw and held it up,"Terra Destroyer!" He flung a basketball sized energy ball at Jack.
Jack rolled out of the way quickly as the ball of energy sailed past him impacting into the same hill in the distance. This caused a large crater to form in the hill as smoke rose into the air showing that something had happened there.
Jack coughed and heaved as he backed up further and his eyes teared up from the smoke. He couldn't see anything at the moment and yelled out,"Show yourself you cowardly yellow belly."
BlackWarGreymon chuckled as he landed on the ground and internally told Souls,"Here is where I pass back the reigns kid. You need to insert another chip and switch to a different soul unison before your magic is used up." With that he let Souls regain control as the Archiver appeared on his foreleg on top of the armor there. The satchel containing the chips appeared a few seconds later slung across the neck and chest of his armor. The claw around his bad leg disappeared as he huffed and puffed.
Figuring that he should probably follow BlackWarGreymon's advice, he pulled out another chip and quickly slotted it in. He pressed the green button in the middle of the Archiver causing the machine to hum again. It let out a beep with a new mesage for him to read,"Jack Hunt soul chip functioning at full capacity. Synchronization rate......90 percent. Soul Unison is available for use. Time to hold form at current energy levels.....15 minutes. Soul Unison program waiting to be initiated."
He called out in a modulated voice,"Unleash the power of the inner dragon! Soul Unison Jack Hunt Soul!" With a flash of light he was encapsulated in the bright light again. He could feel his body shifting as the armor of BlackWarGreymon completely disappeared. His legs elongated a bit as horns sprouted from the top of his head between his ears. They curled inwards like ram horns as draconic canine teeth grew from the top of his mouth as his tounge became serpentine. Great blue wings grew from his back and stretched out to either side of him as his tail changed from hair to a long blue dragon tail tipped with a bladed end. The fur on his body took on a dragon scaled appearance and the color of his coat became a darker shade of blue. Finally a blade appeared on his back looking exactly like Jack Hunts. New knoweledge of sword techniques and attacks filled his head as he felt instinctively how to use eletrical energy. Lashing out with a hoof he smashed the white orb around him to pieces and revealed himself.
The smoke of the crater had finally cleared enough for Jack to see and his eyes widened at what was there. Right in front of him he saw a version of himself very similiar to his true hybrid form. The biggest differences were that the coat color wasn't quite right and the other being's eyes were a distinct shade of steel gray. But what shocked him most of all was that this hybrid had an exact copy of his sword.
Growling at the hybrid before him,"I don't know who you are or where the other guy went. But I'll take you down just like I would have taken his cowardly hide down." He ran forwards in unicorn form and lashed out with his sword quickly in an expert sideswing.
Soul's dragon horns glowed with magic since he now lacked his unicorn horn and levitated his own sword to the side which blocked Jack's sword. He didn't speak as he instead moved forwards while channeling electricity into the sword causing it to spark. He went through a series of rapid swings which caused Jack to back up. Jack had to course electricity through his sword as well to offset his opponents while he blocked the swings.
"I can tell your not going to go down easy."Jack grunted as he jumped over his opponent and swung around to catch him in the back with his sword.
Without turning around, Soul's sword levitated behind him blocking Jack's strike with a clang of sparking metal against sparking metal. Lashing out with a follow up he shoved Jack's sword aside with his own and smacked Jack in the side of the face with the flat of the blade.
Yelping in pain and holding his face with his hoof, Jack cursed him and summoned a couple of ghostly weapons.
Souls' horns glowed brighter as he summoned two more ghostly weapons then Jack had and pressed his advantage and attack. Lashing out with four ghostly swords at Jack all from different directions as his true sword swung down at him.
Hunt showed his true sword mastery at this time as he expertly parried two of the ghostly swords with his own before lashing forwards with them to impale the other two ghostly swords by their hilts causing them to fade from existence. All the while he moved his sword in and blocked his opponent's sword before shoving it to the right. He made his own follow up by smacking Souls in the face a few times with the flat of his blade.
Souls backed up and took a deep breath as he instinctively forced his magic to the back of his throat and then exhaled spewing out a bolt of lightning at his foe. Hunt hadn't been expecting this and was caught in the chest full force by the bolt. It heaved him up off the ground into the air a few feet before he crashed back down. The bolt had left a heavy black mark on his chest and managed to knock him for a loop for the moment.
Souls was very weary now and staggered backwards as he quickly made the Archiver appear on his foreleg. He quickly pressed the third and last button on the device and with a flash of light the Soul Unison aborted and the chips ejected from the device. They flew right back into his satchel as the flap cloased and he looked very weary. Finally the fatigue of the battle hit him as well as the fatigue from all the magic he had used. His vision swam before him and before he knew it his body had slumped to the ground. His vision faded and he fell completely unconcious.
Jack groaned in pain as he forced himself back to his hooves. Looking around for his opponent he found no one but the unicorn he had met before. A broken crutch lay on the ground next to the unicorn while he groaned in pain while unconscious. Jack rushed over and observed his surroundings to make sure his look a like had left. He figured he had scared his doppelganger off and counted it as a win for himself. He quickly levitated the unconscious unicorn in his grip and headed back for the hospital. Thus the battle of Jack Hunt vs himself came to an end with the true Jack Hunt being victorious.
Author's Note
Woo. Hey Everyone. I got two chapters done in one day. It felt pretty good. I can only hope that I've been living up to all of your expectations. I decided to have this one farther apart on the timeline then the last one. I made sure to mention that he had been visited by Twilight again. So overall I'm satisfied with my work. Comment on the parts you liked or pm me with an oc you'd like me to add to the story.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Appearance of the Black Swordsman
Chapter 8
It was the following day after the fight between Jack Hunt and the mirror image of himself. Jack had made sure to get the unconscious unicorn back to the medical staff of the hospital. He had then returned to patrolling around the outside of Ponyville to make sure no monsters could get into the town. He had ended up encountering a couple of minor monsters and easily sent them packing.
Souls meanwhile had stayed in his hospital room unconscious for the entire rest of the day and had only just woken up in the morning. When he woke up, Nurse Redheart was in the room and gasped when he finally roused. Hurrying over to him, she gave him a thorough check up to make sure he was all right. Once she was satisfied he was in better condition then he had been yesterday she puffed herself up and glared at him.
Her glare intensified as she started to lecture him,"Mr. Souls. I don't know what you were doing yesterday but you were very foolish. Your very lucky you didn't make the injuries you already have any worse. You better thank your lucky stars that your actually better then you were yesterday. You suffered full magical exhaustion when it could very well have been magical burnout. I don't know what you were practicing with your magic but you need to be more careful about these things."
Souls' ears flattened to the back of his head as he tried to make himself smaller. He contritely replied,"Sorry Nurse Redheart. I thought I'd be able to practice my magic without that happening. I didn't realize my limits and went overboard."
Nodding her head Redheart continued,"Your correct in that you went overboard. Next time you practice magic you have to know your limits and stop when you hit them. That or you should at least have another unicorn watching you to make sure you stop when you need too."
Giving a small nod in return, he quietly said,"Yes Nurse Redheart." He lowered his head a bit in shame as he felt he was stupid for trying out his Soul Unison which got him into trouble.
Satisfied that she had got through to him, Redheart turned back to her clipboard,"Your progression towards recovery is going well and you should be able to check out of the hospital in a couple of days. You'll still have to wear the cast for at least another two weeks but other than that you'll be good as new."
Smiling happily, Souls uncurled himself from his small defensive ball,"Thanks. I'll do my best not to get so injured again."
She returned his smile with a small one of his own,"Good. Now I must be moving on to checking other patients. If you want to head out of your room then you know what to do." With that she left the room with a light bounce in her step.
Shattered Souls was now in the gardens some 2 hours later having finally decided he was tired of being cooped up in his room. A unicorn nurse had accompanied him outside this time just in case he decided to try practicing his magic again. Sighing in annoyance at the need, he silently wished he could somehow distract the nurse so that he could get some time alone to himself again. It was very trying on his patience always having the nurse hovering over him or near him worry and fussing over him.
Finally, he thought of an excuse he could use to get her to leave him at least for a little bit so he could have a moment of peace and quiet. Clearing his throat he looked to the nurse,"Excuse me Nurse. But could you perhaps get me a glass of water? I'm finding myself a little parched."
The nurse eyed him suspiciously after he asked that but after a moment smiled,"Of course Mr. Souls. I'll be right back. Remember no pratcicing your magic without me around."
"Yes Nurse." he grumbled back as he kept his forelegs folded. He stared at the flowers in front of him in his secluded spot while the nurse ran off to get a glass of water.
Turning his head to watch her go, he grinned once she was out of sight and turned to the Archiver on his foreleg. He knew he really shouldn't try to practice with it again today but he really wanted to. Quickly reaching into his satchel, he grabbed hold of a chip only to have the nurse speak up behind him,"Here you are Mr. Souls."
Dropping the chip that he had in his grip, he turned to her with a neutral expression on his face. After a few seconds he turned it to a polite smile as he took the glass from her,"Thank you very much nurse."
The nurse had figured out that he was going to try and get up to no good. So she had quickly grabbed a glass of water and moved quickly back to where he was. She was relieved to find that he hadn't been using any magic and was still right where she left him. Souls drank the glass of water slowly as he tried to think of another way to ditch the nurse for a bit.
Deciding on a course of action, he turned to the nurse,"I'd like to go for a walk."
Nodding her head, she replied,"Of course Mr. Souls. I'll just be following right behind you."
Getting up from his spot, he started to walk down the path in the garden. He walked at a moderately fast pace while hobbling along on his bad leg. The nurse easily kept up with him much to his annoyance. After they had walked a distance, he found himself right next to a large hedge that surrounded the outer perimeter of the gardens. Grinning to himself, he quickly rolled himself to his right which caused him to fall right through the hedge.
Shouting at him angrily, the nurse started to come through the hedge herself. "Get back here Mr. Souls. You know its not very nice to do something like this to me. And you know you need me to accompany you." Coming out the other side of the hedge she looked around to try and spot him figuring he couldn't have got very far with his bad leg. She scowled when she realized he was nowhere in the area and turned back to the hospital and galloped towards it. She was going to report his escape to the matron who would alert the hospital staff to keep an eye out for him.
Meanwhile, Souls was hiding inside of the hedge, having quickly dove back into it so he wasn't spotted by the nurse. Chuckling to himself, he exited the hedge to the side outside of the hospital garden perimeter. He started to walk along towards the town wanting to explore it before he was inevitably caught and taken back to the hospital. He was tired of being cooped up there when he should be out and about.
Having finally arrived inside of the town, he walked towards the market in order to see what kinds of food and other goods they were selling. Arriving at the market, he smiled at all the stalls that were set up and being manned by different ponies. He gave a friendly wave to the flower trio, who smiled and waved back. He walked by Carrot Top's stall and gave her a happy hello, which she returned. He frowned as he realized the apple family's stall wasn't here today. Applejack was probably still in the hospital due to her still injured leg.
Moving out of the market, he headed towards sugarcube corner, being able to see the top of the gingerbread like house over all the smaller buildings. He smiled in contentment and continued to wave at all the different townsponies who happily waved back. His ears flicked though as he heard cries from helping coming from a nearby alleyway. Quickly hobbling towards the alley, he took a peek inside from around the corner. His eyes widened in shock as he saw a few gruff looking stallions cornering a poor mare.
The mare's coat color was a delicate shade of gray with a blackish mane. She exuded an air of sophistication and grace while wearing a white bow tie around her neck. A musical note for a cutie mark sat upon her flanks and Souls realized who this was. It was of course none other than Octavia one of the best background ponies ever.
He growled to himself as he felt powerless to help her when she most needed it. The stallions were getting closer to her looking like they were going to rob her. They were taunting her, making fun of her, trying to make her give up her coin purse quickly.
Sitting upon his haunches, Souls pulled open the flap to his satchel as he thought,"Octavia really needs help. She's just like a certain small girl that was picked on in parties in Sword Art Online. I have to help her like Kirito helped that girl."
He turned his gaze down to his satchel and blinked in surprise as he saw one of the chips was glowing. Grabbing the chip in his hoof, his eyes grew even wider as he realized that it was Kirito's soul chip. He slotted the chip into the Archiver and then pressed the green button in the middle. Octavia's shouts for help started to grow more frantic as the machine hummed on his foreleg.
The machine beeped and brought up a message for him to quickly read. Scanning it quickly with his eyes, he read,"Kirito's Soul Chip running at full capacity. Synchronization rate......one hundred percent. Energy levels at max. Time form can be held........40 minutes. Soul Unison program on standby......Awaiting initiation phrase."
Quickly holding his foreleg in front of him he softly said," Let the Black Swordsman rise again. Soul Unison Kirito Soul!" The Archiver beeped as it recorded the initiation phrase and the ball of white light surrounded him. He grinned to himself as the changes to his body occurred.
His body grew a few inches taller as it also grew much leaner. His muscles strengthened 5 fold as his bones grew lighter. Pegasus wings grew from his back and rested against his sides. His coat color changed to a dark grey color while his eyes became a piercing blue. His mane grew shorter till spikes of it were hanging over his face. His mane also changed to black as Kirito's signaute black coat settled over his form. Two swords appeared on his back in ornate sheaths with the handles being those of Kirito's two signature swords. Feeling the changes were complete he lashed out with a hoof and smashed the orb to pieces.
The golden light fell down in pieces around him as he felt a presence appear in the back of his mind. This signaled that Kirito was now conscious and just watching him for the moment. Knowledge filled his head of Kirito's fighting style and how he pulled off the techniques in the first place. This knowledge with the aid of his magic relegated itself to his body and pushed the moves and techniques into his muscle memory so he could go off pure instinct until he trained enough to pull off the moves by himself. Even the knowledge of flight filled his head and then went to his body's muscle memory.
Stepping confidently around the corner, he glared at the two stallions that now had Octavia backed up against the wall. He growled out,"I'm going to have to ask you to leave the nice mare alone. You know you should be treating ladies with respect and much better than that."
One of the stallions turned to him snapping back,"And who's going to make us? A scrawny little pegasus like yourself would only break himself against our hooves."
Souls' raised an eyebrow,"Is that so? Well then I guess I'll have to take that as a challenge if you don't back off."
The other stallion turned to him,"You can't do nothing. Now get out of here before we make you."
Souls sighed,"Well I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way. Miss when there is an opening I need you to run and get away from here."
Octavia nodded her head frantically, still pressed up against wall of the back end of the alley.
Souls turned back to the stallions, who were both earth ponies. He tensed himself as he carefully pushed himself onto his hind legs and entered a combat stance. He winced in pain as his spine tingled and protested against him doing this. His good hoof glowed with a red light as he stayed in the stance and moved it a certain way. One of the martial arts combats skills he knew in this form ready to be used.
One of the stallion's laughed at him,"What do you think your doing boy? Trying to make it easier for us to break you?" He motioned with his head to the other stallion,"Go on Heavy. Take him out."
Heavy grinned as he moved forwards,"Glad to oblige." He then charged the smaller pegasus and swung with a hoof as he got close enough.
Souls ducked underneath the swing and stepped forwards at the same time. Lashing out with an uppercut, his glowing hoof left a line of red light behind it as he performed the move. It smashed into the stallion's jaw causing him to fly up into the air a few feet before he fell to the ground with a heavy thumb.
Heavy groaned in pain and rubbed his jaw with a hoof as he got back to his hooves. He spat on the ground trying to get rid of the blood in his mouth. He spat out a few teeth when he did so as well as a small glob of blood. "Your going to pay for that kid."
He charged in again recklessly, hoping that one of his swings would hit. He came at Souls with a flurry of swings causing Souls to flutter hop backwards to avoid the strikes. Souls somersaulted forwards underneath the stallion's reach and came up with his glowing red hoof. He smashed it into the stallion's chest with power behind the strike. The stallion let out a whuff as he lost his breath at exactly the same time a cracking sound could be heard. Then with a gust of air that poofed out from the impact point he went flying through the air a good 6 feet before landing on the ground with a groan.
Heavy continued to groan on the ground as he tried to get back up. He gasped in pain and moved a hoof to his chest clutching it as he tried to get back up. He then lay his head back down on the ground in pain unable to do anything else.
The other stallion's jaw dropped at what he'd just seen in shock and awe of the pegasus. These feelings quickly changed to anger and frustration as he turned back to the pegasus.
"I'm going to make you pay for taking out Heavy. If i don't then my name's not Hard Revenge." He pulled a rusty looking sword off his back as he put it into his mouth in order to hold it.
Souls was back on all fours wincing in pain as his back told him he had been dump and stupid for standing in a bipedal position. He drew the swords on his back from their sheaths using his wings.
Revenge moved forwards with his rusty sword hoping to cut the annoying pegasus down. He swung his head to the side with the sword making a swipe at the pegasus.
Souls flicked his right sword up in front of him with his wing and paried revenge's swipe. Thrusting his oppenent's sword to the right, Souls used the opening provided to smack Revenge hard in the side of the head with the flat of the blade of his left sword.
Revenge squawked in pain and was almost forced to drop the sword in his mouth due to the pain in the side of his face. He growled and lashed out with a hoof while swinging his head downwards this time.
Souls blocked his hoof strike with the flat of his right blade and blocked the downwards sword strike with his left blade. He grinned,"Game over." His swords glowed ominously with red light as he disengaged. Backing up he held his swords out away from his sides,"Starburst Stream! Non Lethal Version."
Revenge started to charge Souls again only to stop in confusion as he saw the mare he'd kept trapped run past him. It only then occurred to him that his prey had just escaped and it was all thanks to this pegasus. He growled in anger and charged the Pegaus with renewed strength.
Again he had to stop in surprise at the splayed out stance that Souls had taken with wings outstretched. The blades in his wings glowing that ominous red color. He quickly gathred himself and continued his charge at Souls.
Souls disappeared with a flash of light before appearing in front of his oppoenent. He lashed out with blinding speed with his left sword using it to hack at the blade of the rusty sword. While his right sword smacked Revenge hard in his shoulder. The force of the strike from his left sword shattered the blade of the rusty sword to pieces. This forced Revenge to drop it at the same time that he yelped once again from the strike to his shoulder.
He tried to lash out with his bare hooves, swinging wildly in front of him. "Why won't you just go down?"
"Because you need to pay for threatening that mare."Souls replied with fury in his voice. He moved even faster than before and blocked each and every hoof strike sent his way with his swords as their glow grew brighter. He found an opening in the strikes and took it unleashing his own barrage. There was a flash of light and everything went black before glowing red lines appeared in a star pattern in the darkness. The light returned but the red star pattern remained. It was on the chest of Revenge who was standing stock still with Souls right behind him.
Revenge groaned in pain before slumping to the ground unconscious. The star pattern disappeared from his chest as Souls re-sheathed the swords.
Octavia nervously peaked around the corner back into the alley. Seeing that both thugs were unconscious, she trotted back in towards the pegasus that had saved her. "Thank you sir for the help. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come."
Souls turned around to face her, giving her a small smile at the same time. "It was no problem miss. I was glad to help."
Octavia's cheeks lit up with a tint of pink as she looked at the stallion in front of him. He was very well muscled and lean but had a calm gentle appearance about him. He also spoke politely to her. He was very attractive looking to her with his own gray coat and the cool looking black overcoat.
Moving closer to him she smiled back politely,"My name is Octavia. Would you perhaps be interested in meeting me for lunch sometime?"
Soul's blinked in surprise at the request but smiled politely,"I don't see why not miss Octavia. I can meet you next week at the cafe here in town on Thursday if that's okay."
Octavia nodded her head,"That will work nicely." She was about to continue with another question when Souls spoke up.
"I apologize for interupting you Miss Octavia but I really need to be going right now. I'll talk to you when next I see you. I hope you have a good day." With that he backed up a polite difference and took to the sky. He waved down at her while confusion first graced her face and then understanding. She nodded up at him and waved and he waved back. After he left she stood in the street for a moment wondering just who that wonderous black coated swordsman had been.
He then took off at speed towards the hospital and landed outside the perimiter hedge to the gardens. Holding up his left foreleg, he concentrated his magical energy to it and made the Archiver appear. He had 25 minutes before his magical energy ran out and the transformation ended. But he pressed the third button the Archiver to abort the transformation. He was surrounded in the orb of light as his body went back to normal.
He quickly moved back through the hedge and then hobbled his way back towards the hospital in his now returned cast. When he finally reappared where the other hospital staff could see him, he was promptly taken to his room and lectured once again by Nurse Redheart. But thus passed another day and the black swordsman appeared and rose to greatness in the eyes of one mare.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. I finally decided to use the last mane soul chip I'd had appear at the start. Figured that it was as good a time as any. I hope you liked the chapter. Decided to have Octavia appear. She's one of the best background ponies in my opinion.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 9
Waking up the following day, Souls yawned as he stretched a bit in his hospital bed being careful of his bad shoulder. Looking around the room, he sighed as he thought back to yesterday and the lecture he'd received. He had really made Nurse Redheart angry and she would probably still be miffed about yesterday. He looked over at the right wall of his room to see the new addition that had been added to it yesterday. Hanging from a peg on the wall, a calendar stared back at him. It was apparently November here in Equestria according to the calendar. He hadn't even realized that it was fall. There had been no chilly breezes the past two weeks and the gardens were kept in a state of perpetual bloom due to loving care. Also according to the calendar it was November 27.
He frowned as he realized he'd seen some trees in the distance with autumn colors but it hadn't registered with him till just now. He was glad that his fur kept him nice and warm without the need for a jacket or scarf. Although that might change if the weather started to really turn cold. He looked towards his hoodie, which he really wished he coult put on. That would keep him nice and warm no matter where he went.
Souls looked towards the clock on the wall to check what time it was. The clock told him that it was 8:00 in the morning. Opening up his mouth, he let out a crackling yawn. His horn started to tingle as sparks shot out of the tip of his horn. Souls quickly cast his eyes up to his horn wondering what the heck was going on with it and his magic. He felt the energy coursing through his body and reaching through his horn but all he was getting were these effects. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and willed the energy to calm. The energy reacted to his will and went back to flowing around through his body just like it should.
The door to his room opened up after his energy calmed to admit a calmly smiling Nurse Redheart. Eyeing her nervously, he let out a small,"Good Morning Nurse Redheart."
She replied with a little happiness in her voice,"Good Morning to you too Mr. Souls."
He finally looked her in the eyes but regretted it the very next second. Their was an extreme iciness to her eyes, which showed just how hard she was holding back her anger at him for the moment. She wanted to be professional for the moment so she had to keep a happy face on. He lowered his head and looked away from her as he shivered in fear a bit. Nobody made Nurse Redheart angry and got away unscathed from her wrath.
"Um. So I'll be free to go today?" Souls asked with a small amount of hope in his voice.
"Yes you will. I'm just going to examine you one more time. If everything checks out then I'll sign your papers and you'll be a free stallion again." She replied happily.
"Oh. Ok. Please go right ahead." He replied nervously as he sat up slowly still shivering.
Nurse Redheart came over to him and examined his wounds to make sure they were still healing well. They were healing just like they should and she finally removed the bandages from his neck and side of his head. Underneath were long thin scars that traced the path that the tips of Kyurem's claw had taken as they clashed against his body. He grunted as he closed his eyes and sighed as Redheart continued her examination. She made sure the cast was snug against his leg and shoulder and that a good crutch was nearby for him to use.
She backed off after a moment with a small smile on her face. "Well I'm happy to tell you that your all clear. You just need to take it easy while your out and about. We will also need you to come back here to the hospital in two weeks in order to get your cast taken off.
He nodded,"Of course." Carefully manuvering off the bed, he grabbed hold of the nearby crutch. He stood on all fours now and made a little bow to Nurse Redheart who held her clipboard out to him.
"Please just sign on the dotted line and you'll be good to go,"She asked kindly.
He smiled nervously as he got close to her not knowing how to write with his mouth and still having no access to regular unicorn magic. He carefully took the quill in his mouth and tilted his head to write. Suffice it to say he botched the whole thing with overly large letters that were terrible to look at. Nurse Redheart gave him a confused look when he used his mouth instead of his horn but kept her confusion to herself. She took the quill back from him and shook her head at the terrible writing on the board.
"You may go ahead and leave now Mr. Souls." She calmly said as she waved him along with her hoof.
Quickly grabbing hold of his hoodie, he draped it across his back as he grabbed the satchel with his hoof. He slipped the satchel around his neck to hang against his side as he gave Nurse Redheart a small smile. Souls then walked out of the room with a smile on his muzzle.
Once outside of the room, he looked around only to blink in surprise when he saw Twilight Sparkle a short distance away sitting on a chair. It looked like she had been waiting a while for something.
"Hello there Miss Sparkle. What brings you here today?" Shattered Souls asked inquisitively.
Sparkle snapped her head towards his voice before a warm smile graced her features. Getting up from her seat, she trotted over to him. She happily replied,"Oh I just came here today because I knew you were getting out of the hospital. I know you don't have a place to stay or anything so I thought I'd offer you a room in my castle until your back on your feet. And please just call me Twilight. We are friends after all."
Souls blinked in surprise,"Friends? But we've only met and talked a couple of times."
She smiled warmly,"Yes but those talks have been enough to start a friendship. And I do consider you a friend whether you believe it or not Souls."
Nodding his head he smiled back,"Thank you Twilight. And I'm honored to be your friend."
Nodding her head in satisfaction, she turned to lead him out of the hospital. "Just follow me to the castle and we'll get you set up in the room that I brought you to originally."
"Ok Twilight."He replied contentedly. He trotted along behind her in silence for a bit before he heard Twilight start to speak again.
"So how are you feeling Souls? I hope your injuries haven't been hurting to much."She concernedly.
"Oh I'm feeling just fine Twilight. My injuries have been healing just fine. I'm not feeling any pain at all now. How is your friend Miss Applejack doing?" He asked.
"She is doing just fine. The doctors were able to treat her frostbite and she'll be just fine. She's not allowed to use her leg for at least another week but after that she'll be able to get back to her regular duties down at her farm."
He let a small smile grace his muzzle,"Well that's good to hear. Thank you for letting me stay at your castle until I can support myself."
She turned to him, peering into his green eyes with her own soft magenta ones,"Its perfectly fine. After all friends help friends."
He smiled happily,"That is true."
She continued,"Of course I also want to continue running tests on your magic and that device of yours. I've seen you transform several times with it now but I'm still no closer to figuring out how the magic works. It will require lots of research and tests."
He shuddered upon her revealing this information,"Um If its not to much trouble I'd like to wait until this cast is off my leg."
She frowned back at him but aquiesced,"Very well. But I'm pretty sure we could do a few tests without worrying about making your injuries worse again." She turned back to leading him.
They finally arrived at the castle and Twilight quickly set him back up in the room where she'd first brought him after he passed out weeks ago. She told him to just holler for her if he needed something and she'd come to see what he needed. She had then promptly left to go dive into her research of his magic and just what it could be. Souls had been left alone in the room with his thoughts. The clock on the wall said it was 10:30 am now and he felt he needed to do something.
Setting the satchel on the ground along with his hoodie, his eyes widened as a chip within the bag glowed. It was a blank chip right next to Keldeo's that was glowing. An image slowly appeared on the chip as a soul filled the small data device.
The image was that of a mega charizard with two large wings on its back with spikes coming out of the tips at the arch of the wings. Two smaller wings without the spikes were connected to its back right underneath the larger wings. The charizard had a black collar around its neck connecting to a large spike coming out the back. The spike was similiar to the spikes on the wings. All of the spikes were white like they were made of bone. Three long white spikes adorned its slender tail at intervals with each other ending at its fiery tail tip. The area above the claws on its feet were covered with plates of some kind of black armor that fit around the claws easily, offering a little protection. Black gloves of the same type of material covered its clawed hands while orange colored spikes jutted from its shoulders and elbows. Fire covered the spikes on the elbows while chest armor covered its chest, while looping around the orange spikes on the shoulders. Small plates of the black armor were right above its knees to offer a little protection there too. A large black spike reared up between two slender white horns jutting form the top of its head. And the symbol of mega evolution was placed as a symbol right on its forhead beneath the black spike.
Souls picked the chip up with a hoof to bring it closer to his face to read the inscription. There was a marker on the chip that said it was one of those really rare special chips that couldn't be traded or thrown away. It was marked as a special Mega Charizard variant. The inscription below the image read,"Cinder Blaze, Speed Demon of Flame!"
He moved the chip over to the Archiver and slotted it in. Pressing the green button in the middle, the machine hummed as it scanned and archived the new chip into its data base. The machine beeped at him after a moment, displaying a message on the screen. Souls read the message quickly,"Cinder Blaze soul chip archived......Operating at full capacity......Energy levels one hundred percent.....Time form can be held.......20 minutes......Soul Unison program on standby......awaiting initiation phrase."
He dismissed the message with a quick flick of his hoof and held his foreleg out in front of him using the crutch to help him keep it up,"Dragon of Flame, Burn all enemies to ashes! Soul Unison Cinder Blaze Soul." The Archiver recorded the phrase and activated the program.
He was encased in the orb of white light and closed his eyes as the changes began. His tail ended up becoming a Mega Charizard's long slender tail with the three spikes jutting up from the back. The tail tip was engulfed in a roaring fire as the two sets of wings shot out from his back. The large wings flapping for a moment as the smaller set did too. A brilliantly shining black armor covered his chest with a medium pearl sized gem right in the middle glowing with a brilliant rainbow color. A sleek black helmet appeared on his head looking streamlined and covering his muzzle. A large black spike jutted out backwards at the top of the helm as two white horns grew from the back of his head behind his ears as his unicorn horn disappeared. The mega evolution symbol appeared on the area of the helm covering his forehead. His fur turned a fiery orange as canines grew from the top of his mouth. Sleek black bracers embedded with round fire stones appeared on all four of his legs as two deadly sets of hoof claws attached themselves to all his hooves. The black armor spread down his back and three black spikes jutted out of the armor at intervals. His mane was replaced with one of pure fire as it burned with intense heat. His eyes turned a brilliant blue and he lashed out with a hoof claw which shattered the orb around him.
He grinned to himself as he looked at himself in the mirror. This form would be a very powerful one to use. One of his ears flicked for a moment as he heard distant cries for help. It appeared his hearing was enhanced in this form. Heading towards the window he looked out, glad that the crutch and cast had disappeared with the transformation and his leg was doing fine. Looking out the window, he spotted a distant figure being chased by what seemed to be something mechanical.
He carefully jumped on top of the dresser underneath the window as he continued to look outwards. The pony was outside of Ponyville and doing their best to get inside the town. He shot forwards out of the window with a large burst of speed. He glowed white as he moved through the air at high speed using the move Extreme Speed. He stopped right above the pony and mechanical being after a minute of this high speed flying.
Looking down he saw the mechanical thing, It looked just like a Metta from the original Megaman games. Those annoying little ball shaped robots with the yellow construction hats on their heads and the large over-sized picks. He glared down at it as it gained a bit on the pony who he didn't recognize. He flew up a bit higher and then sped down at high speed towards the robot while covered in flames. He was using Flare Blitz as he slammed into the robot and sliced it into pieces with the use of a dragon claw attack from one of his hoof claws.
The broken pieces of the robot sparked and fizzled before dying down. The pony had kept on running not knowing that the robot had been taken care of and they were safe. Souls shook his head as he felt the presence of the Charizard now in the back of his head nodding mentally with approval at the destruction of the robot. He grinned even wider than before.
Landing on the ground, he willed the Archiver into existence on his foreleg. He took a look at the screen and it told him he had 16 minutes left in his current form. His gaze snapped up as he heard more of those stupid Mettas coming his way in a line from a box looking machine in the distance. He growled and prepared to go full fury again when his satchel appeared in a burst of light.
Six of the blank chips within the bag started to glow with light and flew up into the air. Each chip glowed until an image was on each of them depicting a different hero from one particular game series he liked. Before him on the the chips, were 5 different generations of Megaman and a rival from one of the generations. The 5 different generations he saw were original Megaman, Legends, X, Battle Network, and Starforce. The rival on the sixth chip that he saw was from X. The rival on the chip was none other than Zero!
He blinked in surprise as the red button on his Archiver pressed itself downwards and the charizard chip was ejected. It sailed through the air and landed back in the satchel as the 6 chips flew through the air and slotted themselves into all six slots on the Archiver. Metal plates slid over the slots closing the chips off and keeping them inside of the Archiver as it quickly scanned and cataloged each chip and soul.
Souls could feel his current transformation start to break apart with the charizard chip having been forcefully ejected. So he used the remaining energy of this form to pull off another extreme speed and flare blitz at the same time to burn through all the Mettas. They exploded into bits of metal and shrapnel as he sped through them till he reached the big box looking machine. He landed right on the ground as the transformation broke apart and he was back to normal with cast and crutch.
He winced in pain but looked up to see a window in the box machine. The window opened to reveal a crazy looking stallion with a gray coat and a long mustache under his nose. His mane seemed to be split in two with most of it growing out to the sides around his ears. His cutie mark was that of gears interlocked with each other. He looked down at Souls with a smirk.
"So you defeated my foot soldiers. Sadly for you I have stronger robots to face you or my name's not Doctor Wily."
Souls growled at the stallion as the Archiver continued to hum as it continued to scan the chips inside of it,"How dare you come here Doctor Wily! I'll make sure to send you packing before you can destroy the village."
"I'd like to see you try that weird horse thing!" The doctor said not realizing that he was a pony himself. He closed the window as he retreated further inside of his machine.
A huge gate opened up on the outside of the machine and revealed several of the robot masters. One of the robot masters was none other than Cutman while the other was Iceman.
"Well look what we have here. Some weird kind of horse Iceman. Why don't we Cut him down to size?"Cutman laughed while pointing at Souls.
"Yes let's defeat the stupid looking thing. I'll Freeze him solid."Iceman laughed with him.
Souls eyes narrowed considerably as he glared at the two robotic masters. The Archiver finally beeped signaling that the chips were scanned and archived. That meant that the chips were finally available for use and he quickly pressed the green button in the middle after selecting one of the chips on the screen. He held his foreleg up carefully as he prepared the transformation.
A message quickly flitted across the screen of the Archiver. It read,"Megaman Battle Network soul archived........Megaman Battle Network soul chip working at full capacity......Synchronization rate.......75 percent.......Time to hold form.........10 minutes...Soul Unison Availble.....Soul Unison program on standby.....Awaiting initiation phrase."
He growled loudly,"Megaman Soul Chip in, Download! Soul Unison, Megaman Battle Network Soul!"
The orb of light surrounded him, which surprised the two robotic masters who took a few steps back in surprise. He shut his eyes tightly as the transformation began. He was floating in the orb in a bipedal stance. His body glowed as a flash of light happened within the orb and his body became anthrofied. He was now wearing his green hoodies and a pair of blue shorts as he snorted. He held his arms out to the sides and metallic blue gloves with a large blue cuff around each appeared on his hands. Blue metallic boots appeared on his hooves with large circular rings at the top of each boot. Next to appear was Megaman's circle logo which attached to his chest. From their a form fitting suit appeared spreading outwards from the boots and gloves which connected to the logo in the center. His tail turned a deep blue with a yellow line zipping through the middle. Yellow lines appeared from the gloves running to the logo along with yellow lines from the logo to the boots. Blue metallic pauldrons appeared on his shoulders as the helmet appeared. It had two fins symmetrically on either side that were small and yellow colored. It landed on his head and made settled around his head leaving his ears poking out the top as his mane shortened considerably to come out as only two inches from the outside of the helmet. Last but not least a backpack looking device appeared and attached to his back with the tops of two pistons things poking from the top corners of the backpack.
He held his right arm out in front of him and braced it with his left hand as the gloved hand was encircled by the cannon of the mega buster. He fired a single shot from the buster, which shattered the orb around him into little pieces. As the golden light filtered down around him, Cutman pointed at him angrily while shouting curses.
"Look its the annoying blue toaster again. Why the crap is he here and how did he get here?" Cutman yelled.
"I don't know Cutman but we'll have to be careful. We don't want him to touch us and copy our powers again."Iceman responded while backing up. They both thought he was original megaman.
Iceman formed a block of ice in front of him with his powers, which he then kicked hard with his foot to send flying at Souls. Cutman threw the blades on the top of his head at the same time as extra insurance.
Souls eyes widened in surprise at this and started to panic not knowing what to do. The new presence in the back of his mind signaling BN Megaman came to the forefront and took over.
Megaman BN seemed to have color leech from him as he called out,"Area Steal." He disappeared completely from view as both attacks passed by right where he had been. Cutman's blades came back to him, which he grabbed and placed back on his head. Both of the robotic masters looked around frantically to find him.
Iceman asked in a panicked voice,"When the heck did he get powers like that? He never did that before."
"Don't ask me Iceman. Maybe he got an upgrade."Cutman responded with his blades at the ready again.
Megaman finally reappeared right in front of Cutman,"I'm not the Megaman you know Cutman. I'm a more advanced version of him. So you old tin scraps won't beat me that easily."
"I'll cut you into scrap metal,"Cutman roared as he swiped with his blades right down on Megaman.
Megaman grunted as he called out,"Wide Sword." His buster arm transformed into a blue widesword which he used to block Cutman's blades. He then called out,"Longsword." His other arm formed into a blue longsword which he used to stab forwards at Butman catching him in the arm.
Cutman backed up screaming in pain as his right arm dangled uselessly. Sparks jumped from a hole in his right arm because the wires were now exposed and the whole arm was useless. The blades reattached to his head and he swung his head to fire the blades in a circular saw motion at Megaman.
Iceman took the time to create a stack of ice blocks which he started to kick at Megaman. Megaman backed up and cut the ice blocks that came at him to pieces only to have to block the blades that came at him. He held his swords in front of him in an x shape while the blades spun with a buzzing sound against his swords creating sparks. Megaman was slowly pushed back until he ducked and his swords shattered into pieces as the blades flew over him and then back to Cutman. He rolled out of the way of a couple more ice blocks.
"Its time to turn up the heat,"Megaman called out as he slammed his hand into the ground,"Fire Tower!"
Pillars of fire erupted from the ground heading right towards Iceman. Iceman's eyes widened and he turned around to start heading back to the giant cube in his panic. The fire pillars moved faster till a giant one burst under him launching him in the air and catching him in a tower made of fire. He screamed in pain as he was melted alive. The fire died down and he was dropped to the ground as a slagged heap of metal that sparked wildly. Then with a high beeping intensity the exposed circuits overloaded and he exploded into bits.
Cutman turned to see the explosion yelling out,"Iceman no!" He turned back to Megaman BN. "Your going to pay for that." He sent out hand circular blades which launched themselves at Megaman.
Megaman grinned,"I don't think so! Area Steal!" He disappeared from view again as the blades passed right through where he'd been. They embedded themselves in the ground as he reappeared a good distance back.
He held his arms out to either side as he called out,"Cannon slot in, triple download! Program Advance, Zeta Canon!" He put his hands together as they formed into the Zeta Cannon.
Cutman blanched and backed up from the site of the canon. And then turned to head back to saftey as Megaman called,"Fire." The barrels of the cannon lit up and fired one massive plasma burst which streaked across the ground. It slammed into Cutman's back punching a massive hole through his chest.
Cutman looked down at the hole before saying in pain,"Why? How did he get so powerful?" He fell face forwards onto the ground before exploding into shrapnel.
Megaman glared at the cube as Doctor Wily exited his creation while glaring,"Curse you Megaman. You always show up to thwart me."
"Exactly Doctor Wily. All you'll do is hurt innocent people and I can't let that happen. Longsword, Widesword, Sword, chips slot in, Download! Program advance, Life Sword!"
He held his hands above his head as the giant sword made of light appeared above his head in between his hands. He brought the blade down with a yell and it cut into the giant cube easily. Cutting the entire thing in half, Megaman ended the attack after the cube exploded into a giant ball of fire. Wily had to run and duck forwards to escape the explosion.
Megaman quickly ran over to Dr. Wily with his mega buster at the ready,"Its over Doctor Wily. Go back to the world you came from. You don't belong here."
Wily sneered up at him,"Fine. I'll go back for now to live to fight another day. But you haven't seen the last of me Megaman." He stepped back as a portal opened. He stepped back into it and it quickly closed behind him.
Megaman panted as he tried to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and his mind retreated to the back as Souls mind came forwards once again. Souls was completely calm as he looked around and sighed. He summoned his Archiver to find he had only a minute of time left. He quickly disengaged the transformation which caused the orb of light to reappear and then disappear. He was back to normal now although with drooping eyes as he felt his magic running low.
He decided to head back to the castle at a walk as he contemplated the battle. It would seem that more and more familiar enemies were appearing here in Equestria. He would have to do something about the barriers in the future. He tiredly walked back into town unawares that he had been watched since he came to the outskirts of Ponyville.
Jack Hunt sat atop a hill with folded forelegs as he thought quietly. He had first seen an orange dragon creature appear and then destroy a weird yellow robot chasing a pony he had been about to help. Then it flew off destroying more of the things before he could approach it. Then it had changed back into that unicorn stallion he'd met before back at the hospital. He nodded to himself now knowing what Souls magic did and what it let him down. He figured he'd treat Souls as an ally for now rather than an enemy as it was always best to have more allies. With that he moved off towards his house to rest for the rest of the day.
Another stallion sat up on a cloud high above the battlefield looking down on the wreckage. His name was Swift "Cross" Shot and he was a cyborg pegasus. His legs and hooves were all made out of cybernetic metal with gems embedded all over in it. His coat was a pure white while his wings were mostly the same except for Gray at the edges of his wings. His mane was red with a large blue stripe running down the middle of it while his tail was made up of a red stripe and blue stripe. His eyes were a bright yellow and he'd used them to gaze upon the whole battle.
His interest had spiked the highest when he saw Souls transform into the blue robotic warrior. He watched hoping that he could come up with ideas and ways to protect himself and Rainbow Dash if he was ever in trouble. He had a huge crush on her that he hadn't told anyone about.
He quickly flitted down to the wreckage of the battlefield and wandered around it hoping to find something of use. what he came upon after searching the remains of the robotic masters were two CPU chips encased in a black metal that protected them from being destroyed. He grinned as he set them into slots he had appear on his forelegs. The computer in his legs beeped and scanned the contents of the CPU chips before adding all the attack data to its battle computer.
He ejected the chips and placed them into pocket in the saddle bags on his back as he looked at his legs. He held one foreleg up in front of him and it formed into a mega buster like cannon which he fired only for it to fire white rounds of some sort. One impacted a tree and froze the whole thing solid in a block of ice causing him to grin. He put his leg back down as it went back to a normal leg and hoof and held up his other leg. A circular saw blade appeared in his hoof spinning dangerously. He threw it and it cut through the air with precision cutting the frozen tree in half and the flying back to him. He caught the blade easily and it disappeared back into his hoof before his hoof returned to normal. He set it down on the ground again.
Now he had new ways to protect himself and Rainbow Dash. He could also be a hero while he was at it and help protect the town he lived in. He flew off into the sky quickly, glad that he now had a new way to help out.
So overall Dr. Wily was defeated by the cunning and wiles of Megaman and a new hero has been revealed.
Author's Note
Hey everyone. So I gathered things from several users and put them together in this big chapter. Well big for me anyway. I'm not used to writing this much. But I think it turned out great. I was able to showcase a special charizard along with one of the versions of Megaman. Also we have a new character joining us in the story. Swift Shot the cyborg pegasus. You'll see more of him in the future alongside Jack Hunt. So go ahead and comment on what you liked about the story. Send me a pm if you have a OC you'd like me to add to the story.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 10
After Shattered Souls had returned to the castle, Twilight had luckily not found out what he had done due to her being so deep into her research. He had stayed in his room for the rest of the day just resting and letting his magic pool replenish itself. Hiding the soul chips, he had placed his satchel deep in the closet that was connected to his room. While he liked Twilight, he didn't exactly trust her as far as her researching tendencies went. She had already point blank told him that she wanted to research him and his magic. She also wanted to study his Archiver and the chips themselves, which made him really nervous. So he hid the chips deep in the closet hoping she wouldn't find them there no matter how slim the chance.
The rest of the day had passed uneventfully so he had been able to get plenty of rest during the night. It was now the following day and he'd had a nice breakfast with Twilight. It had of course been cooked by Spike and he thanked Spike for making it. Twilight had inquired as to how he was feeling and he replied that he was feeling better. She looked really nervous like she really wanted to ask about his magic again. Luckily, she had remembered what she had promised and didn't ask him. Instead, Twilight asked if he'd like to go get lunch at a pizza place she heard had been pretty good in its hay day. Souls had accepted her invitation with a bit of apprehension.
It was about 10:00 in the morning at the moment and he was sitting on a hill outside of Ponyville. He let out a long breath before saying out loud,"Why does living with Twilight have to be so stressful? She's a good mare and all but she really needs to lay off the research. I get she wants to know everything about the world around her but she just needs to experience every now and then."
He shook his head as he continued to voice his thoughts out loud,"I'd just like to get to know the rest of the mane six at this time. And then there is that lunch appointment I made with Octavia next week on Thursday. And then there is the problem that I just don't know much about this whole Archiver or Soul Warrior thing. BlackWarGreymon still won't answer my questions about it. Can't anyone answer my questions?"
There was a glowing light that came from the satchel he kept close to his side. The flap of the satchel opened up on its own and a soul chip zoomed right out of it to float a few feet in front of him,"Well yeah. There's plenty of us here that could answer your questions. You just haven't bothered to direct your questions to us. So I thought I'd help you out." It was a light, young chipper voice that was speaking to him from the chip.
He looked up to see who's soul chip it was and sighed when he saw that it was Keldeo's soul chip. The chip glowed brighter until it disappeared in a flash of light to be replaced by a shimmering image of Keldeo himself. He was grinning happily down at the sitting Souls and waved at him.
Giving Keldeo a weak smile, Souls let out a long sigh. "Hey Keldeo. Its nice to see you've recovered from your battle with Kyurem. I wish I could say the same." He winced in imaginary pain as his left leg clenched up.
Keldeo's smile dropped instantly as a pained expression lit up across his face,"Uh yeah sorry about that. Not one of my greatest moments. I was really rusty and out of practice. I'm sorry I couldn't take all the damage away but it just wasn't possible."
Souls closed his eyes for a moment to keep his calm before looking at Keldeo again. "Its okay. I forgive you Keldeo. But please next time don't take control of my body unless its a really dire emergency or I've given you permission. I really don't take well with people who do that without permission. Its an invasion of privacy and my rights as a sentient being."
Keldeo looked up at the sky for a moment before replying,"I understand that. I wasn't thinking of anything at that particular moment other than protecting the village and its inhabitants. To me it was a dire emergency since Kyurem was involved."
Souls nodded his head,"I understand that. And in the end it was the right choice to make but please keep in mind in the future that i'd like to be asked."
Keldeo smiled faintly again,"I can do that. Now I believe you had some questions that you wanted to ask and have answered?"
Souls returned the smile,"Yeah. First off could you reiterate what a Soul Warrior is exactly and why I'm one?"
Nodding his head, Keldeo replied in a happy tone,"Yeah. A Soul Warrior is a being who has a soul archiver and fights interdimensional threats using the souls of warriors or beings who have passed on. You also fight against threats that are native to the world you are in. The Soul Warrior synchronizes with the warrior's soul and gains armor or a form based upon that soul. They then use that form to fight against the threat that has appeared. You yourself are the first Soul Warrior there ever has been. And the reason for that is because this is the first time large scale interdimensional threats have happened. And your dimension just so happened to brush up against this one at just the right moment. BlackWarGreymon was able to get a portal to open through your computer to bring you here cause he felt you were the best fit."
Frowning in thought, Souls asked his next question,"Ok. If you could please tell me what type of magic it is I have."
Keldeo grinned,"Ah. So you finally decided to ask. Well your magic is very special since it deals with souls returning from the afterlife. Unlike a normal necromancer who traps souls in deceased bodies on purpose for nefarious purposes, the souls come of their own accord to you. They come back from the afterlife and willingly put themselves in the soul chips so that they can be utilized in the Soul Archiver. The Soul Archiver feeds off your internal magic and turns it into a special kind of necromantic magic. This branch of necromantic magic is a new type of magic we like to call Soul Magic. Its neither good or evil. It all depends on the user on how the power is used and which souls come to him. Both evil and good souls and come to the user. However if the souls are evil or the user turns from good to evil then that user is no longer a Soul Warrior. And they will eventually either lose their magic or it will turn into full on necromantic magic and corrupt them completely."
Keldeo continued,"Now as for how the magic actually works. When the Archiver turns your magic into Soul Magic it uses that to perform the operations that are needed. It does such things as archiving new Soul chips into its data base and performing the Soul Unison program. Now the Soul Unison program was actually based off of the Soul Unison program used in MegaMan Battle Network's world. But instead of using raw data from net navis it runs off of magic and interacts with souls from the afterlife."
Souls nodded his head as he motioned with a hoof for Keldeo to continue,"Now as for the transformations when using a Soul Chip. The Archiver converts a large burst of magic from your magic pool into a large burst of soul magic energy used to spark the transformation. Then it steadily converts your magic pool into Soul Magic energy to keep the transformation going and let you use the attacks from the form. This is the reason why each form has a certain amount of time the form can be held."
Souls thoughtfully looked up at Keldeo,"I see. That makes sense. But what is this thing with the synchronization rates? What exactly are they for? And what are the initiation phrases for?"
Keldeo's grin grew wider,"Well the synchronization rates tell how you how well your current thoughts, feelings, and actions sync up with the Soul that is going to be used. It tell you how well you syn up with that soul's thoughts, feelings, and actions. The more they match up the better a synchronization rate you get. The best part about this is that the more you are synced up the less the transformation costs magically and you can hold the transformation longer. The worse of a synchronization rate the less amount of time you have to hold the transformation."
"As for just what the initiation phrases are. They are a fun little feature that was made part of the Soul Unison just for the pleasure of the user. It gives them a cool phrase of their choice to say in order to start the initation of the Soul Unison with any particular Soul Chip. So the intiation phrases aren't necessary but they sure are fun. I know you've already recorded a few of them but I'd like to ask that the next time you use my chip that you record one for me."
Smiling happily, Souls nodded his head,"Ok. I can do that without a problem. Thank you for answer my questions so far. Now I do have one more. How exactly am I supposed to find other Soul Warriors or make others into Soul Warriors?"
Keldeo looked surprised at this and frowned,"Um. That's not something I can tell you right now. Your still so new at this that I think it would be a bad idea to give you the information. Wait until you are more experienced before you ask that again."
His form started to fade in and out a bit and he looked at himself,"Huh. Well it looks like my soul is nearly out of energy for the moment. So I'm going to have to rest. Oh one last thing. Its a good thing that you have been fighting enemies for the past several days in a row. The more you do that the larger your magic pool will expand due to exercise. And the longer you will be able to hold the transformations in the future."
With that his form cut out completely as with a flash of light his soul chip reappeared. The soul chip flew back over to the satchel and landed back inside of it. The flap of the satchel closed again leaving Souls to his thoughts,"Well that was a big help except for right at the end there. I was really hoping he would answer my questions on other Soul Warriors."
Souls quietly got up from his seat on the hill and checked the time by looking at the Archiver. The Archiver's clock told him it was now 11:30 am so he needed to be getting back into town. He had been told to meet Twilight in the town market near where the Apple family's stall was supposed to be set up. So he walked along into town at his own pace to meet her at noon.
Arriving in the town market 15 minutes later, he quickly made his way to where the Apple family's stall was supposed to be. Looking around, he saw that once again it wasn't there but Twilight was. Twilight waved to him with a hoof to motion him over. He quickly hobbled over to where she was on his crutch with a smile on his face.
"Hey Twilight. I got here 15 minutes early. Thanks for being patient with me. I didn't mean to make you wait here for me." He happily said.
Twilight giggled,"Oh its no trouble Souls. I haven't been waiting here long so there's no need to worry. Now come on. The pizza place is this way." She turned and took the lead towards the outskirts of town. She went into a section of the town he had never been in or seen before. She started to explain,"This area used to be the old marketplace of Ponyville but as it grew the market was moved. So this place was pretty much shut down and abandoned. But surprisingly there is still a restaurant place in business here. Its clientele is small but devoted."
Souls nodded his head with a smile,"That's very interesting Twilight. I can't wait to see it."
Twilight nodded and stopped outside an old pizza parlor joint that had a cracked front window but still clean windows. The sign above was wooden with what looked like a happy bear, chicken, and bunny rabbit all waving hi. His eyes narrowed even further at the name of the restaurant, which was called Teddy and Friends.
He turned his head to an expectant twilight after widening his eyes. He nervously spoke up,"I don't know about this Twilight. I just have a feeling that this place isn't the safest area to be in."
Twilight shook her head with a smile,"Oh don't be silly Souls. I researched this place before coming here and they have an excellent track record. They've been open for over 40 years and haven't had incidents of any kind. Besides their pizza has a good rating. So just come in and try it."
Souls frowned for a few seconds before nodding his head,"Ok. But we're gone if I get even the slightest hint that something is wrong."
Twilight rolled her eyes but nodded,"Yeah ok. Now come on already." She walked into the resturant after opening the door with her magic. Souls walked in behind her.
Twilight quickly went up to the counter and ordered a pizza from a gangly looking teenage pegasus colt. Then she went and sat down at a booth which Souls joined her at. Souls looked around the inside of the restaurant which was decorated with pictures drawn by foals. They depicted the animals on the sign along with other animals that weren't on the sign. Some of the animals not depicted were a fox and a freaky looking puppet.
He continued to look around the room until his eyes alighted upon a stage at the back wall of the resturant that looked like it was meant for kids to sit in front of. And indeed there were a couple of happy colts and fillies sitting in front of the stage. The stage's curtains were drawn back to reveal three animatronics. Souls eyes narrowed even further once he realized they were more ponified looking versions of the Five Nights at Freddy's animatronics. He moved his eyes along more and saw an out of order sign for what looked like a Pirates Cove. He was starting to get real bad vibes all over now.
He turned to Twilight,"Twilight I'm really getting bad vibes now. I really don't feel comfortable being here."
Twilight waved a dismissive hoof,"Oh Souls you just need to calm down. Nothing bad is going to happen. Just try to enjoy the place." She went back to reading a book she had pulled out while waiting for their pizza.
Souls cast his eyes back to the stage making his eyes narrow to slits as he saw the animatronics' eyes were all locked onto his while the children were busy with other things. They had the black edges to their eyes as they gazed at him. Finally the curtains were closed as Souls turned back to Twilight,"I'll be right back Twilight. I have to use the bathroom."
Twilight shook her head,"Ok. Just be quick."
Souls nodded,"Of course. I'll be right back." He got up from his seat and made it look as if he was going to the bathroom before turning for the stage. He went towards a door that said Employee's only and tested the handle to find it unlocked. He opened it and made his way to the backstage room area of the main stage and turned on the light only to find the Animatronics out of their places and arranged in a semicircle around the door entrance.
He growled,"Looks like I was right. I don't know how you all got here into this world but I don't care. I'll make sure your souls are released and sent to the afterlife where they belong before you can hurt anyone here."
He quickly reached into his satchel with a hoof and pulled out a random soul chip. He quickly slotted it into the Archiver and pressed the green button on it. He looked at the screen to see which one he had chosen and held his foreleg in front of him,"Ok let's get started. Dragon of Flame, Burn all my enemies to ashes! Soul Unison, Cinder Blaze Soul!" The orb of light appeared around him to initiate the change.
He broke the orb of light a moment later with a hoof claw as he stood before the animatronics. "I know you all were burned before but now you'll face the purifying fire of Mega Charizard. Let's go you big lugs of metal."
Bonnie lunged forwards with a screech of anger as it lunged with its mechanical hands. Souls sidestepped easily and lashed out with his tail to trip Bonnie as he lunged. Bonnie tripped on his tail and fell face forwards onto the ground. Souls quickly launched himself a few feet into the air before surrounding himself in the fire of the Flare Blitz attack. He came down fast and hard on top of Bonnie's back with his hoof claws pointed downwards. They ripped into the mechanical bunny's back and tore the insides to shreds. Bonnie's angered shrieks quickly died away before a small blue colored orb of light came out of the destroyed animatronic.
Souls quickly grabbed it in one of his hooves and whispered to it,"Your pain is over. I give you a peaceful journey to the afterlife. May your afterlife be peaceful in and of itself young mare who never got her chance to act." He said this last part instinctively without realize why he was doing it. He carefully held his hoof out and tossed the blue orb up into a white portal which closed after he did that.
He glared at the other two animatronics who started screeching loudly themselves. They both came at him at the same time causing him to dart past them quickly into the main backstage area. He turned around to face them as they came at him rather quickly. He tried to duck out of the way of Chica's lunge only to have Freddy hit him hard in the side with a mechanical fist. He went flying before hitting the back wall with a heavy thumb and crying out in pain. He winced in pain as he felt several ribs within him crack. His vision went blurry because his head had smacked hard into the wall.
Freddy ran at him again with the intent to kill. He had his hands out to grab Souls by his neck in order to snap it and kill him for good. Souls looked up at the approaching Freddy blearily only to see Chica not far behind. He felt the prescence in the back of his mind signaling a now active Cinder Blaze. He wearily released control of his body to the more awake and alert Cinder Blaze who came to the forefront.
Cinder Blaze opened up the body's eyes more fully with clear sight as he glared upon the approaching animatronics,"I have no clue who you two metal lugs are but I'll be a magikarp before I let you hurt innocent people. I won't fail the people here like I did the one I protected before. Let my fires purify you and send you on your way. Flare Blitz!" He wreathed his body in flames again right as Freddy reached him. Freddy's hands whacked his body shoving it into the wall again.
However, Freddy backed up screeching in pain at its scorched and blackened hands, which it held in front of itself. Chica stopped where she was and looked at Freddy in confusion. Then it saw Freddy's hands and grew angrier then it already was and charged at Cinder Blaze.
Cinder Blaze was groaning in pain from his spot on the wall where he was stuck in it. He suddenly squawked in pain and surprise as he was grabbed by his neck. He was pulled out of the wall by a very angry chica who increased the pressure on his neck from her wing hands.
Cinder Blaze started to cough for air but managed to get out,"Time to get.......roasted.....you blasted...chicken. Flamethrower." A huge steady stream of fire burst from his muzzle out into the chicken's face. The fire reached around the chicken's head and caught the stage's curtains on fire. This made alarms all around the place start blaring causing the patrons to panic and grab the foals and leave. Meanwhile Cinder Blaze was keeping his Flamethrower attack going. Finally he had melted Chica's head into slag causing the robot to let go and fall backwards.
Freddy had finally finished screeching in pain and was glaring at a coughing and heaving Cinder Blaze. A small orb of yellow light flew out of Chica's body only to be snagged by Cinder Blaze,"May you find peace in your afterlife after the journey I send you on. I wish you peace to your very soul he who wrote a book that would have been award winning had it been published." Cinder Blaze confused himself by saying and doing that before tossing the orb up into another white portal.
Freddy growled before running at the injured Cinder Blaze who had gone back to coughing and heaving. He raised a blackened mechanical fist and brought it down on Cinder Blaze's back right between his two sets of wings elicting a large thump and cry of pain from Cinder Blaze. There was also a cracking sound and both pairs of wings fell limp to his sides utterly useless.
Hissing in pain, Cinder Blaze finally caught his breath again as he struggled back to his hooves. Turning to Freddy, he reared his head back as he inhaled only to have screeching come from behind him in the form of an irate Foxy. Cinder Blaze thought to himself,"Its time to end this."
He channeled the energy he would have used for another Flame thrower further into his body. He called upon even more energy and fire spread up around him in huge pillars as he shouted out,"Ultimate Technique. Blast Burn!" And with a great flash of orange light and heat a huge explosion happened. Half of the building went up in a huge pillar of intense burning heat that was as hot as the outer surface of the sun itself before winking out entirely. All that was left was a rather large crater filled with glass and atomized residue. A brown orb and a red orb appeared in front of a heavily exhausted Cinder Blaze who grabbed hold of them before whispering to them. He then tossed them quickly into several white portals before letting out a long sigh of relief. He then painfully dragged himself out of the crater into a nearby alleyway as sirens were heard around the town and fire ponies started to appear.
Twilight herself was frantic as Souls was nowhere to be found. She knew he was probably all right but that didn't stop her from wanting to look and find him.
Cinder Blaze was lying on his side and looking up at the sky with a calm look."I finally did it Aurora. I finally kept the promise I made to you. I hope you are resting in peace in your section of the afterlife. I'll see you again eventually." He was speaking about a shiny Azuril he had been protecting when a group of Team Rocket members had come after her. He had died protecting her only to have her die a few moments later due to a stupid pokemon that was on Team Rocket's side.
Cinder closed his eyes before his body glowed. His mind fell into a deep sleep as he took the damage from the battle upon himself. He didn't want his host to be more hurt then he already was. The transformation abruptly ended leaving Souls in the same state he had been before the start of the battle. The slot holding Cinder's soul chip closed cutting of the chip from access. But on the inside the image was broken into hundreds of tiny pieces as Cinder's soul shattered completely. It would take a long time for his soul to be put back together. So until then his mind would sleep as he recovered.
Souls quietly got back to his hooves and managed to find Twilight before convincing her to let them get back to the castle before he explained. Thus the souls of some unfortunate adult ponies were released from the suits they had been trapped in due to a foul necromancer.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. Here we are with my next chapter. Now yes I did use Five Nights at Freddy's characters. However I do not like the fact that its the souls of children trapped in the suits in the actual games themselves. I find it overly morbid and stupid in my opinion. So I changed it here to pony's souls that had tried to pass on but had ended up trapped in the suits when a dimension portal opened briefly depositing the suits. Again I hope you liked this chapter and the new information in it. Please feel free to leave a comment if you like.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 11
The 29th of November was a bright chilly day, with the sun playing across the leaves of trees with fall colors. The running of the leaves had already happened but some leaves still clung stubbornly to their host trees. The pegasi and earth ponies would be taking care of that today and the next day. Then the pegasi would bring in the clouds for the season of winter. For the seasons had to change in order for things to keep their balance.
This bright day saw a certain cyborg pegasus sitting on a cloud watching Rainbow Dash practicing her tricks. His gray white wings fluttered as he watched her. The cutie mark of a comet shaped like a speeding bullet sat upon his flank and seemed to shift as he moved in his spot a bit. Shot just couldn't get enough of watching Rainbow Dash. She was a fascinating individual, who had helped him when he most needed it. Swift Shot didn't remember anything about his life before he came to Ponyville and was helped out by Rainbow Dash.
The first thing he could remember was waking from unconsciousness in a muddy pit with badly damaged legs that wouldn't respond to his movements. His wings wouldn't respond either as they had appeared to be broken. Dark clouds had covered the sky overhead as rain descended from them to the ground. He was soaking to the bone, when he saw a trail of beautiful rainbow light overhead. Wearily looking up out of one eye, he had seen the rainbow light diving right towards him only to come to a sudden stop outside of his muddy pit. What had appeared before his weary eye was the image of a beautiful goddess with a rainbow colored mane as his mind started to go dark. This small memory had stayed with him ever since then.
It had been two years since the day of his dreadful accident and subsequent rescue by Rainbow Dash. He had been living in a cloud house near her own since a year ago. Rainbow Dash herself had nursed him back to full health for which he was grateful. She had also helped the doctors at the hospital get the experimental metal parts they needed in order to perform surgery on his broken, destroyed legs.
When she had taken him to the hospital that first day, he had been in a very bad condition. His legs were completely destroyed beyond use ever again at least beyond the conventional means of magic and regular recovery. Instead the doctors had decided that they would try an experimental procedure to see if they could help him to regain his ability to walk. The only problem was they they didn't have the necessary tools or parts to perform the surgery at the hospital. The nearest hospital with the right equipment was in Canterlot itself. So Rainbow Dash had got a list of what they needed from them and zoomed off to Canterlot to get the needed things. She had pushed herself so fast and hard she had performed a rainboom and was able to get back to the Ponyville hospital with the needed things within half an hour.
The doctors had managed to stabilize the pegasus for the time being so that he wouldn't die from blood loss but they still needed to move quickly. So when Rainbow Dash had returned with what was needed in a chariot, they had quickly taken the unconscious stallion into surgery. The doctors had managed to perform the surgery using the parts and tools retrieved. And the pegasus' legs were rebuilt from the ground up to be completely robotic. However, he had still been very weak and needed to be watched over so Rainbow Dash volunteered herself for the job.
So Rainbow Dash had kept him in her home for the next several months as his body slowly recovered from the accident. Swift had to relearn how to walk using his new mechanical legs but had help from Rainbow in doing so. The time the two spent together was invaluble for Swift as he relearned exactly what kind of a pony he was. What his likes and dislikes were, and how he was as an individual over all. Swift had also realized that he had fallen for the blue pegasus mare but was just too shy to ask her out. He felt that Rainbow needed to focus more on her own goals in life at the moment before worrying about anything else.
Rainbow Dash had also helped him to discover that his legs could do many more things than just help him walk again. Together they found out his legs could transform into many different kinds of tools and implements. They could even cover him in some kind of metallic armor that they had never seen before. He had jets in his hind legs that only worked when this full armor was active. He could also create energy blades from his fore-hooves but again only when his full armor was active. It was also during this time that Swift figured out what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to become a defender of the innocent but most importantly he wanted to stay near his beautiful Rainbow Goddess.
Swift Shot was still watching Rainbow Dash an hour later when his stomach rumbled to signal that he was hungry. He chuckled to himself and called up to Rainbow,"Hey Dash. I'm going to get get something to eat. Care to join me?"
Rainbow had stopped for the moment in order to take a small breather before continuing her routines. She turned to him with a sheepish grin as her own stomach growled at her,"Uh yeah sure. Let's go get something real quick. I want to get back to my routines as soon as possible."
Nodding his head, Swift stood up on the cloud where he had been resting and flew off down towards the town. He glided through the air effortlessly as Rainbow came up beside him. She was a little out of breath at the moment as she continued to glide along beside him.
Pointing at a small cafe, Swift happily said,"Let's go eat there real quick. I'm sure we can get a quick sandwich or something before you continue your training."
Rainbow grinned,"Sure thing. Last one there has to pay up." With that she zoomed down towards the cafe with great speed leaving a chuckling Swift behind.
Swift poured on more speed himself but was nowhere near as fast as the blue mare. He ended up landing at the cafe a few moments later only to see her lounging on one of the hay piles. Smiling to himself, he moved over to sit in the hay pile right across from her.
"Quick as always Dash. No one can catch you," he praised her happily.
"You better believe it. I am the fastest flier in all of Equestria after all,"Rainbow dash boasted as she sat back grinning. She really liked it when Swift stroked her ego like that. "I've already ordered us each a couple of daisy sandwiches. It should be enough to keep us going. Also you have to pay up."
Letting out a small sigh, Swift waved his hoof dismissively,"I know Rainbow. I'll make sure to pay for us. Just please take it easy on me. My wallet only has so many bits."
Rainbow chuckled,"No promises." She lounged easily on the pile as she waited for their food,"So any new discoveries as far as those awesome mechanical legs of yours go?"
Swift grinned,"Actually yeah. I recently found out that they can fire a freeze ray and these awesome saw like blades. I've been practicing with them and I'm getting better with them. It will take a while before I'm truly good with them though."
Rainbow nodded,"Cool. Just make sure not to overdo your training like you did that one time."
Swift's ears flattened completely as he hissed,"We agreed never to speak of that again."
Rainbow laughed a bit,"Relax Swift. I know. But its just too funny to let you live down. Besides a little teasing won't kill you."
Swift mumbled out something grumpily as he folded his forelegs. Rainbow chuckled,"Oh come on. It wasn't that bad. I mean you only cut down two of AJ's trees. And she stopped beating the crap out of you after 6 hours."
Swift hid down deeper in his seat,"Please Dash. I really don't want to remember."
Rainbow sighed and nodded her head,"Fine. I'll drop it for now." The waiter had finally arrived with their sandwiches,"Finally. They were way to slow for my tastes."
Swift picked up one of his sandwiches,"Dash you think everyone else is too slow."
Rainbow chuckled,"True enough." She scarfed down her sandwiches quickly before turning to Swift to see if he was done. He was only halfway done with the first one and she groaned,"Come on Swift. Your to slow. We'll be here forever at the rate your eating."
Swift grunted,"Well excuse me Dash. I actually like to take the time to enjoy my meal. Just go on ahead and I'll catch up."
Rainbow blinked,"Oh. Are you sure about that?"
He nodded his head,"Yeah. Just get going already." He took another bite of his first sandwich."
Rainbow grinned,"You don't need to tell me twice." She zoomed off into the air back to her training area. This suited her more than anything.
Taking another bite of his sandwich, he looked to where Rainbow had been before looking up at the sky. Swift smiled happily up at the spot in the sky where Rainbow had decided to go through her training routines.
The spot where she was practicing was half a mile outside of Ponyville over a couple of gently rolling hills. He could see her even from here practicing a new trick that she wanted to master for her next Wonderbolts routine. He quickly finished his sandwiches and then flew off to join her back at her area and resume his watching on his cloud. But as he flew towards the area his ears swiveled as he picked up heavy mechanical footsteps coming from the south of the area where the Everfree forest was.
He reached his cloud used for observation as the loud thumping of those mechanical footsteps came closer. Rainbow Dash didn't notice because she was too into her routines at the moment. Observing the source of the sounds, he saw many of the trees of the Everfree being pushed to both sides of a giant mechanical being. It appeared to have a draconian appearance but it was made of gleaming grey metal. Two giant cannons sprouted from its back to either side of its head. Gleaming red dots peered out of triangle shaped eye slots, roaming all over the land as if in search of something.
The mechanical being's red eyes looked up at them and its gaze stilled as did its body. It had finally found some fresh targets for it to practice upon. Swift's eyes narrowed at the great mechanical dragon thing that had stopped within the treeline of the Everfree. Rainbow Dash had still not noticed the giant mechanical beast as she zipped through another turn of her trick.
Swift called out to Rainbow,"Hey Dash. I think you should stop your practicing for a moment and take a look at this."
Rainbow stopped her trick after a few seconds and zipped over to him,"What is it Swift? This had better be important. I was just about to perfect my trick." Her gaze fell upon the mechanical beast,"Oh dang. That is important. I wonder what it wants and why its staring at us."
Swift flicked his eyes to her for a moment,"Heck if I know Dash. But I don't like the looks or feel of the thing. I think we should get out of here before it actually does something."
Rainbow snorted and waved her hoof dismissively,"Oh quit your worrying Swift. We'll be able to get out of the way in plenty of time if it tries something. I want to see what happens."
Swift shook his head grumbling to himself as he turned his gaze back down to the monstrosity below him. His eyes widened as he saw a yellow glow starting to build up in both of its cannons,"Uh Dash. If your seeing what I'm seeing then we should really move."
Rainbow's eyes had widened as well and she nodded,"Hay yeah. Let's get out of here." She dashed out of the way grabbing hold of him by his tail. She yanked him backwards off his cloud and pulled him along behind her as she flew towards a safer area. The yellow charge building up in the beasts cannons increased quickly until they were fully powered and its cannons moved to track them.
It roared in a dark voice,"Giga Cannon!" And the cannons on its back discharged with high velocity particle shots. The giant beams of energy reeving the air in two as they carved through the sky towards the two pegasi. They were moving so quickly and were so large that not even Rainbow Dash would be able to escape them.
Swift Shot shook himself free of Rainbow's grip as his legs glowed and then his body. The metal from his legs moved up along his body to form sleek metal armor across his back and wings. The metal on the wings being very lightweight so that he could still fly albeit slower then before. The design of the armor was very unusual and unlike any armor seen before. It was sleek with a gunmetal gray coloring all along the back. With two diagonal stripes running across the armor on his back to form a giant red X with the crossing of it between his wings. A small gun the size of a pistol was mounted on either side of his armor underneath his wings with more slender red x on the bracers of his mechanical legs. A large red x was on the chest of his armor with what seemed like flames wafting up towards the top of his armor. The helmet enclosed his head but let his ears out through slits at the top. A blue visor came down to encompass his eyes to protect them from interference of the wind as the small jets in his rear hooves fired up to give him speed. His fore hooves each split apart to reveal ports that hummed with energy and long thin energy blades powered up through the ports.
He flew in front of Rainbow Dash and put his blades together in a crossing motion. The particle beams flew through the air looking as if they were going to impact against him. A green hexagonal shield flickered into existence before Swift right as the beams came at him. The beams slammed against the shield as smaller beams of energy poured around the shield edges to continue onward. The beams powered down after a moment leaving Swift panting behind. He looked back at Rainbow Dash who was flying in place with a look of horror and shock on her face.
"Swift are you alright?"She asked starting to fly over to him.
"I'm fine Dash but you have to get out of here right now. Go get to saftey. Even you know you can't fight this thing."Swift shouted back.
She stopped where she was again as she looked down at the mechanical being. She growled,"Your right. But that doesn't mean that I have to like it. I'll get out of here but you'd better come back alive you idiot." With that she bolted off again as the mechanical dragon's cannons powered up again.
Swift growled down at his foe,"I don't know who or what you are. But your going to pay for trying to attack Rainbow Dash." He zoomed down towards the being as the jets in his hooves fired up brighter. He flew through the air with the energy blades extended as the cannons powered up again quickly.
Roaring in the the air again the being said,"Giga Cannon!" The cannons fired off two more giant particle beams at the speeding pegasus.
Swift growled,"Not this time." He curled up into a ball and started spinning rapidly forwards until he was a grey metal ball with a green edge around him as the blades coming from his ports turned green with shielding energy.
The beams impacted against the speeding ball of a pegasus only to be deflected all around it. The beams couldn't penetrate the shield around the ball as the pegasus got closer. The cannons powered down again a few seconds later as the ball impacted against the being's large head. There was a dull thunk before Swift uncurled. He hovered into the air above the being's head and stabbed directly downwards with his energy blades only to yelp in surprise as his blades were forced to either side of him. They didn't penetrate the metal of the being even a centimeter. His blades being forced apart made his forelegs splay outwards.
He thumped against the beings head as his thrusters failed to compensate for his movement. He yelped in pain from the impact as the being roared,"How dare you try to attack me. You will pay for your insolence."
Swift stuck out his tounge,"Oh look who can actually talk normally. Didn't think you had it in you."
The being roared,"Insolence. Now stay still so I can erase you from existence." The cannons on its back rotated downwards to aim right at the pegasus. He made a large gulp as he managed to hover back into the air if woozily.
"You can try to kill me but I won't make it easy for you."Swift replied as he started to move out of the way.
The being's cannons didn't power up as it instead swiped upwards with a claw catching Swift in his chest,"We shalls see." The tips of its great claw ripped through the metal encasing Swift's chest making a screeching sounds as the metal was easily ripped through. The claws scored into his chest making Swift yell in pain as he was thrown backwards. He landed on his back on a hill hard with blood spurting up into the air from one giant gouge in his chest. The flesh having been torn asunder along with the metal.
Yelling in pain, he forced himself to get back onto all fours as the blood poured from the wound to land on the ground. The grass starting to be stained red as the being's red eyes gazed upon him,"Now I will destroy you fleshling."
Swift gritted his teeth as a hoof clutched at his chest wound,"We'll see you bucket of bolts."
The machine dragon took a couple of massive steps forwards, which brought it within claw range of the pegasus again. It brought its giant claw up above its head and then slashed quickly downwards with it. This insolent fleshling would die for its transgressions. Swift started to react by trying to roll out of the way only to yelp in pain as his wound stopped him and he only ended up landing on his side.
Time seemed to stop for him as he saw the claw seemingly descend at a much slower pace and his ears twitched minutely as they picked up the voice of another stallion,"Mechanical Savior of Neo Arcadia rise again! Soul Unison, MegaMan Zero, Zero soul!"
Then a red armored being of some sort jumped into his field of vision up at the descending claw. He caught the sight of a long golden colored ponytail coming from the back of some sort of angular helmet. The being swung a green, triangular shaped energy blade at the claw. The blade sheared right through the three claw fingers of the mechanical claw before the being rolled forwards as they landed on the ground.
The talons of the claw thumped to ground with a heavy smack before they seemed to faze in and out. Then he could hear a shattering sound as the claw broke apart into tiny gray triangular pieces of light that flew off into the sky. They pieces disappeared leaving the being just outside of his field of vision as the mechanical dragon roared in fury.
Gritting his teeth, Swift managed to get back onto his hooves so he could see what was going on. Before him stood the being that had saved him in clearer focus.
The being was a stallion covered all over with red, black, and yellow armor and the long golden ponytail coming from the back of his helmet. His tail was much shorter but still the same color. The helmet was black all over except for two long angular red fins running up to the top of the helmet. These fins came together in a u shape underneath a blue jewel. White protrusions came from the sides of the helmet to cover parts of the face but they also protruded back a few inches from the back of the helmet. Black metal hoof gloves covered the stallion's four hooves. The gloves extended from large golden cuffs that connected with red armoring around all four legs. The red armoring was sleek if a little bulky and went up to the stallion's knees on all four legs. Then black armoring covered the upper parts of the legs and shoulder's of the stallion. The top of the back and the chest armor were all covered in more of the sleek red armor and connected with the helmet in a yellow collar. Clenched underneath in one hoof was the long white handle belonging to an energy blade. The blade extended outwards from the handle in a green triangular shape and the stallion stood poised for battle.
Swift spat out a wad of blood as he looked at the stallion warily,"Just who are you and why did you help me?"
The stallion turned back to him with a grim expression,"The name is Zero. And I helped you cause you were in trouble. This stupid mechanical beast is called Machinedramon and its not something you want to mess with. There is no way your energy blades will be able to penetrate its armor. Do you have anything else you can use?"
Swift winced in pain as his hoof came to his bleeding chest wound again,"Yeah. A freeze ray and spinning metal blades."
Zero nodded,"Back me up!" He then charged towards Machinedramon who was currently ranting about insolence and stupid fleshy beings. His cannons rotated downwards to face the threat before him as he swiped with his other claw.
Swift flew back into the air as more blood spattered onto the ground as he rose. He'd have to help end this battle quickly before he went unconscious from blood loss or something worse. His right fore hoof turned into the mega buster like weapon and he fired off several icy blasts at Machinedramon. Machinedramon roared as its claw stopped descending due to the joint in its elbow being frozen solid. The cannons continued to power up even quicker than before.
Zero jumped up into the air again and brought his energy sword down on the elbow joint cutting through the ice and metal there. He landed on the ground, rolling forwards again, and came to a stop. The arm fell off after a few seconds and burst into data fragments as Machinedramon roared again.
He turned his body to track Zero as the cannons came to full charge,"Giga Cannon!" The large particle beams firing at the ground right in front of Machinedramon at full power. Luckily for him his particle beams didn't harm them in the least but a large cry of pain could be heard from Zero. He flew out of the resulting explosion to land on his back next to Swift with his armor cracked all over. The blue triangular gem on his helmet pulsing weakly,"Ouch. Forgot about that attack."
He slowly got back to his hooves as blood started dribbling from the corner of his mouth. He looked at Swift,"We need to end this now." He took a few steps forwards as sparks jumped from the cracks all over his armor and red blood seeped through here and there.
Jumping into the air again he pulled out a gun that appeared on the side of his armor and charged it up quickly. He fired off several large bursts of plasma that rocketed through the air and impacted against one of the cannons melting holes in the sides of it. It powered down completely and hung limply against Machindramon's back.
Zero called out to the weakly hovering Swift,"Charge up your strongest attack and aim for one of the eyes. I'll keep its attention." He charged forwards again despite his pain and fired off more shots from the gun in his hoof. They made small impact holes in Machinedramon's hide angering it further.
It tracked him with its remaining cannon as it charged up completely again,"Giga Cannon!"
Zero jumped high into the air right over the particle beam and onto the top of the Cannon,"I don't think so!" He charged more power to his saber making it longer and more powerful as he drove it down into the last remaining cannon before jumping high into the air again. The cannon screeched and hummed with power before it exploded damaging Machindramon even further.
"Curse you fleshlings. You'll all pay."Machinedramon roared.
"Go fire your best attack now,"Zero called down to Swift. Swift had changed one of his fore-hooves into a long barreled sniper rifle of a sort that had its own ammunition source. He calmed his breath and fired off a high velocity shot from the rifle which zoomed through the air. The cross-hairs of the rifle having targeted Machinedramon's left eye. The round was a small comet in the shape of a bullet moving through the air with a burning heat and intensity. The attack easily penetrated Machinedramon's eye and up into his mechanical brain.
It overheated and then melted the inside of machindramon's mechanical CPU before that internally exploded. Machinedramon's remaining eye immediately went dark as the whole thing slumped to the ground with a heavy groan of defeat. Then after a few seconds the whole thing dissolved into a mass of data bits that disappeared.
Zero landed on the ground and quickly moved over to the heavily injured Swift,"We need to get you to the hospital quickly."
Swift nodded weakly as he thumped to the ground and his knees threatened to buckle completely,"Yeah."
Zero grabbed hold of him and the two of them disappeared in a beam of red light. That beam of red light impacted down in front of the hospital revealing the two of them. Zero quickly hauled him into the hospital and got him onto a stretcher as the nurses surrounded him and rushed him off to surgery. Zero called to Swift,"I'll make sure Miss Rainbow Dash is contacted and told where you are. Rest easy. You did a good job."
Swift slightly nodded before he closed his eyes and drifted off into blissful unconsciousness. So thus we see that Swift's motivation for defeating all kinds of foes is his desire to protect the innocent but most of all to protect the one he loves. The person he loves being of course everybody's favorite blue mare Rainbow Dash.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. I hope you all like this chapter. I decided to have this one focus on the OC sent to me by the user Vibrant Emotion. Its nice to take a break every now and then from the main character. Course I did have Souls show up to help with the battle using the new Zero Soul chip. And yes this isn't the original Zero from Megaman X. This is the Zero from the Megaman Zero games. This Zero was built using parts from the original Zero. Course I didn't have him use any of his special abilities this time as something big and bulky like Machinedramon really doesn't warrant it. I really hope I gave both Zero and Swift Shot a good showing.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Nightmare Moon's New Beginning
Chapter 13
It was now currently December 4th which was on a Monday. So four days had completely passed since the birth of the new soul warrior Jack Hunt. Sadly Jack Hunt still had not figured out how to activated any of the transformations. He stubbornly refused to ask Shattered Souls for help so he continued to work on trying to get the transformations to work by himself. He just couldn't seem to figure out what to do beyond putting the occupied soul chips into his Archiver. On the plus side for him one new soul chip had made its appearance in his back. It was a soul chip belonging to the hero of Devil May Cry, Dante. The sad thing though was that he was unable to use Dante due to him being a demon swordsman and not a robotic warrior.
Shattered Souls had been taking it easy at the castle for the past four days trying to fully let his wounds recover. He had been able to finally take the cast off of his leg due to Twilight vouching for his condition to the hospital. He was forced to reschedule his lunch appointment with Octavia due to having been stuck in the castle on the 30th of November. He had sent her a letter through spike telling her that he unfortunately had to reschedule the lunch appointment due to unforeseen circumstances. She had been very understanding and told him she could meet with him on the 15th of December. She really did want to talk with him and get to know him.
On another note the soul chip of Cinder Blaze was now fully repaired and fully functioning again. He seemed to be a lot happier than he was before and whenever he decided to talk with Souls his image was not as see through as it had been before. It was like he had somehow gained more power than he had before by talking about his past. Still he stayed inside of his chip most of the time just sleeping the day away to stay out of sight of Twilight and because he didn't want to use up all his energy.
Now as for our bionic pegasus friend Swift Shot, he is still recovering from the nasty wound on his chest. It hurt to breathe quite a lot at different times and Rainbow Dash was always around when she wasn't required for Wonderbolt practice. She was very concerned about him but was glad that he was still alive despite that mechanical mosntrosity having appeared. Swift himself was feeling kind of helpless with the fact that most of his attacks minus the ice beam and his last resort weapon were useless against the beast he'd fought. So for now he was resting while trying to think of ways to upgrade his weapons.
It was currently in the middle of the morning and Shattered Souls was out for a walk with Twilight. Twilight had told him she wanted to go visit Zecora in the Everfree Forest to pick up a new batch of tea for herself. And then she wanted to head to the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters in order to look at the old library there. She wanted to eventually move all of the old books from that library to her own so she could preserve them and the knowledge they contained. Souls saw nothing wrong with that and came along at Twilight's request. While Twilight was more than capable of handling herself, she had wanted him to come along in case inter-dimensional threats happened to make themselves known.
So here he was walking alongside her towards the Everfree Forest just having reached the outskirts of Ponyville. He turned his head to Twilight as he asked her,"Hey Twilight. You mind if we stop for a little bit. I have a friend around here that I would like to check up on. He's been trying to get something to work for the last couple of days and I want to see if he's succeeded. If he hasn't then I think I can give him a few tips on how to actually get it to work."
Twilight looked at him curiously,"Oh? Who is this friend of yours? And just what is he working on?"
Souls smiled nervously at her,"Um. Its the unicorn who came to the castle a little while ago. The one that came to see me. He's sort of working on a device similar to mine and thought I could help him. I wanted to see if he had it working yet. And I don't think that he wants anyone other than me to see his work right now. Sorry Twilight."
Twilight sighed in response,"Ugh fine. I can understand the need for privacy. Just don't take too long. This will put us off schedule as it is." She grumbled as she pulled out a color coded schedule and started to scribble on it with a quill.
Soul's ears flattened to the back of his head after he saw it and he shook his head. He quickly headed away from the area towards the house that Jack Hunt had told him belonged to himself. Souls felt that he would have known if Jack had finally been able to pull off a transformation be didn't have any feeling. He got up to the door and knocked on it with a few solid thunks.
There was grumbling from the other side as hoof steps approached the door he was standing in front of. He backed up a bit as the door opened outwards to reveal a disgruntled Jack Hunt standing there. Jack's eyes took a moment to focus on Souls and when they did he sighed,"Oh hey. Souls right? What brings you by my place?"
Souls rubbed the back of his head,"Well I kinda figured that maybe you were having a bit of trouble trying to get your transformations going. I thought I could help you out a bit."
Jack Hunt turned his gaze to the Archiver on his own foreleg and let out a sigh of frustration,"Yeah I haven't had any luck trying to get this to work. But I already told you that I don't want your help. I need to learn how to do this myself."
Souls frowned,"Come on man. You've been trying this for four days all by yourself. You still haven't been able to figure out the way to start the transformations yourself yet. The least you could do is at least watch me and see how I start a transformation myself."
Jack growled,"I told you I don't need your help. And watching you do one of your own would be counting as you helping me. I don't want your help so kindly keep your help to yourself."
Souls held up a hoof in surrender,"Ok ok. I get it already. I'll just be going. But one thing to keep in mind is to use the buttons for the transformation. It helps start the process with a soul chip." He quickly ducked where he was standing as Jack threw a blank chip at him from his satchel.
"I told you to keep your help to yourself. That tip is help and now I've already heard it so I can't forget it. Thanks a lot. Just go and leave me alone. Once I've figured this out myself I'll be able to help you with those threats. Till then please leave me alone while I figure this out."
Souls let out a sigh of defeat,"Ok. I'll go and leave you alone. I just hope you get the whole thing figured out soon." With that he waved goodbye to a grumpy Jack who only gave a small wave back before closing the door to his home again.
Souls sighed as he retraced his path back to where he had been with Twilight. Once he got close enough he could see her a little ways away from him and he quickly walked to catch up to her. After catching up with her he turned to her,"Sorry for the wait Twilight. My friend's a little grumpy right now. I don't think he's gotten a lot of sleep the past couple of days."
Twilight gave him a small smile,"Its okay Souls. Just please let me know when you want to visit your friend in the future so I can add it to my schedule if you accompany me in the future."
Soul's nodded his head,"Can do Twilight. Let's get going. We should get to the castle as soon as possible after you finish talking with Zecora. I don't like being near that forest if I can help it."
Twilight nodded in agreement,"I agree. Its not a good idea to be anywhere the castle after dark." With that the two of them moved off at a quick walk towards Zecora's hut in the Everfree Forest.
Jack Hunt was back in his home still trying to figure out how to activate the transformations after he had closed the door on Souls. He glared at the Archiver in frustration wishing he could somehow make it work through force of will. It of course didn't respond to his willpower and remained inert on his foreleg. He sighed as he picked up one of the Megaman chips and slotted it into one of the six slots on his Archiver. He took a deep breath to calm down as he stared at the slotted chip and the screen of his device which remained off.
His gaze drifted to the buttons of the device thanks to the small tip given to him by Souls. He grumbled to himself at the fact that he'd even had to hear that small tip from the smaller unicorn. He looked at the six different buttons before him wondering which he should press. The buttons were each a different color which probably signified something important for each. One button was red, one was green, another yellow, still another was blue, the next to last was black, and the last was orange. He tilted his head in thought as he contemplated the colors of the buttons and which could start the machine up. He vaguely remembered that green meant start for other machines that had been built in the past by other ponies.
So he gingerly pressed the green button on his Archiver and grinned in triumph when the screen lit up with a clear blue. Text and data scrolled across the screen rapidly as it went through its boot up phase. Finally it finished its start up process and beeped as a message lit up on its screen.
Looking down at the screen, Jack read the message that had appeared. "Soul Archiver Model 2 startup complete. Welcome user Jack Hunt! This unit is designed to help you further your goals at becoming stronger. This unit will allow you to combat threats you wouldn't normally be able too. You are a specialized Soul Warrior user. This means you can only use one type of soul chip. The type of soul chips you are allowed to use are Robotic Warriors. "
Jack Hunt sighed as he finished reading the message and dismissed it only to have another pop up in its place. It read,"Only a certain special soul chip will be able to defy your specialization class restrictions. This Soul chip is currently in your possession. The soul chip known as Dante, Demon Warrior of Souls is the chip that can defy your class restrictions. Said Soul Chip can only be used once you have created a Soul Bond with said chip."
Jack frowned as he looked at the message,"Soul Bond what the heck is that? All I want to do right now is use one of those transformations. This Soul Bond or whatever it is can wait till later."
He dismissed the message and growled in irritation as yet another message appeared. He quickly read it,"If you wish to proceed with making a soul bond with said soul chip please press yes. If not and you want to proceed with other operations please click no." A small menu appeared with the buttons yes and no. He clicked no immediately as he didn't really care about this Soul Bond thing at the moment. All he wanted to do was get on with his transformations.
The message closed at the click of the No button and he sighed as one last message popped up,"This unit has registered and archived the MegaMan X soul chip. Current synchronization rate with soul chip is 90 percent. Synchronization rate may be improved in the future. Soul Unison program is on standby. Soul Unison with Megaman X soul chip is possible at this time. If you wish to activate the soul unison program please press the green button. At the time please say an initiation phrase out loud that the Archiver can record for the soul chip in order to start the Soul Unison."
Jack blinked but gave a small smile,"Hmm. This Soul Unison thing must be what allows the transformation to happen in the first place. And the Soul Unison must be this thing's name for the transformations." He quickly tapped the green button on his Archiver.
The machine hummed with energy after he pressed the button and yet another message appeared on it,"Soul Unison program on standby. All systems functioning within normal parameters. Please say initiation phrase to start the program." He dismissed the message and then held his foreleg out in front of him after feeling a prompting to do so.
"Alright then. Let's see." He closed his eyes trying to think of a phrase to say to start the transformation. A feeling of calm overcame him again and nudged his thoughts towards a good phrase to use. Finally he opened his eyes as his mouth seemed to move on its own,"Hero of the Reploids Arise! Soul Unison, MegaMan X!"
A ball of bright blue light came down and surrounded him completely as he closed his eyes instinctively. He felt changes begin to happen all around his body. The helmet appeared around his head as his horn shrunk back into his head and disappeared with a pop. The helmet settled onto his head with two slots open on the top of the helmet to let his ears out. Most of the flat surface of the helmet was a nice blue color with a large silver stripe running right down the middle of it. The silver stripe was raised like a large flat rectangle that ran to a red gem at the forehead of the helmet. The gem was imprinted with Jack's cutie mark. Silver trim ran along the bottom of the helmet to a large, circular, gray thing on either side of the helmet. The inside of each gray circle had a circular red gem that was again imprinted with Jack's cutie mark.
Next the chest armor appeared on his body with a nice upper blue color for the upper chest that spread along to two buffed up looking pauldrons. The pauldrons were sleek yet buff as well as the chest armor. The bottom part of the chest armor was a nice silver in color with yet another gem set into it but this one had the imprint of an icicle falling from the air. A gray suit material extended from the chest armor to connect a little ways back to the armor that appeared on his back and sides. The armor there was again that real nice blue color with silvery tones to it. His fore hooves were covered in white glove like things that connected to two large cylindrical shaped armor pieces on his forelegs. These pieces were colored blue as well and there were two more of them on his back legs. But the ones on his back legs connected to two heavily armored hoof guards that were perfect for bucking. His mane had turned a stark white color as it peaked out from underneath the helmet as his eyes became a brilliant gold color. His tail also became a stark white as well. Finally feeling the transformation was complete he lased out with a hoof and shattered the blue orb into pieces.
The orb shattered into blue triangular pieces that fell down him in twinkling light. He blinked at himself and moved over to a nearby mirror to see the results of the transformation. He frowned when he realized he no longer had his sword on his back which he was used to. It felt wrong to him yet there was nothing he could do about it. He blinked as he felt some kind of presence in the back of his mind that had not been there before. He turned his own mind to it to find that it was another mind. It was the soul of the being he'd used for Soul Unison and it was watching him silently. He looked back at himself in the mirror.
Slowly a grin started to appear on his muzzle,"I feel so powerful. I won't be helpless against those enemies anymore. I can use this power to help fight against evil. And that's what I'll do." He held his right fore hoof in the air as if in victory only to yelp in surprise as his hoof somehow retracted into the blue cylindrical armor piece and it transformed into a gun of some sort. The other mind supplied a word for him to call this gun. It was a MegaBuster and designed for long range as well as short range. But what surprised him even more was that when it appeared it also fired off a small charge shot that made a nice sizable hole in his roof that he'd have to fix now.
He rolled out of the way as wooden debris fell down into his house from the hole. He looked at the melted wooden pieces that hit the ground as he looked at his hoof that had returned to normal once he rolled out of the way. He slowly brought his hoof to his face and then face hoofed at the stupidity of it all,"Great. Add another thing that I have to fix around here."
With a great sigh, he dispelled the transformation through sheer will power and the armor disappeared. He groaned as he went further into his house to find the supplies that he would need to temporarily patch the whole in his roof.. He would have to go out to find the wooden boards needed to fix the hole completely. So after he finished patching the whole up using a tarp and some tape he went off to go get some wooden boards to fix his house with.
Unknown to both Jack and Souls there was another young stallion that had the potential to become a soul warrior. He liked to also stay on the outskirts of ponyville where no one else could bother him. Unlike Jack who needed his solitude to keep his disguise this pony just liked being alone in general. This young stallion had become an adult only a couple of months earlier but he was enjoying it to the fullest. He had used his new freedom to buy himself a house on the outskirts of ponyville to live by himself.
Appearance wise his coat color was a nice black with just a hint of purple. His mane and tail were both black as well and his mane grew out over one eye. A small horn peaked out of his mane to show that he was a unicorn. He was a little shorter then the average stallion coming out at an even 5 feet in height. His cutie mark was that of a red and silver scythe swinging through the air. What's more is that his cutie mark was a copy of a scythe that he actually possessed. The scythe was always either on his back or leaning against a wall nearby when he had stopped in a place. A dismal black aura always seemed to be exuding from him warning other people to stay away from him.
The thing was he was normally a happy individual who was just really shy. He wasn't really good at social things so he preferred to stay out of the spotlight. He normally had a small smile on his face all the time and his appearance was cool looking in his opinion. He'd had a good life growing up so there were no complaints there. He just happened to really like the color black along with heavy metal bands that also wore the color black.
He was currently just hanging out around in his house with an acoustic guitar strumming it gently. His talent may be in using his scythe but he still had a passion for music. Currently he was trying to compose a song about the battle he had witnessed the previous week between that mechanical dragon and the two ponies that had opposed him. As he worked on composing the song his thoughts drifted to the appearance of that robotic warrior that had taken out the cannons of the mechanical dragon.
He sighed as he set his acoustic guitar down on the couch next to him as he got up to get something to eat. He wasn't having any luck with his composing at the moment anyway. He made himself a sandwich before he went to the window and looked outside of it as he let his thoughts drift. He really didn't like to fight at all but he would if he was forced too. He practiced with his scythe every day to stay in practice but other than that he just preferred to work on composing music.
He moved to the door as he picked up his scythe in his magic. He might as well go outside and practice for now. He twirled the scythe around in his magical grip a bit as he exited his house and headed towards the practice field he had made for himself. He would need to get in a good long training session today.
Souls was walking alongside Twilight quietly after having stopped at Zecora's hut with her. Zecora was a very nice zebra who he had always liked in the show because of her personality and kindness. The rhyming thing did get annoying after a bit if he was going to be honest but that was just part of Zecora. He had shaken hooves with her only to have the same zapping feeling happen. Zecora had wondered what had caused it but shrugged and let them get on their way. They had taken the tea packets with them as they headed for the castle of the two sisters.
They had been traveling for about half an hour now and one of the soul chips had finally lit up with Zecora's image. It described her as a martial artist of some sort with roots in herbology. He had shrugged at this and just continued along without saying anything as he kept his eyes on the path and forest around them. He had requested that they stay quiet as they travel the path so as not to attract any unwanted attention to themselves from the predators of the forest.
His ears twitched as they picked up the sound of a branch cracking and he snapped his head to the source of the sound. He was just able to catch a glimpse of a timberwolf slinking out of view. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before he caught up with Twilight.
"Twilight we need to get to the castle soon. We're being stalked by a couple of timberwolves." He hurriedly talked to her.
Twilight's eyes widened a bit,"But can't you just drive them off with one of your transformation? We'd be fine then wouldn't we?"
Flicking his ears in annoyance Souls replied,"Twilight you know as well as I that in and of itself is a bad idea. If I use one of my transformations to fight them off then we'll just end up attracting the attention of more of these monsters. Possibly even attract the attention of monsters worse then timberwolves. We need to pick up the pace."
Flattening her ears back a bit, Twilight nodded her head apprehensively,"Right. We'll go at a trot now. But have your magic ready just in case."
He nodded his head,"Right. Thanks again for teaching me how to access my magic and teaching me the telekinesis spell."
Twilight replied,"Your welcome. But let's go back to no talking for now and just hurry." She then picked up the pace as she traveled on ahead faster.
Souls broke into a trot himself in order to keep up with her. He was glad that he had spend several of the past days in the castle getting help from Twilight in accessing his magic. The first time he had tried to use the telekinesis spell he had ended up embedding a feather into the crystal ceiling. He kept up his pace as he heard the sounds of the timberwolves easily keeping pace with them.
They traveled along at this pace for some 20 minutes before the ruins of the castle finally came into view. Souls spoke up,"Hurry across the bridge Twilight. I'll be right behind you."
"Ok. Be careful and don't let those timberwolves follow us Souls,"Twilight panted back.
"I know Twilight now go,"Souls replied as he turned around to face the forest entrance as Twilight hurried across the rope bridge leading to the Castle.
He growled at the timberwolves that started to creep out of the treeline. The fur on his back raised as he slowly backed across the rope bridge. The timberwolves coming ever closer to the bridge itself. Finally he reached the other side and undid the tyings for the bridge and let one end of it swing down to the other side where the timberwolves were. One had just been about to put a paw on the bridge when it collapsed and it backed up with a yelp.
He stuck his tongue out at them and yelled,"Take that you stupid mutts." He turned away as he hurried to where a nervous Twilight waited by the old castle doors.
"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here right now,"Twilight spoke up nervously.
"Your probably right on that score Twilight. I told you we should wait for another time when more of your friends could come with us."Souls replied softly.
Twilight nodded softly,"Right. Well we're here already and we can't go back right now. So we might as well go inside and collect the books I wanted."
Souls sighed,"Ok. But we have to be careful inside of the castle as well. There might be more dangers there as well."
Twilight rolled her eyes,"The castle is completely safe now. There are no more threats inside of it. I told you the spiders in their can't hurt you. I don't know why your so scared of them."
Souls glared at her a bit,"Spiders are freaking little things. With all those long spindly legs and the pincers. I don't like them okay and hearing about big spiders with star shapes on their backs doesn't help. Now let's go."
Twilight sighed,"Ok. We'll have to go into the throne room first in order to reach the library."
Souls nodded as he opened the door to the castle using his telekinses. "After you Twilight," he said waving her forwards with a hoof.
Twilight nodded her head and took the lead as she stepped through the door. She quickly led him to the throne room before turning back to him,"I'll go to the library by mself. You just stay here for the moment and I'll bring back the books I want you to carry with my magic."
"Ok Twilight. But please don't take to long. I still don't like the feel of this place."Souls replied now seeming nervous.
Twilight sighed,"Ok. I'll try to hurry up but I can't make any promises. " With that she trotted off towards the library leaving him in the old broken throne room.
He looked around the area and sighed in sadness at the destruction. As he looked up towards the ceiling he could see the great hole that had been made there by Nightmare Moon having crashed through it centuries ago. He saw the damaged thrones up on the dais and the whole broken state of the room. Banners that were tattered and ragged hung on the walls of the room. Rubble was clustered all around the room in piles and the sconces for torches were completely gone so there could be no internal source of light.
He moved around the room towards the stairs that led up to the dais and old stone thrones. As he moved towards the stairs he felt a tingling starting to build up in his horn. Souls frowned deeply as it seemed the room became darker the closer to the stairs he got. Moving at a walking pace, Souls moved up the steps towards the thrones as the feeling in his horn grew and things around him actually became darker. The shadows of the room grew longer the closer he got to the old thrones.
A feeling of intense pressure was centered on his horn as he finally got to the thrones after climbing up the stairs. He winced in pain as he put a hoof to his horn,"What the heck is going on? And why is everything so dark?"
He looked around the room to see that everything was indeed much darker than it had been before. The shadows of the room danced about as if flames had been lit somewhere. His eyes widened at this and he turned his gaze back to the thrones only to back up a step towards the stairs in surprise and fear. There above the broken remains of Luna's old throne was a small glowing orb of darkness. It hovered in the air above the throne drawing all the shadows and darkness into itself. The more he looked at it the more the pressure in his horn built up. He groaned in pain as he quickly moved way from it towards the remains of Celestia's old throne. As he did the pressure lessened and instead he felt a sense of calm enter the area.
The orb of darkness had become smaller then it was a mere moment ago as he stayed near Celestia's throne. He frowned as he looked away from the orb to see behind the thrones and his eyes widened upon realizing that the pieces of Nightmare Moon's armor were on a big pedestal right behind the throne. He couldn't help but think to himself about why Nightmare Moon's armor was right here behind the thrones. He carefully walked towards it only to have the intense pressure build up in his horn ago. The more he walked away from Celestia's throne the greater the pressure became again until the orb of darkness was back to the same size previously which was the size of a baseball for now.
Once he had moved over to the pedestal he collapsed to his knees as the pressure in his horn became unbearable. "Argh. What is with this pressure?" He had to screw his eyes up in pain for a moment.
When he reopened them, he could see that the orb of darkness was now the size of a basketball and it was moving towards the pieces of armor. His horn started to let out blue sparks causing him to cry out in pain. The flap of his satchel opened up on its own and a blank soul chip flew up into the air. It came to a stop on top of Nightmare Moon's old helmet at the orb got closer. The chip glowed with a brightly shining light that overpowered the darkness of the orb. The pieces of armor also glowed before losing their shape entirely and forming an orb of light around the chip. The ball of light then collided with the orb of darkness in a great thump.
Souls cried out in pain as more sparks came from his horn and the pressure became to intense for him,"Aaaaaaagh!" He fired a beam of blue magic from his horn on instinct at the orb. It relieved the pressure in his horn as pure magic flowed into the collision area of the two orbs. They each ended up gaining an aura around them the color of the magical beam. Then surprisingly the orbs started to merge together as he continued firing off his magical beam. He kept his eyes as open as he could even though he was squinting. Finally the two orbs were merged into one big blue basketball sized orb. Then the orb became smaller as it contracted around the chip. Finally the light and magic sunk down into the chip completely.
Souls grabbed the chip gingerly in his telekinetic grip as it started to fall to the ground. The light blue aura of his magic brought the chip over to him so he could see what was going on with it. Slowly an image appeared on the chip that shouldn't be there period. Once the image had fully appeared he closed his eyes in disbelief. There was no way this could be happening and yet it was. On the chip was an image of a genuinely smiling Nightmare Moon. As if all the pain and sadness she felt when she had still been alive were now gone.
He concentrated his magical aura around the chip and closed his eyes completely as he felt the chip with his magical senses. Bright pulses of happiness spread through him as he opened his eyes and looked at the chip. It now contained the purified soul of Nightmare Moon. She was now free of all the pain she had been in before and was at peace now. He blinked in surprise but held the chip in his hoof. A small smile appeared on his face as he felt happy that he could bring her peace at last in some small measure.
Souls stumbled as the ground underneath him shook and the very air seemed to ripple. "What the heck? What is happening now?"
Looking around wildly, he saw a distortion appear in the air near the broken ceiling of the throne room. Sparks darted across the air and then flashes of lightning as the distortion grew bigger. Twilight came running into the throne room still somehow carrying a large amount of books in her telekinetic grip.
She cried out,"Souls what is going on? What did you do!"
Souls yelled back,"I didn't do anything to make this happen. It just appeared on its own. Come on. We need to get out of here." He started down the steps despite the ground shaking rapidly.
Twilight met him at the base of the stairs as the distortion grew ever bigger till finally with a great flash it opened into a swirling green portal. Souls tugged Twilight along by her hoof with his own as he pulled her across the throne room floor. "Come on. I'm getting a really bad feeling."
"I know. I'm trying to hurry up." She replied irritably as they continued across the room.
An object dropped from the portal and impacted the ground with a heavy thud. It made a small crater in the floor from the force of the impact. The object that impacted the ground made itself known through the large cloud of dust that had appeared around the impact site. It was none other than a large centaur with curved horn. Souls eyes widened as he realized that though this centaur bore a resemblance to the lord Tirek of this world it wasn't the same one. This was the lord Tirek of a different incarnation of My Little Pony. It was the generation one Lord Tirek who stood before him now laughing.
Souls turned and shoved the horrified, stiff Twilight Sparkle through the throne room door before slamming it shut with telekinetic force. He turned back to the threat in front of him,"I just can't have an easy day can I? You just had to show up didn't you Tirek?"
Tirek stopped for a moment as he looked down at the unicorn before him,"Well if it isn't a little pony. Come to witness my triumphal return. Hmm something seems different about you than a normal pony. Maybe you have some interesting magic I can take." He reached a hand up to the black bag that was around his throat to draw it open which would activate its magic to steal his own.
Shattered Souls backed up for a moment before holding his own foreleg out in front of him,"I don't think so Tirek. I don't know how you got through a dimensional portal to here but I'll defeat you before you can hurt anyone"
He reached into his satchel and grabbed hold of the top chips which was Nightmare Moon's. He had placed it there as he ran down the stairs earlier. He used his magic to slot it into his Archiver as he glared at the Centaur.
The Centaur glared down at him,"How dare you defy me pony. For that you shall be destroyed after I steal your magic." He tugged on the edge of the bag starting to pull it open.
"We'll see about that Tirek."Souls shouted back at him. His magic pressed the green button on his Archiver which started to hum with energy. It quickly scanned and then archived Nightmare Moon's soul chips before beeping with a quick message that he could only quickly skim," Nightmare Moon soul chip scanned and archived. Nightmare Moon soul chip is fully functioning. Synchronization rate with soul chip is over 100 percent at this time. Synchronization rate is over the normal power scales. Time to hold form......40 minutes. User's magical energy levels are at one half at this moment. Soul Unison program on standby. Please say initiation phrase."
"Queen of the Eternal Night take form! Soul Unison, Nightmare Moon soul! Execute!" Souls shouted as Tirek finished pulling open the bag. With a flash of light the ball of light surrounded Souls and he closed his eyes as the transformation started. A barrier of green hexagonal magic appeared around him and the orb as the transformation happened.
Tirek roared,"What is this sorcery?" His black bag was sucking at the ambient magic of the area pulling it all into itself. But It wasn't touching the green shield at all. In fact it moved around it. He roared in fear and closed the bag up as he started across the room to the shield.
Inside of the the orb of light new changes began to happen to Souls. But he did not notice them as he focused on the new humming power that he felt inside of himself. His body grew considerably all the way to the height of Princess Celestia. His horn lenthened a full foot and it became lethally sharp and pointed. His coat colored changed to a very dark shade of blue but still not Nightmare Moon's coat color. His mane changed into an etheral version of itself. The pale whiteness of it floating through the air with what looked like stars made of ice flowing through it. His tail was the same way as his cutie mark changed to include a shattered moon in place of a shattered pony image. Great black wings grew from his back and settled against his sides as the armor started to appear. A new helmet very much like Nightmare Moon's helmet appeared but the biggest difference was that the entire color was red and a black fin ran down the middle of the helmet all the way to the muzzle tip. The chest regalia appeared around his body with the new cutie mark emblazoned on the front of it. Star metal hoof guards appeared on his hooves. Then another new change happened as his body grew leaner and more feminine. His eyelashes grew longer and his muzzle shorter and cuter. His mane took on a more girly flow instead of a more manly type wavering. Fangs grew from his upper mouth and his eyes turned into amber tealed slits. A very large sword appeared in an ornate sheath on his back. The sheath was styilized with all sorts of pictures of the moon falling down through the sky to impact into the ground. Finally feeling the changes were all complete he lashed out with a hoof and destroyed the orb of light around him.
The shattered pieces of light fell down around him to reveal his new form. The green hexagonal shield disappeared completely as the new being stood before Tirek. Souls spoke up,"Thy Evil shall be halted here villain. Whatever mischief thou has planned wilt be stopped. For I am a ruler of the night. Our name is Shattered Eclipse!"
Tirek roared at the challenge,"How dare you challenge me pony. I will crush you with my bare hands. I don't know why my bag does not take your magic so I will have to use other means to destroy you." He pulled a massive war hammer off his back and held it before him.
Eclipse growled at Tirek,"Come miscreant and pay for thy evil deeds." She drew the sword out of the sheath on her back to reveal a blood red blade with etchings of comets all along it.
Tirek roared in anger and brought his giant war hammer down towards the pony who dared to defy him. Eclipse rolled out of the way with more than enough time before pushing off the ground hard enough to leave cracks. She shot through the air as she swung her sword through the air diagonally in front of her. Burning flames coated the blade as it slashed downwards into Tirek's right shoulder. Tirek yelled in agony as his flesh was seared and cauterized immediately.
"How dare you hit me with that small toy of yours. You'll pay for the pain you've inflicted on me." He swung the war hammer with his good arm as Eclipse did an aileron roll. The hammer managed to clip her hind leg sending her flying straight into a nearby wall with an explosion.
"Ugh. That hurt,"Eclipse moaned in pain from her position in the wall. She groaned as she moved her body bit by bit. Her sword was stuck deep into the wall beside her as she slowly pulled herself out of the wall. Tirek moved close and brought the war hammer above his head,"Now you die pony."
He swung it downwards feeling confident that this swing would be the end of the nuisance before him. Eclipse focused through the pain and fired up the green hexagonal shield which caused the hammer to impact against it with great sparks. It greated cracks across the hastily erected shield and caused Eclipse to put a hoof to her head in pain. "Ouch. Take it easy with the hammer villian." The hammer moved from the top of the shield to the side and then impacted with the ground.
Tirek roared,"Stop using your annoying shields pony. They are aggravating." He moved his war hammer up into the air again.
Eclipse's eyes snapped open despite her pain and she lowered the shield as she picked her sword up again. "Tis good to see that we art an annoyance for thee. Now we shalt endeavor to destroy thee."
She pushed herself up and pushed off with great force again into the air moving as fast as a speeding bullet with sword spinning in her magical grip. The sword blazed with the fire of a comet moving through the night sky at great speed. She impacted into his chest as her sword lashed out. Her body knocked the wind out of Tirek completely and pushed him back a couple of steps. Her sword cut a fiery swath across his chest not even giving time for blood to spurt into the air before the wound was cauterized. Her sword had cut the strings for the bag on his neck and caught them on fire. The fire quickly raced to the bag and consumed it in purifying fire.
Tirek roared even angrier then before,"How dare you pony! You will pay most dearly for that. He swung his war hammer again faster then Eclipse could react. It slammed into her side and sent her flying down into the ground.
She made an impact crater and groaned out in pain. She slowly came back around as Tirek came over to her. She was able to get to her knees but no further than that as pain wracked her body. She could feel entire broken ribs beneath her body and a huge impact mark was in her side due to the warhammer. She started to cough violently and she spat out a great amount of blood. It trickled from the side of her mouth as she wearily looked up at the great centaur.
Tirek reached down with a massive hand which grabbed her around her chest and lifted her into the air. He started to squeeze her as he laughed in triumph,"There is now way for you to escape now pony."
A massive squeeze caused her to cough up an massive amount of blood which ran down her fur and his hand. She coughed out,"Thou art right. We can't escape. But thou has made a grave mistake."
Tirek brought her closer to his face as he squeezed again,"What do you mean pony?" She coughed up even more blood from his squeeze and cracking sounds could be heard as more of her ribs snapped.
She wheezed out through the massive amount of pain,"Thou has forgotten our sword fool!" Her horn glowed with massive power as she powered through the pain through sheer will. Her sword flew up quickly in her magical grip and the flame encompassed it again as she fed her magical power into it.
She grinned at him weakly with blood staining her teeth,"Tis the end fool! Secret Technique, Blazing Comet Slash!" The flames encompassed the blade of the sword completely and grew to great length making the blade even longer and larger.
The sword flew through the air as the surprised Tirek let go of her with his good hand. He picked up his war hammer again as the blade flew through the air and made a cutting motion. There was a mighty clang as the sword of fire met the metal war hammer. Tirek pushed against the sword with all his might only to yell in surprise as the sword pushed back harder thanks to Eclipse's magical force. It completely melted the head of the war hammer and passed through it into Tirek. It cut right through him and the magical might of it died down till the blood red blade moved back over to eclipse shining brightly with its red color.
Tirek stood there surprised for a moment before looking down at Eclipse and laughing,"Ha your puny sword did nothing. It may have destroyed my weapon but it did nothing to me."
Eclipse smirked through the pain,"That is what thou thinkest. But thou art already dead." With that she sheathed the sword with a gentle click and Tirek's body seized up.
Then his body slumped to the side and hit the ground with a thump as the head bounced away from the body. Eclipse looked away from the sight as she wheezed in pain. She glowed with light as she forced her magic through her body to heal herself with a high level healing spell using the last of her magical power to do so. Her ribs moved themselves back to the correct places and started to mend as her internal organs started to heal. Her whole body glowed with power until her mane lost its etherealness and hung limply along her back in a white tangled mess. She grew smaller and smaller until with a flash of light the transformation ended. But the funny thing was that Eclipse was still right where she had been only she was a small filly of about 4 years.
She groaned in pain and brought a hoof to her head,"We still hurt so much." That's when her eyes shot open in surprise and horror. Souls had finally regained his sense of self. He heard himself speak in some old dialect that was a bit hard to understand but what was the most shocking was that his voice was much higher than it should be. His mind immediately moved to thoughts of so many fanfics he'd read where a male character had somehow ended up as a female. He moved his hoof across his face and felt longer eyelashes. He felt that his muzzle was daintier than it should be and he had fangs growing from the top of his mouth.
He looked up at the bright sun shining merrily down into the broken room as he let out the girliest and loudest scream using the the royal canterlot voice,"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
He set his hooves down on the ground after he finished feeling his face,"This is the Worst Possible Thing Ever!" He banged his head against the ground making a small crater but not hurting himself. He then realized he was small then he should be and let out another ear piercing shriek before calming down again and closing his eyes,"Not only am I a girl. I'm a freaking foal. What the heck!"
That's when the door to the throne room burst open to admit a panicked Twilight Sparkle. Twilight looked around the room and saw the body of the great villain lying in a pool of blood. She gagged and wretched at the sight before hurling. After she had finished hurling she could hear a tiny voice sobbing away. She shook her head and quickly moved around the disgusting body only to find a small filly before her sobbing its eyes out with her hooves over her face. Twilight blinked in surprise and her jaw dropped at the sight. The fillly had not only a pair of wings but a horn on her head making her an alicorn. How did a filly end up here in this devastating place and where the heck was souls.
She shook hre head determining she'd look for Souls later as she moved over to the filly,"Come here little one. I won't hurt you. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Your safe now." She drew the sobbing filly into her arms and hooves. The filly turned to her and buried her muzzle in Twilight's chest as she continued to sob.
Twilight ran a hoof down her back softly as she made soft soothing noises,"Its okay there little one. Your okay now. Can you tell me your name?"
Souls was completely in control and conscious but the shock of being a girl and a filly was to much for him and he had let his much stronger emotions gain control of him. He was weeping in terror from both the fight and being a girl. He just wished this nightmare would end. But when Twilight asked her question he sobbed even harder as he figured he might be stuck like this for a while. But he still managed to stutter the name of his fused form,"Our name be Shattered Eclipse."
Twilight held her close,"Its alright Eclipse. Your safe now. I"ll get you to a nice warm place where you can rest. I don't know where my friend went but I"m sure he'll catch up in time." She gathered the fill closer to her chest as she looked around the room. She had just remembered she could teleport and decided that was the best way to get out of here. So she fired up a spell from her horn and disappeared with the filly with a loud pop.
Thus we see that Nightmare Moon returned in the form of a purified soul. And she has a new beginning as a hero helping to keep the world safe.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Its the longest I've written yet and I think it was worth the time. I used the last chapter to take a break from fighting for a bit. I realize that battle after battle can be montonous and boring but its one of the things i'm good at. I tried to space this chapter out with more content then just a battle. So hopefully you enjoy it. Also I will no longer be accepting anymore ocs that are male. Send me a female OC and i'll see about using it. Also as always feel free to leave a comment about what you liked in this chapter. Have a Cool winter everyone.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Princess Luna, the Overprotective Mother
Chapter 14
It was the afternoon of the same day as the battle with the first generation Tirek and Twilight had her hooves full. Twilight had no idea how this poor little alicorn filly had ended up at the ruins of the old castle. What's more is how did little filly even survive what had seemed to her like some version of Tirek. The poor filly was battered and bruised all over especially on her sides but she was fine for the most part. However the little filly hadn't stopped crying for 2 hours during which time Twilight had to hold her the whole time and tell her she was safe.
The filly had told Twilight her name was Shattered Eclipse but hadn't told her anything else as her crying resumed. The filly had eventually cried herself to sleep and was currently sleeping on a bed in one of the guest rooms. Twilight couldn't leave the room as she didn't want to leave the little filly alone right now. So many different questions raced through her mind right now. The first of many questions was where her friend Shattered souls had gone. He had still not returned from the old castle and she suspected something bad had happened to him. She figured he must have been the one who had killed Tirek but where had he gone afterwards. The filly must have appeared sometime during the battle and he had been forced to protect her.
Twilight figured that he must have been hurt pretty badly and was hiding somewhere until he was well enough to make it back. As far as she could tell he didn't want to be found right now. So all she'd be able to do is chew him out once he had finally reappeared from his prolonged leave. She was glad that Starlight Glimmer was still around in town and hadn't left to go on a tour with trixie around equestria. She had already sent Spike out to fetch her as quickly as possible.
Sighing in frustration, Twilight turned to look back into the room with the sleeping filly. Her gaze fell upon the filly and she ran her hooves over her eyes for a moment in exhaustion. One of the most interesting things to her at the moment was that the filly already had a cutie mark of a full moon that was eclipsed with the sun but was lying on what looked like on grassy ground in shattered pieces. She had decided to tie a bow into the filly's hair that was a nice aquamarine blue to contrast her dark blue coat and frosty white mane. It was interesting that the filly's mane didn't have the flowing etherealness that the two diarchs of equestria did. Another interesting thing is that it looked like the filly had two small fangs coming from the top of her mouth like a thestral.
Regardless, that wouldn't stop her from caring for the filly. So she wasn't exactly like a normal alicorn that didn't change the fact she still was one. Nor did it change the fact that the poor thing was just a young filly with no parents in sight. She figured that the little filly must have lost her parents when she was still very young and had been wandering around on her own. It didn't look like she had been starving which was good but she'd obviously been through some hard times. Twilight turned back to her desk as she sighed at the sight of all the crumpled parchment she had wasted.
Twilight's horn lit up with her basic levitation spell as she wrapped a quill in her field while dipping it into the ink well. She moved the quill tip to a fresh piece of parchment as she started to write a letter to Princess Celestia for the umpteenth time. She started it like she always did with the big flowing cursive letters,"Dear Princess Celestia" before she had to stop and set the quill down with frustration. She let out a frustrated grunt as she talked to herself,"Argh. Why is it so hard to write one simple letter to Princess Celestia? I've written plenty before so why is it so hard right now?"
Picking the quill back up in her grip, Twilight put it back to the parchment. "Ugh. At this point it would be best to just go ahead and tell her what I found ever since Souls showed up in the first place. I don't know why I haven't told her before all this." So she wrote a long letter detailing the start of when she had first seen Souls and his skills up to the most recent part with her leaving the throne room of the old castle while Souls battled the weird version of Tirek.
She also continued the letter with the appearance of the filly, who she had found in the old throne room near the dead body. She explained what the filly looked like and that she had brought the poor thing back to her castle. She also mentioned that it appeared the filly had no parents whatsoever. With that she set her quill down after signing her name and turning back to the filly only to see her still fast asleep.
She let out a deep sigh of relief that the filly was still sleeping. Twilight got up from her seat with a groan of pain at sitting in place for so long. She smiled lightly at the small foal before moving off to get herself something to eat. She felt the filly would be alright for the moment by herself. Eclipse would probably be sleeping for a good long while before waking up.
Eclipse found herself moving around in a cell of the dungeons that belonged in a video game. If she were to be more precise she would tell you that she was in the dungeons belonging to the castle of Dragonsreach. She knew this was all a dream because there was no way she could be here in the land of Skyrim while still being a tiny alicorn filly. As for why she was in a cell in her dream it was due to the fact that she had been trying to pickpocket one of the guards. She had figured that her pickpocket skill was high enough only to fail miserably and land herself in jail for her troubles. To the beings of her dream she appeared to be an Argonian dragonborn so they had been a little rough. She had a new big black bruise on her side thanks to it. She hoped that lucid dreams like this wouldn't translate to the waking world.
Right now she was huddled on the straw caught shivering from cold and fright. She had no idea that playing the game in real life even if it was just a dream could be so scary. But that could just be her new childish tendencies and way of thinking. She looked out the cell at one of the metal clad Whiterun guards that was standing guard. It was really scaring her at the moment as the guard stared back without any eyes it seemed like to her. She started to cry softly again as the tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. Small tears ran down her cheeks and onto the ground.
Everything in the waking world threatened to mess with her here even in her dreams. Just why did she end up as an alicorn filly and not revert back to her regular male self. Why did she keep talking about herself as We instead of I. And why was it so hard for her to keep her separate sense of self as Souls. It felt more and more like her sense of self was starting to degrade and slip back into the meld of this new fusion. As it was the part of Eclipse's mind that was still Souls could feel his mind remelding with that of Nightmare Moon to make the fused mind of Eclipse. Eclipse had managed to stabilize her mind for now using a special spell that halted the melding of her different minds but that seemed to be having more of a detrimental effect on her than anything.
She turned her scattered thoughts and mind back to what was at hand at the moment. Mainly how the heck she was going to escape this stupid cell and the scary guards. But before she could think of a plan her thoughts went right back to her predicament and the tears came forth even stronger than before as she started to sob.
Princess Luna walked along the starry pathway of the dream realm having exited her own dream only a little while ago. She had been having a lovely dream of ponies appreciating her night when she felt a large sense of urgency that she was needed somewhere in the dream realm. So she had pulled herself from her lovely dream and was currently trying to find the source of her feeling. She walked along seeing the dreams of those who were currently napping in the day or just full on sleeping due to having jobs at night. They were orbs of light that pulsed with different colors depending on the type of dream and the feelings of the dreamer of the moment.
She finally stopped on the pathway near an orb that was drifting through the air. The orb was a deep red, black color that indicated the dreamer was experiencing great fear and that there dream was a nightmare. She quietly tapped on the orb with a hoof to try and get a feel for it. Her eyes widened in surprise at the information she got from just that small tap. It was a very young foal that was having a nightmare about some strange ape like creatures wearing clothing. And it seemed she was suffering from other things too.
She carefully entered the dream of the young foal as blackness covered the area around her for a moment. Then everything solidified around her into the shape of a damp dank dungeon. She was currently hiding in the shadows of a guard room surrounded by these strange ape like creatures. There manner of armor and dress was something that intrigued her. Yet the fact that these guards didn't seem to have any eyes was most disturbing. They carried round shields on their backs and walked around on two legs it seemed. They also had arms that ended in some kind of appendages that could wiggle around. They carried all manner of weapons along with the shields on their backs.
She frowned as she looked around for the dreamer wondering where the small foal could be. She knew the dreamer had to be somewhere nearby but the question was where. She started to look inside the dreary damp looking cells to see all manner of different creatures. Some appeared catlike while others were more lizardlike in appearance. Finally her eyes rested on a cell containing what seemed to her eyes a small foal. Her jaw slowly dropped as she saw just what kind of a foal it was. The foal in question had a small horn jutting from her forhead as well as a pair of wings. She also had two small fangs coming from her upper mouth. Her eyes widened even more as she saw the cutie mark. The magical energy signature the foal was giving off was massive for her age. It seemed to be the combined might of an alicorn with help from a skilled unicorn.
Luna then started to frown once she realized that the poor little filly appeared to be bruised all over. Whether that was from the dream itself or from the waking world she couldn't tell. What she could tell was that the filly was scared of these ape like creatures and curled up into a ball crying. She quietly unfolded her dark wings and flapped them gently. The setting around them dissolved into blackness leaving the filly in a spotlight. But the filly didn't seem to notice at all as she was still crying.
Luna felt that she shouldn't reveal herself to the filly yet as it could have tremendous consequences. But she flapped her wings again and the blackness resolved into a colorful nursery of sorts with all sorts of toys that a filly her age could play with. A kindly looking matron was in a rocking chair nearby just smiling gently down at the crying filly.
Luna nodded at her work before letting out in a whisper,"Your ok now young one. The nightmare is gone. Rest and be happy for you will be watched over and protected." With that her horn glowed softly as she used a spell to exit the dream. She stepped back from the orb containing the dream as her horn continued to glow. She needed to wake up to go tell her sister of this discovery. The spell she was charging was a spell that would wake her up very quickly as if she'd had a bad nightmare herself. She really hated doing this to herself but his was an emergency. She fired off the spell with a small flash of light.
Next thing she knew she had bolted straight up from her bed into a sitting position with a gasp. Her sides were heaving from the momentary fear she had put herself through. She whipped the covers of her bed off of herself with her magic as she raced to her vanity. She noticed her mane was frazzled and bedworn as her mane's etherealness had canceled out while she was asleep. She grunted and felt her magic start flowing through her body again making the etherealness return. Nodding in satisfaction, she quickly put her regalia on by herself using her magic while stepping into her four silver hoof slippers.
After putting on her things, she trotted to the closed door to her room. Quickly opening it with her magic, she poked her head outside to see a loyal nightguard on either side of the door entrance. These nightguards were special as they guarded her rooms during the day while she slept. She spoke with authority yet softly at the same time,"We must be away to see our Sister. There is much we must speak with her about."
Both guards nodded to her silently in way of answer as they moved away from the door to follow behind her as an escort. Princess Luna stepped out of her chambers in her full regalia. She nodded to her guards and moved off with both in tow. She looked up at the sun to see the time was about 4 in the afternoon so Celestia had about another hour of Day Court left. But this matter was was so imporatant she figured that she could interrupt just this once.
She quickly moved through the castle hallways having memorized them in her wanderings at night when no one else was around except her night guards. She moved out of the way of the different servants who were going about their day cleaning. If they saw her they of course dropped into a bow and she returned it with a thanks for all of their hardwork. Finally after about twenty minutes of walking she finally made it to the royal throne room. She blinked in surprise upon realizing that there was no long line of petitioners or a small one anyway of ponies to see her sister. The day guards were still in their regular spots so she moved over to one.
"Guard pray tell Us what is happening? Is are Sister not performing her duties in Day Court?"Luna asked with confusion.
The guard pulled himself to full attention as he saluted the Night Princess,"Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia, is currently in her private study after having received a letter from Princess Twilight in the middle of a case. She deemed the letter important enough to halt the case and cancel the rest of Day Court. She has actually asked to see you in her study as soon as possible. One of us went ahead 10 minutes ago to your chambers to wake you to see her."
Luna nodded her head,"We thank thee guard. Return to thy duties. We must be away to our Sister." She had slipped into full archaic equestrian as her apprehension grew. She left the guard back at his post as she went to find her sister in her private study.
Upon finding the door to her sister's study, Princess Luna moved over to it and knocked lightly upon it. Her ears flicked as she heard her sister called out with a cheery little,"Come in."
Pushing the door open, Luna walked inside as she looked around her sister's private study. The room was the same as it always was. The walls were a pure white with stylized depictions of Celestia's cutie mark. Bookshelves lined the walls filled with all sorts of rare one of a kind books. There was also a nice fireplace roaring away with a merry little fire at the moment. A grate was in front of the fireplace and Celestia could be found reclining on a cushion near it. The desk that sat on the other side of the study was left unoccupied. The desk held all manner of nick knacks and other things Celestia had acquired from her school for gifted unicorns.
Luna turned her attention back to her sister to see that she held a scroll of parchment in her grasp. Celestia looked up from the scroll to Luna and sagged in relief as her demeanor changed entirely,"Thank goodness Lulu. I've been waiting for you for a bit. There is something the two of us must discuss immediately. This is a letter from Twilight detailing something the both of us have never heard about occurring naturally."
Luna frowned as she moved over to the cushion opposite her sister. She layed down on her stomach as she tucked her leg's underneath herself,"While that is all well and interesting sister I too have something important to tell you on my end that we must discuss."
Celestia blinked in surprise but nodded regally,"I understand. But would you mind if I went first?"
Luna nodded her yes,"Yes sister. In this case I do believe that my matter is more important then yours."
Celestia sighed but nodded her head,"Very well. What did you need to talk to me about Lulu?"
Luna rubbed her forehead for a moment,"Sister while we slept we encountered something we have never before seen. It seemed to be a nightmare like every other I have dealt with in the past but it was far from one. The dream belonged to a young foal who was dreaming of some strange creatures that kept her locked in a dungeon cell. I believe the creatures I saw were just manifestations of the foal's fears. The foal herself is what I needed to talk to you about. She was a little alicorn filly Tia. A natural born one it looked like to me. What's more it looked like she was...." She trailed off as she saw Celestia's hoof had been raised in a stopping motion.
"Just a moment Luna. This filly sounds exactly like the one in Twilight's letter here. Twilight tells me in this letter that she happened to find a very young alicorn filly in the ruins of our old castle. She has the filly with her at her own castle but she seems to have been hurt. She reports to me that there are bruises all over her body. It seems to Twilight that the filly had been in captivity for a while but had escaped somehow and wandered around everywhere. But that is all just a theory from her. Could you please describe the filly's appearance?"
Luna's jaw had dropped slowly before she shook her head,"I do hope that the fillies we are talking about are one in the same. I will endeavor to describe what the young filly looked like. She had a very dark blue coat with a white mane the color of frost during early winter. A light blue bow sat upon her head. Her cutie mark was that of a full moon eclipsing the sun but it was lying shattered in pieces upon grassy ground. She had bruises all over her body but whether that was from the dream or not I had been unable to tell. Now with this information you've provided I can indeed say that it was from the waking world translated into her dreams."
Celestia nodded her head,"That matches the description of the filly in the letter exactly Luna. It eases my heart a bit to know that we are talking about the same foal. But it also saddens me to know that something so terrible could have happened to one so young. It appears that she has no parents to speak of at all. If Twilight's theory is right then she has been wandering around by herself for at least the past couple of days. And its a wonder that she was not starved during her captivity if she was indeed captive. Although from the description of her dream that you have told me it does indeed seem that she was held captive in some dungeon."
Luna frowned as she listened and nodded her head,"Indeed. It is my belief that the filly was being held captive by some ponies that wanted to use her for some awful thing. Like attempting to make a new Nightmare alicorn. But I can't say for sure. All I can say is that she saw her captors as eyeless, souless beasts that watched her every waking moment of her captivity. I'd even go so far as to say that the creatures in her dreams are indeed manifestations of those ponies that held her captive. I can think of no other reason for her having such terrible dreams. I would say that these ponies would have killed her birth parents just to get ahold of her. This would explain why she didn't stay around the dungeons where she had been held captive instead of wandering off like she did."
Celestia nodded in agreement,"Indeed. Now the question about the poor thing is what are we going to do about her? She is far to young to be on her own. She needs a loving family to look after her and raise her well. And then there is the fact that she is indeed an alicorn. That makes her royalty among our little ponies and I don't think any regular family would be able to handle her. She has more magic than a unicorn foal her age and she also has the wings of a pegasus. One of the noble family's here in Canterlot may be able to take care of her but I don't hold much faith in that. I believe she would be raised to act just like the nobles of this present day and age. She needs to be close to one of us Luna."
Luna looked uneasy at this,"I can understand that sister but the question is which one of us should look after her? Mayhap Princess Twilight could take care of her?"
Celestia sighed as she set the letter in her grasp down,"No sister I do not believe Twilight is a good match for taking care of the filly."
Luna blinked in surprise before asking,"But sister. She was your student was she not? Surely she could research how to take care of a foal and then raise her?"
Celestia frowned,"No Luna. While books and research may give one knowledge and insight it does not count for everyday experience. Especially where it concerns a foal that is also an alicorn. With that said Twilight is still to young and inexperienced to even think of such a thing. Not to mention that her time is consumed with her duties as the Princess of Friendship and her studies into various forms of magic. She is able to talk and still do things with her friends because that is part of who she is. This new friend she speaks to me of in her letter is one such friend she can do things with. What's more is that he's a stallion. She has never had a real friend that was a stallion before. I can only hope that she takes this opportunity to learn how to interact with stallions rather than just being flustered by them all the time. Then maybe in the future she'd be able to meet a nice stallion she could fall in love with. A foal would unbalance her life style completely and throw it into disarray. Most of her time would be consumed looking after the foal and she would be unable to attend to her duties and life. "
"Then there is the fact that Twilight has a tendency to become engrossed in something she's really interested in for weeks at a time. She will go days in her library just studying without eating or noticing anything. That would result in neglect of the foal. This foal will need constant attention and watching and if she is not watched she's liable to get into trouble or under-hoof,"Celestia finished.
Luna sighed as she replied,"I understand Tia. Twilight Sparkle is not the idea pony for taking care of the foal. But what about yourself? You were practically a second mother to Twilight not to mention you were able to spend time with her almost every day." She was really trying to avoid bringing herself up in all this.
Celestia shook her head again,"Again that is not a good idea sister. I was able to spend time with Twilight every day purely because she was my personal student. Her magic was to great to be left to the teachers of my school. She needed my guidance and lessons. Yes I was able to teach her many of the things she needed to know and we grew close but Twilight Velvet is still her real mother. Twilight Velvet was the one who really reared Twilight. I admit that I should have given more opportunities to Twilight to make friends but that is neither here nor there at the moment. The important thing is that of right now I am simply to busy to be able to care for a foal. Every day is packed with important matters or duties for myself. Day Court takes up a significant amount of time as does making public appearances. And I find that soon I may be taking on a new student. There is a promising young filly who will be taking her entrance exam to my school soon. If her magic is as great as I think it is she will need my lessons and guidance like Twilight did. As such I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to give the attention or love that such a foal would need. This does indeed sadden me but there is nothing I can do about it."
Luna nodded understandingly but still tried for her final gambit,"But perhaps Princess Cadance. I realize that she has young Flurry Heart but surely an older filly would not be as much trouble?"
Celestia brought a hoof up to her face in exasperation as she rubbed the bridge of her muzzle,"Luna surely you know as well as I that Cadance is already fully occupied by Flurry Heart. Flurry Heart is still a baby and it takes Cadance complete attention to take care of her when Shining Armor isn't. And even then it takes the both of them to completely watch over them even when they have their babysitter with them. You know as well as I that it would never work. I'm afraid Luna that you are the only one who could take care of the foal."
Luna shook her head frantically,"No sister. There is no conceivable way that I could take care of a foal. I'm much to busy with my duties."
Celestia gave her a deadpan look,"Luna you take part of the night just to put good smelling flowers all around the castle. I love that about you but its not very necessary. Then there is the fact that I find you have been going around to different places at night here in canterlot to hang out with ponies in order to make new friends. That too is good but it only adds more weight to my arguement. You have more than enough time to look after and care for a filly. You don't even bother with a night court most of the time. And on top of all this there is one more fact that should be mentioned. The filly is most likely nocturnal because she is apparently still asleep. Twilight told me she cried herself to sleep but such a sleep for an alicorn like her should have only lasted an hour at the most. Thus it is most likekly that she is active and awake at night instead of during the day.
As such there is no way a young filly her age would be able to do the normal things a foal should be doing. Which is playing with other foals in school during the day and other normal activities. And there is also the fact that you to are nocturnal sister. Even now I can see how much of a struggle it is for you to stay awake. So as much as you may dislike it and fear it you are the best one out of all of us to take care of a foal."
Luna's head slumped down to the ground in defeat,"Sister I still do not feel that I am the best choice. I am still catching up with modern times and its hard enough as it is. What would I do with a foal? I don't even know where I would begin with trying to raise one."
Celestia smiled softly,"That is the trouble and joy for a new mother Luna. They don't know how to raise children yet they do so. Its an experience and a most joyful one at that. And there are always others that you can ask for help or advice from including myself. While I've never had a daughter myself I still know plenty about young foals. And then there are the many mothers all over equestria you can ask for help."
Luna's frown deepened,"Be that as it may sister. I am still needed to help guide the realm during the night."
Celestia's smile dropped completely as she went back to deadpan,"Luna, I can keep up with ruling Equestria by myself. I did it for a thousand years while you were gone and I still did many other things. I think you can find it in yourself to do both your duties and care for a foal."
Luna's face impacted against the ground,"I admit defeat sister. Your logic in this matter is sound. We should see about meeting with Twilight Sparkle as soon as possible and seeing the young filly."
Celestia's smile returned if very small,"Indeed. I wonder what the young one will be like. We should go as soon as possible Luna. Just let me send a letter to Twilight to let her know that we will be coming. We should be able to leave in half an hour at the least."
Luna sighed as she kept her face to the floor. Celestia grabbed a fresh role of parchment in her grasp and started to scratch away with a quill. A moment later she sent the letter off with a spell from her horn. She nodded to Luna and then made herself comfortable as she said,"I told Twilight we would be teleporting directly there so as to avoid an public showing for now." All Luna could do was nod her head.
Finally ten minutes later a new letter appeared form Twilight in a flash of green dragon fire. Celestia quickly read it and then nodded to Luna who was still keeping her face to the floor,"We may leave in 20 minutes sister. You should prepare yourself."
Luna nodded her head as she picked it up off the ground wearily. She sighed as she started to prepare herself mentally and went into a sort of trance in order to gain focus and mental clarity. Finally after 20 minutes had passed Celestia got up from her perch and put on her regalia using her magic. She turned to the now calm and reserved Luna,"Let us go now sister."
Luna nodded,"Indeed." Both their horns charged up with a teleport spell and they disappeared with a flash of light to Twilight's castle.
Back at the castle, Eclipse had been tossing and turning in her sleep due to her nightmare. Twilight hadn't been able to do anything to calm her down and help her. But Eclipse has finally settled down into a comfortable sleep again after a while and was still sleeping deeply. It was now about 5:30 in the afternoon and it would soon be time for Dinner. The sun would also be lowering very soon.
Starlight had returned to the castle alongside Spike but she was just as stumped as Twilight about what to do. Spike had then sent of Twilight's letter to the princess only to receive a reply some 30 minutes later. Once Twilight got the reply it sent her into a panic to get things ready for their arrival but had still managed to send off a letter through Spike to them that she would be ready for them.
So here it was at 5:30 in the afternoon and Twilight had finally gotten everything ready for their arrival. Mainly making sure everything was clean and orderly as well as making sure the filly was alright. There was a great flash of light and the two diarchs of equestria stood before her in full regalia looking regal as they always did.
Celestia stepped forwards with her calm demeanor and splendor,"Hello Twilight. Thank you for receiving us on such short notice."
Twilight came forwards and had to force herself not to bow,"It was no problem at all Princess. I'm glad that you were able to come. The filly is in one of my guest room's at the moment. Just let me lead you there."
Celestia nodded with a grim smile,"Please do Twilight." She and Luna followed along behind Twilight to the guest room where the small filly currently was. Celestia and Luna both gazed upon the sleeping form of the foal for a moment before turning to each other. Luna's gaze had only grown more apprehensive and fearful after having gazed at the foal and the look in her eyes plead with Celestia to not make her do this.
Celestia motioned to the foal with her head,"Go on Luna. Just so you know her name is Shattered Eclipse. I will be talking privately with Twilight should you need us."
Luna nodded with dread as she watched her sister leave to go talk with Twilight. She turned back to the still sleeping filly as she contemplated what to do. She finally walked over to the filly and touched her own horn to the filly's. This gave her access to the filly's dreams again but it only caused her to frown when she realized that the filly had gone back to having a nightmare again. She felt that the filly was crying due to great emotional distress. And the images she got from the spell were ones of the poor filly having no one to turn to. No loved ones to care for her or give her advice.
This caused feeling to stir inside of Luna as she thought about her past. Back to a thousand years ago when she felt that no one appreciated her. That no one had loved her, not even her sister who she knew had. She'd had no one to turn to. No one to help comfort her or give her advice on how to proceed. She had no mother to ask for help or advice. All she had at the time was herself and her feelings and thoughts. So here was another pony going through something similar to herself. A little foal who had no parents to watch over her or love her or to guide her. She was all alone by herself with no one to count on. The feelings radiated more deeply inside of her and she felt a small jolt spark between her horn and the filly's. To her it was the dawning of a realization. The dawning of a feeling that she was the only one who could understand the filly. The only one who'd be able to give her the attention and love that she needed.
The strange electric feeling filled her entire being as she gazed down at the filly before her. She slowly drew her horn back away from the filly's as she stood up completely. She closed her eyes for a moment as she let this feeling fill her body and very soul. She felt some kind of dormant instinct within her slowly awaken and she opened her eyes again. They seemed much softer than they had been previously and a new kind of light seemed to be shining through her eyes. A new kind of fire could be seen through her eyes. One of understanding for the troubles the filly was experiencing and the need and want to comfort her fears and troubles. To keep her safe from all the troubles and dangers of the world until she was ready to face them on her own.
She reached down with her hooves gently towards the still sleeping foal. Her hooves slipped underneath the sleeping form and gently picked it up. She held the filly in her arms as she sat sofly down on her haunches. Bringing the filly up to her chest she gently started rocking her from side to side in her arms. What's more is she started to sing an old lullaby that she remembered her mother singing to her so long ago when she was still a little filly herself. It was in old ancient equish that she sang it a language that had not been heard in centuries. She gazed down at the filly with a soft expression as she sang gently.
The filly seemed at ease in her arm's as she continued to rock her and sing. Her nightmare easing and disappearing completely as Luna continued to sing the lullaby. Her dreams returned to ones of peace and quiet. Luna smiled gently yet hesitantly at the filly as she started to whisper to her.
"I don't know how good I will be at something like this. But I promise you now that I will do my best to care for you. To be there when you need me to be and to be the guiding light that you need. I may not ever be the best parent you could have but I vow I won't be the worst. I will make sure your Shattered heart is mended and made whole once again. I will be the best mother I can be to you my little Eclipse." With that she went silent as she just continued to rock the small filly.
Eclipse had been crying and dreaming of that dungeon when suddenly it all disappeared. She hadn't noticed but once she had finally finished crying she had looked at her surroundings to see she was in a nursery of all things. There were all sorts of toys and a matronly looking mare watching her. She thought she heard a wonderful soothing voice. Yet she was very confused but unfortunately her childish mind let her thoughts wander and next thing she knew she was playing with the toys happily. Things had been going well for her until her mind had gotten back on track to its current predicament.
That had set things all in motion once again except this time her surroundings had dissolved entirely. That lone spotlight shined at her as she broke down into tears once again. She didn't know what to do and there was just no one to turn to. The faces of different ponies appeared around her taunting her for being stupid and weak. For not knowing how to figure out how to fix her problems. She just cried all the more. She wished she was back with her family. Her human family with parents that could advise her and tell her what their opinions were. Her parents that could help drive her fears and insecurities away. But she didn't have that here in this new world of hers. She was all alone with no one to help her. Not even Twilight Sparkle would be able to help her or understand her if she were to tell the truth of her origins.
The faces closed in around her, circling her as they taunted her and her weakness. She buried her muzzle in her hooves as she continued to cry and the darkness pressed in around her from all sides. The lone spot of light playing over her slowly fading away so she could be consumed by the darkness.
Then everything froze as she heard the faint traces of a song. Her ears flicked as they tried their best to focus on the source of the music. Things seemed to resume movement around her only the spotlight around her was growing bigger. The darkness retreated as the song became softer and louder to her ears. The words of the song were in a language she didn't understand but they were still soothing to her. Before she knew it the darkness had disappeared entirely to be replaced with the soft setting of the nursery again. She felt at peace even if she didn't know why. Slowly her fears and insecurities melted away as she continued to listen to the song. Finally the words ended and she heard a voice speaking to her. One that was familiar yet not at the same time. It was a voice that spoke of comfort and being there for her. To be the guiding light she needed and the family that she so desperately wanted at the moment.
It was with the last bit that she felt even more at peace than before as her body relaxed. She was able to let her mind wander again until she was playing with the toys in the nursery all over again. Finally she felt the world around her disappearing, which let her know that her body was finally waking up.
Eclipse had finally woken up but she kept her eyes closed and breathing steady. Her ears twitched a bit as she felt the sensation of weightlessness yet softness beneath her. She felt like she was drifting through the air gently from side to side and she could hear breathing belonging to someone who seemed to be directly above her. She finally opened her eyes just a tiny crack to see what was going on. What she saw shocked her completely yet at the same time didn't. Right above her looking down at her with a soft smile was none other than Princess Luna. But why was she here of all places and holding her.
Her eyes opened completely as she looked up at the Princess with wonder as well as curiosity. She looked up into Luna's eyes to see some kind of fire burning behind them with an intensity that was calming to her for some reason. Finally Princess Luna decided it was time to speak up.
"Hello little one. It is good to see you had a nice rest. I am Princess Luna one of the rulers of Equestria. Can you tell me what your name is little one?" She smiled gently at Eclipse.
Eclipse looked up with awe at the Princess but finally blinked and said in a small shy voice,"Our name.....is Shattered Eclipse your majesty."
Luna smiled as she held Eclipse in one foreleg as she looked down at her,"That is a very lovely name Eclipse. But can you tell me where your parents are? Can you tell me why you were in those ruins all by yourself?"
Eclipse's pupils dilated a bit as she started to panic. She had no idea what to say in answer to these questions. She started to panic as her mind raced to give an explanation,"Our parents are gone. Some ponies took them away and we never saw them again." Her mind raced to one of her recent dreams. That of the land of skyrim and she formulated a background around that. "We don't know why they took our parents away but We were forced out of our home. We had to look for food all over. We were seen by guards who didn't like Us. They grabbed us and took us to a cold dark room. We didn't know what we had done. We stayed there for so long. They fed us scraps of food until we finally managed to get out somehow. We can't remember how but we wandered and managed to find enough food to fill ourselves. We ended up in that old castle only to be faced by that scary monster. Some pony jumped in and saved us only to disappear after beating the monster. We were so scared we don't know what do to. We still don't know what to do."
Luna held onto her gently as she replied,"It is okay young one. You are safe now. You don't have to worry about what you need to do right now. I'm sorry about your parents young one. I know that I could never replace them but I would like to ask if you would like to have a family again."
Eclipse nodded her head frantically in answer as Luna smiled,"That is good to hear. If it is okay with you little one I would like to be your mother. That is if you will let me."
Eclipse's eyes grew wide,"Really princess? You want to be my momma?"
Luna chuckled a bit,"Yes little one. As long as you wish it that is."
Eclipse's mind raced through so many thoughts at once. When she had been asked if she wanted a family and then if she would let Luna be her mother she had nodded her head yes on instinct. And as she thought it through logically it made sense to her. She had no family here in this world to speak of. No one who would be able to truly understand her or offer her guidance in the way she needed. And then there was the fact that she didn't know how long she'd be stuck in this new form of hers. It could be years that she could be stuck in this form. So she might as well have a family that her childish mind was crying out for. Right now all she could feel was the cold lonely darkness pressing in on her from all sides. But as she looked up at Luna it disappeared. Slowly a small smile appeared on her face.
She looked up at Luna with that small graceful smile and nodded her head slowly just once,"I'd like that Mommy."
Luna's own smile became gentler still and wider as she brought Eclipse close to her chest. "Then I shall be the best mother I can be for you my little Eclipse. You are my daughter now and will always be even after the end of time." She leaned her head down and nuzzled Eclipse softly.
Eclipse happily smiled and leaned into the nuzzling happily but blinked in surprise once Luna started doing something strange. A new instinct had welled up within Luna that told her what to do. So she just followed that instinct and closed her eyes as she licked Eclipse's face with her tounge.
Eclipse blinked up at her in surprise but some hidden instinct inside of her arose and she found herself leaning into it. Her instinct and mind told her that this was the ancient way of a mare claiming a filly as her daughter. One that started a deep bond that could never be broken. Sparks seemed to leap between them as a tingling electric feeling filled her body and soul. She closed her eyes and leaned into Luna's chest as Luna started to rock her again.
Luna smiled as she finished what her instinct told her to do and she could feel a deeper bond connect her heart and soul with that of her new daughter. She rocked little Eclipse for a while before she looked out the window and realized that it was almost time for her to lower the moon. It was about 6:30 meaning she really needed to start.
So she smiled down at Eclipse as she spoke up,"My little Eclipse I must go raise the moon. I will be back in a moment. I promise."
Eclipse opened up her eyes full of trust as she replied,"Ok mommy." Luna set her back down on the bed.
Luna got up off her haunches and moved off to go raise the moon while Celestia lowered the sun. Once she had moved out of the room to go find a balcony, Eclipse looked herself over and sighed. She explored the new connection she could feel inside of herself. She blinked once she realized she could feel feelings of contentment from the link he felt. And she could also feel the general location of the being on the other side of the bond that of course being Luna. She shrugged to herself but looked around the room and grunted.
She had full control of her thoughts at the moment despite her childish mind and tendencies. She looked at her left foreleg and closed her eyes as she willed her Archiver to appear. There was a surge of magic within herself that flowed to her left foreleg and when she reopened her eyes she could see her Archiver right there. Latching her eyes onto the slots of the device, she could see that one of the slots was still occupied by the Nightmare Moon soul chip. She frowned and pressed the red button on her Archiver to eject the chip. Instead of immediately ejecting the chip the machine hummed and then gave a blaring little beep and the screen lit up.
A message appeared on the screen which she turned her eyes to to read. It read,"Error. Unable to Eject soul chip. Soul Unison still in progress. Unable to end Soul Unison. User's synchronization rate with current soul is perfectly harmonized in thought. Current Soul does not wish for separation at this time. Unable to force separation at this time. Time to keep form.......indefinite. User's magic pool is greatly increased and recharge rate is more than enough to keep transformation going."
She scowled and flicked the message away as she talked out loud,"What the hay? Dang it Nightmare Moon. You were just supposed to help me in the fight. How did I end up as a freaking alicorn filly?"
The machine hummed and beeped with a message to answer his question,"The Nightmare Moon soul saw the user was under extreme pain and duress from the fight. The soul took over after the user's mind passed out completely and activated a large scale healing spell to heal most of the damage. It took almost all remaining magical energy at time of the spell. As a result the user reverted to a young alicorn filly due to power loss. The user's mind fused fully with the soul's mind as a result of this reversion. As such this unit is unable to separate the user's mind from that of the soul. This unit is currently working on developing a program to separate the user's mind from that of the soul. Time to program completion is a week. End of transformation will be possible at that time."
Eclipse blinked and tilted her head,"Huh. Well that's good with the program. But this means I can't fight the inter-dimensional threats if they show up. What do i do about that?"
The machine beeped with another message,"This unit reminds the user that there is one new active Soul Warrior who is able to take care of the current threats. This unit has also unlocked a stored program to make a new Soul Unison possible. The name of such a program is Soul Fusion. This is the combination of up to three or more souls which include's the user's own soul. The User will thus be able to fight off threats if necessary."
Eclipse nodded with a sigh,"Dang. Well its good that the new program was unlocked so at least I'll be able to fight if I need to. Till then I might as well move around and see if I can find something to eat. I know Lu-mother can find me if necessary." She stopped for a moment as she realized that for some reason she had corrected herself with calling Princess Luna her mother. "Huh. Must be the whole bond thing."
She sighed as she let go of the magic keeping her Archiver in place, which resulted in the Archiver disappearing with a flash of light. With that she moved off the bed in search of something to eat as her stomach rumbled. "Good thing I know where the palace ktichens are. This place is enough of a maze as it is."
Eclipse walked along in silence as she felt inwards to the bond. Luna was radiating feelings of calm and peace through the bond. It appeared Luna had yet to realize that she had moved out of the room. She shrugged and continued along as a thought came to her mind and she willed her satchel to appear. After it appeared with a flash of light she looked to see a new soul chip waiting on top. It bore an image of Princess Luna in full regalia looking calmly up at Eclipse. The caption for the image read,"Princess Luna, Goddess of the Moon!" She shrugged at the caption,"Fitting since that is basically what she is."
As she walked along the halls towards the palace kitchens, a great feeling of unease overcame her. She stopped in one of the hallways when she was halfway to the kitchens. She looked around for a moment before jumping back in fright as a loud crack and snap was heard by her ears. She looked at the wall near her to see that lightning was running across it as well as the air around it distorting. Her body locked up completely as she stared at the growing distortion.
So many thoughts ran through her mind before settling on one train of thought. The train of thought she settled on was how scary looking the distortion appeared. And what kind of horrible monster could come out of it. She curled up into a ball as the distortion appeared. She started to radiate pure fear as her small body shook all over. Her fear pushed itself into the bond inside of it and surged along to Luna's end of the bond.
As that happened another loud crackling sound was heard and the distortion turned into one of the swirling green portals that indicated an interdimensional prescence. Out of the portal came a being that she had hoped would never come here. One that had been such a pain in the past in a completely different world and setting. Out before her came none other than Sigma. Sigma was a robotic being known as a Reploid that caused untold destruction and death in the world he was from. A robot that didn't go down until years later after he fully revealed himself as the villian. Now this being was standing right before her completely and utterly terrifying to her.
Sigma looked down at her with a look of confusion that quickly turned to one that was uncaring yet cunning. He spoke up,"Hmm. It would seem that the portal did work. Now I can start over in this world. All beings will bow before me and hail me as their king."
All poor little Eclipse could do was shake in fear as she curled up into a quivering ball. The fear inside of her growing all the more as it forced itself down the link she had developed with Luna.
After Luna had finished raising the moon, she felt a strong jolt of fear run through the bond that she could now feel inside of herself. She had been told about this kind of bond by her sister but she never could have truly fathomed what it was like. The fear that ran into her from her end of the bond was overwhelming and it caused her to jolt to attention. She focused on the bond and frowned when she realized that Eclipse wasn't where she had left her. Instead Eclipse appeared to be in one of the halls halfway to the kitchen. She was able to tell exactly where Eclipse was due to all her experience with magic. The fear became even stronger a moment later which caused Luna to jump into action as she fired off a teleport spell to her daughter's location.
When the light around her faded and then reformed into the hallway where her daughter was, she was forced to stop in shock. There before her was some kind of bipedal being similair to the beings from her filly's nightmares yet this one looked far more metallic and was wearing some kind of armor that was even stranger. The being stepped forwards and picked her daughter up in a huge fist right around her neck.
Luna immediately reacted as she growled,"Put my daughter down you miscreant. You shall pay most dearly for even touching her."
The being looked at the filly with one eye and then her and laughed,"Oh so this scrawny little thing is your daughter. Well I guess that will make this all the more satisfying then." He squeezed his fist rather hard making Eclipse gag and choke as he little forehooves waved around in the air. Her face started to go purple till Sigma stopped squeezing and instead tossed Eclipse aside as a very angry Luna came his way.
Eclipse hit the ground with a heavy thump folled by the sound of a few cracks before going completely still. She was still breathing but it was very uneven and very shallow at the same time.
Luna's gaze had turned blood red as she gazed at the being who had hurt her daughter,"You will pay with your life."
Sigma just grinned down at her,"We shall see strange horse."
Luna growled as she continued to charge him with her head down and horn extended. He just stood there unimpressed until she slammed into him with her shoulder. He was sent flying down the hallways with great speed and slammed into one of the crystal walls.
He was dazed for a moment as he tried to process what the heck had just happened. Luna used this to her full advantage as she charged up a massive ray spell of pure magic. It fired from her horn and sped across the hall to slam into his chest burying him in the wall further.
Sigma roared in pain as his armor cracked, circuits fried, and a subsystem or two crashed. He got back out of the wall with a bit of difficulty as he used his immense strength to pull himself back out. He glared at the pony who was already charging up another spell.
"You will pay for that horse. I don't know how you are doing that but you will be destroyed for striking your future king." With that he charged up rays in his hands and fired them at Luna. They sped through the air before Luna could finish charging another ray spell. They slammed into her hard sending her flying through the air to land right next to the body of her unconcious daughter.
She wheezed in pain from the beams of energy as she looked towards her unconcious daughter. She could see blood pooling in the corner of her mouth which caused Luna's heart to feel overwhelmed to the point of breaking from sorrow.
Sigma stomped across the ground laughing all the while,"See horse. You should be bowing before your betters. Before you die I'll will destroy that little horse completely and make you watch."
Luna's eyes widened in horrors and then contracted as her pupils almost completely disappeared. An aura built up around her as she slowly got back onto her hooves. A black aura surrounded her form as she glared at the being before her,"You will not touch her again. I'll make sure of it." Her wings unfurled as Sigma just laughed and charged up more energy beams.
She flapped her wings hard behind her which sped her across the floor towards him as her hooves were outstretched before her. She was growling and her hooves were coated in pure shadow that became sharper than the deadliest blades. She slammed into him just as he unleashed his beams. They slammed into her chest with full force but she shrugged them off even as they burned holes into her skin. Her hooves slammed into him and cut into his chest and arm.
He roared in pain as he backed up and held his bad arm with his good arm. His armor was in pieces on his chest as his arm sparked uselessly. He growled but laughed a bit in satisfaction at seeing the horse in front of him on the ground with bleeding holes in her chest. But she seemed unconcerned about them as she sped forwards again.
His face switched to that of confusion yet determination as he drew an energy sword from his side. He activated it with his good hand and swung down towards the side towards her. Luna stopped right in front of him as she raised one of her hooves still covered in the deadly shadows. It collided with the blade and halted its motion entirely as it sparked and fought against the dark shadows it had collided with.
Luna growled,"I shall erase any trace of your existence fool." Her other hoof came down and sliced into his arm hard enough to make him drop the energy sword. It clattered to the ground and turned off. Sigma's arms hung before him uselessly as he glared at the horse before him.
He spat,"How is this possible? I should be unbeatable." He prepared to kick at the horse.
Luna spat,"No one is unbeatable. Especially a villain like you." Her horn charged up with a great amount of energy before she point blank unleashed it on him.
He roared in pain and agony as the beam of pure darkness ripped into him. It consumed him and turned his parts to dust before he was completely enveloped by the beam. After the magical beam ended there was nothing left of him except a black mark on the floor. Luna snorted and nodded her head in satisfaction before her magic was set to healing herself. In a matter of moments the holes in her chest was gone and she was completely fine if a bit exhausted physically and mentally. Her magic pools were decreased but they would return to normal with time.
She turned back to her unconscious daughter and rushed over to her. She gathered Eclipse into her hooves and started to cast a healing spell only to wobble as she realized that she didn't have enough control right now to cast the spell. It had been hard enough to cast it on herself. She looked frantically at her unconscious daughter, watching as blood dripped from her mouth onto the ground. She closed her eyes and horn lit up brightly as she fired off one spell she knew she could. It was a teleportation spell anchored to a point in Canterlot that she had made earlier. With a flash of light and a pop she had disappeared all the way back to Canterlot.
She rushed to the royal infirmary with Eclipse in one hoof and knocked the door down. She got Eclipse to a bed and roared for a doctor and a couple of nurses to come help her immediately. Everyone was disoriented for a moment before responding to her commands and coming to her aid. They did their jobs to help take care of the patient before them.
They ended up making Luna leave so they could work as her panic and worried manner was making their job harder. Once Luna was out of the room they were able to get to work. Luna herself had to calm down and when she did she managed to send a letter off to her sister and Twilight. Then she fell into a restless state as the doctor and nurses worked late into the night on Eclipse.
Thus we see the consequences of angering a new mother. Especially when that new mother is an alicorn goddess that can kick your butt. And if completely obliterating an enemy like that isn't overkill or overprotective I don't know what is.
Author's Note
Hey guys. Sorry for not uploading a chapter during the weekend but I didn't have time. This chapter took me a long time to complete but I feel it is worth the effort. I hope you all enjoy it. And yes Souls will return to normal in time. But I'm still trying to have some fun with all this. So yeah he's made a connection with Luna now. Not to mention the whole soul chip. There are things coming in the future that I'm sure you all will like. So as always feel free to leave a comment about what you liked in the chapter. Or if you have a female oc you'd like me to add to the story just pm me. Have a good day everyone.
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Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Fury of Princess Luna and Eclipse's Misadventure in Canterlot
Chapter 15
It was now morning of the following day meaning it was now the 5th of December. Princess Luna had been forced to go about her duties as a princess while the doctor and his staff worked on her daughter. She had come back several times to see if there was any change in progress and she had been told that her daughter had gone through magical surgery successfully. Right now she would need a good amount of rest in order to heal. Her ribs had been reset and encouraged to heal quickly with the use of magic but it would still be a couple of weeks before she was fully back to her full self. Eclipse would be fine as the rest of her was magically healed so all she needed was that rest.
Unfortunately, she would not be receiving the rest she so desperately needed at the moment due to politics. Several nobles who had been staying up late had seen Princess Luna run by with Eclipse in her grasp. This had set them to talking and now all sorts of rumors were flying all over the castle. So that meant that Luna and Celestia would have to make a public statement and show Eclipse off to everyone. Luna was not happy with this at all as she had wanted to conceal Eclipse's presence for at least a bit longer. However, they really had no choice in the matter so Luna was going to the infirmary to pick up Eclipse.
Upon arriving there, she looked around for one of the nurses or doctors. After finding one, she asked in a calm tone,"Nurse. Can you tell me where my daughter is at the moment? I'm afraid I will need to take her with me."
The nurse turned to her and bowed for a moment before standing back up,"She's in room 2 your highness. And I have to say its really not a good idea to take her right now. She needs all the rest she can get."
Luna sighed as she shook her head,"I know this nurse. However there are things that must be done that requires her to be with me." With that she thanked the nurse and walked by her to room 2.
After she had reached room 2, Luna walked inside to fetch her daughter. She stopped for a moment as her gaze fell upon Eclipse. Poor Eclipse had bandages around her middle that were magically enchanted to act as a sort of cast to help keep her ribs in place. This would help them to heal back to what they should be once the magic was completely done. She sighed in sadness of the condition of her daughter as she walked closer to her.
She gently picked her up in her hooves trying her best to not wake her up at the moment. "Oh my little star. I have been your mother for less than a day and already my heart aches at your pain." She carefully brought her wing around in front of her over her foreleg that held Eclipse. She then got up on three legs and carried Eclipse in her grip out of the room. She was using her wing as a sort of screen to block out the lights so that Eclipse could sleep a little longer at the very least.
Eclipse moved in her arm a bit into a more comfortable position and let out a sigh of happiness as she cuddled into Luna's foreleg more. Luna couldn't help but give a small smile at the sight as she walked along. She became serious again as she continued to walk along the halls of the castle. The staff of the castle of course stopped what they were doing and bowed as she passed. And once her back were to them they cast look of curiosity and wonder at why she had her wing forwards like they. They wondered what she had been carrying although a few of the maids figured it might be the new arrival in the castle.
A bit later Luna arrived at her room, while still carrying Eclipse in her foreleg. She sighed as she levitated a cup of tea over to herself that had been left there a little bit ago by a maid. She took a sip and felt the energizing flow of energy flow into her body to help her stay awake. Luna used her telekinesis to take her regalia off of her and put it onto a stand. Then using her magic she brought a new set of regalia out of her closet.
This regalia was in the more olden style of things. There was far more ornamentation and it covered her body more than the newer regalia did. She set silver wing covers on the outside of her wings. The light silver metal gleamed in the light of her room. The torc was larger and covered more of her chest and neck then the newer regalia. It was also inlaid with all sorts of gems like mother of pearls and gleaming sapphires. Her hoof slippers were actually more warlike as they had a secret hidden blade in each slipper. She was actually grateful for this as she could defend her daughter if needs be. The slippers ran up her leg a bit more to give a little protection on her legs. Her back was covered in a light silver armoring stylized with her cutie mark. It had ridges down the back that held little projectiles that could be moved using magic. The crown she put on her head was much larger than her small tiara. This one had spikes coming from the top that could focus magical energy.
She had not worn this regalia in over a millenium and felt that now was the time to actually use it. She gave a small smile as she gazed at herself in the mirror. The regalia helped her to think of happier times in the far past. That is one of the reasons why she kept it. And she figured that maybe sometime in the future she would get to use it again. She then turned back to her closet as she took another sip of her tea and pulled out another set of regalia. This was more like the modern style of regalia except it was foal sized. This had been her princess regalia when she was just a foal herself.
She smiled as she gazed at the small tiara and torc along with the small hoof slippers. Her horn brought them closer and then grew brighter as she cast a spell on them. They glowed with a soft light before morphing into a more modern shape. The objects stopped glowing and revealed a light blue tiara with a clear blue sapphire set in the top. There were mother of pearls inlaid in the other small tips of the tiara and it was stylized with Eclipse's cutie mark. The torc was also stylized with Eclipse's cutie mark and made of a softer metal now that wouldn't chafe or hurt Eclipse's skin. Finally the hoof slippers had an enchantment on them that would make it feel as if Eclipse wasn't wearing them at all. She figured that Eclipse wouldn't be used to wearing anything after being stuck in a dungeon for so long.
Luna moved her wing back to her side as she used her magic to gently set the regalia on Eclipse. Her magic was so careful and precise that she was able to get them on Eclipse without causing her to shift to much. She smiled at her skill but sighed as she realized it was time to wake her daughter up. And she hated to wake her up during the day when she knew her daughter was just as nocturnal as she was. She sighed but gently nuzzled her daughter's cheeks as she spoke softly.
"It's time to wake up my little moon. We have some business we must attend too."She nuzzled her daughter again who squirmed at it before scrunching up her nose in irritation.
Finally she opened her eyes a crack as she mumbled,"Don't want to. Too tired. I hurt all over mommy."
Sadly there was a rather large imprint around her neck from where Sigma had grabbed her by her throat and squeezed. The mark would disappear mostly with time but there would still be a bit of the mark there even after it had pretty much disappeared. It would appear as a small band around her neck that was easily covered by a torc but it would still be there. She of course still had fur growing in that area but even it wouldn't be able to fully cover the sight. There was also the bandages on her sides where her ribs had been broken.
Luna gave her a gentle smile,"I know my little moon but sadly this can't wait. I have to present you to all the nobles and staff of the castle. And I also have to present you to the press. I know you'd like to rest but this can't wait.
Eclipse's eyes opened up large and wide as a pout crossed her face,"But I don't want to go see others. I just want to sleep mommy. Everything hurts." She winced in actual pain as she moved her head a bit. Her hoof went up to her neck where she had been grabbed. Her breathing became shallow for a moment before returning to normal.
Luna's expression turned to one of sadness as she gently cradled Eclipse,"I know dear. I will try to make it as quick as possible so you can get back to sleep. And I'll be holding you the entire time."
Eclipse nodded her head with a sigh as she tried to cuddle into Luna's arm even more than before. Sadly this turned out to be hard because of how badly her neck was hurting her.
Luna's sad smile turned even sadder as she adjusted Eclipse carefully in her arm. She smiled a bit when she saw some form of comfort return to Eclipse's face as the pain disappeared with the new position.
"I'll make sure no one sees you for right now my little star. I'll have my wing covering you for right now. I know you don't want to see anyone right now. I know how scary it can be to see other ponies especially after what you went through."
Eclipse looked up at her with her big eyes and softly said,"Thank you mommy. Its just so scary. I'm scared all those big ponies will hurt me."
Luna shook her head softly,"They won't my little Eclipse. I will make sure they won't threaten or harm you. I may have to bring you close to a few of them so they can see you better but I certainly won't let them touch you."
Eclipse responded,"Ok mommy. Can we go now? I just want to go back to sleep."
Luna's expression turned to one of comfort and understanding,"Yes we can. As I said I'll try to make it as quick as possible." Eclipse nodded and closed her eyes for the moment as Luna's wing came back over her enveloping her in comforting darkness.
Luna then got back to her hooves from where she had been sitting while she had been talking with her daughter. Her wing was covering Eclipse completely and enveloping her in its softness and darkness. She nodded in satisfaction as she pressed her leg closer to her chest yet gently at the same time. She stopped for a moment as she felt Eclipse moving a bit to get into another comfortable position with a small whine of pain. She quietly used her magic to adjust Eclipse till she was comfortable and then left her room.
It was now about nine o clock in the morning and Luna was hating every bit of it. She should be asleep right now right alongside her daughter but she was forced to stay up. Eclipse had started to drowse as she walked to the throne room and Luna didn't disturb her. Now she was sitting on her throne right next to Celestia's still holding her wing out in front of her to cover Eclipse. Celestia was right beside her keeping her whole motherly calm persona on for all to see. Luna herself had on the appearance of a dignified princess who was not to be questioned or approached without great need. That was kind of one of the effects of wearing her old regalia in the first place. It meant that at the moment she wasn't going to take petty crap from anybody.
Celestia had shaken her head when Luna first showed up in the throne room before anyone else had been allowed to come inside. She didn't question Luna's choice in regalia she just didn't think it was the best thing to wear. However she had quickly taken her place on her throne alongside Luna and had motioned to the guards to let the nobles in along with other ponies from Canterlot itself.
Celestia cleared her throat to get the attention of all the nobles and ponies who were talking among themselves quite loudly. When she did this, everyone stopped talking as they gave her their undivided attention.
Celestia smiled serenly down at them,"Hello my little ponies. Thank you for all coming here at this time when I know your busy with so many other things. My sister and I have an announcement that must be made. For a while now there have been five princesses. Now I would like to announce the presence of a sixth. She is a natural born alicorn just like Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Kingdom. However she is a few years older than Flurry Heart but still quite young so to avoid overwhelming her we will be presenting her to you from here. I will let my sister take it from here."
Princess Luna nodded to Celestia before speaking up in a calm voice as she slipped into the old style of speaking as she addressed all of her subjects,"Tis our greatest pleasure to present to thee our daughter. Our daughter came to Us not in the normal way but she is my still Our daughter. Her name is Shattered Eclipse. So we present to thee Princess Eclipse!"
She drew her wing away slowly and softly to reveal Eclipse in her arm. She had managed to gently wake Eclipse from her drowsing with her magic and now Eclipse slowly opened up her eyes to look at all the ponies before her. She was cuddled up in Luna's arm looking so adorable and cute with her large eyes and surprised expression. All of the ponies there couldn't help but let out one large,"Awwww." As they looked upon her and Luna.
Eclipse's eyes widened by a rather large amount as she looked at all the ponies before her. Sure she had been around other ponies in Ponyville as Soul but that was in small amounts. All of these eyes on her started to scare her rather badly as she started to shiver a bit in fear in Luna's arm. Luna noticed this and slowly drew her wing back over Eclipse to block all the ponies from view as she resumed speaking.
"Sadly Our daughter has been through some rather trying times. I am afraid that she will not be able to make large appearances like this in the future for a long time if ever again. She came to us after escaping imprisonment from ponies that wished to harness her for diabolic purposes. We swear we shall be seeking these criminals out and bringing them to justice for harming Our daughter. But now is not the time for this as it should be one of joy and celebration. So please enjoy the festivities that have been planned. My sister and I will be happy to talk with you should you wish to do so."
After finishing this small speech she carefully moved her wing enough to peer in at her daughter as she quietly said,"Its okay my little moon. You are safe. No pony here can hurt you. I promise you that it will all be over soon. We only have to meet with some other nice ponies after this and then you can go back to sleep."
Eclipse slowly calmed down at the darkness cast by her mother's wing stayed around her. She looked up at her mother's face as she looked in at her and in response replied,"Ok mommy." She was frowning quite a lot and tried to cuddle deeper into her mother only to have Luna's torc stop her from doing so.
She sighed at this but let it be as she continued to just cuddle into her mother's arm. "Those ponies were scary mommy. They're all so big and there's so many of them. What if they catch me?"
Luna gave her a gentle smile,"It is alright my daughter. You shall be safe here in my arms." Eclipse felt comforted by this and she slowly closed her eyes attempting to go back into a drowse. She succeded as she started to snore a bit and Luna felt satisfied by this as she got up to her hooves agian.
Luna nodded to her sister and moved down the stairs to the thrones out onto the main floor of the throne room. The nobles and other ponies had been filtering out of the throne room towards the ball rooms where the festivities were set up. Sadly, she had to go to the festivities to make an appearance with her daughter and talk with a few of the ponies.
Quickly moving to the ball rooms, Luna looked around at all the ponies and heaved an internal sigh. She hated these kinds of festivities so much because they were so boring. She wasn't even allowed to bring her guards with her as she had to seem approchable. At the very least her regalia would let others know she was not going to take the petty talk of the nobles.
As she moved into the ball room she plastered a fake smile to her face as she continued trying to appear serene to everyone. She growled internally as two of the nobles came her way. It was a married couple that she had to deal with before and she rather disliked them due to their attitudes and the way they talked. The nobles in question were none other than Jet Set and Upper Crust. Her eye actually twitched a bit as they came closer to her no doubt to try and butter her up for something.
Jet Set spoke up as he adjusted his glasses on his face for a moment,"Ah Princess Luna it is so nice to see you this fine day. Congragulations on your daughter."
Princess Luna kept the fake smile on her face as she nodded her head with a reply,"Thank you Lord Jet Set. It is wonderful to see you as well."
Upper Crust took this moment to speak up in her haughty tone,"The little princess is such a cute little thing. It is simply horrible that she should have been captured. I do hope the poor dear is alright."
Luna replied calmly,"Our daughter is still recovering from her ordeal. We do not expect her to make many full public appearances like this."
Upper Crust replied,"That is simply such a shame Princess. Would it be alright to see the poor little thing for a moment?"
Luna grit her teeth a bit behind her smile as she replied,"You may but I'm afraid it cannot be for to long. She needs rest to recover and sadly she does not do well around other ponies at the moment." She carefully nudged Eclipse with her magic which woke her from her drowsing.
Eclipse opened up her eyes again with a small yawn which caused her to wince in pain. Luna slowly removed her wing from around Eclipse to reveal her to Jet Set and Upper Crust. Eclipse's eyes widened in surprise at the ponies that were in front of her. She remained quiet as she looked at them as the gears in her mind started to turn. Here were two minor background type ponies that were a couple of snooty nobles. She rather disliked them in the show even if their appearances were rather short and minor.
However now that they were up close before her they appeared to be giants to her. And big snooty ones at that who would crush her underfoot if she tries to say anything so she curled up a bit on herself which made her only look more adorable to the pair as a worried frown crossed her muzzle. Jet Set looked at her for a moment before speaking up.
"Oh the poor thing. She is aboslutely adorable your highness." He looked down at Eclipse,"And how are you doing young princess?"
Eclipse looked up at him uncomfortably as she replied quietly yet still loud enough to hear,"We art fine. Just feeling sore sir." She curled up a bit more.
Upper Crust gave Eclipse a smile that reeked of deception and cunning,"Oh dear. Well I'm sure you'll recover in no time." She looked up at Luna,"Perhaps if she were looked over by our personal physician she could recover faster. I'm sure the castle doctor is good and all but sometimes those in the private field are better than the ones who help the general public."
Luna's teeth grit a little more as she replied,"The castle doctor is sufficient Lady Upper Crust. Now sadly we must be going as Our daughter needs her rest. It was so nice to see you again. May we meet in the future." With that she brought her wing back over Eclipse to cover her yet again. She nodded her head to the two nobles who nodded knowing they had been dismissed.
They let her pass by them but both seemed a bit miffed by having been dismissed so easily. Luna didn't give one flying feather what they thought at the moment. She had been genuinely concerned that Upper Crust was going to put her face close to Eclipse. She was glad that it had not happened as she was not sure she would have been able to control her emotions at that point.
Luna walked around the ball room talking to different ponies and nobles getting increasingly irritated as time wore on. Her daughter should be resting right now not cowering in fear before all these ponies. Eclipse shouldn't even be out in public right now but she had no choice. Finally she ended up near the doors to the ball room she was currently in. But she saw one more pony approaching her. She blinked as she realized that this pony was a stallion with a guitar strapped to his back. One of the most interesting things to her was that he had a cutie mark consisting of a scythe and the stallion's hair grew out over one of his eyes.
She still had to push back her major irritation thought as the stallion approached her. The stallion got closer to her and bowed,"Princess Luna it is an honor to meet you. My name is Night Shade. Congragulations on your daughter."
Luna gave him her calm fake smile,"Thank you Mr. Night Shade. What brings a young stallion such as yourself all the way to Canterlot. We can tell that you are not a native of the city."
Night Shade gave a small smile,"Your are correct Princess. I actually live in Ponyville. I'm here in canterlot because I was hoping to land a deal with a record company to get a couple of my songs published. I haven't really had any luck yet."
Luna nodded her head,"Ah an aspiring musician. Perhaps you could play a song for Us at a later time. If We judge it to be good then We art sure your songs could be published upon receiving our approval."
Night Shade's smile grew wider,"Thanks Princess. I'm sorry if I was being a bother here. I just wanted to congragulate you on your new daughter. I hope she recovers swiftly." He was very sincere with what he said that Luna was rather impressed.
She remained quiet for a few seconds as she quickly thought and then replied,"I shall talk with the pony who organizes my schedule of things to do to schedule a time to see you at a later time. I believe that I will have time to meet with you in a night or two if you are willing to come back here and approach me during the night."
Night Shade smiled wider,"Sure thing Princess Luna. That would be great. Thank you so much for the opportunity."
Luna nodded as she felt some of her irritation disappear,"You are most welcome young Night Shade. Would you like to see Our daughter?" Her smile was actually genuine now even if she was still feeling some irritation.
Night Shade looked nervous all of a sudden as he spoke up,"If thats okay with you Princess. And of course I'd like it if it were okay with your daughter as well."
Luna nodded as she stuck her head under her wing to look at Eclipse who was still awake if struggling with drooping eyes,"Our little Moon we have one more pony we wouldst like you to meet. Are you up to it? We think that thou will like him."
Eclipse looked up at her mother unsure but replied,"Yes mommy. We think we can do one more."
Luna gave her a gentle smile as she withdrew her head and moved her wing to the side to reveal Eclipse.
"She is very cute and adorable your majesty,"Night Shade said upon seeing Eclipse up close. He looked down at Eclipse and said,"Hello there princess. I hope you feel better."
Eclipse spoke up softly,"Thank you sir." She went quiet but didn't start shaking in fear like all the other times as she felt a feeling of calm settle over her. Actually she could feel her magic coursing through her as a feeling started to fill her being and soul. She looked up at Night Shade and gave him a small smile which was so adorable it melted Night Shade's heart.
He gave a smile of his own as he looked back up at Princess Luna,"Thank you for allowing me to see her Princess. She really is adorable. If you don't mind I actually need to be going. My train leaves soon and I don't want to miss it."
Luna nodded her head as she moved her wing back into place to cover Eclipse,"It is fine Mr. Shade. We wish you swift travel back to your home. And we await to hear the song you shall play for us."
Night Shade smiled as he bowed once more and then left with a swift pace. He disappeared through the doors to the ball room as he headed for the train station. Meanwhile Eclipse felt the new feeling still filling her being and she closed her eyes as she concentrated internally. Her mind registered the fact that this feeling was because of her Soul Archiver. It was letting her now that the pony who had been in front of her had the potential to be a Soul Warrior. She gave a small smile to herself as she felt at peace and somehow swiftly descended back into her drowsing.
Luna meanwhile left the ball room even though the festivities were only half way through. She had the press meeting to go through and she wasn't looking forwards to it at all.
She looked down through her wing at Eclipse again and had no choice but to smile again at the cute sight. She pulled her head back out as she headed for the throne room again. She had to be there with Celestia one more time in order to talk with the reporters. She just wanted this and all the questions to be over quickly. With as quick and gentle a pace as she could, she made her way back to the throne room. She nodded to Celestia who was already up in her throne as she walked up the steps gently.
Finally, Luna took her place back on her rather comfortable throne. She sat there in her throne keeping her arm as still as possible so that Eclipse would remain as comfortable as possible despite her neck. She turned her head to her sister as she said with a bit of iciness in her voice without meaning to.
"Sister We are not sure how much more we can take. Our daughter is very tired and should be resting. It hurts her to move her head even a little bit because of the damage done to her neck. We find our patience wearing very thin." She snorted at the end of this.
Celestia gave a small sad smile,"I understand Luna but we must do this. You know that as well as I do. I'm sure we can get through this quickly if we keep pushing through with fortitude. I know that you need your sleep as well as Eclipse. I'm sorry that you will have to do most of the talking for this."
Luna grit her teeth,"We should not be doing this at all sister. We should be sleeping in Our chambers with our daughter. If this press meeting could have waited that would have been best. But I see that we cannot wait."
Celestia sighed,"That is correct Luna. I will let the guards know to let the news reporters in now." She nodded her head to the door guards at the other end of the throne room. That was the signal for them to open the doors for the press.
The guards at the doors nodded back to the Princess and using their great strength they opened up the massive doors. With a great amount of noise, the press came into the throne room with great speed. Already cameras started to flash as some reporters took pictures of the princesses, but more especially of Luna with her wing folded over as it was. They wanted to know just why they had all been called here for a press meeting. Although a few of the reporters already had a few ideas of what it could be having already heard the rumors circulating around the castle.
Celestia raised a hoof for them to all calm down and quiet so she could speak and they did so. "Thank you for coming my little ponies. We are at a critical point in time. I'm sure you all are wondering what is going on and it is my joy to tell you what. This is not a time of danger or fear. This is a time of joy and celebration. Where there were 5 of us princesses before I am glad to tell you that there are now 6. My sister has a child of her own now. She came to us not in the ususal way but a different way. I will let my sister take it from here."
Luna looked out over the reporters and plastered on her smile again becuase she really had wanted to wait on the whole reveal,"My little ponies. It is with great joy that I am able to present my daughter to you. Her name is Shattered Eclipse. It is my hope that you all will treat her with the same kindness and consideration that you do me and my sister. She came to us after having escaped captivity from some horrible ponies that wished to use her for nefarious means. She has unfortunately lost her birth parents so I have adopted her as my daughter. She is a natural born alicorn like Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Kingdom. She is a few years older than Princess Flurry Heart but still quite young so I ask that you not press her for questions. She has gone through a terrible ordeal and is still recovering from injuries that were inflicted upon her. So now I present to you my daughter Princess Eclipse." She moved her wing out of the way to reveal Eclipse.
Once again she had used her magic to wake up Eclipse before hand so that she would be wide awake for the press meeting. Eclipse looked out upon all the news reporters only to have her pupils contract to pinpricks. All these ponies looking up at her with cameras and curious expressions scared the heck out of her. She started to shake in Luna's arm again as she whimpered in fear and even a little pain due to her shaking which hurt her neck.
Luna gave the reporters just enough time to take some pictures before she moved her wing back into place and put her head into her wing and made soothing noises for Eclipse. Eclipse shook for a bit before slowly calming down as she looked up at Luna.
Luna looked down on her with a loving smile,"Its okay my daughter. You are safe. You will be fine. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. Go ahead and rest. You've done more than enough for today."
"Thank you mommy." Eclipse replied quietly as she looked up at her mother. She settled down again and swiftly started to fall into a drowse again before falling asleep completely.
Luna pulled her head out from under her wing after a moment as she looked at all the reporters. She let out a sigh but spoke up,"I will now answer some questions from you all." She went silent as she waited for the newponies to speak up.
She rather came to regret that choice once the ponies were allowed to speak up. They were rather loud as they started to shout questions at her all over the place. They were trying to be heard over each other to get the best scoop. The yelling grew so loud that Luna grew rather angry and irritated. Eclipse stirred in her sleep before she was startled awake by all the yelling. She woke up rather frightened and started to cry because she was afraid somepony was going to hurt her again. She put her hooves up to her eyes as she cried and this all set Luna off big time.
Luna's free hoof slammed down onto the marble tile in front of her throne with great force as she yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice,"SILENCE! YOU ALL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES! WAKING MY DAUGHTER WITH YOUR YELLING WHEN SHE'D JUST FALLEN ASLEEP! HOW DARE YOU ALL DO SUCH A THING! I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU SHE NEEDS TO RECOVER BUT YOU IGNORE ME. NOW SHUT UP AND RAISE YOUR HOOVES AND I'LL CHOOSE WHO GETS TO ASK THEIR QUESTION. EVERYONE ELSE REMAIN SILENT!" Her horn was sparking rather dangerously with raw magic as she glared down upon all the reporters.
All the newsponies quieted down instantly as they looked up at Luna with fear in their eyes. They listened to her and decided to remain silent so as not to incur her wrath again. Different reporters raised their hooves like fillies and colts in a classroom. Luna had to take a deep breath to calm down as she stuck her head under her wing again and soothed Eclipse back to sleep. After she had she pulled her head out but continued to glare at all the newsponies. Finally she pointed her hoof at a mare with an old fashioned press hat.
The mare spoke up in a normal voice still loud enough to be heard,"How was the young princess captured?"
Luna let out a deep breath before responding,"She was captured when some evil ponies barged into her home taking her parents away so that they could get to her. She was helpless at the time so she was easily foalnapped."
The mare nodded as she wrote it all down on her pad as Luna chose the next reporter to talk too. The next one was a stallion wearing at trench coat, who pulled out his own pad of paper as he asked his question.
"So her birth parents are dead then?" He asked somberly.
Luna nodded with a sigh,"Yes. It is truly sad but her birth parents were killed after being taken away."
Luna quickly pointed to another newmare as she took deep breaths to calm her anger. The mare looked up at her,"How long was she locked up?"
Luna frowned as she replied,"We are not sure how long she was locked up but we know it was long enough for her to starve. The only reason she didn't die in captivity was due to her alicorn immortality."
Another stallion spoke up after being picked,"Then how did she get out and escape?"
Luna sighed as the anger started to come back,"She is to traumatized right now to tell me how she escaped. Suffice it to say that she did and managed to get herself some food. You may ask the next question I know you hold."
The stallion nodded,"What kind of injuries has she sustained from her captivity and escape?"
Luna frowned,"I will say that she had several broken ribs but that is all. You do not need to know any other information on her injuries."
The stallion nodded as he kept writing in his bad. One mare held her hoof up as high as she could get and Luna picked her,"How long will her recovery be?"
Luna sighed,"Her recovery will take a couple of weeks for her ribs as for her other injuries I will not say. Mental wise she may sadly never recover from this. That is why her public appearances will be in only small places as she does not do well with crowds. She will also not be attending regular school."
The mare nodded as she wrote it all down as Luna sighed,"I will take one more question and then the press meeting is adjourned." She pointed at one last mare. The mare looked up at her for a moment before asking a question that made Luna absolutely flip her lid.
"What makes you so qualified to be her mother? You were banished to the moon for a thousand years and were the villain known as Nightmare Moon. Shouldn't she have been adopted by someone more qualified like Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire?" The mare looked up at Luna with a snooty attitude.
Luna's eye twitched bit time as the dark aura started to surround her again scaring the crap out of everypony. Her free hoof struck the same spot on the ground again now causing a crater in the floor. She had luckily cast a silencing spell on the area inside her wing so that Eclipse wouldn't hear anything and could sleep peacefully.
Luna's gaze turned dark and angry as she glared at the mare with eyes that could kill,"HOW DARE THEE! HOW DARE THEE SUGGEST THAT WE ART UNQUALIFIED! OUR PAST DOES NOT DEFINE WHO WE ARE NOW! WE HAVE LEARNED FROM OUR MISTAKES AND PAST LIKE EVERYPONY ELSE DOES THERE OWN. I SHOULD HAVE YOU ARRESTED FOR SUCH TREASONESS SPEAK! THOU ART LUCKY WE ART HOLDING OUR DAUGHTER!"
Luna stood up from her throne as she continued to glare down at the mare. Celestia herself looked more than unhappy with the way the mare had brought up Luna's past. Her hair had lost some of its rainbow colors and was instead more fiery looking. Luna walked down the stairs leading to her throne stomping with every step causing a spiderweb of cracks to form in the floor. She was walking straight towards the mare who had started to cower on the floor. The other newsponies got out of the way entirely as Luna moved.
Luna stopped right in front of the mare and glared at her before talking in a deathly calm tone,"There art many reasons why it is We who has adopted her. Princess Cadance is occupied with ruling the Crystal Empire while caring for her own foal. Furthermore Our daughter is nocturnal just as we are. We wouldn't even be up at this time if it were not for this press conference and the meeting with the nobles earlier. Our daughter loves Our night over the day and wishes to know more. We understand her pain the best. So don't talk to me about being unqualified! You yourself would never be able to take care of an alicorn filly. Tis only Us who is qualified. And how dare you bring up our past when you know full well that we have changed! So don't talk about such things in front of Us and Our daughter ever again!" With that she turned to Celestia with a softer yet still stern expression,"We shall be retiring to our chambers for the day. We bid thee good day sister. We leave thee to deal with this vermin." She snorted and lit up her horn with a teleport spell. With a pop and flash of light she teleported directly back to her chambers.
Celestia was left with the press but her mane had changed entirely from its rainbow colors to pure fiery red as she stepped off her own throne. She slowly came down the stairs and kept going till she was in front of the mare. She looked down at the mare and let out a deep sigh,"My little pony I am severely disappointed in you. We will need to have some words about this." She looked at all the other newsponies,"This press meeting is over. Please leave!" The crowd heeded her words and left quickly leaving her with the still cowering mare. Celestia looked down at her,"Now about my sister."
Luna was back in own chambers now while still holding her daughter. She sighed as she quietly took off her regalia using her magic and then did the same for Eclipse. She quickly moved over to her bed with a sigh of relief as she quietly slipped under the covers. She moved Eclipse from her arm to her stomach with Eclipse's head resting on her chest right underneath her own head. She pulled the covers up over them as she nuzzled Eclipse gently,"Sweet dreams my little moon. Things will get better in the future."
After saying this she let out a loud yawn before she herself started to fall asleep. But as she did she once again sang the lullaby she had first sang to her daughter when she first met her. She gave a little smile as she did this and her horn lit up softly as she wove a spell that would connect Eclipse's dream with her own so they could spend time together in the dream realm. After she finished the lullaby she rested her head on her pillow and let sleep overtake her.
Once she opened her eyes in her dream she was startled at the landscape she found herself in. She seemed to be in some sort of large underground cavern. All around her she could see piles of dust with some being large and others small. She blinked as she looked around for her daughter only to see Eclipse walking along a path with her head down and a knife dragging along in her wing's grip. Some kind of black ghost was hovering over her looking at her with a creepy grin. Its eyes held no pupils at all and were only dark pits looking into a void.
Luna frowned as she heard a song start to play in the background that she was unfamiliar with. The tune had somber tones she wasn't sure what to make of. The song was actually known to Eclipse who was in a sort of trance at the moment. The song playing was known as Chara (Genocide song) by Mandopony. Back when she had been human she had liked to listen to it occasionally on Youtube. Eclipse kept on walking along the path heading for a castle.
Luna's frown deepened as she listened to the lyrics. She didn't like this at all so she walked faster to catch up with Eclipse. "Daughter what is going on here? Why is this eerie song playing?"
However Eclipse didn't respond to her at all as her trance continued and she trotted along slowly towards a great castle in the distance. Luna's feelings turned to ones of concern and worry. She reached towards Eclipse with a hoof only to have the ghost turn around to face her and move into the way of her hoof with that wide creepy grin. It had the form of a pony wearing a striped shirt and blue jeans. It hissed up at her with a dark voice.
"Go away. We're just playing a little game. Don't interfere!"The ghost continued to watch her as Eclipse continued to walk along the path. The song continued to play in the background.
Luna growled,"I don't know what you are but you must be some kind of nightmare. I will vanquish you and make sure my daughter has a pleasant dream. Now be gone foul creature." Her horn glowed with intense power which she pushed out in a ray towards the ghost.
The ghost just laughed at her and let the beam hit it. The beam punched a whole right through where the chest would be only to close back up. It laughed up at her,"I'm already dead you idiot. You can't kill what's already dead."
Luna growled,"I may not be able to destroy you in the normal way but I can use a different kind of magic." Her horn lit up with more purifying magic to take care of the ghost. The ghost laughed at her and again let the beam that came at it hit it. The beam once again passed right through it.
Luna's eye twitched rapidly as she glared at the ghost,"I will make sure to get rid of you somehow." The ghost stuck a tongue out at her.
"I'd like to see you try horse. Your not very good at banishing or purifying are you? Then again you don't know what I truly am do you."She laughed darkly at this.
Luna growled but was forced to follow along behind only to have her eyes grow wide as she was forced to witness Eclipse killing all sorts of different monsters and turning them to dust. She was horrified that the ghost was making her daughter do all these things. Eclipse couldn't even fight back against the ghost herself as she continued her trek. The song had stopped for now. Eventually they got into the castle where Luna was forced to witness her daughter killing some sort of goat king while the ghost controlled her.
Finally they were walking down some sort of hall and came across some sort of skeleton. Luna growled as she heard the song start up and play again before she saw her daughter take down the skeleton. Afterwards their surroundings went dark as her daughter fell to her knees after dropping the knife from her wing. A red heart appeared in front of her from her chest. The ghost moved around to the front of her as the song continued to play. It held its hooves out towards the heart.
Luna growled as she stepped between the red heart and the ghost,"I don't know what this is but I won't allow you to take something that belongs to my daughter."
The ghost hissed again,"Get out of my way horse. Her soul belongs to me. Nothing will stop me from living again. Once I have her soul her body will belong to me. I will live again in the waking world. Not inside of a stupid dream or game."
Luna growled herself,"Don't get ahead of yourself creature. You will never have my daughter's body for your own." She moved her hoof to the red heart and moved it back to her daughter's body. It moved back into Eclipse's body, who shuddered and then let out a gasp as she looked around. "Huh?"
She looked up at Luna and then to the ghost. She started to tremble when she saw the ghost,"Chara how did you get here? What are you doing in Our dream?" She quickly hid behind her mother. She shivered quite a lot.
Chara hissed as she looked at her,"Curse this horse for coming here and stopping me from taking your soul. I will have it and live again. Nothing will stop me from rising once again."
Luna hissed herself,"Get away from Our daughter. You will not take her from Us." Her horn glowed with power even though she knew it was useless right now.
Chara disconnected herself from Eclipse entirely as she took on a more physical form and held up the knife herself,"We shall see fools. This battle will determine who the real winner is."
Eclipse looked around scared as things lit up around them. Things looked like they were now straight out of the Undertale video game. She saw all the options and buttons while Luna was somehow forced back away from her. She looked over at Chara who grinned evilly. Eclipse continued to look at Chara only for a sense of determination to fill her soul. She growled and whipped her leg out to her side as her magic surged to her foreleg. With a flash of light her Soul Archiver appeared on her foreleg as her satchel appeared at her side.
"If I have to fight Chara it won't be by your rules. This is my dream so we'll be fighting using my rules." Eclipse growled at Chara as she reached into her satchel and pulled out a soul chip. She gave a quick glance at it and turned her gaze back to Chara as a grin spread across her muzzle,"Your not the only one who doesn't play fair."
She slotted the chip into the second slot of her Soul Archiver and pressed the green button. The Archiver hummed with power as it scanned the chip and then beeped with a message. Eclipse looked at the message rather quickly. It read,"Twilight Soul Chip running at full capacity. Everything within normal parameters. Soul Fusion program on standby. Synchronization rate with new soul is at 80 percent. Time to hold form....10 minutes. Please say initiation phrase to activate new soul chip and phrase to activate the soul Fusion program."
She nodded her head as she held her foreleg in front of her as Luna watched her in confusion and wonder. Just what was it her daughter was doing? It seemed that she was using some sort of dream magic. She just wished she knew what because it seemed a lot different than her own.
"Soul Fusion, Execute! Archmage of Magic lend me your strength! Shattered Eclipse, Twilight Sparkle, Soul Fusion!" The orb of light surrounded her body and she closed her eyes in order to let the changes happen.
A golden armor appeared around her form and quickly started to fall into place around her body. Golden boots appeared over all four hooves with a small golden circle at the end of each boot that connected with another smaller segment of golden armor at the end of each boot. Each smaller segment connected with a black body suit type material that had a golden ring towards the middle of each part. The black body type pieces connected with more golden armor that was actually on her back and sides. The black suit material covered her underbelly and had a golden ring right in the middle over her belly. The golden armor flowed up around her neck to a golden collar that fit around her cheeks to give her protection. Two curving golden armor pieces fit to either side of her head with three purple feathers sticking out from each piece. A long flowing purple ribbon attached to the back of the collar around her neck and appeared as if two long ribbons were actually flowing behind her. Finally the weapon formed in front of her. It was a spear longer than her body with a long purple haft that she could grip with both hooves. The haft connected with a golden circular ring that was connected to a black obsidian spearhead that had a small purple gem inset in the middle of it. Three golden rings of a small size actually hovered around the middle of the spearhead but still allowed the gem to be seen. Purple pincer things actually extended from the top of the highest golden ring coming to form two tips at the top of the spear head. Finally Twilight's cutie mark appeared on the chest of the golden armor with a bright light. Eclipse stood on her hindlegs as she grabbed hold of the spear and lashed out with the but end of it and destroyed the golden light around her.
As the golden pieces of light fell around her Luna actually stepped back in shock,"What wondrous magic is this? And what is this feeling of determination I am receiving from my daughter?"
Chara hissed at the alicorn filly before her,"This changes nothing. I will still take your soul." She charged towards Eclipse with her knife at the ready in her hoof. She made a slashing motion and a blade of red energy moved from the knife towards her.
Eclipse's eyes narrowed as she backed up further away from the pony in front of her. She twirled her spear quickly in her hooves to make a sort of spinning shield. The red blade crashed against it and dissipated instantly,"Nice try Chara but that's not nearly enough. Now its my turn."
She flew up into the air twirling her spear again and then pointed the tip down at Chara as the golden pincer points glowed with energy. A ball of pure magical might formed between the tips and the spear head. She twirled her staff again in a throwing motion which launched the magical ball at Chara who didn't know how to react. She was hit by it with full force and her hp bar was depleted to half health.
Chara hissed in pain but twirled her knife and ran up towards her hissing. She lashed out many times with her knife only to have it blocked either by the spear or the armor that Eclipse was wearing herself. Eclipse narrowed her eyes,"Nice try but its over Chara." She whipped her spear around and the whole spear head glowed with a purple aura as she thrust it quickly in front of her while shouting,"Magical Purification!" The spear head thrust itself right into Chara's chest.
Chara screamed in pain as her hp bar went all the way down to one hp and then her whole form glowed purple as Eclipse grimaced at her. "I'm sorry I have to do this Chara but I can't let you free to hurt anypony. Just go back to the world where you came from. I hope you eventually find peace."
Chara screamed in pain and fury,"You can't do this to me. I was given a second chance here in this world. It can't end like this." Her whole form continued to glow purple until cracks appeared all over her. Pieces of her fell off to reveal white light on the inside. With a horrifying scream she shattered into pieces and those pieces were collected into the white light. With a pop the light disappeared taking Chara back to the world of Undertale once again.
Eclipse looked where Chara had been only to stumble and grimace in pain as her transformation abruptly ended. She staggered for a moment before falling to the ground on her side. That's when her feeling of determination fled and the all consuming fear returned. She put her hooves up to her face as she started to cry and sob.
Luna quickly hurried over as her magic wove around her. She scooped Eclipse up into her arms and started to whisper soothingly to her. She blinked in surprise when she saw the Archiver disappear with a flash but then turned her attention back to her daughter,"I am here my little moon. You are safe now. You were so brave to fight that monster when you were so scared. But rest assured I will protect you from now on my daughter. You shouldn't have to fight like that ever again. Especially here in our dreams." She hugged her daughter close. She rested Eclipse's head against her chest.
Eclipse buried her muzzle in her mother's hooves as she continued to cry and sob,"It was so scary mother. I didn't know what I was really doing. I just want the nightmares to stop."
Luna rubbed her back gently with a hoof,"Rest assured that they will daughter. You have nothing to worry about." Her magic released and their surroundings changed to that of the nursery again,"Your fine my daughter. You are safe." With that she held Eclipse and continued to sooth her throughout the entire dream.
It was finally time for the night to come again and Luna's body woke her up naturally for this. Her eyes fluttered open, while her head rested against her pillow. She looked to her chest only to have a smile appear on her muzzle as she watched her still sleeping daughter for a moment. Eclipse had managed to burrow her face deeper into Luna's chest fur somehow despite the pain from her neck. She was sleeping peacefully and Luna really didn't want to move her. However she knew that she would have too so she finally sat up in bed softly.
Luna carefully moved Eclipse to her arm so that she could continue to sleep without waking up. Luna continued to smile happily as she looked down at her daughter. She went over to the vanity in her room again and was happy to see that her mane was still flowing like it should. She looked down at Eclipse's mane and frowned to see that it was full of tangled knots and split ends. That must have happened while they were sleeping. She grabbed a brush in her magic and gently brushed Eclipse's mane back into a flowing curl much like her own. She did the same for Eclipse's tail and smiled happily again.
She moved over to her closet again as she moved her more modern regalia out of it. She sighed as she put it on herself using her magic and quietly stepped into the slippers that fit to her hooves exactly. Sighing to herself, Luna moved Eclipse's regalia out of the closet and onto her. She smiled a bit at seeing how cute Eclipse looked in it with her little tiara on top. She frowned as she thought about what she could do to ease Eclipse's pain. She wanted to at least ease the pain on Eclipse's neck so she could move her head around. Finally an idea came to her that she was satisfied with. Her horn lit up with her magical aura as she concentrated on a spell to enchant Eclipse's torc with. The spell fired off and the torc glowed with Luna's aura for a moment before it stopped. The torc was now enchanted to block all the pain in Eclipse's neck so she could move it around without whimpering in pain. Luna was glad that she had adjusted the torc size to fit Eclipse comfortably as well as hide the imprint around Eclipse's neck.
Luna nodded her head in satisfaction as she moved to the closed doors that led to her private balcony. She opened the doors easily using her magic so she could step out without having to use her hoof. After stepping out onto her balcony at the top of a tower, she looked towards the sky to see the sun descending. Her horn lit up with a massive amount of energy and power as she started to cast her magic that would allow her to guide the moon into the sky. The power swirled around her in trailing ribbons surrounding her form. It all fed into her horn till she cast her magic completely to gently guide the moon into the sky as the sun fled down under the horizon.
The moon poked up out from under the horizon and slowly moved into the sky with her gentle guidance. The stars also quietly blinked into existence from wherever the had been hiding. After having guided the moon into the sky, she turned back to her chambers. She walked through the doors as she closed them behind her with her magic again. She cricked her neck a bit to pop a few things back into place. Luna finally left her chambers and headed straight for the dining hall while she was flanked by two night guards.
Upon arriving at the dining hall, she looked around for her sister only to see Celestia sitting at her usual place at the end of the long table. She yawned loudly as she came closer to Celestia only to have Celestia look up and give her a tired smile. Luna sat down in her chair next to Celestia's as she continued to hold the sleeping Eclipse in her arm.
Luna smiled happily at Celestia,"Good Evening sister. I hope you are feeling alright."
Celestia let out a yawn,"Just tired Luna. It was not easy to clean up the mess from the press fiasco. I had to have words with the newsmare once you left. Suffice it to say that she will not be bringing up your past again or questioning your right as a mother. She will be printing only honest stories in her paper instead of the garbage she had planned too." She took a bite out of a sandwich that was floating near her.
Luna had turned to a servant to order a meal for herself and Eclipse, when she turned back to Celestia,"I am sorry that I left you with that mess Tia. I should have stayed and took care of it myself. But I don't think I could have controlled myself if I had stayed. I needed to get myself and Eclipse out of there before I did something rash."
Celestia nodded,"It is okay sister. Please do not fret about the issue. Tell me what are your plans for the night?"
Luna sighed for a moment but replied softly,"I must continued to do my duties as princess of the night. But I also do plan on going around the castle with Eclipse. I want to show her a few places in the castle I feel she would enjoy when I can't be with her over the course of my duties."
Celestia nodded,"That sounds like a good idea to me LuLu. I have remembered some information that you should know. Since we are both natural born alicorns ourselves just like Eclipse she will be ageing slowly just like we did. Eclipse is a lot different from little Flurry Heart. Flurry Heart will be growing up just like every other pony because Cadance is not a true immortal alicorn. We both know that Flurry Heart will be powerful but she is still mortal. Eclipse is a true immortal like you and me. She will probably remain her current age for the next 100 years at the very least. And from what I can see she's only about 4 years of age having turned that recently from the looks of it."
Luna blinked and sat still for a moment to absorb the information. After she did she turned to Celestia,"And how pray tell did you figure all this out sister?"
Celestia gave her a small smile,"Because as I have already said she is a natural born alicorn like the two of us. I figured her parents were probably two alicorns that the both of us don't remember from when we were little." Her smile disappeared as she continued to talk,"You remember how our kind were hunted down by those beasts and killed. They must have been a couple that escaped and decided to settle down again a couple of centuries ago. Sadly I think they must have passed into the next realm because of the ponies that captured Eclipse there."
Luna nodded her head as a waiter brought out her food as well as Eclipse's and set them before her. "Hmm that sounds right to me sister. But there is nothing we can do about that except to search for the ponies that did it in the first place. Now please let us switch to happier topics. I do not wish to dwell on this at the moment."
Celestia nodded,"Of course Luna. What did you wish to talk about?"
Luna took a bite of a sandwich that she floated up to her mouth,"Hmm. I am not sure sister. Actually I think you should be getting to bed. You've already finished your dinner so you should get your rest."
Celestia let out a sigh,"Very well. I bid you good night Luna. And I hope to spend some time with you and my new niece in the future."
Luna nodded her head,"I will make sure to set some time aside to spend with you sister. But I believe that little Eclipse should be going to bed when the sun comes up. Her sleeping schedule has been disturbed long enough as it has with being in that dungeon cell. I will actually have to wake her up in a minute."
Celestia nodded with a tired smile before leaving the dining hall. She closed the doors with her magic and left Luna alone with young Eclipse. Luna sighed as she continued to eat her meal silently before looking down at Eclipse. She leaned her head down before gently nuzzling Eclipse's cheek.
"Time to wake up daughter. It is time to play in my night."She said quietly in her daughter's ear with happiness in her tone.
Eclipse squirmed in her grip a bit as she opened her eyes a crack. She let out a loud yawn before her eyes opened up fully. She blinked up at her mother staying still so as not to move her neck. She spoke up in a soft quiet voice.
"Evening Mommy. Thank you for waking Us. We had such nice dreams instead of nightmares." Eclipse cuddled into her mother's leg but accidentally moved her head and froze as she winced expecting pain to flare up. She blinked in surprise when a moment later she felt no pain. She lifted her head up as she looked up at Luna,"Mother we are not hurting on Our neck. How is this possible?"
Luna smiled and tapped Eclipse's torc,"I used some magic on this my little moon. It will block out all the pain you'd feel on your neck for a couple of hours. I can only do this a couple of times per night though because such magic would be bad for you all the time dear."
Eclipse nodded in wonder as she glanced down at her torc,"Thank you mommy." She looked back up at Luna,"What are we going to do mommy?"
Luna chuckled,"Well first you're going to eat some breakfast and then I'll be showing you a few places here in the castle. Afterwards we'll go out into the city to a few places."
Eclipse smiled up eagerly at Luna,"That sounds great mommy."
Luna's chuckling increased,"That is good my little moon but let's get something in you first." She sat Eclipse down in her lap as she pulled Eclipse's plate of food in front of her.
The food fixed for Eclipse consisted of things a growing filly needed like apples and lettuce. Eclipse used her magic to happily bring the food down to her and eat it. Luna smiled gently as she watched her daughter eating her food. She quietly drank a few more cups of tea while her daughter finished eating her food. After Eclipse had finished eating, Luna took her around to a few different locations in the castle. These locations consisted of a nursery, Luna's private observatory, and the castle gardens. Well that last one was actually just a small part of the castle gardens where Luna grew very rare plants that thrived in the night. This was one of the few places that Eclipse was allowed to come to be on her own when she wanted private time.
She had set Eclipse down on the ground so Eclipse could slowly walk around the garden area on her own. While she was doing that Luna's horn glowed brightly with magic as she started casting spell after spell. She was basically setting up all sorts of alarms that would warn her of different things. They would warn her if any threats were close by Eclipse or if Eclipse was trying to leave the area without someone to accompany her. She stopped for a moment in thought as her horn still glowed. She figured that maybe should just set up special spells that would keep Eclipse in the area. She nodded to herself and cast special barrier spells that would keep Eclipse in this small area of the gardens when she wanted to be by herself. The only way she could leave is with Luna herself or somepony of the castle staff accompanying her.
She called Eclipse to her who came back to her slowly because of her aching ribs. Luna picked her up as she quickly stopped back at the other areas and cast the same barrier spells on them along with the alarm spells. Eclipse wondered what she was doing but didn't voice her wonder as she just let Luna do her thing. Luna finally figured that it was now time to go out into the city in order to let Eclipse see a few sights there as well.
Eclipse was happily talking to her about the sights she had been shown except for the nursery as she walked along to the city. She was still being trailed by two night guards but that was to be expected. Eclipse went silent all of a sudden when they approached the castle gate. Eclipse looked up at Luna from Luna's leg as she started to ask something.
"Mommy are we going out there now?" She was very nervous again.
Luna nodded her head,"Yes my little moon. I have a few places I want you to see out there."
"But its scary mommy. What if monsters try to grab me again?" She started to whimper and curl up when she said this.
Luna gently nuzzled her face,"It will be okay my little moon. I will make sure that nothing hurts you. We also have these nice stallions here to help us if you get into trouble. You have nothing to worry about."
Eclipse leaned into the nuzzling as she nuzzled back herself a bit. She heaved for breath a bit but replied,"I-if your sure Mommy." She went silent as she felt the pain in her neck coming back again. She whimpered,"My neck hurts again Mommy."
Luna looked at her in concern as she lit up her horn again. She quickly renewed the enchantment on her daughter's torc. "Do not wory daughter. You will be fine for a couple more hours."
Eclipse felt the pain disappear again as she buried her face in Luna's chest fur again,"Thank you mommy. It doesn't hurt anymore."
Luna nodded as she moved out the castle gates as the guards pulled them open. She looked at the guards with her,"Stay near us at all times. I don't want anything to happen to my daughter."
The two guards with her both saluted,"Yes Princess." They went back to their rigid positions as they walked along behind her.
Luna sighed as she walked in front of them heading towards Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. This is one of the sights that she wanted to show her little Eclipse. Eclipse looked up at her mother with curiosity,"Where are we going Mommy?"
Luna gave her a soft smile,"We are just going to be seeing your Aunt's special school for gifted unicorns. I believe it would be a good place to bring you to in the future when your knowledge of magic is at an appropriate level." Eclipse's eyes widened in fear at this as she buried her face into Luna's chest again.
"I don't want to Mommy. All those ponies would be scary." Luna sighed as she looked down at her daughter. She wanted to help her get over her fear,"I will think about it daughter."
Luna walked along the streets of the city of Canterlot as she looked around. She had moved her wing over Eclipse again just in case. She could see a couple of the nobles were actually out and about right now. And she could also see that there were plenty of other ponies still up and going about different business. This actually made her a bit happier that others were staying up dear her night but at the same time she couldn't help but look around in case there was danger.
Luna knew that most ponies and monsters wouldn't dare think about messing with her in the first place but there was always a chance. She continued to walk along the current street only to narrow her eyes as she saw those few nobles were starting her way. Her eyes narrowed even further when she realized that the few nobles in question were actually once again Jet Set and Upper Crust. Her ears flicked forwards in a subtle motion that would let the guards know she didn't want to talk to these two right now.
The guards received the signal at which time they moved out in front of her towards the two nobles to intercept them. Luna sighed in relief at this as she continued to walk along quietly while still keeping Eclipse covered. If there was one thing that she really disliked it was persistent nobles. She could hear her guards now talking with the noble couple telling them that now was not the time to try talking to Luna.
So Luna just continued on along the street as quietly as she could only to stop in irritation once she realized that one of the nobles had somehow made it past her guards. She turned her head to look only to see that her guards were trying to keep Jet Set calm as Upper Crust came her way. She frowned but turned her attention back to the school which was only a few block ahead as she went on. Her eye twitched as she heard Upper Crust call to her so casually.
"Oh Princess Luna, how nice it is to see you out and about like this. What brings you out into the city? And I'm guessing that's Princess Eclipse there under your wing? Is the poor dear feeling any better?"She asked in her haughty high pitched voice.
Luna growled quietly to herself before the noble got to close to her. She stopped and turned to Upper Crust with a serene expression,"Ah Lady Upper Crust what a pleasure to see you. Yes my daughter is under my wing at the moment. She is feeling better than she was before and I'm out here in the city to show her a few sights. What has you out in my fine night?"
Upper Crust smiled haughtily,"Oh me and my husband are just outside to take the air before we go back inside the theater over there to continue watching the play that's showing once intermission is over." She pointed at the theater behind them with a hoof.
Luna gave her a fake smile,"Ah what a pleasure. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the play Lady Crust but I am afraid I do not have the time to talk at the moment. I must be getting along with my daughter to those sights before I continue going about my duties."
Upper Crust just continued smiling,"Oh i'm sure you can spare a moment Princess. I only have a little something I wanted to talk with you about. Won't you please allow me to tell you."
Luna's eye twitched in annoyance as she replied,"I believe I do have a moment but please make it quick Lady Crust."
Upper Crust nodded and then launched into a petty lecture about how some "peasants" weren't keeping to their sides of the street and dirtying the local cafe where she liked to dine with their presence. Then she started to talk about how the tourists especially the earth ponies, or dirt ponies as she called them, were causing to many commotions in the town and maybe they should cut back a bit on the tourism.
Luna's eye started twitching at a faster rate the more of this lecture and complaint that she listened too. She really hated this kinds of crap from the nobles. And what she didn't even realize was that Upper Crust had gotten closer and was actually trying to sneak a peak at Eclipse.
Eclipse squeaked in fear as her pupils contracted at the sudden appearance of another mare's face in front of her under her mother's wing. Upper Crust looked at her haughtily but reached out with a hoof and pinched her cheek. The cheek pinching made Eclipse yelp a bit at the touch and the pain. And her fear only increased as she started to shake a bit.
"Well if you aren't a cute little princess. You seem to be doing just fine to me. I don't see why your poor mother is fussing so much." Upper Crust said as she looked down at the small princess.
Luna had been in a trance at the moment as Upper Crust talked but she snapped out of it once she heard Upper Crust talking to Eclipse. That's when she realized that her personal space and wing had been moved by upper crust. Her anger grew inside of her upon realizing this and once she heard the yelp of pain from Eclipse as well as felt her shivering that's when her anger boiled over again. She took a step back as her wing covered Eclipse once more. Her gaze was narrowed at Upper Crust quite a lot.
"Lady Upper Crust have you realized what you've just done?" Luna's voice dripped with venom.
Lady Upper Crust looked up at her with that same haughty smile,"Why whatever do you mean Princess? I was just seeing how the poor dear was doing. She seems to be much better than she was."
Luna's voice grew even colder,"Than allow me to help you out. You have not only invaded Our personal space but thou hast invaded Our daughter's personal space. Furthermore thou hurt our daughter by what thou did. We heard her yelp of pain. We also did not give the permission to see our daughter. Thou has committed assault on our daughter and for that you will be punished. Lady Upper Crust, thee and thy husband are hereby stripped of your noble titles. You are nobles no more and all the privileges to go with them have been revoked. You are now just as common as the regular ponies you call "peasants". Furthermore you will have to pay a fine for whats thou did."
Upper Crust started to panic,"I'm sorry princess. It will never happen again. There is no need to be so hasty."
Luna lowered her head to Upper Crust's level,"This has been a long time coming lady Upper Crust. We know thou hast been abusing thy power as a noble. Tis only fitting this is what happens. Now good night to thee." She had to control herself so much as she gave out that punishment. She had wanted to throw the mare into the dungeons for what she did. But she couldn't appear as the overly zealous mare who punished others.
She moved away from the area as her guards caught up to her leaving behind the dumbstruck mare that was Upper Crust. Luna grinned in satisfaction at the whole outcome. She moved towards the school rather quickly as she put on a more somber face and whispered soothing things to her daughter who calmed down after a bit. She finally reached the school only to see that a few of the lights in the general examination room were on. Her face scrunched up in confusion at this but she moved to go investigate. As she moved she had to stop as she felt a shockwave of magical energy reached through the walls. She immediately cast a spell that protected her and her guards from the magical surge. However she could feel the air inside of the room start twisting as she got closer to the door. She quickly moved over to it and opened it up in her magic.
"What is going on in here?!" She looked to see lighting dancing around in the air around a slowly forming circular distortion in the air. She could see a young filly down at the bottom of the steps she was standing at with Rarity nearby her. They both were flat on the ground looking scared while the examiners up near her were hiding behind their desk in fright.
She fired a spell at the distortion using a ray type spell only to have it bounce off some invisible kind of shield. She frowned as she gathered all the ponies behind her with her magic. Casting another spell from her horn, she conjured a shield around them as the distortion grew. Finally the distortion grew big enough and turned into a green swirling portal.
Out of the distortion came some kind of monkey looking thing. It was robotic with a light bulb type thing on the top of its head. Now for those of you wondering who it is its a certain annoying monkey lackey of Dr. Robotnick. So in other words the villain is Coconuts. The portal closed up behind him.
Coconuts looked around curiously wondering where the heck he was. He had just been about to enact another plan to trap that no good blue hedgehog that was always pestering his boss. Next thing he knew he'd fallen through some kind of portal and ended up here in this new place. He looked around before spotting Luna up the stairs with all the other ponies behind her.
"Oooo this looks like it could be good,"Coconuts said as he grinned,"I don't know what you all are but I'm sure I could cause enough misery to make even the boss happen. Or I could bring one of you to him. Actually that sounds really good now that I think about it. All I need to do is grab one of you and somehow make that swirling green thing open up again." He was rubbing his hands together now as the bulb on his head lit up.
Luna glared down at the small robotic creature,"I do not know what you are doing here monkey but I won't be allowing you to harm my subjects. I will put an end to you right here and now." She figured that a low level blasting spell would take care of this small robotic monkey. She charged up her horn and fired off a small ray from her horn at the monkey.
Cocunuts saw it coming a mile away so all he did was cartwheel out of the way,"Oooo nice try but I'm not that easy to get rid of." He looked at where the ray had impacted to see a small crater from the impact,"Still I'd better not try my luck. I'll just be getting out of your hair."
He grinned and ran towards the side of the room as he pulled a hammer seemingly out of nowhere and slammed it against the wall. Luna started firing rapid blasts of her spell at the robotic monkey only to miss every time as it constantly dodged her blasts. It cartwheeled and rolled out of the way of the blasts before rolling right out of the whole it had made in the wall. Luna quickly ran off to the whole and peered out of it to see the monkey scrambling out into an alley faster than she though was possible.
Luna growled as she turned to her guard that wasn't holding Eclipse,"Lieutenant go rally the night guard. That little menace needs to be stopped now before it can do any harm to our subjects."
The lieutenant saluted,"Right away princess." He galloped off out of the room as quickly as possible as the other ponies slowly recovered from what had just happened.
Luna quickly strode back to the other ponies as she asked,"Art thou all feeling well? Are any of you hurt?"
Rarity shook her head a bit as she seemed to be the swiftest one to recover. She looked around at all the other ponies before turning back to Luna,"We are fine Princess. None of us got hurt during whatever it was that just happened."
Luna nodded,"That is good Lady Rarity. For now I must ask for you to return with me to the castle along with that young filly there. I assume she is a relation of yours?"
Rarity nodded,"Yes Princess. She is my little sister Sweetie Belle."
Luna nodded,"Then I'd like for you and your sister to come with me back to the castle. It isn't safe out right now with that thing on the loose." She turned to look at the teachers that had been acting as examiners. "You all need to return to your homes immediately my little ponies. Do not come out until you all receive word that it is safe."
They nodded and scrambled out of the room quickly as they headed towards their respective homes to stay inside. Luna then quickly took her daughter back from the other guard. Eclipse was crying in fear again and she had to bounce Eclipse in her arm as she whispered soothing things to her. Eclipse calmed down once again as Luna continued to walk back to the castle with the guard, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle in tow. They all quickly got back to the castle as Luna warned all passerby to remain in their homes until a threat was taken care of. She left word with her guard at the gates to spread the message to all of Canterlot as she went back inside the castle.
Luna hadn't said anything to Rarity other than to say that she would like to remain quiet for the moment. She led them all to the nursery that she had shown Eclipse earlier. Luna realized that Eclipse was probably to old for a nursery like this but she had seemed happy enough with it in a dream. She set Eclipse down in a crib meant for a small foal. She put a special sort of roof over the top of the crib so that Eclipse wouldn't be able to just fly out even on accident.
She knelt down by the bars of the crib as she spoke up,"My little moon, Mommy has to take care of the monster. Mommy needs you to wait here while she takes care of it. Go ahead and take a nap."
Eclipse looked up at her mother from the small bed she was in from behind the bar. She was frowning but nodded her head a bit,"Yes mommy."
She put her head down and curled up in on herself as if she was going to take a nap like Luna suggested. She was planning on anything but that once Luna was out of the way. She felt that this was a threat only she could take care of.
Luna nodded to herself in satisfaction as she turned to Rarity,"I'd like for you to come with me Lady Rarity. Your help might actually be invaluable at this time. I'd like for you to leave your sister here. I promise that the enchantments on this room will keep them safe."
Rarity nodded her head to Luna before turning to Sweetie Belle,"Now Sweetie Belle I need you to remain here like the Princess said. And please be on your best behavior. I don't want to come back and find you've caused trouble for somepony."
Sweetie Belle looked up at her with a pout,"But sis. I can help too. My magic is a lot better than it was. Please don't stick me in here with the foal." Sweetie Belle figured that she would be able to handle herself to to being 8 years old."
Rarity frowned down at Sweetie,"No Sweetie Belle. You are staying here and that's final. Now I must go with the Princess. I don't want to hear about you stepping out of line."
Sweetie looked down at the floor with a scowl,"Yes Rarity." Rarity nodded in satisfaction before turning back to Luna and nodding to her.
Luna acknowledged this before moving out of the room with Rarity. She told the two new guards that had appeared to be diligent in guarding the room even with the enchantments she had put on the room. The guards saluted her before taking theirs stances outside of the door to the nursery.
After the princess had left Sweetie Belle kicked the floor with a hoof in frustration. "Why does Rarity always leave me out of things. I know that I could help if she'd just give me a chance!"
That's when she heard a soft voice speak up,"No you couldn't. Not with the way you are right now. That thing would hurt you badly if you tried to go after it."
Sweetie looked around,"Who said that?" Then her sighed settled on the crib before her and its occupant,"Did you say that?"
Eclipse still had her back turned to Sweetie Belle,"Yes."
Sweetie frowned,"And just why wouldn't I be able to help. From what I saw it was just some kind of monkey. It couldn't be that hard to beat."
Eclipse responded very quietly in a despairing tone,"Because that monkey is more powerful than you could ever be in your current state. Its a vicious little monkey that doesn't care about others. It will do whatever is necessary to get the job done. It would even kill to get what it wants."
Sweetie's frowned deepened as she took a step towards the crib,"And how would you know all this. You look like your younger than me so there's no way you could know for certain."
Eclipse slowly turned around to face Sweetie with a sad, depressed expression on her face,"Because We are older than you. Its just Our appearance that seems younger than you. If Mommy could just get that thing to stay still We know she could beat it but that thing won't stop moving. And now ponies are going to suffer because of it."
Sweetie's expression took on a hopeless look,"Oh. And its all my fault too. I let my emotions get the best of me and I had a magic surge. It opened that weird green thing and it came out."
Eclipse looked at her,"Its not your fault. You couldn't control your magic. No one blames you for letting your emotions get out of control. Its happened many times before and I'm sure it will happen again."
Sweetie frowned,"Still. If I could just get out of here then I'm sure I could help at least in some tiny way."
Eclipse frowned,"If you could get Us out of here We are sure that working together we could help out and get that thing to stay still long enough for Mommy to blast it."
Sweetie's face became contemplative before she finally said,"Ok. If we can help out that would be great." Her horn glowed softly as it grabbed hold of the cover over the crib.
She moved the cover off and to the side before she continued with her levitation magic and pulled the crib side down. Eclipse got up from where she was on the small bed and hopped down onto the ground. She gave a tiny smile to Sweetie Belle.
"Thank you for getting Us out of there. We want to help Mommy out as best we can." She happily said. She felt comfortable around Sweetie Belle as a certain feeling of peace radiated inside of her.
As she concentrated on the feeling, her mind helped her to realize that it meant Sweetie had the potential to be a Soul Warrior when she was a lot older. Right now her magic was still way to unstable and she was just a kid. But it was enough to help Eclipse feel a lot better than she'd been feeling lately. She then looked down at her torc before looking back at Sweetie Belle.
"Mommy used some kind of spell on this thing,"She continued as she pointed at her torc,"It makes sure that We don't feel any pain in my neck. We think the enchantment is due to wear off in about an hour and a half. So we have to hurry up before it wears off."
Sweetie Belle nodded before confusion crossed her face,"Why are you feeling pain in your neck?"
Eclipse looked away from her as an expression of fear crossed her face,"We do not wish to talk about it. So please don't ask Us about it."
Sweetie went back to a frown for a moment before replying,"Um okay. Let's get going already."
Eclipse nodded her head before pointing to a low window they could both get to,"We could get out of here through there."
Sweetie nodded her head,"Ok." She made to head for the window to which she hopped up on easily. She opened the window easily before looking down to see it was only a few feet to the ground below. She sighed in relief before hopping on down to the ground easily and calling back to Eclipse,"Come on. Let's hurry up."
Eclipse called back softly,"We know. We are coming."
She moved over to the window ledge to which she easily hopped up onto. She started to move to the other side of the window only to knock her face into something invisible. She shook her head a bit before frowning. What the heck could have stopped her from leaving the room. She reached forwards with her hoof only to have it stop against that invisible thing again. She tapped whatever it was a few times only to realize that a blue shield kept shimmering into view that seemed very similar to the ones you would run into all the time in Kingdom Hearts. She sighed as she realized her mother had set up these precautions to keep her in.
Sweetie looked up at her,"What's the problem? Come on. We need to get going."
Eclipse gave her an annoyed look,"We know. But it seems mother has cast spells to keep us inside in case we tried to wander."
Sweetie blinked,"Oh. Your mother must really love you to put up those kinds of enchantments."
Eclipse sighed,"Yes Mother loves us to death. We must figure out some way to bypass mother's spells."
Sweetie frowned,"I don't think you'll be able to. Princess Luna is really strong and would have probably thought of everything. There is no way that you can get out without her wanting you too."
Eclipse knocked her head against the barrier in frustration,"Curses. We should have known mother would have done something like this."
Sweetie frowned as she tried to think of something,"Well maybe we could get those guards out there to do something to get us out. Actually no that wouldn't work. They are supposed to be guarding the room after all."
Eclipse sighed as she looked at Sweetie Belle,"We can handle this. Um what is your name anyway? Ours is Shattered Eclipse."
Sweetie Belle looked up at her in surprise before replying,"Oh I'm Sweetie Belle. Nice to meet you."
Eclipse nodded,"Likewise. Please give us a moment." She hopped down from the window ledge back into the room as she concentrated on her internal magic enough to make her Archiver and satchel appear.
She quickly picked up a chip from the top of the satchel and looked at it. A grin spread over her muzzl as she realized it was the Charizard soul chip. She slotted it into her Archiver and pressed the green button. The Archiver hummed before beeping with a message that she promplty read. What is said was,"Cinder Blaze soul chip running within normal parameters. Soul Fusion program on standby. Synchronization rate is 70 percent. Time to hold form....20 minutes. Please say initiation phrase!"
She held her hoof out in front of her as she spoke up,"Soul Fusion, Execute! Speeding dragon of fire lift me with your wings! Soul Fusion, Cinder Blaze Soul!" With a flash of light the orb of golden light surrounded her completely.
She closed her eyes as she felt the changes happening. The fans in her mouth grew longer as her pegasus wings disappeared completely to be replaced with two sets of orange wings. One was of course the larger set and the other the smaller set. Her tail changed to that of a small charizard tail and she became encompassed in the same armor that she was in back during the first time she used this soul chip. The biggest difference was that she now had black wing braces over her wings and her tiara had stayed on her head but was now more spiked than before with jets of fire coming out of the top. She lashed out with her hoof claws which broke the sphere of light.
She snorted and jets of smoke came out of her nostrils for a moment before she jumped up to the window sill again. Sweetie had wandered off a little ways to try and find something to help. Luckily the door to the nursery had been closed so the guards hadn't noticed Eclipse transforming. Eclipse tried walking through the window sill again and to her satisfaction it worked this time. The transformation had changed her enough for the barrier spells to no longer recognize her. With that she hoped down to the other side grateful that she had gotten out. Even luckier for her was the fact that none of Luna's alarm spells had been triggered. Eclipse quickly released the transformation before moving over to Sweetie Belle.
She tapped Sweetie Belle on the shoulder with her hoof causing Sweetie to turn around with a yelp,"Huh. How did you get out of there Eclipse. You should still be stuck in there."
Eclipse gave her a soft worried smile,"We have Our ways Sweetie Belle. Now let us be off back into the city to find that thing."
Sweetie Belle nodded and let Eclipse lead the way. Eclipse somehow managed to lead them back to the gate entrance to the castle. From there she had managed to levitate the two of them up over the large fence surrounding the castle with no problem at all. The two had then hurried off into the city to try and find the robotic monkey.
Unfortunately for them that's about when Eclipse's good streak of luck ended. They had just been about to enter one of the numerous alleys in the town when they heard a shout behind them from a night guard.
"Hey you two there. You shouldn't be out here." He ran closer towards them as they froze in terror at being caught,"Hey wait. Princess Eclipse what are you doing outside of the castle. Your mother will have a fit once she realizes your outside. I'm going to have to ask you two to come with me now."
Eclipse looked up at the guard and then to Sweetie Belle before dashing off into the alley while yelling,"Run!"
Sweetie Belle darted after her with a,"Got it." while the guard chased them. The guard shouted out,"Wait stop. I'm not trying to hurt you." As he ran after them a certain monkey appeared up on top of a building in the alley as he looked down on the three ponies running through it
"Hmm well this could be just what I need. Seems that little creature with the horn and wings is a princess of some kind. Guess I'll just have to capture her and get her back to the doctor somehow." He chuckled to himself. He had been out and about causing all manner of mischeif and misery.
Cocunuts moved over to another roof as he followed the three ponies. He moved on ahead of them and grabbed a large flowerpot along the way. He grinned as he waited for just the right time. He figured that if he dropped this at the right time he could knock the one small creature right out and capture her. Right before they passed under him he dropped the flower pot.
Eclipse was running along in the alley but still heard the mechanical footsteps on the roof of a building in the alley. She continued to run along but once she heard the footsteps stop up ahead she suddenly moved to the side pushing Sweetie Belle along with her once she felt something dropping down towards them. The guard had only been a little ways behind them since he was faster and taller but unfortunately for him the large flower pot fell right on top of his head. It clanged against his helmet with a loud ringing sound before he fell to the ground unconscious with his eyes big swirls and his tongue hanging out.
Eclipse got up a little bit later as she looked to Sweetie Belle,"Come now Sweetie Belle now is our chance to escape."
Sweetie Belle nodded her head after she realized what had happened to the guard,"Right. Let's go while we can."
Both of them scampered off out of the alley before Coconuts could get down there to confront them. He stomped his foot on top of the roof he was on,"Curses. Somehow that little one got out of the way just in time. Well not next time." He scampered off to set up some other traps.
Twenty minutes later, Eclipse was traveling along in another alley with Sweetie Belle still looking for the annoying robotic monkey. She hadn't heard anymore metallic footsteps that could have told her where he was. She noticed that Sweetie Belle was becoming tired and less enthusastic. And then there was the fact that she knew the enchantment on her torc would wear out soon. Still they traveled along only to have yet another guard start chasing them.
They ran down the alleyway noticing that there were banana peels all over the place. They were small and nimble enough to avoid them but the guard following them wasn't so lucky. He had kept his gaze on the two fillies only to slip on one of the banana peels. He fell backwards only to have his head connect with the stone ground. He was lucky that he had still been wearing his helmet so there was only a loud ringing before he was knocked out cold by it all.
Eclipse had then moved towards another alley as she could hear the metallic footsteps up ahead in the alley. She turned her head to Sweetie Belle,"Come on Sweetie Belle. We hear the thing in the alley before us."
Sweetie Belle nodded her head with renewed strength,"Alright. Let's hurry and catch it for Princess Luna."
The two of them ran right through the entrance of the alley only to skid to a stop about 10 feet in as they saw the red robotic monkey stamping its foot in anger. It glared at them.
"How is this possible? You should have fallen right into my pit trap. Yet you somehow just ran right over it."He pointed at the spot where he had dug the pit trap that looked like the rest of the ground around it.
Eclipse blinked in surprise not being able to think or say anything other than,"What?"
Coconuts growled in anger as he stomped towards them and then past them as he said,"I'll show you what." He moved over to the area and pulled a cloth away from the hole to reveal it.
He turned back to them while waving his hand at the pit,"This pit. You ran over the cover somehow and didn't fall in. How is that even possible. Sonic I could understand but not you creatures."
Sweetie Belle gave a confused look,"But it was just like all the rest of the ground. It felt the same too."
Coconuts stamped his foot,"No it wasn't. I dug the ground out and made that hole. You should have fallen in immediately." He dropped the cover back into place as he said,"Just like this." He stepped onto the cover only to fall in immediately. He let out a couple of yelps of pain as he walked and fell into his own pit trap on purpose. He had dug the pit about 10 feet deep.
Eclipse and Sweetie Belle walked over to the hole and looked down into it. Sweetie spoke up,"Ok now that's just weird. And why would you do that Mr. Monkey?"
Coconuts looked up at them with anger,"The name is Coconuts and it was to prove my point. Now get down here so I can knock you out and take you hostage."
Sweetie Belle continued to speak,"Why would we do that? That just seems silly and stupid especially with what you just told us. Your not very smart are you Mr. Monkey."
Coconuts stamped his foot again as he glared up at them,"Its Coconuts and I am too smart. Now get down here or i'll make you."
Sweetie Belle gave him a disbelieving work,"and just how would you do that Mr. Monkey?"
Coconuts roared in rage,"Its coconuts. And like this!" He pulled three coconuts from behind his back and glared up at the filly. He threw all three up into the air at her face.
Eclipse immediately pulled Sweetie Bell back as they came up. They missed her face by a few inches but sailed back down into the pit. Coconuts was looking up towards the entrance to the pit only to yelp in terror as he saw the coconuts coming back down. He didn't have anywhere to move so the first coconut hit him in the face causing him to fall down onto his but before the other two each hit him on the top of his head. A bump somehow arose on his robotic head before he collapsed against the side of the pit with little birds circling his head in his daze. Then he just flat out fell unconscious.
Eclipse looked down into the pit and then to Sweetie Belle,"Well that was....anticlimactic. We suppose we should go get a guard who can alert mother."
Sweetie Belle nodded after a moment of staring at the unconcious monkey,"Yeah. Probably for the best."
Eclipse nodded and sighed as she let out a shout which attracted a couple of nearby guards. They ran over and were definitely not happy to find the princess outside of the castle with her friend. Although that unhappiness lessened once they realized the two fillies had somehow managed to capture the villain.
Luna herself was quickly alerted although she was less then happy with Eclipse at the moment and would be punishing her later. Looking down at the unconcious monkey all she could feel was pity for the thing. She ended up taking it back to the room where it appeared and somehow reopened the distortion with a spell before tossing it back in. She closed the distortion again before firing another spell at the area which sealed the dimensional barriers there completely so it wouldnt be able to come back.
So we see the wrath a mother can have for her child and the kind of adventure Eclipse can get into with a friend.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. Sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. It took me a long time to work through and proofread along with my new beta readers but it was worth it. Credit for the idea of having Sweetie Belle show up to try and gain entrance to Celestia's school goes to Sonic Rainboom Dash. Feel free to leave a comment about what you liked or pm me with any female OC you'd like for me to have appear in my story.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Guardians of Eclipse Part 1
Chapter 16
After the event of dealing with the robotic monkey known as Coconuts, Sweetie Belle and Rarity had been given a room in the castle to stay in until the next night when Luna could meet with them again. Rarity had been absolutely furious with Sweetie Belle and had given her a huge time out. Luna herself was not happy with Eclipse at all for somehow circumventing her protection spells and going out wandering with Sweetie Belle. She had decided that she'd give Eclipse her punishment the next night once she had met with Sweetie Belle and Rarity again. So it was that they had concluded the night by all turning in at daybreak to sleep.
Now it was the following night and Celestia had already been told about what had happened. Celestia had decided to leave it to her sister to deal with things as a sort of challenge for her. Celestia had gone about her day as she normally did sad that she had been unable to spend time with her sister and new niece. But now it was time for dinner for herself and she hoped with all her heart that Luna would be there with Eclipse. She walked to the dining hall rather quickly with high hopes and was happy to find that they were indeed there.
Luna was once again holding Eclipse in her arm as she used her magic to eat the food that had been brought to her. She looked up at Celestia with a warm smile as she entered.
"Hello sister. I hope your day went well?" Luna asked with a happy demeanor. She was basically cuddling Eclipse into her chest at the moment just glad that her daughter was safe and unharmed.
"My day went as well as can be expected sister,"Celestia replied with a smile. "Now how are you and my favorite little niece?"
"We are doing well. Eclipse understands that I had to punish her for leaving the nursery without my permission and wandering off by herself with Lady Rarity's younger sister. I decided that her punishment would be a long timeout to give her time to think. She told me what she did wrong and what she would do differently next time. Her punishment is over now so we came to eat and spend time with you sister," Luna explained.
Celestia nodded with a smile as she quickly placed an order with the waiter that came up to her,"Well that is good to hear Luna. Its nice to know that she's learned her lesson without you having to give her to harsh a punishment. May I please hold her?"
Luna smiled back,"You may as long as its okay with Eclipse." She turned her head to look down at Eclipse,"Would you like to be held by Aunty Tia?"
Eclipse looked up at her mother with a small happy expression and nodded her head,"Yes Mommy."
Luna nodded her head as she carefully got up out of her seat. She moved over to Celestia with a few steps as she moved her foreleg out in front of her. She carefully handed Eclipse over to Celestia as she warned her sister to be careful with Eclipse's neck. Celestia held Eclipse close to her chest with her foreleg as she smiled down at her. An electrical current seemed to run through Celestia's body as she held Eclipse and the feeling spread throughout her body. Unknowingly to her, a small piece of her soul had just been drawn into one of Eclipse's blank soul chips. But she thought nothing about the feeling as she continued to hold Eclipse. She nodded her head to Luna that she had this and she didn't need to worry. Luna went back to her seat so she could resume eating her meal.
Celestia smiled warmly as she gazed down at Eclipse,"Hello there my little niece. How are you doing today?"
Eclipse looked up at her with a small smile,"We are doing fine Aunty Tia."
Celestia nodded with a smile as she continued to cuddle little Eclipse. She moved a hoof and gently tickled Eclipse's stomach making her giggle happily. It wasn't enough to hurt her neck luckily. As she held Eclipse in her arm, her thoughts strayed back to the feeling she had experienced earlier when she held Eclipse. Now that she thought about it the feeling had been tinged with magic. And it held the aura of a pony she had thought gone or hoped was gone at any rate. It had been the aura of Nightmare Moon but it seemed to be garbled and strange. And then there was the fact that her new niece had a coat color very similar to Nightmare Moon's. And the whole moon cutie mark didn't help things in the least. There was also the fact that Eclipse was always talking in the royal We. Could her new little niece actually be Nightmare Moon reborn? She continued her graceful smile but decided to ask Eclipse a few questions.
"Eclipse I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."Celestia said calmly.
Eclipse stopped giggling as she looked up at her aunt with her wide eyes. She blinked a couple of times before she quietly said,"Ok Aunty Tia."
Celestia smiled calmly,"Ok my young niece. Could you please tell me why you are always speaking in the royal We?"
Eclipse blinked at the question and had to think hard for an answer but winced in pain as she tried to think,"We talk this way because it feels natural Aunty Tia."
Celestia nodded her head and asked,"Do you remember how you got your cutie mark?"
Eclipse winced in pain again as she tried to remember just how she got her cutie mark. But the more she tried to remember the worse the pain grew. She started to cry a bit as she put her hooves to her head in pain. Her horn sparked a bit and finally she wailed,"We don't remember Aunty Tia. Please don't be angry with us. We are sorry we can't remember."
Celestia's small look of suspicion left her face completely as she looked down at the crying Eclipse in her arm. This drove any thoughts of Nightmare Moon out of her head. There was no way this young filly could be Nightmare Moon despite the magical simularities. She was just a young filly in pain who apparently had some memory loss to go with her injuries. Maybe that choking she had received had done something to her brain to cause her to lose her memories. Whatever the case was she couldn't just let Eclipse cry especially since Luna was right there glaring at her. She was quickly able to calm Eclipse down by telling her she wasn't angry or disappointed. She also told her there was nothing to be sorry about and soothed her with a cuddle and some nuzzling. Soon enough she was back to playing with Eclipse.
Celestia's food arrived and she took a break to eat her meal before going back to paying attention to her niece. She tickled Eclipse lightly some more making Eclipse giggle even more with a nice lilting high giggle. As Celestia continued to play with her young niece she felt a feeling of loneliness grow inside of her. She was glad that she had her sister back and a new niece to play with but she felt a hole in her heart that was slowly growing. She realized that she was slowly growing jealous of Luna being Eclipse's mother. She wished she had a child of her own to mother over and raise just like Luna was raising Eclipse.
Celestia kept her serene smile on her face as she quietly said to Eclipse,"I think its time we get you back to your mother so you can eat your dinner Eclipse."
Eclipse's cheeks puffed outwards as she pouted at Celestia,"But Aunty Tia We want to play."
Celestia smiled,"And we will at a later time. For now you should be eating your dinner so you'll have strength for tonight." With that she gently hoofed Eclipse back over to Luna.
Celestia finished her own meal as Luna carefully fed Eclipse as she didn't want Eclipse to move her head at all at the moment. Celestia got up from her seat before nodding to Luna,"I'll be heading to my chambers to sleep for the night Luna. I wish you good luck in your duties tonight. I don't envy you that."
Luna nodded with a small smile,"Thank you sister. I hope you sleep well. I wish you pleasant dreams."
Celestia gave her one more nod befor leaving the dining hall. Once outside in the hallway Celestia moved a wing to her chest as she took a deep breath,"Why is it that now I feel such jealousy? I have never felt the need to be a mother to a child. All my subjects are my children. So just why do I feel this hole growing in my heart?"
She sighed to herself as she continued to walk along to her chambers. It wasn't to long before she was inside of them. Once she was, she quickly got into her bed and fell asleep to the soft ticking of a mechanical clock on the wall of her room.
A couple of hours later, Luna was sitting on her throne in the throne room with night guards standing at attention all about as she told the guards to let Rarity and Sweetie Belle inside. The guards did as they were told as they used their magic to open the big golden doors. Rarity lead Sweetie Belle inside of the throne room wearing a fancy dress that she had of course made herself. Sweetie Belle was also stuck in a dress of Rarity's design that she really didn't like wearing. They both bowed to Princess Luna till Luna had them rise. Luna spoke up softly to them.
"Thank you for coming Lady Rarity and Sweetie Belle. I wish to resolve the events of last night peacefully. I believe that you have already given Sweetie Belle a punishment of her own Lady Rarity?" Luna asked.
"Indeed I have Princess Luna. I gave her a huge timeout and no sweets for the next month,"Rarity spoke in a firm light tone.
Luna nodded,"A fitting punishment. But that is not the main reason that I asked for you all to be here for. The examiner's who watched you take your test Sweetie Belle have told me how it went for you. And I am happy to tell you the results of your test as I know you have not yet received them."
Sweetie Belle looked up at the Princess in anticipation,"What were the results Princess Luna?"
Luna gave her a small smile,"You passed the test with flying colors. You are high above the average unicorn who takes the entrance exam test. You came close to being at the same level of power Twilight Sparkle was at when she was your age taking the test. That is something to be admired and complimented. As such you will need a mentor who knows more than the teachers at the school. Sadly my sister is not taking any new students at this time. So I hope that you will consider letting me be your mentor Sweetie Belle. But keep in mind that I would also need the approval of your family before I could fully take you on as my personal student."
Sweetie Belle gasped in surprise at this revelation,"Really princess? You'd like me to be your student?"
Luna nodded her head as Rarity spoke up,"My goodness princess. Are you sure? I'd love for you to be her teacher but she could do just as well at the school I'm sure. We don't want to take up your valuable time."
Luna continued to give off her small smile,"Yes I would Sweetie Belle. And it would be no trouble at all Lady Rarity. I would simply be giving Sweetie Belle a lesson for an hour every night. Sadly that is the only time that I truly have to teach her."
Rarity's own smile slipped to one of unsureness,"Well if your sure Princess then it would of course be fine. But I'm not exactly sure how you would work things out. Sweetie will be staying with my parents here in Canterlot so that she can attend school while I go back to my shop in Ponyville."
Luna kept up her calm smile,"I will be able to work things out appropriately Lady Rarity. I just need the permission of your parents to fully accept Sweetie Belle as my personal student."
Rarity nodded her head as Sweetie Belle danced around Rarity's hooves happily. "I will talk with my parents about this Princess. We will have an answer for you as soon as possible."
Luna inclined her head,"Very well. You two may go now. I have an audience with a stallion who I had to summon back here sooner than expected."
"Of course Princess. Thank you for taking the time to see us." She turned to Sweetie Belle,"Come along Sweetie. Its time for us to go." She strotted off out of the throne room with a still giddy Sweetie Belle following along behind her.
The doors closed behind them after a moment leaving Luna alone with her daughter. Eclipse had been quietly listening to the whole thing as she cuddled into her mother's arm. She had of course been hidden from view by Luna's wing as Luna didn't want to let Eclipse out of sight after the debacle the previous night.
The doors to the throne room opened up a moment later to admit the next pony that Luna had summoned to see her. And that pony was none other than the stallion Night Shade, who had been at the party the previous night. Night Shade was looking rather nervous as he approached the throne room. Luna had levitated a set of papers up in front of her to read through rather quickly. Her eyebrow raised slightly at a few of the things she read before she lowered it and moved the papers away from her. She gave Night Shade a calm smile as she began to talk to him. Night Shade was currently in a bow before her.
"Please rise Mr. Shade. Thank you for coming back so quickly. I apologize for summoning you here without much warning but I felt this meeting could not wait. If you could I would love to hear that song you wanted to sing for me. Afterwards I'm afraid that there is another matter I must speak with you about."
Night Shade rose from his bow as he listened to Luna. He stuttered a bit,"O-of course P-Princess Luna. I'd be honored to play my song for you."
He pulled his guitar off his back as he brought it around in front of him. He sat on his haunches as he quickly strummed a few chords. His ears twitched as he realized that the strings were out of tune so he was forced to retune them. Once he was satisfied that the strings were in the correct scale he quickly strummed them before looking up at Luna.
"Ok princess I'm going to begin singing now with your permission,"He told her with nervousness in his voice.
"Of course Mr. Shade. You may begin when you wish."Princess Luna replied to him.
He nodded as he strummed his guitar and started to play his song. The first part of the song just seemed to be a calming instrumental of a sort that started to put little Eclipse to sleep. Then he started to sing.
"Oh,im standing in the dark,sad and alone
He had drawn out the oh's in his versus to give them a bit more emphasis and give the song a more somber feel. His music then started to get a bit louder as he played some more notes before the chorus.
"Oh I beg of thee,
Again he drew out the O's in his chorus to give more emphasis to them. But when he hit the word free in his chorus his voice went up a few octaves. He continued to play for a bit more before starting in on the second verse of his song.
"Now,the rain is falling down,the lightning flashes round,
He once again played the small bit of music before the chorus as his music became a little louder for the chorus once again. A smile had grown on his face as he continued to play his song and got himself lost in the music.
"Oh..I beg of thee
He played a small solo after he finished the chorus a second time. The notes drifting through the air. The louder music had kept Eclipse from falling asleep and brought her back to wakefulness instead as she listened to the song. A frown had crossed her face as she listened. It sounded oh so lonely and sad to her. Finally, Night Shade stopped playing his guitar altogether as he sang the third verse with his voice alone.
"Could this be it,the light thats left me all along,
His voice went higher and higher with each ay he sang in the word away. Things became sadder and sadder it seemed to Eclipse. She just didn't know what to make of the song other than to start softly crying. Night Shade resumed gently playing his guitar as he continued along with his third verse.
"Oh..now im no longer all alone
He continued to strum his guitar as Eclipse continued crying. But she realized what this verse was about and her tears had changed from ones of sadness to ones of joy. She was crying happily as she listened to the words. Night Shade started to slow down his playing as he sang the final words.
"Oh..I have been set free
He finished the last free word in his song by swiping his hoof downwards across all the strings one final time. He let his hooves come to a rest as he cradled his guitar before him. Luna's expression during the song had turned to one of sadness and heartache but perked up as she listened to the final verse. Now she was calmly looking down at Night Shade with an unreadable expression. After a few moments she finally trusted herself to speak.
"Mr. Shade that song was very beautiful. I thank you very much for coming here to sing it to me on such short notice. But if I may ask you something. Just what was your intent in writing this song. What is the meaning behind it in your own words?" She seemed very pensive at the moment.
Night Shade gave a wary smile,"When I wrote this all I could think about at the time was lonelyness and not having any friends at all. So I wrote this song about a stallion who was lonely and walked about in a world of darkness. But eventually he found someone who cared about him and that helped him to see the light again."
Luna nodded her head,"It is good to hear your own words behind the creation of the song and what it is about. I want you to realize that there are many ponys around that would be lucky to be friends with a stallion such as yourself. You need only reach out to make connections with them."
Night Shade's smile slipped to one of shyness and nervousness as he looked up at the Princess,"Well. I like to meet other ponies and talk to them but its really scary to actually go up to them and try to talk. I prefer to stick to the background rather than be in the spotlight. I was able to approach you so easily Princess because I figured you'd know or understand what it was like."
Luna graced him with a small smile,"Indeed. I know what you have been experiencing. Your song has my full approval and I will let all the studios know that it does. You should have a much easier time of getting your songs published after that."
Night Shade's smile grew to one of happiness as he replied,"Thank you so much Princess. This is a dream come true for me."
"Indeed Mr. Shade. However there is one other matter that I must talk with you about at this time," Luna replied with a more serious expression.
Night Shade's smile dropped right off of his face as he looked up at Luna with nervousness,"Of course Princess."
Luna nodded her head again,"Good. I have read through some reports that my guards have compiled on you or retreived for me. I find it odd that a musician of your talent does not have a musical cutie mark. So after reading the reports I know why that is. It seems you have quite a talent for using a scythe as a weapon. I read the reports of the Lonely Mountain massacre. It seems that you were quite good at defending the remaining pony's at the time from the diamond dogs. I realize now why you did not speak up about your role in it. That was a terrible tradgedy that I hope is never repeated again. It warms my heart to know that you will defend others when you need to and not seek fame or recognition for such actions."
Night Shade cringed and tried to hide behind his guitar as the Lonely Mountain Massacre was mentioned. All sorts of memories of that time flashed through his head as he closed his eyes with a wince. "With all due respect Princess I would really rather not talk about that incident right now. There are to many painful memories involved in it for me."
Luna winced,"I am sorry for mentioning it but I felt that it must be done. The matter I wished to talk with thee about was about employing you as a guard. And no I do not mean as one of my night guard. I would like to employ you as a personal bodyguard for my daughter Princess Eclipse. You are a cut above my own night guards and I feel you would be most suited for a job like this. You do not have to accept the job but I would be most grateful if you did."
Night Shade was blown away completely by what Princess Luna was saying to him. However a deep frown crossed his features as he listened to Princess Luna,"thank you for the complement on my fighting abilities Princess Luna but I'm not sure about a job like that. I'm all for protecting others especially someone like the princess in your arms but I really don't want a repeat of the incident from before."
Luna's eyes actually took on a pleading look as she replied,"We understand Mr. Shade but sadly I don't think my own guards can do the job as well. My daughter managed to sneak by a large amount of them and I'm sure someone with your qualities would be able to keep an eye on her all the time. You are one of the only ones I can ask to do such a thing."
Night Shade sighed as he fell into deep thought for a moment. It was unlikely that he would ever have to be in as bad a situation as the massacre again in his lifetime if he were guarding such a young princess. He probably wouldn't actually have to fight all that much if at all as much as just keep an eye on her. He looked up at the anxious princess before him. Finally he let out another deep sigh as he replied to Luna.
"Very well Princess Luna. I guess I could accept the job. The night has always seemed to agree with me more anyway."
Luna gave him a soft smile,"Thank you Mr. Shade. I am only asking you to guard over her a couple of days during the week. I realize that you have your own life to attend to and I don't want to take you away from that. I am only asking you to watch over her Monday night through Wednesday night. I would of course have a room set up here in the castle that you could use when you stay in Canterlot."
Night Shade nodded,"Thank you princess. I guess I will accept after all." He put his guitar on his back,"Besides I'll need to come to Canterlot anyway to publish more of my songs with the studios.
Luna nodded,"Indeed. You will also be receiving a good amount of bits from the crown for watching over our daughter when we are unable too. Thank you again for coming. I hope you have a good night my little pony."
Night Shade nodded before starting to leave the room,"Your welcome Princess."
Luna spoke up quickly,"One last thing Mr. Shade. We would like you to start tomorrow seeing as how tomorrow is Wednesday night."
Night Shade let out a sigh,"Can do Princess. I will see you and Princess Eclipse then." With that he left the throne room quietly yet quickly. The doors closed with a clang behind him leaving Luna alone in the room with her daughter and guards.
Luna sighed to herself before looking down at her daughter only to smile as she realized that Eclipse had fallen into a half drowsing state. Her eyes were struggling to stay open as she continue to look up at her mother. Luna chuckled down at her,"Rest my daughter. I will wake you again in a bit."
With that Eclipse's eyes fell completely closed as she fell asleep. Luna sighed as she turned to the pony in charge of her schedule. She had a long night ahead of her but she would spend as much time as she could with her daughter. So she got along with the next thing on her schedule.
The following morning Princess Luna was in bed asleep with Eclipse on her chest again. Over in Ponyville two of our resident heroes were going about their own lives. Poor Swift Shot had recovered enough with Rainbow Dash's help to actually move about again. Granted that he couldn't move around that well due to the chest injury but he was getting better. His cybernetics had ended up being fixed by a mechanic that new about them and he had bee helped further with the addition of a special cybernetic piece attached to his chest. It was designed to help speed up natural healing and could be able to be taken off in a couple of days. Swift Shot was actually looking for a new job as he had been basically fired from his old one due to being to injured to work. The place where he had worked just couldn't afford to keep him on staff while he recovered. So they sadly had to let him go without him being able to do anything.
As for Jack Hunt he had been fighting the different monsters that kept coming to Ponyville. He himself hadn't encountered any inter-dimensional villains strangely enough but that was all well and good. He actually had to head into Canterlot today to see about picking up a package for himself that couldn't be sent to Ponyville. Jack was going to be getting to Canterlot using a Soul Unison form. He had decided to use the Megaman Zero soul chip in order to get to Canterlot.
He was currently inside of his house with his Archiver visible and the satchel on his side. He reached inside of it with a hoof and fished out the right soul chip which he promptly slotted into the Archiver. He then pressed the green button on his Archiver as he held his foreleg in front of him. His Archiver beeped with a message for him to read but he only barely looked at it. All he cared about was how long he'd be able to hold the form for. He would be able to hold this form for the next 30 minutes. He nodded to himself as he spoke out loud.
"Hero of the Reploids and Neo Arcadia rise again to give me strength! Soul Unison, Megaman Zero, Zero soul chip!" He grinned as the orb of blue light surrounded him.
He closed his eyes as he felt the changes begin to his body. It happened exactly the same way that it had with Shattered Souls when he had used that chip the first time. He shattered the blew orb around him to reveal himself in Zero's armor. His grin grew as he accessed a form of power for this armor he had stumbled across by accident. Just how he had unlocked the form was beyond him but he didn't really care about that right now. He grinned as his coat color turned completely black as did the armor itself. His armor became reminiscient of the original Zero's Absolute Zero armor. The helmet had shifted to include a huge batlike wing on either side of the helmet as two huge bat wings extended from his back. His hooves had each gained a deadly set of large black hoof claws that he could use to tear into his foes. He opened the door to his house carefully and exited before closing the door behind him. He looked around quickly to see if there was anyone around and when he was satisfied he pushed off into the air quickly.
He blasted off at such speed that there was a small crater left behind where he had taken off. There was no one who would be able to keep up with him beyond maybe Rainbow Dash. He sped along through the air at hight speed looking like a large black bullet as he sped towards Canterlot. He landed on the mountain at such high speed that he created large gusts of wind behind him when he landed. Luckily for him he had been moving so fast that no one had noticed him. But his impact did create a loud thud that left behind a decent sized crater. He quickly dismissed his transformation to save his magical energy or least that is what he tried to do.
He had in all actuality landed right in the middle of the School for Gifted Unicorn's combat spell firing range. And the place was so full of old residual magic from so many combat spells that it messed with his Soul Archiver. And even more unknowingly to him was that this is where once upon a time Celestia had come to refine combat spells of her own along with an old friend she had at one time in the distant past. His soul Archiver appeared on his foreleg and started to spark dangerously as lines of electricity flowed outwards from it. Jack frowned as he watched it and tried to dismiss it.
The Archiver started to glow with a dangerous light as he frantically tried to dismiss it. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't make it disappear back to where it should be. Then with a great explosion he was covered in bright light as his form was warped and twisted. The Zero soul chip was ejected from the Archiver right before it overloaded and it landed in his satchel but it was to late for Jack himself.
Once the smoke of the explosion faded, he was revealed to still be glowing white as his form shifted. He grew much smaller than he should be as his body was forced to revert to its true form of a half dragon hybrid. The residual magic surged around his changing form and seemed to be absorbed into it. The strongest of the residual magic was a soft glowing yellow and a brilliant platinum color. These two different residual magical auras combined into his form with all the others.
Finally he stopped glowing as his new true form was revealed for all to see if there had been anyone around at the time. He had a small set of stubby little dragon horns coming from the top of his head right between his pony ears. The horns themselves were a nice golden ivory color that seemed to twinkle and shine in the sunlight. He had a set of soft scales running down his back that were a brilliant platinum color. The scales continued to run down the little dragon tale he had in place of a normal pony tale. His tail ended in a small blunted little blade that was curved. The underside of his tail had smooth skin instead of scales and it was a nice soft aquamarine color. He had normal pony fur on his legs and underbelly as well as his neck and head. His coat color was a bright stark white the same color as Celestia's fur. He had a set of small fangs running down from his upper mouth that seemed to be dragon fangs. And he had a nice red colored mane running down his neck. Overall he had turned back into a foal the age of 4 that was still incredibly young.
He looked around and then down at himself before his eyes grew wide.He ran one of his hooves along his face and chest before looking around for a source of water. There was a small pond off to the side of the range that he managed to make his way over to while stumbling. He looked down into it to see his reflection and what he saw caused his ears to lay flat against his head in mounting fear. There before him was a completely different hybrid than before yet still similiar to his old self. He sat back as thoughts raced through his mind on what could of caused this. He finally settled onto the idea that his Archiver had something to do with it. He grunted as he concentrated on his magic and got it to appear on his foreleg. The machine beeped with a message for him to read. He looked down at it and did so.
What it said was this,"Error. Error. High amounts of residual magical energy were detected. All residual magical energy has been consumed by host. The magical energy reacted to this unit in a way that was unanticpated. Once the user tried to deactivate the Unison the residual magic interfered with this unit and caused an overload. This unit's power source was overloaded causing the residual magic to be absorbed by the user thus mixing with the user's own magic. This caused the user's magical signature to be changed and thus a new form had to be given to the user. The user's current form is one that can handle and process the vast amounts of magical energy the user now possesses. This new form is the user's new true form and the user will revert back to this form after any transformations."
Jack's eye twitched at the message that he had just read before looking up at the sky and letting out one of the loudest screams heard thus far. Actually it sounded more of a mix between a roar and the Royal Canterlot Voice,"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The scream was more than loud enough to reach all the way to the castle's throne room where Celestia was currently holding day court. The scream was then followed up by a huge pulse of magic that felt more divine in nature. Celestia looked towards where she felt the source came from only to see nothing out of the ordinary. She turned back to the ponies in front of her as she spoke up,"I am sorry my little ponies but there is a matter that I must attend to at once."
The ponies in front of her blinked at her standing up from her throne. One was a noble while the other was just a common mare. The noble spoke up with a haughty tone,"Princess surely the matter you speak of can wait? This is more important than anything else after all. This mare owes me a new designer coat after she spilled that tea all over me."
Celestia sighed internally as she kept her serene smile on her face,"I'm afraid that it can't wait Lord Moneybags. I will settle this case upon a later time. I am sorry about having to reschedule this but it will simply have to wait. Until then I am afraid I will have to ask you to return to your home."
The noble spluttered,"But Princess. Surely you can work this out now!"
But by this time Celestia had already walked past Moneybags and the poor mare. She left instructions with one of her guards to see the mare settled in a guest room until she had time to talk to her later. She quickly moved out of the throne room afterwards as she walked towards the castle gates. Once she had reached the outside of the castle she decided to forgo the castle gates in favor of flying. Two pegasi guards followed right behind her as she took wing. She went straight towards the source of whatever she had felt.
As she grew closer to where she felt the source had come from, she could hear the sounds of a foal crying ahead of her. This made a feeling of urgency spread throughout her frame as she called back to her guards,"Hurry. There might be a foal in danger."
The guards gave her a nod as she sped up to reach the sight as fast as she could. She landed with a thump on the ground leaving a small crater where she had landed as she frantically moved to where she could hear the crying. She couldn't feel anything malevolent nearby but that did not mean there wasn't. Her horn charged up with her golden aura as she prepared a spell just in case. She looked around for the source of the crying foal only to stop as her eyes widened in surprise.
There before her on the ground by a small pond was a half dragon hybrid the likes of which she hadn't ever seen before. She narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment as she listened to its crying. She noticed the platinum scales that the foal had running down its back which reminded her deeply of her old friend. But there was just no way that this foal could somehow be related to her old friend....right? She moved closer to the poor crying foal as her horn's charged spell was switched out for another one that ran an indepth scan without the foal noticing.
She stopped a little ways from the foal as the results were fed back into her head. The results were just screaming impossible to her yet at the same time it appeared true. According to the scan this foal was indeed related to her old friend and on top of that related to her. The scan's information kept screaming at her that this foal was somehow her biological son. The scan further said that the relationship this foal had with her old friend was as her old friend's son as well. She rubbed the bridge of her nose for a moment before shaking her head and approaching the foal again.
"Hello there little one. Are you okay?" Celestia quietly asked the crying foal.
The foal's sobbing cut off immediately as he turned to look up at her with an expression of surprise. Once his eyes had made contact with her own the both of them froze as it seemed a line of electricty sparked from their eyes to each others. Both of their eyes widened before the foal's eyelids started to droop downwards as if he was suddenly sleepy. Celestia's eyes had glazed over completely as she felt instincts within her stir deep inside. She walked over gently to the young foal and carefully picked him up with her hooves. She neslted him in the crook of an arm as the guards watched on with surprise and silence. She leaned her head down and ran her warm tounge over his face as his eyes became a little glazed themselves and he leaned into the tongue licking. Just like with Luna, she was claiming him as her own son to be raised and cared for by her. An electrical tingling feeling filled Celestia as she continued the ritual unknowing that a small piece of her soul had just been pulled into a soul chip. It was just like earlier that morning when she had held Eclipse in her arm. After the ancient ritual was over both of their eyes went back to normal as the new bond formed inside each of them.
Celestia blinked in surprise after she realized what she had just done but she just couldn't bring herself to care at all. She leaned down and nuzzled the young foal as she asked,"What is your name young one?"
Jack Hunt looked up at her with his wide eyes for a moment before his brain jumpstarted. He quietly replied,"Jack Hunt."
Celestia smiled,"That is a wonderful name but would you be ok if I gave you a new name. I have accepted you as my son."
Jack Hunt nodded his head after a moment. He knew he'd just been accepted as her son and his own past while it would never be forgotten was over now. So he might as well make a new fresh start with his new mother. He slowly nodded his head as he looked up at her,"Yes mother."
Celestia's smile became even more motherly as she gently nuzzled his cheek,"Very well. Your name shall be Solaire Dawnclaw my son."
Jack grunted in appreciation as he rubbed his own cheek along Celestia's,"That sounds good to me mother."
She nodded,"Then that is your new name. Now let us get you back to the castle where you will be living with me. Oh did you happen to see anything scary out here my son?"
Jack shook his head,"No. I just felt all alone out here. I didn't have any parents before you and I've been trying to live on my own.
Celestia sighed and shook her head,"You are far to young to be out on your own. I am glad that I found you." She turned to her guards,"Search the area just in case there is something he didn't see. I will be returning to the castle with your new prince."
The guards saluted her before moving off to start searching the area. Celestia spread her large wings as she held Solaire closer to her chest. She took off in a rush of air as she made for the castle. All of her subjects in the streets stopped what they were doing to look up and watch as she flew overhead. Many of them smiled and waved at her as she passed leaving her to wave with her free hoof as she flew. Solaire remained quiet as she flew along in the air back towards the castle.
Finally, Celestia reached the castle as she touched down on the steps leading inside. She quickly made to head towards her private chambers as she looked down at Solaire with a smile,"I can't wait for you to meet my sister and her daughter my son. I am sure you'll end up loving them just as much as I do."
Solaire's own smile grew bigger as he looked up at her,"I have more family?"
Celestia nodded her head with a smile,"Of course my son. You have an aunt and cousin. Your cousin is around your age but a little younger. You'll also have to be very careful around her. She's hurt in a way that makes her rather delicate."
Solaire's smile fell as he looked up at Celestia,"Is she going to be alright mother?"
Celestia gave him a gentle sad smile,"Sadly the most damaging injury she has will probably never heal fully Solaire. We believe that she will always get hurt rather easily because of the injuries she sustained."
Solaire gained a frown on his face that marred his features,"That is really sad mother. I'll just have to protect her to make sure she doesn't get hurt again."
Celestia's sad smile was replaced by a genuinely happy one,"That makes me very happy to hear Solaire. For now we need to get you cleaned up and then presented to the nobility and the rest of my subjects. You are a prince now after all my son."
Solaire blinked in surprise but nodded his head,"Ok mother."
So with that Celestia went on to give him a bath that he really needed due to him having made himself dirty by being by the pond. And afterwards she ended up calling another unplanned meeting to introduce her son. That went a lot better as compared to the meeting before where Eclipse had been introduced. And then of course she called a press meeting that went even better than the meeting with the nobles. Solaire was adored by everyone because he was so cute and looked even more adorable when he tried to act courageous in front of everyone.
So it finally arrived at the time where it was getting to be towards evening so it was almost dinner time. Celestia had not had Luna woke up for the new discovery because she wanted it to be both a surprise and because she knew Luna needed her sleep alongside the still recovering Eclipse. She was currently walking towards the dining hall with a rather hyper Solaire on her back. He seemed to be looking around everywhere with quite a bit of energy. It looked like he wanted to go around everywhere just to explore but he was thankful a young colt that listened to her. Then again she did have a lot of experience in dealing with foals in the first place with her school.
Celestia opened the doors to the dining room with her magic and smiled once she moved inside. Luna was sitting in her seat yawning a bit as she worked to wake up completely. Her foreleg was of course still crooked and her wing was held out over her leg to hide Eclipse from everypony's view. Celestia smiled as she looked back at Solaire before using her magic to gently levitate him into her arm as she used her wing to hide him from view. She leaned her head down to him to whisper.
"Ok my son. I'm going to surprise my sister with you so I need you to remain quiet for a bit ok?"
He nodded his head,"Ok." He looked up at her with adoring and trusting eyes as she made her way over to the table.
Celestia sat down in her customary seat at the table as she quickly placed several order quietly before turning to Luna. "Good evening sister. How are you and young Eclipse fairing?"
Luna yawned not really looking at Celestia just yet,"We fair just fine sister. Eclipse is actually still asleep which is why I am keeping her covered with my wing. How did you day go?"
Celestia warmly replied,"It went a lot better than I thought it would. Something qutie interesting happened to me."
Luna took a sip of rejuvenating tea which helped her to wake up more than before as she replied,"Oh and what would that be sister?" She turned her head to look at her sister then. A puzzled expression made its way onto her face as she spoke up,"Tia why are you covering your foreleg with your wing just like me?"
Celestia smiled,"That's part of the interesting thing that happened to me. I have a pleasant surprise for you." She moved her wing out of the way to reveal Solaire who looked at Luna with wide eyes,"Say hello to your new nephew sister. I have a foal to call my own now as well."
Luna's eyes widened even further before she turned her head to Celestia again,"Sister what is going on here? Where did you find this young one? Where are his parents? Did you just adopt him because you were jealous of me and Eclipse?"
Celestia maintained her calm happy smile as she replied,"Its just as you see Luna. I did not adopt him because I was jealous of you. I will admit to feeling empty when I looked at you and Eclipse. I wished I had a child of my own at the time but I was never jealous. And I found young Solaire here outside of the city at my school's battle magic firing range. He had no parents Lulu. That is one of the reason's why I adopted him. I also ended up falling prey to my instincts when I encountered him sister and the next thing I knew I had already accepted him as my son."
Luna frowned for a moment but nodded,"Ok. But surely he had to have parents."
Celestia shook her head,"No. I ran a scan to determine who his parents might be but found something interesting. It would appear that he is somehow my biological son. I do not know how just that he is. And his father would be an old friend of mine who you never met because of your exile. His biological father is another immortal like the both of us but a dragon as you can guess."
Luna blinked as she fell into thought,"Who was this friend of yours Tia? I can't imagine that you actually courted him or he courted you."
Celestia chuckled,"You would be correct. We were only ever friends. My old friend is a dragon you may have heard of. His name is Bahumat and he is the god of all the good dragons that belong in another world."
Luna nodded her head after a moment,"I recognize that name. I believe he had a hand in creating that world you speak of. I did not realize that he would have been able to come here. I'm glad that you were able to make friends with him Tia."
Celestia gave her a warm smile,"Indeed. We still send each other letters every now and then. I'm still waiting on his next letter actually. But onto other matters. Would you like to meet your nephew? His name is Solaire Dawnclaw."
Luna nodded her head,"Indeed I would like to meet him sister." She carefully ate some of her food before she continued,"But at the moment I would like to eat. Then I will come closer."
Celestia nodded as she sat Eclipse on the seat next to her after she had a booster seat brought out for him to sit on. He happily dug into the meal that was brought to him as Celestia started to eat her own food. Luna was quietly eating her meal as she woke up Eclipse gently. After Luna had woken up Eclipse, Luna proceeded to quietly feed Eclipse herself before finishing her own meal. After she had finished her meal, Luna turned to Celestia again. She got up out of her seat and ended up sitting in the seat right next to little Solaire.
She smiled softly down at him as she spoke up,"Hello there young Solaire. How are you doing?"
Solaire stopped eating for a moment to look up at her as he smiled widely,"I'm good. You must be my new Aunt."
Luna chuckled,"Indeed. I am your Aunt Luna. I'm guessing your mother already told you that you have a cousin as well?"
Solaire nodded as his face became more somber and serious,"Yes. Mother said that my cousin is injured. Is she okay?"
Luna's smile became strained,"She will be fine. Her physical wounds will mostly heal but I doubt that the wounds done to her mind will heal as easily if ever."
Solaire frowned,"I'm not sure what you mean by wounds to her mind but I don't want her to be hurting. Can I see her?"
Luna's strained smile continued,"I believe so. Just let me ask her." She stuck her head under her wing and whispered quietly to Eclipse before withdrawing her head. She went back to a genuine smile when she looked at Solaire,"She would love to meet you Solaire."
Solaire's frown was replaced with a happy smile,"That's great."
Luna chuckled again before she removed her wing from across her foreleg to reveal young Eclipse. Solaire's eyes widened when he took in the appearance of a filly with a dark blue coat with a white frosty type mane. He could see she had her own regalia on which made her look cuter. But he frowned when he realized that he could see the imprint of something around her neck. It was mostly covered up by the torc she was wearing but he could still tell it was there because it had slipped down her neck a bit.
Still Solaire kept his smile on his face as he waved to Eclipse,"Hi there cousin. I'm Solaire nice to meet you. What's your name?"
He was finally looking into her brilliant soft blue eyes when a flash of recognition passed through his mind. He briefly registered that this young filly was none other than a transformed Shattered Souls. But that recognition quickly faded as if by magic and once again all he saw before himself was a young alicorn filly about his age. He was hoping she'd reply to him in a happy tone herself.
Eclipse herself was immediately able to recognize Jack after a moment despite his change in form. Still she felt the feeling of peace and safety settle around her as she gave him a small smile. She lifted a hoof and gave a tiny wave back to him as she spoke up softly.
"Its nice to meet you Solaire. My name is Shattered Eclipse."She had uncurled herself a tiny bit as she looked down at him from her mother's arm.
Solaire smiled happily,"That's a wonderful name. I hope we can get along and play together."
Eclipse's small smile remained as she replied,"I do too Solaire. But I don't feel up to playing to much at the moment." She curled back up in her mother's arm as she cuddled back into it.
Solaire nodded his head before Luna carefully moved her wing back over Eclipse. Luna smiled gently at Solaire,"I think that is enough for now young Solaire. Your cousin needs her rest right now. She is still recovering from an ordeal she had a couple of days ago."
Solaire nodded his head,"Yes Aunt Luna. But I promise I'm going to do my best to make her smile. I'll protect her from anything that tries to harm her." He puffed out his chest as he said this to make himself look more intimidating. All it did was make him look cute and adorable instead.
Luna chuckled at him as she pat him on the head gently,"Of course you will Solaire."
Solaire yelped a protest before he puffed out his cheeks in annoyance at having been pat on the head by Luna. Luna continued to chuckle,"Sadly I must be going now in order to go about my duties and take care of your cousin."
Solaire sighed and pouted,"Ok Aunt Luna. I want to play with my cousin soon though."
Luna smiled,"You'll have a chance in the future young one."
Solaire kept his pout up as he replied,"Yes Aunt Luna."
Luna chuckled again before she got up from her seat and nodded to Celestia,"Its time for me to go sister. I wish you and young Solaire a good night's sleep."
Celestia nodded her head,"Indeed. Have a good night Luna."
Luna inclined her head in reply as she quickly moved out of the dining room leaving Celestia with her new son. Celestia smiled as she turned to Solaire and said,"Well my son. We should be getting to bed now. We have to be up early in the morning after all."
Solaire nodded to her after a moment as he ate the remains of his dinner. Celestia picked him up in her hooves before setting him on her back. She moved off to her chambers where she was quickly able to get Solaire to sleep before she lowered the sun for her sister. As she stood there in the dark she sat by a candle and drafted a letter to her old friend. She quickly sent it off via dragonfire through a special portal that was designed to reach wherever he was. With that done she turned into bed herself for the night.
Luna was now moving towards her throne room in order to meet with another pony that she had summoned for that night. It was a pegasus from Ponyville with mechanical legs that one of her night guards had noticed and reported on. It seemed that he was recovering from a recent injury he had received from fighting off some sort of mechanical dragon that had appeared. He had come out on top with some help supposedly but the fact that he had been able to help was enough for her to summon him to see about a job for him.
She sat down on her throne quietly as she looked around to her night guards, who were stationing themselves in their places. After they were done getting in position, Luna signaled the door guards to open up the doors to let the recipient in. The pegasus that came through the door was of course Swift Shot and he looked better than he did before. He came further into the throne room and dropped into a bow before Luna.
Luna spoke up,"Rise good pegasus. I wish to congratulate you on your victory against the mechanical beast a couple weeks ago."
The pegasus nodded,"Thank you princess. But I did have a lot of help in taking it down."
Luna nodded her head,"Indeed. Well I will be giving my congragulations to the pony who helped you as well. Thank you for coming to answer my summons on such short notice. There is a matter I must speak with you about of great importance."
Swift Shot looked nervous,"What about Princess Luna?"
Luna's look became even more serious,"I need somepony who will be able to look after my daughter when I am unable to in the course of my duties. I do not feel that any of my current night guards beyond my captain and Lieutenant would be able to watch over her effectively. From the reports my guards gave me you are quite the capable fighter even if your not trained for combat very well. I would like to offer you a job watching over my daughter a couple of nights in the week."
Swift's eyes became bigger,"Princess that is a huge offer. Are you sure you want to make that offer to me? I'm sure there are plenty of other ponies out there who would be better suited."
Luna replied calmly,"I did make the offer to one other stallion who accepted it. He will be watching my daughter on Monday through Wednesday when I am unable too. You are the only other capable stallion that I can find to help guard my daughter. It would be a great help to me if you would accept."
Swift took on a thoughtful appearance as he stood there in front of the princess. He did need a new job to replace the one that he lost and this could actually pay better than his previous job. He didn't want to have to depend on Rainbow Dash all the time after all. So he looked up at the princess and asked,"Well what nights would I be working and how much is the pay?"
Luna replied,"You would be working Thursday through Saturday and the pay is 30 bits an hour because watching an Alicorn filly is a big job."
Swift's eyes widened in surprise as he heard how much it payed. That was three times more than he made on his own back at his previous job. He spoke up quickly,"I can do it Princess. Thank you for offering me the job."
Luna nodded her head,"And I thank you for accepting. You will be given a pass to ride the train to get to and from Ponyville when you need to. You will also have a room set up for you here in the castle when you are staying to watch over my daughter."
Swift nodded quickly,"Thank you princess."
Luna gave him a soft smile,"You are welcome. One of my guards will lead you to your room for the night. I bid you a good sleep."
Swift nodded happily as he turned to leave and was led away by a night guard. That left Luna in peace in the throne room with Eclipse. She smiled as she happily nuzzled Eclipse's cheek gently as Eclipse did the same due to Luna having used the enchantment on her torc again. Luna just cuddled her daughter for a good amount of time as she sat on her throne. She was waiting for the new guard she had hired the previous night to arrive for his shift. He wasn't late but would be soon if he didn't hurry up.
Ten minutes later when it was nearing 8:00 at night she finally heard the hoof steps of a frantic stallion coming towards the throne room. She figured that this was probably Night Shade who was very close to being late. The hoof steps stopped outside the throne room doors because they were of course closed. Luna gave the signal to the door guards to open it up and admit the stallion. The guards nodded before opening up the doors to admit Night Shade.
Night Shade moved into the room still panting a bit after having run all the way from the train station to get here in time. He had a rather large scythe strapped to his back with his guitar strapped on top of it. The scythe itself was unusual because the blade was a bright red due to it being made of a very rare metal known as Adamantium. The haft appeared to be made of a rather thick wood that would not break easily and the blade seemed to just sprout from the top of it. Night Shade moved further into the throne room before falling into a bow.
"Night Shade reporting for duty Princess Luna,"Night Shade panted as he heaved for air.
"Ah Mr. Shade. It is good to see tha tyou were able to make it. Please make sure to arrive in a more timely manner next time so as not to wear yourself out before your shift even begins. As it is you managed to arrive early which I am impressed with. Thank you for your diligence."
Night Shade nodded,"Of course princess." He stood back up fully with her permission.
Luna continued to speak,"As it is my duties will be consuming a fair amount of time tonight. So if you would please follow me to the nursery that would be appreciated."
Night Shade nodded,"Of course."
Luna carefully picked herself up from her throne before descending the steps to walk past Night Shade. Night Shade walked behind her closely with his scythe swinging from side to side. He ended up following her to nursery as she walked along rather quickly. Finally, they reached the nursery after about a 10 minute walk through the large halls of the castle. Once there Luna went about strengthening her enchantments to make sure that Eclipse wouldn't be able to bypass them.
After she finished strengthening them, Luna walked over to the middle of the nursery as she fed more power into the enchantment on Eclipse's torc so that it would last the next 5 hours. An hour had passed since she had used the enchantment tonight and the power she had just added would cause to last 5 more hours instead of just another 2. She set Eclipse down on the ground as she kissed Eclipse's forehead.
"I have to go see to my duties my daughter. I will be back later tonight so that we can spend some more time together. I need you to stay here for now while I'm gone. You have plenty of things to do while your here and if you need anything new just ask one of the nice mares that will be in the next room." She pointed to an adjoining door that was on the inside of the nursery that led to the next room where a couple of nursemaids were on standby just in case.
Eclipse looked up at Luna with a frown but nodded her head,"Yes Mommy." She looked around at all the different toys there were to play with while she sighed internally.
Luna smiled gently down at her before standing at her full height again,"I will be going now then. That nice stallion from the other night will be here watching you as well. If you ask nicely maybe he'll play you a few songs on the instrument that he brought with him."
Eclipse's blinked as a small smile graced her muzzle,"That sounds nice Mommy."
Luna's muzzle lifted into a small smile as well,"That is good. I really must be going now daughter."
She quickly turned and left with one last goodbye before leaving the room. She motioned for Night Shade to go inside the room and stay there with her daughter. Once he had, Luna closed the door behind them and moved off to attend to her duties. She actually had to go through night court tonight as well as patrol the dreamscape. She had fallen a bit behind on her work as she comforted and spend a lot of time with Eclipse and she had to make up for that now.
Back inside of the room, Night Shade was looking down at the small princess as she stared straight back at him. She seemed rather uncertain about him at the moment but as the seconds ticked by a small smile slowly appeared on her muzzle.
Night Shade was smiling softly himself as he looked at her,"Hello there princess. How are you this fine night?"
Eclipse spoke up softly,"We are doing fine thank you. That is a nice looking instrument sir." She was pointing at his guitar.
Night chuckled as he pulled it off his back,"Oh this old thing? I've had it for a couple of years now. Do you like music?"
Eclipse nodded her head,"We do. Umm...Could you play something please?"
Night smiled softly,"Of course princess. I'm guessing you'd like to hear something nice and soft?"
Eclipse nodded again,"Yes please. I don't really like anything loud. Sorry." Her ears drooped at the last statement as she made her sorry.
Night continued to smile,"Its alright Princess. Ponies have different tastes in music. I bet from all that you've been through you just don't like loud things in general."
Eclipse just gave him a small nod of her head in reply. He strummed the strings of his guitar a bit,"Well then its no problem at all. I believe I know a few songs that you would like to hear." With that he started to strum the strings of his guitar more as he launched into a gentle song.
What he ended up playing was a song that he had heard elsewhere from another pony. And that song just so happened to be a song about the two sisters so of course the song was none other than Lullaby for a Princess. The song flowed around in the air about the two of them. Eclipse listened silently as she held onto a stuffed animal that she had found lying around. Her ears twitched as she listened to the music. As it continued to play a wave of exhaustion washed over her. The song seemed to make her incredibly sleepy for some reason.
The song finished a bit later and luckily Eclipse was still awake. Her eyes opened more fully as the song ended and she became fully aware again. She smiled up at Night as she spoke up,"I really liked that song mister. Thank you for playing that."
Night chuckled,"Its no problem at all. Its just a song I happened to hear from someone else. And you can just call me Shade or Mr. Shade if that helps."
Eclipse's small smile grew a bit bigger as she continued to look up at him,"Thank you, Mr. Shade. Um could you play another song please?"
He nodded his head as he strummed the chords of his guitar again and launched into another song. This one just so happened to be a song that he had heard from yet another pony. The song just so happened to be Children of the Night and not the metal version. This was the nice soft version that helped Eclipse to relax as she listened. She cuddled the stuffed animal in her grip even more adorably as she looked up at him. He couldn't help but smile as he sang thanks to her adorableness. Soon enough he ended the song and her small smile was just a tiny bit bigger.
"Thanks again Mr. Shade."Eclipse said with a bit of a warm tone. "I really liked your singing." Her voice was still very quiet and shy but unlike fluttershy one could hear her a lot easier.
Night Shade smiled warmly himself,"I'm glad that I could help you feel happier princess. Now why don't you go ahead and play with a couple of the toys in here. I have to let my voice rest before I can sing for you again."
Eclipse nodded slightly as she turned to the toys in the room. She was able to find toys to keep herself occupied for a while so that Night Shade could rest. Night Shade set his guitar gently against the wall as he set his scythe alongside of it. He silently watched her playing with a smile on his face. He was able to rest comfortably against the wall. But he frowned when she suddenly froze and stopped playing.
She turned to face him as a feeling of electricity flowed through her body. There was that feeling again letting her know that he was a candidate to become a soul warrior. She blinked as she sat down on her rump while she extended her foreleg in front of her. Night Shade frowned at the action and was about to ask her why she was doing it when with a flash of light Eclipse's Archiver appeared on her foreleg. His expression shifted to one of confusion as he suddenly perceived the machine was humming.
The Archiver quickly scanned him while it processed all the data from the scan it was receiving. Then after a moment it beeped with a message for Eclipse to read which she quickly did. The message said,"The unicorn Night Shade is a viable candidate for becoming a soul warrior. Magic levels are optimal. Synchronization rates are optimal. Level of darkness and Light are troubling. This unit does believe the candidate could become a soul warrior but letting the candidate become one comes with great risk. This unit's scan revealed that the subject could be heavily influenced by darker forces. It is possible that in the future said candidate could fall to darkness completely. Candidate could possibly be redeemed if such a thing happened but the chances are slim. Does the user wish to continue with the current process?"
Eclipse quickly pressed the yes button that appeared on the screen. Admittedly what the message said did worry her but she wasn't going to let that stop her from giving this world another protector. She could protect herself she felt but the world never stopped needing more protectors. After she pressed the button the red beam of light emitted from the Archiver onto Night Shade's left foreleg.
Night Shade had no idea what was going on at the moment and he wanted to ask a question but once the red beam hit his foreleg he stopped. He froze as he felt an electrical tingling feeling spread throughout his body. New information was somehow transmitted directly into his brain on what was going on. He received all the knowledge on what a Soul Warrior was and what they had to do. He frowned as he poured over the information quickly with his mind. He didn't like to fight at all but this could be very useful in helping to defend the innocent and others if need be. And besides that was the point that Princess Eclipse was rather fragile and would be fragile even if she used her own Archiver. She would not be able to take hits well at all. If anything Eclipse was more of a glass cannon and it was his responsibility to protect her. So as the feeling filled him and his mind on whether he wanted to be a soul warrior he mentally told himself yes.
With a flash of light the beam grew brighter for a moment before cutting off entirely as the spell from the Archiver took hold of his magic. It drew heavily upon his magical reserves as a new Archiver took shape on his foreleg and a satchel appeared on his side. A certain soul chip flew up into the air in between the two of them to reveal just what kind of soul chip he could use. The soul chip hanging in the air was none other than BlackWarGreymon's soul chip. After a moment it flew back into Eclipse's bag but it had helped determine what kind of soul chip he could use. With another flash of light the Archiver finished taking form to look just like Solaire's own Archiver.
That meant his Archiver was also a model 2 but the biggest differences were that instead of Solaire's cutie mark his Archiver held his. And on top of that there were motifs of different pony's on it that seemed to be wielding what looked like dark magic or different dark weapons. A set of soul blank soul chips flew from his bag to hover in front of them as they glowed. Images appeared on them of beings he'd never seen before. One of them appeared to be a giant dragon of some sort that looked creepy. His Archiver booted up with a beep as it came online. It hummed for a moment before beeping again with a message for him to read as the display came to life.
He read the message and this is what it said,"Archiver mark 2 boot up successfully completed. Registering user.....User is Night Shade the unicorn. Welcome Night Shade to your new Soul Archiver. Your specialization is using warriors who fell to darkness but were redeemed but still retained their dark powers. You have the potential to be a general user but as per the requirements of the soul warriors there can only be one general user. As such you have been relegated to a specialization most suited to you. Please keep in mind that you are very susceptible to dark influence so you need to be careful. With that this unit wishes you luck in your endeavors as a new Soul Warrior."
Night Shade blinked in surprise as he looked down at the message but shook his head after a moment. He quickly dismissed the message with a flick of his hoof before grabbing the still floating soul chips right out of the air. He slid them into his satchel before leaning back to look at Eclipse again. This wasn't something for him to sort out right then so for now he'd just go about doing the job that Luna assigned to him. Eclipse was actually back to playing with the toys like nothing had happened at all. Her own Soul Archiver had disappeared without him noticing leaving her looking innocent again. His own Soul Archiver disappeared with a small flash of light a moment later as it wasn't being used and had become inactive.
Night Shade decided that for now it would be best just for him to think about other things and watch Eclipse. So with that the hours passed as he watched over her and played a few more songs for Eclipse. There was a time she knocked on the door to the nursemaids room where they ended up taking her to the little filly's room before bringing her back to the nursery. She then went back to playing with the toys until close to 5 hours had passed in total since they had come here. She could feel the enchantment on her torc slowly losing its power. The pain in her neck started to return so she moved over to the crib that was in the nursery. She felt and knew that she was to old for such things but she really needed someplace to lie down for the moment so she didn't overtax herself.
Eclipse climbed into the crib with a grunt as she lay down comfortably on the small mattress inside of it. Night Shade came over and moved the bars up till the connected with the rest of the crib to keep her inside. He then put the special cover over the top of the crib before he knelt down next to the bars of the crib.
"I don't know why you decided to crawl in here but this should at least offer a bit more protection for you." Night Shade said softly.
The enchantment in the torc wore out completely after Eclipse had laid on her back in the crib with a blanket over her. Her head rested on a pillow as she replied softly,"Its because We hurt. Our neck hurts to much without the spell Mommy uses to take away the pain. We needed to lie down to deal with the pain. We might as well nap since We are in here anyway."
Night Shade sighed as he listened,"Ok then. I hope you feel better in the future princess. I'll just be keeping watch out here while you get some rest."
Eclipse spoke up softly one more time,"Thank you Mr. Shade." After that she quickly drifted off into the land of sleep as she rested in the crib.
Night Shade went back to leaning against the wall of the nursery as he looked at her sleeping in the crib. He grunted as he tried to think of something he could do. Finally he got up from the wall again and knocked on the nursemaids door till it opened. Once it did, Night requested a couple of books to read while he continued to watch over the sleeping princess which the nurse maids happily got for him. So he settled back down as he pulled one of the books in front of himself with his hooves and started to read it.
Celestia was in a deep sleep in her own chambers under the cover of her blankets with little Solaire resting on her chest. But unknowingly to her sleeping form, Solaire himself had woken up. He had woken up because he was disturbed by a great surge of magic he had felt. It was a familiar type of magical energy to himself and upon thinking for a moment on his mother's chest he realized that it was the feeling of soul magic and a new Soul Warrior being born. This in turn caused him to think that something was wrong if a new soul warrior just had to be brought into being just then.
So he had wiggled out of Celestia's surprisingl strong yet gentle grip. He had quickly put a pillow in his place on her chest to make sure she wouldn't wake up and go looking for him. After he had done, Solaire had hopped off of her bed and headed right for the door to her chambers. He frowned as he stuck out his tounge in concentration as he reached for his magic. Thankfully for him he still retained knowledge on how to access his magic so his horns glowed with a soft golden light as he opened up the door quietly and gently.
Surprisingly, there were no guards on the outside of the door so he was able to just walk right on out. Solaire shook his head with a frown because he felt that the guard was getting to sloppy if they had forgot to post guards outside his mother's door. He walked straight for the source of the magic he had felt hoping it would lead him to the new soul warrior. But as he walked along his new childish mind flitted to other thoughts until they settled onto one thing in particular. His new cousin Eclipse was the subject of his thoughts now.
He couldn't help but think about how frail she had looked to him. She also seemed incredibly shy and afraid of everything. He hoped that he could get her to come out of her shell eventually. Sadly, only time would be able to tell if he would be able to get her to open up to him. For now he had to find her before anything else found her. He felt that she would be a prime target if any inter dimensional threats were to appear. He just had to protect her from anything that could be a threat. So that was another reason to find the source of the soul magic he had felt. That meant there could be a villain nearby that could hurt her.
So with that he took off running towards the source of the magic he had felt not even aware that there were no night guards in sight. It was actually rather strange that there were no guards at all around. You'd think that they would be busy patrolling the castle and whatnot. But he quickly managed to make it to the source of the soul magic only to stop an frown at the door that was barring him entry from the place where he wanted to go.
He shook his head as his two horns glowed softly again as he tugged on the door. He was satisfied to see it open a crack. He could hear the sounds of somepony inside the nursery. He strained his ears as he neared the door to try and make out who it could be. He heard a rustling and it certainly didn't sound like the dress a nursemaid would wear in a nursery. And he also didn't see any guards in sight. He knew the guards would be standing outside the door if they were on watch. So to his mind the rustling he heard inside of the room was that of an assasin. He could feel the magical presence of his cousin inside of the room so she knew she was in there.
He started to growl as the magic around his horns grew brighter and he practically slammed the door open. Once the door hit the wall of the hallways outside with a loud slam, Eclipse woke up from her sleep with a squeak of fear. She looked about scared to try and find the source of the noise as her mind slipped into a sort of trance. Her aura became that of one who was exteremely frightened and scared and Solaire easily picked up on this. To him it only confirmed that an assassin was in the room trying to get at her. It never registered with him that the cause of her fear had been him slamming the door open.
He ran into the room only to encounter a stallion at the ready who held a large red scythe in his magical grip. He growled at the stallion whoe blinked for a moment as he looked down at Solaire. After a moment, Solaire heard the stallion finally speak up.
"Huh. Its only another young foal. That's no threat at all." The stallion lowered his scythe a bit.
Solaire immediately spotted Eclipse in the crib and ran over towards it. He placed himself between the crib and the stallion in front of him as he started to growl. "Don't come any closer. I won't let you anywhere near my cousin. I won't let you harm or kill her."
The stallion blinked confused before replying,"Now see here little one I'm not here to hurt her. I'm actually guarding her."
Solaire growled,"As If I'd believe that. Leave now or I'll make you." He could already feel a growing bond with his cousin forming inside of him.
The stallion sighed and lowered his scythe entirely,"I'm telling you the truth little one. Now we should probably get you back to your mother. I'm guessing that would be Princess Celestia. I'm sure if she found you missing that it would worry her.
Eclipse's fear was still constantly radiating as she watched the two of them talk. Her mind was trying to pull itself out of the fear it was in but just couldn't. So all she could do was tremble as she continued to lie in the crib. Solaire noticed her trembling and to him it was because she was scared of this stallion.
He turned his attention back to the approaching stallion as he growled,"I warned you to leave. Now i'm going to make you leave."
He concentrated on his magic which made his Archiver appear on his foreleg as he continued to glare at the stallion. The stallion stopped where he was as he blinked in surprise as the sudden appearance of the Soul Archiver. Solaire quickly reached into his satchel with a hoof to pull out a soul chip. It was the Zero soul chip again which he quickly slotted into the Archiver. He pushed the button on the Archiver causing it to hum for a moment before beeping. He quickly skimmed the message that appeared.
It read,"Megaman Zero soul chip at full capacity. Soul Unison program on standby. Synchronization rate is at 90 percent. Time to hold form......40 minutes. Please say initiation phrase."
Solaire continued to growl at the stallion in front of him as he spat out the phrase he needed,"Savior of the Reploids and Neo Arcadia help me rise again!" Soul Unison, Megaman Zero soul!" With a flash of light he was surrounded by the blue orb of light.
He closed his eyes as he felt the changes happen to him. They were just the same as if he had been in his old unicorn form with except some minor changes. One of the minor changes was that the helmet had formed around his small dragon horns. And the second was that there was now armoring running down his tail leaving his tail blade exposed. His tail blade had also grown incredibly sharp as a green line dance along the blade meaning energy of some sort. Furthermore he had grown back to adult age and height as he stood within the orb. And there was also red wing braces along his wings to act as armoring as well. there were also little jets within those braces that could help him maneuver in the air easily and give him small bursts of speed. He lashed out with a hoof which shattered the orb.
He stood before the stallion in his new form which was still a half dragon hybrid. He growled at the stallion,"I told you'd that I would make you leave." He stood up on his hind legs more easily than most ponies due to his draconic heritage. He didn't feel any pain in his spine especially when he pulled the Z saber out of nowhere. He growled as he continued to stand in front of the pony before him with his Z saber in a battle stance.
The stallion raised his scythe up again as he spoke,"I don't know what's going on here but I guess I'll have to beat you to get you back to the colt you really are. I tried to tell you it was all a misunderstanding but you wouldn't listen. At least now that your an adult I won't feel any guilt from knocking some sense into you."
Solaire growled dangerously before he pushed off the floor and dashed across the room towards the stallion as he swung his sword. The stallion moved his scythe into position only to yelp in shock as the Z saber slice right through the hard wood cleanly. Solaire then proceeded to knock the stallion in the side of the head hard with the flat of his his blade. This sent the stallion flying out of the room at a high speed before impacting against the floor of the hall outside.
And this is where we will be leaving our heroes for the moment. I think now is a good time for an intermission. Its a little evil don't you think. But don't worry they'll be back in the next installment. The thing to keep in mind here is that Eclipse has gained new guardians to protect her and Equestria. So until next time have a good day.
Author's Note
Hey everyone. So with the advisement of my beta readers I decided to split this particular chapter up into two parts. I had way to much to put into this chapter and I didn't want it to be one huge thing. So this is just part one. So let me know just what you liked about the chapter in comments down below or send me a female OC to use for my story. Also the song in this chapter was not done by me. All credit for it goes to the user ShadowWolf112. So thanks for that. See you all next time.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Guardians of Eclipse Part 2
Chapter 17
Ah your back from getting your popcorn or food are you? Well sit down already so that I can get back to the story please. Yes I realize that your irritated with me having left the story on a cliffhanger. But that's just good storytelling for you so quiet down already. Yes I'm going to get started if you'd stop trying to talk. Are you done now? Good. Now where was I? Oh yes the battle between Night Shade and Solaire.
Solaire quickly ran out of the room to take care of the mysterious stallion, who he had forced out of the room. He held his z saber in one hand as he moved his free hand to his side and picked up a special gun known as a Buster. He held it up in front of himself as he looked down the sight towards the dust cloud that had appeared due to the impact that Night Shade had made after being blown out of the room. Solaire moved along quietly as he held the gun out in front of him.
Night Shade had been blown all the way down the hall into the wall of another hall. His impact had caused a large amount of dust and grit that flew into the air as a cloud obscuring him. He winced in pain as he tried to get up off the ground. He didn't get very far as pain lanced up one of his back legs which he looked back down at. His leg wasn't responding at all as bulges were just under the surface of the skin. He stopped trying to move his leg as he panted. He was without a weapon and he didn't know what to do at all.
With a flash of light, Night's Archiver appeared on his left foreleg after having drawn upon his magic reserves to appear. The satchel appeared a few seconds later hanging off his side as he blinked in wonder. He had no idea what to do with these at the moment but suddenly the information that had been implanted in his mind when he became a Soul Warrior came to the forefront again. This information told him what to do so he reached for a soul chip from the bag. Picking one out, Night coughed from all the dust but still managed to get a look at the soul chip he'd picked up. It had a picture of a weird skeleton on it. It seemed to be wearing a blue hoodie with black shorts. It was standing up bipedal and was wearing slippers on what he thought was its feet. There was a caption underneath the image that read,"Sans the Skeleton, Master of the Ghaster Blaster!"
He slotted the chip into his Archiver as he started to cough some more. The reason why he could use this soul chip is because Sans had been through so much before with all the timeline resets and so forth. There had been a time where he had completely lost it and fell to darkness before being shown the light by papyrus again. He still held that dark power within him and it showed in his Ghaster Blasters. The Archiver ended up accepting the soul chip as it hummed along merrily. It quickly scanned and archived the chips and soul inside of it. It beeped with a quick message for Night to read which he did as he heard hoof steps approaching.
The message said this,"Sans the Skeleton soul chips scanned and archived. Soul chip working at full capacity. Soul Unison program on standby. Synchronization rate at 80 percent. Time to hold form....10 minutes. Please say initiation phrase to start the program."
He held his foreleg out in front of him as he pressed the green button on his Archiver again before saying the phrase that came to him. "Master of Puns and Vengenance appear! Soul Unison, Sans the Skeleton soul!" He was encased in an orb of pure darkness which would help his changes along.
Night Shade was forced to close his eyes as the changes began. He became a skeleton himself but a pony one at that. The blue hoodie settled itself on his form while a red scarf appeared around his neck and flowed outwards behind him. His ears still stayed but they were skeletal themselves. His horn grew a few inches longer as well as his eyes became a clear cerulean blue. The pair of black shorts also appeared on them but they were stylized with his cutie mark. Instead of slippers red metal hoof guards appeared on each skeletal hoof. And to top it all off his scythe appeared on his back again but this time the haft was made out of a slender silver metal. The blade itself was till made out of adamantium but it had been refined to be even stronger and sharper than before. He finally lashed out with a hoof which shattered the orb of darkness around him. He felt another presence in the back of his mind signaling that Sans was now fully awake.
Night Shade saw shards of darkness falling down around him as he looked around for the half dragon that had changed into something new. He finally spotted him through the dust cloud that was now dissipating. He stepped out of the dust cloud into full view of his opponent. He started to talk and while he did he had the incredible urge to add puns into his words.
"Well kid that was a good hit but I think its time we end this foolishness now. You obviously need a time out in order to think about what you have done. This is going to make me bone tired but I think it will do." He had a perpetual grin on his face now that he couldn't remove.
The area around them went black as Night's eyes disappeared for a few seconds to be replaced by a single blue pupil in one eye socket. Blue flames seemed to be coming from it tracing back in a way to be similar to Sombra's dark evil eyes with the whole evil magic thing. Night's horn was also glowing a blazing blue as skeletal wings appeared on his back made out of those blue flames. Then music started to play out of nowhere that was both catchy and terrifying. It was the song Megalovania that was playing at the moment.
Solaire narrowed his eyes at everything around him before he fired of a set of rapid shots at the skeletal unicorn that was still to close to his cousin for comfort. The shots sailed through the air with precision but Night just side stepped out of the way easily. He laughed,"What did you think I was just going to stand there and take a hit."
Solaire growled,"Shut up and stay still. I'll make sure to wipe that grin off your face and protect my cousin. You stupid smiley trashbag."
Night just kept on grinning,"Well its my turn now kid. Try to dodge this." He waved his foreleg out in front of him which made waves of bones appear up out of the ground. They quickly surged towards Solaire who was able to jump over them easily enough only to find bones flying through the air at great speed towards them. He started to cut them apart with his z saber only to have a couple of the bones hit him without him being able to do anything about them. They hit with enough force to crack his armor badly on his shoulder and back right leg. He collapsed on his side as sparks emitted from his cracked armor.
"This isn't over yet you stupid skeleton,"Solaire growled in pain. He slowly pushed himself back onto his hind legs despite the cracked armor. He then ran towards Night while firing his buster gun again and followed it up with a slash of his z saber.
Night easily dodged the shots again and teleported out of the way completely when the slash came down towards him. He was already starting to feel a massive drain on his magical energy. He continued his grin as he looked up at Solaire,"I guess you got a bone to pick with me huh kid?"
Solaire growled as he was somehow forced backwards by an invisible force back to his original spot. Night's eye continued to glow as he stuck out a hoof towards Solaire. A gold heart appeared in front of Solaire representing his soul but it quickly became blue when Night engulfed it in his aura. He started moving his arm around quickly and fast which caused Solaire to go slamming all around in the dark area. He seemed to hit all sourts of surfaces. Finally, Night stopped and let Solaire drop to the ground.
Solaire slowly got back onto his hind legs but doing so caused him to yelp in pain quite a lot as he held his bad arm with his good one which wasn't all that good anymore. There were cracks all over his armor and the internal circuitry of his chest armor was showing. It sparked with electricity all over and caused him more pain. His Z saber's handle had ended up smashed because of how much he'd been thrown around and was completely useless now. The same went for his buster gun unfortunately. He winced but charged forwards again with badly sparking legs as he lashed out with his hooves hoping the strong electrical currents running through them would take out the skeleton before him.
Sadly for him, Night just teleported out of the way again meaning his strikes did not hit. Again he was knocked back by an invisible force which returned him back to his previous position. Night's continuous grin was getting old even for himself,"Time to wrap this up kid. Its nap time for you."
He held out his foreleg again causing several ghaster blasters to finally appear. However these ghaster blasters were a bit different as they were shaped to look a little cuter yet more ghastly then the previous version. They circled around Night as they took on a magical glow and charged up power. Then they zoomed forwards to circle around Solaire who was looking around in pain. They unleashed their beams of energy at him as he started to roll forwards despite the pain. He was able to dodge two of the beams but the third was slammed into his hind legs causing him to cry out in pain and roll forwards until he was face down on the ground. His hp was down to a measly 1 at the moment and if he took another hit that would be it for him.
His archiver appeared with a flash again as his foreleg's armor disappeared. It beeped with a message that he painfully looked at. It said this,"Warning. User is close to death. This unit suggests using the soul bond program to bond with the Dante soul chip. This in turn will give the user health back and allow the user to continue fighting. The user will also be able to use the dante soul chip from then on. Would you like to initiate the soul bond program?"
He groaned in pain as he slowly moved his hoof over to his Archiver and tapped yes on the screen. The Dante soul chip flew out of his satchel to hover in front of him. He heard some male's voice saying,"Hey there little guy. Looks like its time to finally get things rolling huh!" He didn't know how to respond to it other than groaning in pain.
The archiver hummed and then beeped with another message to read which he did. It read,"Soul bonding program activated! Forming soul bond with Dante soul chip!" A red beam of light emitted from the Archiver and hit the Dante soul chip which glowed with a red light. Inside of himself, Solaire could feel the beginning of a new bond forming. One that marked him Dante as his older brother for some reason. And one who would help him out in battle. The soul bond feature caused which ever soul the user bonded with to become family to them. So in this case since Dante was much older he became Solaire's older brother.
He looked up at the soul chip in confusion and wonderment before it slotted itself into one of the empty slots on his Archiver. He quickly pressed the green button with his aching hoof while the Zero soul chip ejected itself and slit back into his satchel. The Archiver hummed with power as it drained his magical reserves even further than before as he weakly called out the initiation phrase. He had even skipped reading the next message that had appeared with a beep from his Archiver. The message had said that the soul bonding was complete and the soul unison was ready with all the rates and everything. Of course he didn't notice and had moved on.
"Hero of earth, Vanquisher of Demons, Blaze forth to victory! Soul Unison, Dante soul!" he finished calling out weakly. The orb of blue light surrounded him as his body went through changes again. He closed his eyes due to all the pain he was feeling and so he wouldn't see the changes going on.
He felt his wounds start to close up once Zero's armor disappeared off of his body. He grunted once he felt some sort of red jacket appear over the front of his body after a black shirt with the image of a skull on it appeared on the front of his body. The jacket was actually pretty neat since it was Dante's jacket. His dragon horns actually grew and curled inwards towards each other to look more like devil horns at that point. The blade at the end of his tail ended up changing to a more classic triangle pointed dragon tail tip but his tail became more slender and changed to black. Two guns appeared in holsters at his hips as his eyes blazed with fury. His platinum scales turned to jet black as his his became a pure red. A pair of black boots appeared on his hindlegs. With a cry of fury he lashed out with a hoof which smashed the orb to pieces.
He stood before his opponent with renewed energy as he pulled his guns out of their holsters. "Alright Ebony and Ivory. Don't let me down." He said as he twirled them before aiming them at Night.
Night remained silent and calm as he saw the orb appear before Solaire reappeared in a new outfit. He grunted,"Looks like we're not done yet."
Solaire growled as he fired off a bunch of rapid shots at Night who of course teleported out of the way again. "Nice try kiddo but as I said I won't be staying in one place so you can hit me," Night continued.
Solaire growled as he jumped into the air and knocked his arms against the pockets of his jacket causing bullets to fly up into the air out of them. He ejected the spend shells from his guns before catching the new bullets in his guns spinning the barrels before clicking them back into place fully reloaded.
Night grunted as the glow of his eye grew strong and he had a few more Ghaster Blasters appear. They started to charge up with a glow only for the blackness all around them to shatter into pieces as Night gripped the hoodie over his chest with a skeletal hoof as immense pain racked his body.
Solaire too froze up as he ended up landing on the ground and clutching his own chest. Once the shattered pieces disappeared it revealed that they were back in the hallway close to each other. The two of them moved their hooves from their chests to their heads as they felt pain from the tops of their heads all of a sudden. Large bumps appeared on their heads as they turned to look at what gave them the bumps. There in front of them was a rather angry looking griffon.
What's more is that the female griffon had just pulled a claw back away from them which she had used to knock them in the chest with at first and then knocked them on their heads. She was holding Eclipse, who was bawling her eyes out at the moment, in one of her arms. The griffon was bouncing Eclipse gently in her arm while making sure to be careful of her neck since she had found out Eclipse's neck had been injured heavily.
The two of them looked at the irate griffon with a creeping terror. The griffon had a head that was sort of similair to a gold eagle while her hind part was that of a lioness. Her feathers were a grayish-blue that did not extend to her wings. Her fur coat was grayish-blue as well and the only thing that broke the look was a white patch of feathers right on her chest. Her wings were a nice dark tan color that matched the color of her body pretty well. Probably one of the strangest things though was that she was wearing a t-shirt that had the image image of a dragon on it over her chest. There were holes for her wings so it wouldn't stop her from flying. She was also wearing a pair of blue jeans for some reason although that didn't make much sense. On her back was the sheath for a sword who's handle stuck up out over her shoulder. The handle of the sword was one that looked like it belonged to a katana. And on top of the sheath there was a quiver of arrows that was completely full with a compact bow slung across the back of it over her shoulder and chest. Her wings were fully extended at the moment to show her anger and they reached out to be 6 feet across from wing tip to wing tip.
"JUST ARE YOU IDIOTS TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? YOU LEFT A FOAL CRYING IN A CRIB WHILE YOU BOTH JUST BICKERED OVER WHO WAS A BIGGER THREAT TO HER? YOUR BOTH ON THE SAME SIDE! YOU TWO ENDED UP SCARING THE NURSEMAIDS AWAY SO THEY FORGOT ABOUT HER! NOW GET OVER YOUR DIFFERENCES AND APOLOGIZE TO HER FOR MAKING HER CRY! AFTER THAT THE TWO OF YOU WILL BE DEALING WITH ME! "
The two of them backed up a bit away from her. Solaire frowned at what she had said and looked back at the skeletal pony. He sighed when he realized that he had gone overboard and had jumped to conclusions. It was obvious to him now that this stallion had just been watching over his cousin. A sadness washed over him when he realized that he'd made his cousin cry. He turned to her and stuttered out an apology,"I'm sorry Eclipse. I didn't mean to make you cry."
Night himself sighed at the whole ordeal but was glad it was over. He turned to Eclipse too and apologized,"I'm sorry for scaring you kiddo. I didn't meant too."
Solaire winced in pain a bit before he made his Archiver appear with a flash of light. He pressed the red button on his Archiver which caused his transformation to end. He revered back to his new true form and looked up at the incredibly scary griffon,"I'm really sorry miss. I didn't mean to make my cousin cry. I just thought this guy was an assassin trying to kill her." His Dante soul chip ejected from his Soul Archiver after saying this and floated back into his satchel before it and his Archiver disappeared with a flash of light.
The griffon had blinked in surprise when the device appeared on Solaire's forehead and ended up greatly confused when Solaire changed back to his true new form. It took her a moment to clear her head but she just had a feeling that this was Solaire's real true self. So that meant he was just a little kid and she had just yelled at said little kid. Her stern gaze softened somewhat as her wings went back to her side. She picked him up in her free claw to let him sit on her arm. She then sat on her haunches as he looked down at him with a soft but still stern glare.
"Its okay kid but what you did was wrong. I don't know how you used magic like that but you could have ended up hurting somepony badly. Your still going to need a punishment for what you did. So I'll be giving you a timeout for what you did." She said with a stern tone.
Solaire nodded his head with a sigh as he looked back at her,"Yes miss." His ears flattened back against her head as she stood up on her hind legs and began to walk back towards the nursery. She turned her head for a moment to the skeleton pony before her with a glare. She gestured towards the nursery with her head while talking,"Come on you creepy skeleton. Back to the nursery for now."
Night grunted in response and followed along behind the griffon because he was afraid she'd become angry again and do something to him. As he walked along behind her, he summoned his Archiver and pressed the red button which deactivated the transformation. He revered back to his regular self but his scythe was still on his back although back to what it was before it was broken by the Z saber. He sighed as the end of the scythe swung across his back as he walked.
"My name is Night Shade. I'm the acting guard for Princess Eclipse there in your arms." Night Shade said with a grunt. "Just who are you anyway? And what are you doing here in the first place?"
The griffon turned her head back to him as she continued to walk along,"The name is Kiara Talonstrike. I was just flying over the palace when I heard the sounds of a battle going on with my keen hearing. I also heard the sounds of a foal in distress. Said foal happened to be the little princess here and the battle were you fighting with the other kid."
Night Shade grunted,"Well you can go now. I can take care of the situation now."
The griffon narrowed an eye at him in a deadly glare,"I'm not going anywhere. Your obviously not suited to watch over children. Not only that but your apparently really bad with them. Otherwise you wouldn't have been fighting with the kid there."
Night Shade tried to respond that it was the kid who had started the fight but Kiara cut him off,"Uh uh. I don't want to hear it. Keep your trap shut until I tell you that you can talk. Understood!"
Night Shade nodded his head frantically at her so she wouldn't get angry with him. He looked up at her in silence till they entered the nursery. Then he went back over to where he'd left his guitar and once again set his scythe against the wall. Kiara moved over a corner of the room and set young Solaire down into it.
She looked down at Solaire sternly as she spoke up,"Ok kid. Your in time out now until I say otherwise. You are staying in this corner to think about what you did and almost did."
Solaire looked down at the ground as he replied in a guilty voice,"Yes miss Kiara." He turned to face the corner with his head down as he sat on the ground there.
Kiara moved back over to the crib with a gently crying Eclipse. Her bouncing had helped her to calm down Eclipse a bit. But right before she could set Eclipse back down into the crib Princess Luna strode into the room calmly if agitated. She had not heard the sounds of battle or anything due to her having been in the dream realm at the time patrolling it. She'd had to force a portal back to the regular waking world open when she felt her daughter's great fear and distress. It took her till now to get back to the nursery.
She looked at the griffon for a moment before calmly walking over while Kiara gently held Eclipse out towards her. Luna gently took Eclipse from her while being careful of Eclipse's neck. Luna then gently rocked Eclipse from side to side while she started to sing the ancient lullaby her mother sang to her. Except this time Luna was singing the lullaby in modern equestrian.
"Oh,little moon,hear me say
For the night has come
Hear my song of sleep to thee
Now dream of great things on this night
The tune of the lullaby was light and gentle. It was also very soothing at the same time and meant to help Eclipse fall asleep quickly. She smiled when Eclipse stopped crying to listen to the lullaby. Halfway through her eyes started to droop with sleep. And then at the end of the song she was fast asleep in Luna's arm. She probably wouldn't wake up unless Luna herself woke her up or it was the next night.
Luna finally stopped humming the tune of the lullaby once she was sure Eclipse was dead asleep before looking back up at Kiara. She gave Kiara a gentle smile,"Thank you miss griffon for trying to calm my daughter down when you didn't have too. Please tell me what your name is and what brought you here."
Kiara spoke up,"Name's Kiara Talonstrike. I came here because I heard your daughter screaming and crying in fear while I was flying over the castle on my way back to Griffonstone. I couldn't just leave the poor thing here crying so badly. And then I found the other young one there fighting with your guard there. So I the young one my own way. Haven't had a chance to give the other guy his punishment yet."
Luna nodded her head before turning back to Night Shade with a disappointed look,"Mr. Shade I will be hearing your side of the story in a moment. But know I am still disappointed that you left my daughter crying in her crib in fear."
Night Shade cringed as his ears tried to flatten even further to the back of his head,"Yes Princess."
Luna sighed as she turned back to the griffon with a small smile,"Again I can't help but thank you for your help Miss Kiara. I find myself in need of more help these days then I realize. If its not to much trouble I'd like to offer you a job here as both a guard and nursemaid for my daughter here."
Kiara rubbed the back of her head with a claw as she sat on her haunches. She looked nervous now,"Well thanks for the offer Princess. Its been a long time since someone's offered me a job looking after kids. The last time was years ago and that didn't go to well. Being a guard I can do since its one of my specialties. But you have to understand I'm a traveling worker."
Luna nodded her head,"I understand Miss Kiara but I really need the help. I can promise you good pay if you accept the job and a nice room here in the castle that you can arrange and decorate as you like. And of course you'd be free to do whatever you liked during the day including traveling around. I could give you a special stone that would teleport you back here at night to act as a guard and then return you back to your previous location after your shift. I believe now that I really need a full time guard and nursemaid as opposed to just a part time guard."
Kiara sighed as she continued to sit back and just think about things for a few moments. She had been on her way back to Griffonstone after completing a rather nasty bounty hunting job that she now found herself regretting. Just what that job was she didn't want to remember or ever tell anyone about. Suffice it to say that it had been rather bloody and ended in a lot of needless death. She wanted a way to feel clean again and just take it easy for a bit. She actually didn't want to return to Griffonstone because the place was such a dump and the griffons around there were a bunch of jerks. Sure they were slowly getting better and there were a couple of other nice griffons there but the rest were still haughty jerks. And then there was this offer from the princess that would let her keep roaming around the world while still coming back here for this job. It was a nice clean job just looking after a young foal that obviously needed love and attention. She could do that pretty easily and it would all apparently come with a room for herself along with a decent paycheck.
She finally held out her claw towards the griffon with a small smile on her beak,"I think I'll accept the job off Princess."
Luna shook her claw with her own hoof as a relieved smile crossed her face,"Thank you very much Miss Kiara. I can't tell you how relieved that helps me to feel. I'll go get things set up right away. If you could continue to watch over my daughter for a bit longer that would help."
Kiara nodded her head and carefully took Eclipse back,"Of course Princess. You go ahead and do what you need to. But please take the little one with you as well as your other guard here. I think he needs to rest after the battle he participated in. And I just think that his shift needs to end for now."
Luna nodded her head,"Indeed. I can do that." She quietly picked up Solaire who started to protest about wanting to stay with his cousin only to be shushed by Luna putting the tip of a wing to his mouth. "Quiet for now young one. I must get you back to my sister." With that she touched his forehead with her horn and cast a sleeping spell that knocked him out pretty quickly. He was snoring on her back after she placed him there on her way out. She motioned for Night Shade to follow her, which he did.
She quietly asked him to explain his side of the story which he complied with. He quickly explained what had happened from his perspective. Once he had finished his tale, Luna sighed as she looked down at her nephew. "It would seem that he jumped to conclusions. I am sorry for the trouble you had to go through Mr. Shade. You are not in trouble for your actions but please next time just knock him out quickly instead of trying to teach him a lesson by prolonging the fight."
Night Shade sighed but nodded his head,"Yes Princess."
Luna nodded,"For now I think it would be best if you headed on back home to Ponyville. I will be having the other new guard come in tomorrow to work alongside Miss Kiara while you take a rest."
Night Shade nodded again,"As you say princess." With that he moved off after Luna dismissed him and headed for the train station. This left Luna alone with her sleeping nephew as she trotted to her sister's quarters.
It took Luna 10 more minutes before she got to her sister's quarters. On the way she ended up chewing her night guard captain out for not keeping patrols in that sector of the castle. It was still necessary to patrol the hallways and corridors of the castle even if there was a guard watching over the princess. She had sent her guard captain off to go send patrols to that sector of the castle to resume their normal watches there. She hated when things went wrong like that. For now she had to get her nephew back to her sister before her sister woke up.
After reaching her sister's quarters, she was satisfied to see that the oversight of her sister not having any guards by her door had been corrected as well. Just what her guard captain had been thinking on this issue was beyond her at the moment. She quietly slipped into her sister's room after nodding to the guards. She looked around her sister's dark room before noticing that her sister was hugging a pillow of all things to her chest. She sighed and gently tugged the pillow out of her sister's grip with her magic before replacing it with her nephew.
With that done she left a parchment note on the door to her sister's bathing chambers where she knew Celestia would see it. It was a note to tell Celestia what had transpired during the night with Solaire and that he shouldn't be woken up from his sleep as he had lost a lot of it. After placing the note, Luna quietly left her sister's chambers and headed back for the nursery.
It didn't take her long to get back to the nursery, where she peeked her head around the corner of the door to look inside. What Luna saw inside the nursery made her heart radiate with dawws from the cuteness in the room. Inside of the room, Kiara was sitting in a rocking chair somehow with little Eclipse in her arms. Kiara was rocking back and forth in the chair as she hummed a little tune. Eclipse was fast asleep in her arms still completely out of it due to Luna's lullaby earlier. However, Eclipse was cuddled up into the feathers of her chest with a small smile on her face that showed her happiness. She was happy and warm in Kiara's arms as Kiara just looked down at her with a soft expression.
Luna decided that she had been watching them long enough after a couple minutes had passed. She stepped into the room with a soft clip clop of her hooves to bring attention to her entrance. Kiara's expression shifted from soft and loving to a neutral expression as she looked up at Princess Luna. Luna inclined her head to Kiara for a moment before she started to talk.
"Thank you again miss Kiara for looking after our daughter while we took care of the problem from earlier. Rest assured that things with Mr. Shade have been resolved the right way. If you would follow me, I can lead you to a room in the castle while I set about enchanting the stone that can bring you back here every night and return you every day." Luna said softly.
Kiara replied in a whisper herself,"Your welcome princess. And thanks for the job."
"You are welcome. Now we must be hurrying along. It is only a couple hours more before I must lower the moon for my sister." She walked along at a trot as Kiara followed along behind her.
Luna motioned a guard over to her as they walked and sent him on ahead to have a couple of staff members prepare a room for Kiara. Luna took Kiara the long way around to the room being prepared for her. As they walked Luna gently took Eclipse from Kiara using her magic and settled Eclipse down in her foreleg. She smiled as Eclipse instinctively cuddled into her chest and foreleg despite her injured neck. She frowned when Eclipse did let out a series of pained whimpers as she moved her neck but she couldn't use the enchantment on the torc anymore tonight. Luna sighed as she motioned with her head for Kiara to come up and walk alongside her.
Finally, they reached the room that was now finished being set up for Kiara. It was a room that had been made with griffon ambassadors in mind so it was perfect for Kiara. Kiara moved around the room with wide eyes at all the things she could see around the room. A grin slowly spread across her face as she continued to look around at everything.
"This is a pretty nice room. Thanks for the set up Princess."Kiara said with a happy tone.
"You are welcome. Now give us just a moment and the stone will be ready for use." She levitated over a special sapphire which she had levitate around her in an orbit as she charged up magic in her horn. Luna thought of the spells that she wanted to unleash and then fired the magic from her horn at the stone. The spells infused themselves with the stone which started to glow with a shimmering inner light. This light was the color of Celestia's coat as it shined from within the sapphire still held in Luna's telekinetic grip.
Luna carefully walked over towards Kiara who was still currently looking around her room. She cleared her throat softly to get Kiara's attention. After Kiara turned around, Luna floated the stone that she had just enchanted over to Kiara. Kiara carefully grabbed it from the air before looking at Luna,"So this is it? That's an interesting effect it has going on there."
Luna nodded,"That tells you that it is enchanted. The spells have been set so you are free to come and go as you please now. All you need to do is show the stone to the guards. It will act as your credentials around here because it bears my cutie mark if you look closely at the surface of the sapphire."
Kiara blinked as she did just that and looked down at the sapphire. The softly glowing light on the inside of the sapphire lit up a small symbol that had been carefully carved into the surface of the gem. When Kiara used her eagle sight to look at it she could see that it was indeed Luna's cutie mark. She nodded her head in satisfaction before looking back at the princess.
"This is actually a cool little stone. I'll be sure to keep it on me at all times. So how do I activate the spell inside of it that will allow me to teleport here?" She asked calmly.
Luna gave her a small smile,"All you need to do is hold the stone in your hand while saying Teleport Canterlot Castle. The spell will then activate and teleport you right outside the castle gates. I'm sorry that I can't set it to this room but the magical wards in the castle prevent me from doing such a thing. And when you want to return to where you were all you need say is Teleport previous location."
Kiara looked down at the stone again while replying,"Ok. I have all the instructions down mentally now. So is there anything else you need me to do before I head on out?"
Luna nodded her head,"Yes. I need you to watch eclipse for a little bit longer while I go procure an item that I need." She held Eclipse out gently towards her for Kiara to hold again.
Kiara came over to Luna and gently took hold of Eclipse with her claw before adjusting her in her arms again. "I'll do my best Princess. You go ahead and go get what you need."
"Thank you. I won't be long. So please wait here." With that Luna turned and moved off at a trot to go where she needed to to retrieve the item that she wanted.
Kiara sighed gently before she sat down on the soft bed in the room made out of a special type of cloud from Cloudsdale. She carefully rocked Eclipse in her arms again as a soft smile graced her beak. Her eyes softened from their neutral position to one of tender loving care. She started to hum softly as she continued to rock Eclipse. Eclipse continued to sleep in her arms but subconsciously snuggled into Kiara's arms as she was rocked.
That's when something rather strange happened to Kiara. Eclipse's eyes opened softly as her internal magic woke her up from her sleep. She let out a cute little yawn while opening up her muzzle wide a bit. She was still very sleepy and the only reason shy she was awake at the moment was because her magic had woken her up for some reason. She felt that sense of calm and peace wash over her as she looked up at Kiara with wide soulful eyes. A small smile appeared on her face as she snuggled a little deeper into Kiara's arms.
Kiara smiled gently down at her,"Hello there little one. My name is Kiara. What's yours?"
"My name is Shattered Eclipse,"Eclipse responded in a whisper that could still be heard.
"That's a lovely name Eclipse. Much better than silly old Kiara."Kiara smiled down at her.
Eclipse shook her head slightly which ended up with her whimpering in pain,"Ow. No your name is pretty."
Kiara gently brushed back her mane as she cooed,"Oh you poor little thing. Don't try to move your head little one. I don't want you to hurt yourself. Can you do that for me?"
Eclipse replied softly,"Yes Miss Kiara." She looked up at her with that small happy smile of hers again. She then blinked in surprise as her Archiver appeared in a flash of light without her willing it to appear.
Kiara looked down at the thing,"Huh. What the heck is that thing? It looks just like the one that other kid had and that guard."
Eclipse's small smile turned into a tiny frown as she lied through her teeth,"I don't know what it is Miss Kiara." The archiver hummed for a moment as it did a quiet scan of Kiara who would not be able to notice it. Then after the scan was complete it let out a beep with a message for Eclipse to read on the display that lit up.
Eclipse had to read the message rather quickly so as not to make Kiara suspicious. What the message said was this,"The griffon Kiara Talonstrike is a viable candidate for becoming a soul warrior. The candidate has a strong moral code and light within her. Her considerable skills will complement her abilities as a soul warrior all the more. The candidate will be a special case among other Soul Warriors if she so chooses to become one. What makes her so special this unit can not say unless the candidate accepts. There is no chance of this candidate falling to darkness. Do you wish to continue with the process?"
Eclipse had to reach out as if she were curious of the device on her foreleg as she spoke out loud,"It feels weird Miss Kiara."
Kiara had been eyeing the device in wonderment but looked back at Eclipse's face when she spoke up. Eclipse's face was scrunched up adorably in confusion and wonderment. "Don't worry little one. Everything will be alright. You'll be just fine. Just don't touch it with your free hoof." She said this last statement a little to late as Eclipse touched the yes button prompt on her Archiver's display.
It of course shot out the customary red beam but it was unable to connect with either of Kiara's forearms due to the Archiver being at an awkward position in the first place. Instead the beam was shooting right up into the area coalescing into a small red ball about the size of one of Kiara's claws right in front of Kiara's face. Kiara had to close her eyes in order to block out the harsh red light. She moved one of her claws out from under Eclipse as she shifted her to one arm. She grabbed hold of the red orb which still had the red beam shooting out of it.
Right after touching it she could feel floods of new information filling her mind. She suddenly found that she knew what the device on Eclipse's foreleg was and what it was for. She knew what Soul warriors were as well as Soul chips. An electrical feeling spread throughout her body which directed her thoughts to if she wanted to be a Soul Warrior. She couldn't help but think about how delicate and defenseless little Eclipse was. She had been hired to be Eclipse's guard but if what the new information she had received was true then there were great threats out there that could break through the weakening dimensional barriers. They would go for Eclipse purely because she had this Soul Archiver and was royalty to boot. That and these threats would hurt innocent beings all over the world. Her claw closed around the red orb completely as she crushed it smaller and her desires shifted to being a Soul Warrior that could defend all.
The red beam from Eclipse's Archiver faded as a couple of blank soul chips flew out of her own satchel up into the air near Kiara's fist. The chips glowed with a white light as their forms changed. They changed from sd type chips to thin square chips that held the images with captions on top of the images. There weren't really any edges to the squares as they were instead rounded at each corner. There were three of these chips in total and the images that appeared on them were different then others that had appeared before.
One held the image of a some red costumed warrior who had a zigzag patter on the chest of his costume. The helmet seemed to have a bottom part to it shaped like some kind of mouth. The caption read,"Might Morphin Red Ranger." The second chip had another costumed hero on it that seemed strange to her. It seemed to be wearing some kind of metallic armor. The caption read,"Kamen Rider Decade, Destroyer of Worlds!" The last of the chips ended up having a picture of some kind of bipedal creature wearing a black suit of some sort. The caption read,"Black Widow, Avenger of Earth!"
Kiara growled loudly as she gripped the red orb harder as its glow became brighter than before. With a flash of light it ended up transforming into some kind of strange device right in her claw. It formed into a device very similar to the Digimon Universe's Appli Drive Digivice. One of the biggest differences though was that there was a part on the back of the device that flipped down into a digital screen that the user could look at. And extending it in the opposite direction revealed slots inside of it that could be used to hold soul chips until they were ready for use so one didn't have to store them in a satchel. The chips could actually be injected right into the device for quick transformations at the user's behest. There were also three buttons on either side of the circular part of the device that did different things. A holder also appeared in the side of Kiara's blue jeans which she could set the device in.
Kiara finally opened up her eyes after the flash of light ended and looked in wonder at the device that had appeared in her claw. The back part of the new Soul Archiver flipped downward to reveal the screen for her to look at. It hummed for a moment before beeping with a message which she promptly read.
What it said was this,"New user Kiara Talonstrike has been registered. Welcome Kiara Talonstrike to the Soul Archiver HD also known as the Soul Archiver Handheld Device Mark 1! This unit hopes that the user will be able to use the new handheld version with ease and accuracy. The user has a specialization unique among Soul Warriors. The user's specialization is using costumed Superhero type soul chips. The user should instinctively know how to use this device. If you have any questions please consult the guide included in the device at the user's leisure. Have a good night as you pursue your destiny." The message dismissed itself after she finished reading it.
She blinked in surprise but flipped the screen at the bottom of the device back up to connect with the back of the device again before she thought better and flipped that part upwards to reveal the small slots on the other side of the piece. She held the device up towards the floating soul chip before they floated down into the 3 of the six small slots there with soft clicks. She then used her finger to flip the piece back into place on the back of her Archiver before she set it into the holder on her jeans. She blinked once she realized that a satchel was hanging off her other side full of the new blank type of soul chip. She snorted before she looked down at Eclipse who was looking up at her with wander and awe.
She gave her a soft gentle smile,"Well Eclipse it looks like you gave me an unintentional gift. Thanks for the power up?"
Eclipse looked up at her confused as her own Archiver disappeared with a flash. Eclipse was so glad that she had learned how to act with the help of one of her soul chips,"What are you talking about Miss Kiara? We did not do anything."
Kiara just smiled gently,"Its nothing for you to worry about little one. But I think you should be getting back to sleep. You seem really tired." She brought her free claw back under Eclipse and started to rock her again.
Eclipse frowned up at Kiara but let out another small yawn,"We are feeling very tired. But we want to stay up till Mommy gets back."
Kiara just continued to smile gently,"If that's what you want Eclipse. Just take it easy for now." She started to hum again as she continued to rock Eclipse.
It was only a few minutes later that Luna returned with a warm smile on her face. The item that she had gone to fetch was a new quiver that she figured Kiara could use to hold her arrows for her bow. It was stylized with different symbols of the night and held Luna's cutie mark on one. She came over to Kiara at a trot as she held the quiver in her magic.
"Here you are Miss Kiara. Hopefully this can serve you well in the future. This will also let other know at a distance that you have our favor. It should help get you into places you wouldn't normally be able to. But please do not abuse the power that it represents otherwise we will have words." Luna said sternly.
Kiara took hold of it with a claw that she moved out from under Eclipse while nodding,"Thanks Princess. I'll make sure not to abuse the trust you've given me. Also your little one here woke up a bit ago."
Luna's expression returned to a warm smile as her magic gently took Eclipse from Kiara before depositing her gently in Luna's arm again. She leaned her head down and nuzzled the top of Eclipse's head causing Eclipse to giggle. She turned back to Kiara and warmly said,"Thank you for watching her for a bit longer. You may be on your way at your leisure. We must be heading to the dining hall to have our breakfast before heading to bed."
Kiara nodded,"K princess. I'll just be heading out now." She slung the empty quiver over her back before saluting the princess. After doing this she moved to one of the large windows of the room. She waved back at the princess before taking off into the sky with a beat of her wings.
Luna chuckled and waved back with one of her wings before Kiara flew off into the air. Afterwards she looked downwards at Eclipse with a smile,"Well my little moon let us move to the dining hall so we can eat a meal before bed." Eclipse looked up at her happily, while her eyes sparkled in a way that meant she agreed.
Luna quickly got them to the dining hall where they had a quick breakfast and then headed towards bed with her daughter. She did not feel up to meeting with her sister right now after everything that had happened tonight. So she was just going to go straight to bed with her daughter. Once she was in her chambers she quickly took off Eclipse's regalia along with her own. Then she went about giving little Eclipse a bath before they slipped into bed for the night. Luna sang the old lullaby that Eclipse loved which ended up lulling Eclipse back to sleep. And with that Luna cast her spell that would let them share a dream before drifting off to sleep herself.
Celestia herself ended up having an almost regular day for the most part after raising the sun. Things proceeded to move at their regular pace although she didn't see Luna at breakfast and little Solaire continued to sleep in her thanks to Luna's sleep spell. She wanted to wake Solaire up but knew that would be a bad idea due to his little antics from last night. She had ended up having to leave Solaire in his own new nursery with instructions to the nursemaids to get him food once he had awoken.
She had then proceeded to go about her usual duties of the day which of course included holding the all boring day court. She really hated having to deal with all the petty nobles of this day and age like Luna did. The only thing though was that she couldn't show her displeasure and had to keep up her motherly persona. It was after day court that something happened which relieved a bit of the boredom of the day.
It was during high noon while she was taking her lunch and tea break that her horn glowed with magic all on its own. This signified that she was receiving a letter from someone other than Spike the dragon. With a small flash of golden light a rolled up scroll appeared before her in the air. She quickly grabbed hold of it with her magical levitation to make sure it didn't fall onto the food on the table below.
She saw that the seal was one she hadn't seen in a couple of centuries and it filled her with a giddy elation once she saw it. She quickly broke the seal on the scroll as she unrolled it to read the message inside. Her eyes scanned the parchment quickly as she read the message. Her eyes started to sparkle as she continued to read the message. Finally she finished reading the message on the scroll and lowered it to the temple gently away from all the food on it. She was glad that no one else was in the room with her at the moment because of what she did next. She sprung to all four hooves and danced on the tips of all four hooves as she let out a giddy squeal. She had just acted like Rarity does when you give her a new bolt of exotic cloth to work with.
She happened to do this for the next moment as the contents of the message worked their way through her mind again. What the message had said was this,"Dear Princess Celestia, I hope that you haven't been causing trouble back in your kingdom like when did back in your younger years. From what I've heard over the multiversal grapevine is that you've faced some foes from your past recently and had to rely on regular mortals in order to defeat them. I received your letter yesterday while I was in the middle of a hunt. Suffice it to say that the deer I was planning on having for lunch got away. It is unusual that something like this has occurred but it just means that we now have a budding new immortal that will need care.
I am shocked that he registers as my blood relative. However that means that I now have a new duty to perform because of this. You know that my heart has always been fond of you Celestia and it has only grown fonder the longer I have been forced to stay away from you. I wish things had turned out differently in that battle we had against Grogar so long ago.
But I think I have finally found a way to break the spell that has been keeping me from coming back to your dimension and world. I will be testing it tomorrow and with luck I will be with you by noon the day after you receive this letter. Things have been settled well enough here in the dimensions I most frequently visit. The spell that summons me to that one realm I told you about is lost to the sands of time there for now. And as for the other realm that I helped to create I am no longer needed for now. This means that I can come and spend a long time with you. It is my hope that upon arrival we can pick up where we left off so long ago.
Love your old friend, Bahumat."
Her old friend Bahumat was finally coming back after all this time. At least that is what she hoped. She figured with the dimensional barriers so weak as they were recently that he would be able to overpower Grogar's old spell enough to be able to come through back to her dimension. If she was right she would soon have more help in raising young Solaire. She could take care of the pony side of things for her new son but not the more draconic side.
This letter and the elation she carried from receiving it managed to help her through the rest of daycourt till she could get to her son. From there she was able to spend a good amount with her son out in the gardens as her advisers followed along behind her telling her of different issues that required her attention. She was able to let Solaire run around her legs and play in the gardens as she attended to the issues. Then she was happily able to play with him by chasing him herself which caused her advisers to look at her with strange looks. She payed them no mind of course as she was having to much fun playing with her son to care.
Sadly, the end of the day came far to quickly for her after that as she took Solaire back inside. She had to feed him dinner and unfortunately Luna wasn't awake yet meaning she wouldn't be able to talk with her and let Solaire hang around Eclipse for a little while. She ate dinner alongside her son before proceeding to her chambers with him in tow. She stopped outside of her chambers and started to cast spells which were basically the barrier spells that Luna had cast to keep Eclipse inside. The difference was that these barriers were made for Solaire instead.
She quickly went about her business for the evening that needed attending in her chambers like giving little Solaire a bath. Afterwards she retreated to her bed where she sang Solaire a lullaby that lulled him to sleep. He fell asleep rather quickly so Celestia was able to lower the sun quietly while laying in her bed. She then drifted off to sleep herself with a smile on her face.
It was finally Thursday night and it seemed like tonight would be a night to be remembered. The previous night, Luna had managed to send off letters to the element bearers back in Ponyville asking them to come up to the castle tonight. She wanted her friends to meet her new adopted daughter. Even though Twilight had been the one to find Eclipse in the first place she still didn't really know her that well at all. Luna also figured that Eclipse would be able to count on the element bearers if she was ever in trouble while around Ponyville.
Luna had ended up spending dinner alone with her daughter as it seemed her sister had already gone on to bed. She couldn't blame her sister at all since she had to take care of Solaire. She and Eclipse ended up having a nice little dinner while Eclipse cuddled into her mother's arm. Luna was actually getting rather worried about Eclipse's injury on her neck. So she had decided to head to the castle's infirmary before going to the throne room to wait for the element bearers and the two guards that were going to come watch over Eclipse while she went about her duties.
Luna was currently in the infirmary with Eclipse who she had laid down on one of the infirmary beds. Luna asked a nurse to go get the doctor, who came in a few minutes later. He bowed quicly to Princess Luna, who told him to rise a few seconds later.
"Well Your highness what seems to be the problem?"The doctor asked in an inquisitive tone.
Luna frowned in concern,"I am concerned about my daughter Doctor Mend. The injury on her neck does not seem to be getting any better despite all the healing magic you have performed on her when I first brought her here."
The doctor frowned,"Well that is odd. There should have been some sign of improvement by now. Let me take a look at her to see what I can find."
Luna nodded her head softly,"Please do so. But be careful with her please."
"Of course your highness."Doctor Mend replied as he moved closer to young Eclipse. Eclipse had ened up falling into a light doze as they had been waiting for the doctor. Doctor Mend quickly scanned her with a medical scanning spell to see what the problem was.
The information from the spell was fed directly into the doctor's brain as he continued to scan the dozing Eclipse. He frowned after finishing the scan and turned back to Princess Luna. "Well it would seem the problem is that the healing magic we cast was pushed away from her neck for some reason. The magical spells we cast are trying to reach the injured area of her neck but something seems to be blocking them. As far as I can tell its some kind of energy that is keeping the healing spells at bay."
Luna's ears started to flatten backwards a bit as she listened to the doctor speak,"Then what can be done to remove this energy so that my daughter can be healed?"
Doctor Mend frowned,"To be quite frank I don't know your highness. Open surgery won't work to remove the energy as it all seems to be magically based. And I don't think I or any other unicorn would be able to extract this energy safely. I believe that you are the only one who would be able to extract the mysterious energy. However, I have to say that even after all the energy is gone and the healing spells have gone to work it will take a while for her neck to heal. I also have some rather bad news to add. It would seem that the energy has stopped her body from healing her neck injury even through natural means. The healing spells will be able to undo the damage but at a rather significant cost. It will take most of her natural innate magic to heal the damage in addition with the healing spells will cast. This will sadly make her permanently weak physically. In other words she will have a low pain threshold and she can unfortunately be injured much more easily then even a regular pony your highness. The only good things I can see about this is that her skills in flight and magic will be greatly increased. However her stamina will always be rather low even if she trains herself to gain more."
Docter Mend's words caused Luna's ears to flatten to the back of her head completely as she listened,"I see. Thank you for this information Doctor Mend. I will proceed to take care of this myself."
Doctor Mend nodded with a bow,"Is that all you needed your highness?"
Luna nodded her head,"Indeed. You are dismissed for now doctor. I will come by again if I have need of you again."
The doctor nodded before he left with a bow. Luna turned back to Eclipse who by now was fully asleep. She sighed as her horn charged up with power and she extended magical tendrils to her daughters horn. She closed her eyes and focused on trying to find the source of the mysterious energy. She moved down her daughter's horn into her head and then down towards her neck. Her magical senses moved through the blackness to bump up against some kind of strange barrier. She prodded this barrier with her magic only to recoil once she felt the magical signature. The magical signature belonged to the parasite that had taken her over once before. She growled angrily while she used her magical senses to batter the barrier over and over again. Finally she made a hole in the barrier with one last strike.
After doing this she had her magic latch onto the parasite she could feel inside of her daughter. She growled as she pulled on it with great force causing Eclipse to wake up and start screaming in pain. Eclipse's screams of pain only grew as the parasite was slowly pulled off of her own innate magical reserves. It appeared as a black orb that slowly grew at the tip of her horn. Her whole body shook and trembled as Luna continued to pull hard on the parasite. Finally Luna managed to pull the last of the parasite out of Eclipse through her horn and levitated an writhing black mass the size of a basketball over towards her.
Luna growled at the writhing black mass she held in her grip,"Curse you parasite. You have harmed my daughter for the last time. I don't know how you were able to find and attach to her so easily but there will never be a next time for you." She fired a high output pure mana beam at the writhing mass which ended up erasing it from existence and creating a large crater in the ground.
Luna then moved over to Eclipse who was still screaming in pain as she writhed around on the infirmary bed. She scooped Eclipse up into an arm as she started to whisper soothing words to her as she worked more magic. Her magic wormed its way into Eclipse's horn again and set about calming her down. Eclipse suddenly stopped thrashing about as her body went stock still. Luna then had to use her magic to prompt Eclipse's internal magic to get to work on healing her neck injury.
Luna's magic finally cut out after a few more moments as she looked down at her daughter who was now softly crying as she looked up at Luna. "Mommy what happened? What was that thing and why did We hurt so much?"
Luna rocked her gently in her arm,"Oh my little moon I am so sorry I caused you such pain. A terrible creature was trying to take you over and I couldn't let that happen. I had to use a lot of force to pull it out of you. Mommy is so sorry for hurting you." She gently nuzzled the top of Eclipse's head as she talked.
Eclipse's mind registered the fact that she said there had been a terrible creature inside of her and she could only think of a nightmare parasite. She didn't let this show to her mother but fully understood. She looked up at Luna and used a small hoof to paw at Luna's face as she spoke up,"We understand mommy. There is nothing to forgive."
Luna just looked down at her with a loving gaze as she nuzzled her gently again,"Thank you my little moon. Now we must be getting back to the throne room."
Eclipse nodded her head,"Ok Mommy." She tried to make herself comfortable in Luna's arm but needed Luna's help to do so.
Once she had been settled down comfortably in Luna's arm, Luna moved towards the throne room. It didn't take her long before she was in the throne room and seated down in her throne. Now all they had to do was wait for the Element Bearers to arrive so that Eclipse could be introduced to them. About 10 minutes later she heard the sound of hoof steps echoing through the hall outside of the closed doors to the throne room. This let her know that the Element Bearers had finally arrived.
Luna told the door guards to let them in and they did so quickly. Once the massive doors were open the mane six entered the throne room looking a bit nervous. The letters they had received had been rather vague about why Princess Luna wanted to see them. They thought that something might be wrong and that they were called here to help take care of it. They arrived in the throne room to see that Princess Luna was on her throne with her left wing extended to cover her left foreleg for some reason. It was only Princess Twilight who had an idea of what might be going on here.
Luna gazed down upon the mane six with a smile,"Hello my friends. Thank you for coming so quickly in answer to my summons. I hope that you all are well this fine night."
Twilight spoke up,"We're okay princess but why exactly did you call all of us here?"
Luna smiled,"Well that is the question is it not? Allow me to come down to you all."
With that she got up from her seat and walked down the stairs to the main floor of the room. She carefully walked over to them as the mane six looked on curiously. Finally, Luna made it over to them as she started to speak again,"I have brought you all here for a special reason. I now have a foal to call my own and I would like for you to meet her. I am sure you must have heard of her in the papers a couple of days ago?"
Comprehension dawned on them all as Applejack spoke up,"Aw shucks. This is about the new little princess who is your daughter?"
Luna nodded with a smile,"Indeed fair Applejack. I would like for you all to meet my daughter." She then carefully removed her wing from around Eclipse to reveal her to the gathered mares.
Eclipse looked up at them as her eyes widened a bit in wonder. She winced a bit as memories that had been sealed for her as time went on leaked through to her. From the few flashes of memories that she had she was able to remember who most of the ponies were. The reason why her memories had been sealed was because back when Luna had first found her and cemented their bond as mother and daughter it had melded her mind completely with Shattered Souls' mind. So now she was one complete individual who would have ended up harmed if she had two big sets of memories running through her head all the time. So they had been mostly sealed away in her head somewhere.
Twilight walked up to Luna before smiling down at Eclipse,"Hello there Eclipse. You remember me right? I was the one who found you."
Eclipse looked up at her before replying in a whisper,"Yes miss Twilight. Thank you for finding Us."
Twilight smiled,"It was no problem Eclipse. I couldn't just leave you there in those old ruins." She stepped out of the way so the next mare could take her place which turned out to be Applejack.
Applejack smiled softly down at her,"Hey there sugarcube. My name is Applejack. Your just the cutest little thing aren't you?"
Eclipse looked up at her nervously but soon returned Applejack's smile with a small one of her own,"Thank you miss Applejack."
Applejack chuckled,"Its no problem Eclipse." She stepped out of the way to let Rarity come forwards.
Rarity smiled down on her as a noble lady would but this smile was genuine as compared to others,"Hello there Princess Eclipse. My name is Rarity. How are you tonight?"
Eclipse whispered nervously,"I am fine miss Rarity. Thank you for asking."
Rarity nodded before letting Fluttershy come forwards who looked up at Luna with a nervous expression,"Excuse me princess but would it be okay if I held her for a moment? That way I could introduce myself."
Luna nodded her head to Fluttershy,"You may miss Fluttershy but please be careful with her. Her neck is still healing from an injury she sustained previously in the week."
Fluttershy squeaked at this as she carefully took Eclipse from Luna. She sat down on her haunches as she looked down at Eclipse who was now trying to hide her face behind her mane which had flipped down over her face for the moment. "You poor thing. I don't know what could have happened to you to cause that but a sweet thing like you doesn't deserve that." She rocked Eclipse gently as she hummed which slowly brought Eclipse out of her shyness to look up at Fluttershy with wide eyes,"Um. I'm Fluttershy. Its nice to meet you Eclipse."
Eclipse spoke up in a whisper just a little louder than Fluttershy's nervous whisper,"Nice to meet you too miss Fluttershy." As she was rocked by Fluttershy an electrical feeling tingled through her body as well as Fluttershys that made them feel relaxed.
What had just happened was of course the reaction of the Archiver in pulling a bit of Fluttershy's soul out of her and into a soul chip. That meant that the last one Eclipse needed was from Applejack who had already introduced herself. Fluttershy fussed and cooed over Eclipse who rather liked it. Finally Fluttershy handed Eclipse back to Luna while she smiled softly.
The rest of the mane six quickly introduced themselves as Eclipse gave them small replies back in greeting. Applejack came back up to Luna and Eclipse after the introductions. She looked up at Luna,"Well Princess. I reckon that I have something that might keep Eclipse entertained. Its a toy that I can easily fashion for her."
Luna blinked,"Oh and what is this toy that you can fashion?"
Applejack just smiled,"Well if someone can get me a piece of wood I can make one right quick."
Luna nodded after a few seconds and motioned for a guard to go get a piece of wood. They all waited for a few minutes before the guard returned with a small block of wood for Applejack. Applejack took the block of wood in her hooves,"This will do just fine I reckon." She the pulled a knife out from under her stetston hat and proceeded to quickly carve the block of wood into a small toy pony that Eclipse could play with. "What do you think?"
Luna chuckled,"I think it is a nice little hoofmade gift that would delight Eclipse here."
Eclipse was looking at it with her adorable eyes in a sense of wonder. She turned her gaze to Applejack questioningly. Applejack just chuckled and held out the toy to Eclipse who took it in her hooves gently. As she took it from Applejack, her hooves made contact with Applejack's hoof. This of course caused the electric feeling to fill the both of them as the Archiver took a piece of Applejack's soul and put it into a soul chip. This meant that Eclipse now had all of the mane six's soul chips as well as Princess Luna and Celestia's.
Twilight spoke up after the toy was given to Eclipse,"Well Princess Luna thank you for inviting us here but I have to be getting back to my castle. I have some duties that I have to attend to tomorrow and I need all the sleep I can get."
Luna replied softly,"Go ahead Twilight Sparkle. We have other matters to attend to anyway. I wish you all a fair night and good trip back home. Thank you for coming."
The mane six responded with welcomes before they said goodbye and all trotted out of the throne room. This left Luna with her daughter again as she walked back up onto her throne. She covered Eclipse with her wing again so that Eclipse could doze or sleep in peace if she so chose. She sighed as she waited for the next set of beings to come see her.
Thirty minutes later Luna was still sitting on her throne as Eclipse dozed in her arm. Luna looked at the clock in the throne room to see what time it was and it said 8:00 at night. Her ears twitched when she heart the sound of hoof steps as well as the sounds of two beings arguing with each other. She motioned with a hoof to the door guards to do their job. After they pulled the door open the two beings outside stepped in to reveal themselves.
As expected the two beings were none other than the pegasus Swift Shot and the griffon known as Kiara. Swift Shot was arguing with Kiara about her being a guard and trying to do her job. Kiara was just completely annoyed with Swift Shot as she deemed him to be a useless featherbrain that wouldn't be able to do his job if something hit him in the head. They both shut up as they entered the throne room and looked up at Luna in silence as they bowed.
Luna sighed as she came down from her throne and approached the two of them,"Thank you for coming in a timely manner Swift Shot and Miss Kiara. I have duties that I must attend to soon so if the both of you would come with me to Eclipse's nursery that would be appreciated."
They both nodded as they followed along behind Princess Luna at a trot. Luna spoke up again as they walked,"Swift Shot thank you for coming here tonight. I'm glad you decided to accept my offer as a guard and I think you will end up complementing Miss Kiara just fine. I'd like the two of you to work together to protect my daughter."
Swift Shot sighed but replied,"Yes Princess."
Kiara on the other hoof just remained silent as she walked along behind Luna. Finally they ended up reaching the nursery about 10 minutes later. Luna walked inside the nursery before turning back to the two of them as they entered. She set Eclipse down in her crib to let her continue dozing away. She made sure Eclipse was resting comfortably on her back as she turned back to the two other beings in the room.
"Eclipse here will not be able to play with any of her toys tonight as I can not cast the special enchantment on her torc that I would to take her pain away. She can't move her head very much at all so when she does wake up I must ask that you hold her and carry her to move her around."
They both nodded their heads as Kiara spoke up,"I really hope the little filly heals soon. She shouldn't have to be kept from playing."
Luna nodded with a sigh,"I know that all to well. I must be getting to my duties now so I will leave the two of you here with her. Please go about your jobs in a professional manner." With that she took her leave and teleported out of the room after giving Eclipse a kiss on her forehead.
This left the pegasus and griffon in the same room with the dozing Eclipse. Kiara finally spoke up after a moment with a hard edge to her voice,"Alright feather brain this is how its going to work. Your going to stay the hay away from little Eclipse there or you'll have to answer to me. The only one allowed within 5 feet of her is me or the nursemaids in the other room. The only way I'll allow you within that perimeter is if Eclipse herself wants to see you for some odd reason."
Swift growled back up at her,"And just why should I listen to you? Your just a crazy griffon that is trying to keep me from doing my job!"
Kiara flexed one of her claws as she growled back,"Because I am stronger than you and know how to fight better than you despite all that tech you have. And I have the feeling that Eclipse is more scared of males than she is of females. I don't know what happened to give her that terrible neck injury but my senses are telling me that it was some sort of attack. And judging from the imprint size on her neck I would have to say it belonged to a minotaur or something like that. And if it was a minotaur it was probably a male."
Swift continued to growl for a moment before spitting out,"Fine." He turned to stand by the door while glaring at Kiara.
Kiara herself ended up sitting down near the crib as she just glared at the stallion. "Besides a feather brain such as yourself would never be able to hold her right. I doubt you have any experience with kids."
Swift glared at her as he replied,"I may not have any experience but that doesn't mean that I can't gain some.
Kiara grunted,"I'm not going to give you the chance. You listen to what I said and everything will be fine. If you don't then I'll have no choice but to smack some sense into you." With that she went silent as she continued to watch him like a hawk or eagle in this case.
Swift himself remained silent as he just glared right back at her. Soon enough another thirty minutes had passed before they both heard a small yawn. Eclipse's eyes were slowly opening as she let out another little yawn. Her wing's rustled gently as she looked up at them both with wide eyes. As her eyes met Kiara's that small smile from before was back on her face as she whispered,"Hello Miss Kiara."
Kiara gazed down upon her softly with a small smile as she replied,"Hey there squirt. Glad to see that your doing okay. Are you feeling hungry?"
Eclipse thought about this a moment before replying,"No. We are not hungry. But We would like out of this bed."
Kiara nodded as she gently picked Eclipse up with her claws before resting Eclipse down in her arm. She started to gently rock Eclipse before turning back to the pegasus as she said,"Well Eclipse this is the other pony who is going to be helping me look after you. His name is Swift Shot."
Eclipse looked at the pegasus with the mechanical legs and a few more memories leaked through the seal as she winced in pain. She whispered quietly but still loud enough to hear,"Hello Mr. Swift."
Swift grinned at her,"Hey there Eclipse. Nice to meet you. Your just adorable aren't you."
Eclipse squeaked at the statement and cuddled back deeper into Kiara's arm. "Thank you Mr. Swift. Um. Why do you have such weird legs?"
Swift looked down at his legs and laughed,"Oh these old things? Well I just had something happen to me a while back that led to me getting these. Would you like to touch them?"
Eclipse responded with a quiet,"Yes please."
Swift chuckled and came over to Kiara and Eclipse despite Kiara subtly glaring at him. Eclipse reached up with her small hoof and touched the metal foreleg that he extended to her,"Wow. It feels really cold Mr. Swift." As she touched his foreleg, the feeling of calm and peace settled over her which signified that this was another new candidate for being a Soul Warrior.
Swift was just about to respond to her statement when he stopped as a flash of light happened. He covered his eyes for a few seconds before looking to see what had caused it only to have his jaw drop in surprise at the device that had appeared on Eclipse's foreleg. Kiara saw it and scowled for a moment when she realized what this meant. She felt that Swift wasn't qualified to become a Soul Warrior at all. The Archiver scanned him silently as it hummed away. After a moment it finally compiled the results together within itself.
The Archiver beeped with a message for Eclipse to read which she did. It read,"The pegasus Swift Shot is a viable candidate for becoming a Soul Warrior. The candidate's synchronization rates are high and within acceptable parameters. His moral compass is solid and firm. Everything is within acceptable levels. Do you wish to proceed with the process of making the candidate a soul warrior."
Eclipse blinked as she acted like she was curious again and tapped the yes prompt with a hoof as Kiara once again reached out to try and stop her from doing that. But it was already too late and the red beam of light lanced out form Eclipse's Archiver to his Swift's metal foreleg. It deposited information withing the confused Swift's brain which caused him to stand still. He ended up knowing all he needed to about Soul Archiver's and soul chips along with what it meant to be a Soul Warrior. A tingling sensation filled him and directed his thought to about whether or not he wanted to be a soul warrior. He thought about how helpless he had pretty much been against the metal dragon from the last fight he had been in. How Dash would have died had he not received the help he needed. With a firm resolve he decided that he did want to be a soul warrior.
The beam from the Archiver cut off as the spell formed within him and drew on his innate natural pegasus magic to form the device. The cybernetics in his legs started to shift and move of their own accord as the spell affected them. From his cybernetics and innate magic the new Archiver was made and revealed. It was a mark 2 like most of the others but was stylized with his cutie mark and the color scheme was a nice green and silver color. Three soul chips flew out of Eclipse's satchel to hover in front of him. They glowed with a soft light as images appeared on them to reveal strange bipedal beings standing in front of what appeared to be giant robots. A satchel appeared along his side which the chips then flew into.
The new archiver that was part of his cybernetics hummed as it came to life went through the startup process. After a moment it had finished and beeped with a message for Swift to read on the display that lit up. He quickly did so and the message read,"Registering new user Swift Shot. Registered. Welcome new user Swift Shot to your Soul Archiver mark 2. Your Soul Warrior specialization is mecha pilot soul chips. This means that you will be using modified versions of the mechas piloted by the individuals shown in the images on the soul chips. This unit knows that the user has the basic knowledge of how to use a Soul unison but if the user has any questions then please peruse the guide included in this unit at the user's leisure. Till then this unit wishes the user a good night!" The message dismissed itself after a moment leaving Swift to look at the Archiver with wonder before lowering his foreleg.
Kiara sighed as she looked down at Eclipse,"Well Eclipse it looks like you gave him an unintentional gift as well. I just hope he can live up to what it means."
Eclipse looked up at Kiara confused,"What do you mean Miss Kiara?"
Kiara just gave her a soft smile,"Don't worry about it squirt. Just go back to resting okay?" She rocked Eclipse gently as she started to hum again.
Swift was still standing in the same place he had been but quickly snapped out of it and resumed his place by the door. He sat down to peruse his Archiver as Kiara took care of Eclipse. Kiara soon lulled Eclipse back to sleep as she hummed. Once Eclipse was asleep she set Eclipse down in the crib again before putting the bars up and the cover on top. She then turned to Swift with a glare and growl.
"I don't know why you were chosen to become a Soul Warrior but don't think this means that I will let you near Eclipse again. If you suggest something to her again that leads to you coming close to her I will knock you flat."
Swift just narrowed his eyes at her,"We'll see gryphon." The two of them went silent after this as they maintained their vigil.
An hour later they were still glaring at each other when the ground underneath of them shook. Eclipse didn't notice as she continued to sleep the night away. The two glanced towards the door to the nursery. Swift got up and opened the door only to have his jaw drop as he saw two distortions appear in the air. If this wasn't a bad sign that the dimensional barriers were weakening further than non one would know a bad sign when it appeared.
Swift and Kiara both moved out of the nursery before closing the door behind them and activating a spell that set up a green hexagonal barrier around the nursery and the nursemaid's room. The distortions soon turned into two green swirling portals that deposited two beings into the room. One was a large sea serpent beast that had a metal looking head and horn coming out of the top of its head while the other appeared to be a human sized version of some kind of robot. They were both respectively Metal Seadramon and the Master Gundam from Mobile Suit G Gundam.
Metal Seadramon looked around with a growl as he roared,"What is this place? This isn't the beach where I was crushing those pesky digidestined."
Master Gundam looked around for a moment as it observed its surroundings. It was the SD version of the Master Gundam meaning that it was not the full giant sized version but a human sized version that could think for itself. It finally spoke up,"Well it seems that I have a nice opportunity here." It took a combat stance as it noticed the two beings watching it.
Kiara and Swift both glanced at the two of them before Swift held up his foreleg after pulling out a soul chip from his satchel. He slotted a Soul chip into his Archiver without looking as he pressed the green button on it. The Archiver hummed for a bit before it beeped with a message for him which he read. It said,"The Domon Kashu, Shining Gundam Soul chips has been scanned and archived. Soul chip is acting at normal capacity. Soul Unison program on standby. Synchronization rate is at 90 percent. Time to hold form....20 minutes. Please say initiation phrase."
He spoke up instinctively,"Hero of Earth, Stand to face the darkness again! Soul Unison, Shining Gundam soul!" He was encased in a shining red orb which started the changes to his body.
Kiara herself pulled her handheld Archiver out of its holder on the side of her jeans as she held it up before her. She pressed a green button on the side of the Archiver which caused the back piece to flip down as the small screen as the circular piece on top moved downwards to allow one of the injected soul chips to appear in its place. The screen beeped with a message which she didn't read as she glared at the two beings. But what it did say was,"Mighty Morphin Red Ranger soul chip scanned and archived. Soul chip functioning at full capacity. Soul Unison program on standby. Synchronization rate is 90 percent. Time to hold form...30 minutes. Please say initiation phrase."
She growled as she swept the circular piece back up the device to land over the chip. A beam of light flashed out of it into the air to form the orb that was needed as she called out,"Defender of the Earth arise with the power of the Dinosaurs! Soul Unison, Mighty Morphin Red Ranger Soul!" She said this all instinctively of course as the orb came crashing down around her. She was enveloped by it and the color of it was a deep clear purple color.
The both of them closed their eyes as the transformations began.
Swift kept his eyes closed as the changes began for him. His body shifted and glowed as his form became more humanoid. He became an anthro version of himself that was wearing a black bodysuit with the symbol of Neo Japan on the front of it and his cutie mark on the legs. A helmet started to form around his head with the familiar Gundam V on the forehead of the helmet. The color of the v was a bright yellow while the rest of the helmet was white. There were several ridges in the helmet that had green jewels set into them while the rest of the helmet ended up looking just like Shining Gundam's head. The biggest difference was that there was nothing over Swift's eyes except for a green piece that fit over one eye to act as a reader of sorts. The rest of his body was encased in armor that looked just like Shining Gundam's body but with key differences. For one the pauldrons had the symbol of neo japan on one pauldron with Swift's cutie mark emblazoned on the other. Another difference was that the chest jewel was a sapphire and the two smaller ones were rubies. And the white parts of the armor ware a nice orange color to complement the red. They armor was also stylized with flame motifs. He lashed out with a metal encased hand which shattered the red orb around him.
He stood tall and proud before the two villains as he growled from behind the helmet. "You two shall fall before you can bring harm to anyone. I won't let you move to far."
Kiara for her part ended up tossing her Archiver into the air as the orb enveloped her. She floated up into the air standing bipedally as the device hovered in front of her. She kept her eyes open as the device split apart into different bits that formed 5 golden rings. A white shimmering light could be seen in the interiors of all 5 golden rings as they approached her. One went up both her hind legs and encased her back legs in specially crafted boots that conformed with her cat's paws. They were white in color and went all the way up to her knees. They also had a red diamond patter going in a ring around each boot. The golden rings moved up her legs to the middle of her torso where they formed into one giant gold ring. As they went up they covered her body in a red suit with flame motifs on the legs. The giant golden ring ended up forming into the belt of the red ranger with the coin showing from the morpher. The two other small golden rings moved up her forelegs and encased her claws in gloves with the red diamond patter around them but the gloves also ended in very sharp and deadly talons very similar to the Wild Force power ranger gloves. As they moved up her forelegs they encased her legs in more of the red suit and formed together into another giant gold ring that moved down her body to connect with the belt. It left behind the rest of the suit with a white diamond patter around the chest. Finally the last giant gold ring grew smaller and moved downwards over her head. It formed the helmet over her face but instead of the regular mouth piece it formed around her beak instead and let her open her mouth when she needed to talk and breath. Furthermore her wings emerged from the back of the suit but were encased in a light red armoring. Her tail waved fluidly back behind her as the power sword formed before her in a flash of light. She grabbed hold of it and swung it. That destroyed the orb around her.
She stood before the two villains right next to Swift Shot in her suit as she took a stance,"Might Morphin Red Ranger Kiara Talonstrike ready to defend Equus. Time to take you jokers down. "
Kiara and Swif Shot both charged forwards respectively towards their foes while trying to bring them down. Metal Seadramon growled as he said,"I don't know what's going on but I will take the two of you down." He charged up his metal nose with a roar as he said,"River of Power!" He shot a huge golden beam out of his nose down at Kiara who jumped into the air easily.
She somersaulted through the air to land on top of Metal Seadramon's head as she growled down at him,"Time to go back to the sea you snake!" She pointed her power sword downwards as she yelled,"Power Sword." It bit deep into his metal nose and she ran along toward the tip of it before jumping off while the sword dragged itself through his nose. It left behind large cracks and golden light. The river of power attack had rocked the castle and left behind a large cloud of dust along with a large crater. She landed in the center of this crater before turning back to the serpent.
Metal Seadramon roared as he thrashed around a bit. Finally his horn charged up with electricity as he reared back and launched his head forwards causing a golden lightning spear to fly from it towards her as multiple others came into existence,"Lightning Javelin!"
She wove in and ouf of the giant electrical javelins that impacted into the ground all around her. She had to raise her sword to block one javelin and flung it to the side even as the lightning coursed through her body. She yelled in pain as that happened but still stood up. Smoke rose from her suit and body. She ran forwards as she jumped up into the air again
"Power Sword Fire Slash!" The sword burned with fiery energy as she brought it down horizontally before her right on Metal Seadramon's horn to come down into the top of his head. She pulled it back afterwards as the horn glowed before splitting into and disappearing into pits of data.
Metal Seadramon continued to roar in pain as his tail thrashed all around him. He swung around and it slammed into Kiara sending her flying right into the wall. She impacted with it hard and let out a groan of pain. Several of her ribs became crushed due to the force. One of her legs also had fractures running through it while one of her wings hung uselessly behind her.
She pulled herself out of the wall somehow as she glared up at the Metal Sea serpent. She held her sword at an angle as she called out her last attack as Metal Seadramon charged up another River of Power attack,"Power Sword Legendary Slash!" She brought her sword down diagonally at Seadramon and the air seemed to warp around them as she turned around with her back facing to him. She held her sword point downwards before resting the tip on the ground.
Metal Seadramon started to call out his attack,"River of....." only to stop upon realizing that his power had fled. He groaned in pain before he split into diagonal pieces which then broke apart into bits of data and then exploding from collision. That left behind a cloud of red smoke as Kiara held a hand up in front of her,"Morphenomenal!"
Meanwhile Swift had engaged his own opponent at high speed. He had actually moved forwards using the jets on the back of his armor and boots. He came at Master Gundam with full fury as he lashed out with a set of high speed martial arts strikes. Master Gundam just grunted and easily blocked each and every one of his strikes. He then caught hold of one of Swift's fists and threw him into the side of the wall with much strength.
Swift hit the wall with a lot of force causing him to groan in pain. He had just suffered some internal damage but outwardly appeared to be just fine as he emerged from the wall. He growled as he stood in place and moved his head forwards while calling out,"Vulcan!" bullets fired from the front of his helmet at Mater Gundam.
Master Gundam just stood there while moving his arms super fast and caught each and every bullet expertly. After Swift stopped firing, he dropped all of the bullets on the ground with contempt,"To easy. Your nothing more than a novice. Let me teach you something new." He moved forwards till he appeared right in front of Swift and lashed out with rapid fire strike using his palms and finger tips.
Swift yelled in pain at each strike before Master Gundam stepped back to view his handiwork. There were small holes all over Swift's armor and revealed the black body suit underneath. The suit was ripped in those spots and there were cuts in those places. They were bleeding heavily as Swift stood their panting in pain. Swift lashed out with another series of rapid fire strikes which Master Gundam easily blocked again. Finally Swift moved his hands to either side of his armor and pulled forth and energy sword from each side. He stood in a stance before Master Gundam.
Master Gundam pulled out a length of what seemed like purple energy which formed out into a ribbon of some sort. He laughed,"Your weapons training is novice level too I bet."
Swift yelled in anger before executing a series of sword strikes that he hoped would hit Master Gundam. But Master Gundam blocked each sword strike easily before lashing out with the purple ribbon which wrapped around one of Swift's hands and held there. Master gundam pulled back on it hard which crushed the armor on the writ into pieces which drove into Swift's skin. And the rest of the metal encased on his hand tore off to hit the ground in a twisted heap. What was left behind was a bloody and crushed hand which hung limply from his arm. Master Gundam laughed at him,"Pitiful."
Swift roared,"I won't let it end this way." The pauldrons on his shoulders opened up to reveal vents while other parts of his armor did the same and he started to glow with energy. He closed his eyes and entered a state of calm and meditation as his whole form glowed golden. He then opened his eyes as he pushed back the Master Gundam with his aura. He held up his good hand before him with a growl,"This hand of mine is glowing gold! Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory and destroy you! Here I go!" The golden metal covering came down over his hand as he launched forwards and grabbed Master Gundam by his face.
The Master Gundam was surprised by this but couldn't break Swift's grip as he grappled with him,"No It can't end like this."
Swift roared,"Shining Finger!" His hand glowed a brilliant white tinged with the gold energy as it held Master Gundam's face. Then with a great surge of energy an explosion happened in his hand which destroyed the mechanical Master Gundam's head completely. The body slumped to the ground a moment later with a dull metalic thud. Swift panted with exhaustion as he stood in place. "Take that you piece of junk!"
So all told and done the battle had been short but excruciating for both Swift and Kiara. But it was over now. So now you can see that Eclipse had several new guardians to protect her and Equis at large.
Author's Note
Hey everyone. I hope you all liked part two of this story. It took a while but I feel that it was worth it. Leave a comment below about what you liked in this chapter if you want. I'll see you all next time.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Chapter 18
After the battle the previous night, Luna had appeared after a while to see what had happened. She had seen the remains of the mechanical being that had moved around before. Thankfully for both Swift Shot and Kiara their wounds had mostly been removed when their transformations ended. What stunk the most for Swift Shot was the fact that the soul chip he had used needed time to recover before it could be used again. The image on it had shattered into pieces meaning the soul had been shattered after taking most of the damage onto itself. Swift had been left with bruises all over his body and his ribs ached.
The soul chip that Kiara had used also had its image shattered meaning that it too needed to recover. It was a shame but there was nothing that could be done about it. Luckily for her, Kiara's wing had been fixed when the soul chip had taken most of the damage upon itself. But she did still have some nasty bruises all over her body. And she would be aching for days. It was lucky for her that she had two other soul chips to use for the moment.
Now as to the two enemies that had appeared and she fought alongside Swift Shot, Kiara had no idea just what they had been other than they were a threat that she could feel inside of her bones. It had just been a mysterious feeling she'd had that vibrated throughout her entire being. This feeling was like a sixth sense if you will and it alerted her that they were some sort of danger. She'd had this sixth sense ever since her rebirth as a Soul Warrior the previous night. It seemed to be one of the new abilities that she had gained when she gained her Archiver.
Furthermore, this sixth sense of hers had helped her to sense a few things that Eclipse was scared of. One of the things she had felt Eclipse was scared of were males of any species. Kiara only received a vague notion from her sixth sense about why this was. The notion that she had received was that it was connected to the large imprint on Eclipse's neck which looked like it had belonged to some sort of male minotaur. So she had drawn her own conclusions from there. And one of the reasons why she had been way to overprotective of Eclipse was that her sixth sense had been overstimulated when she was so close to Eclipse. Her sixth sense had been screaming at her that Eclipse was too important to lose and that every protective measure should be considered, which included keeping other males away from her.
There was one other reason why she had been so protective of Eclipse the previous night and it all had to do with her past. She was rather mistrustful of ponies except for the children due to what had happened in her past. The only adults she really trusted were a few she had known for years and the princesses because she knew they were good down to the core. Yes she knew that Luna had been Nightmare Moon but that didn't matter to her as she knew Luna had been redeemed since then. Just what had happened in her past to make her so protective she spoke to no one about. In fact she tried to suppress the memories of that time but those memories had leaked to the surface.
As she held Eclipse during last night the memories had started to leak through as Eclipse had looked up at her with her large soulful eyes. Now this morning she was resting in her room while holding Eclipse in an arm. She was sitting in a rocking chair gently moving back and forth so Eclipse could continue to sleep despite the morning sunlight. Eclipse had been left with her while Swift Shot went home for the night after the attack. She had decided to stick around as she felt that she couldn't leave the area right now. Besides Luna needed someone to watch after Eclipse while she proceeded to talk with her sister about the previous nights events. Everything had become a blur for her after the attack. All she could really remember was rushing back to Eclipse after Luna had arrived. Everything from there was really just a blank for her.
She looked down at Eclipse who was sleeping gently in her arms as she continued to hold her close to her chest. Flashes flitted across her vision as her eyes misted over. Her body started to heave as her breathing became uneven. Tears started to pool up in her eyes before streaming down her cheeks. Her body started to rack with sobs as the memories continued to come as she gazed down at Eclipse.
As Kiara held the sleeping filly, Eclipse was replaced with the image of a small griffon chick in her arms. The chick lay unmoving in her arms as she held it close to her chest. She sobbed and screamed into the air in fury at how this could happen. The tears started to flow down her face as she continued to gently rock Eclipse. She never wanted what happened back then to happen again. Another flash of memory crossed her mind as her eyes misted a bit again. The screams of her enemy as she fired off an arrow from her bow rang through the air. Her dash towards her enemy before she dug into them with her claw. She pulled one of her claws out from underneath Eclipse and watched it tremble. Her eyes stared at her own claw as she saw imaginary blood running down it from that attack so far in the past. She put it back under Eclipse as her eyes ran with tears again.
The thing she had not wanted to talk to anyone about was a raid that had happened against a town she had been staying at 3 years previously. It was a raid by a different griffon tribe that were on the war path. They had wanted new territory and subjects and figured that this small peaceful town would be easy pickings. That is where they were wrong as Kiara along with a small band of other griffons she had been training at the time stood against them. They had done well but not well enough in her eyes. Several of the enemy griffons had managed to get into the town and start laying waste to the poor innocent townsfolk. About 10 griffon townsfolk had died in that attack including a small chick that had been trampled underneath the claws of the enemy griffons as they tried to flee an irate Kiara. Kiara blamed herself for the death of the chick because she had been chasing the enemy griffons and hadn't set up enough defenses for the town. The chick's saftey had been of paramount importance as it had been one of the few children in town and she had failed.
Ever since then she had done her best to protect others wherever she traveled. But she most especially did her best to make sure all the children she encountered were safe and cared for. She loved to help take care of children no matter the age but she loved helping to care for young ones the most. She hoped that one day in the future she'd be able to have a child of her own to love and hold. Till then she'd do her best to make sure she did any job she accepted as well as she could to the best of her ability.
Kiara continued to hold onto Eclipse as she fully repressed the memories of that day and event yet again. But still the tears continued to come as she quietly sobbed and held onto Eclipse. She never wanted to have to hold a child again that was lifeless like that chick had been. She would do her best to protect this young child in her arms and nothing would stop her from accomplishing that goal. The power she now held would help her with that goal. So for now she let her hurting soul bare itself to the world through her tears.
Princess Luna walked through the halls of the castle beside her sister as she thought back to the previous nights events. After she had arrived back at the nursery, Luna had seen untold destruction all around the hall outside the small room. She had seen both Kiara and Swift Shot standing outside the door to the room with blank exhausted looks on their faces. She had ended up approaching them only for Kiara to snap out of her blank gaze and rush back into the nursery and swiping Eclipse out of the crib with her arms. She had done it so lightly and quickly that she hadn't woken Eclipse up from her sleep.
From there things had moved along at what seemed like a hurried pace to Luna. She had snapped Swift Shot out of his daze and asked him what had happened. He had reported the battle that had occurred in the hall to the best of his abilities or so it seemed. However she had a feeling that he'd left out something that was rather important. She had seen the twisted mass that had been left behind by the destroyed mechanical being but that did little to ease her fears and heart. She had sent Swift Shot home with a bag of bits and told him to rest for the next couple of days as she felt that he needed it.
When she had tried to approach Kiara she had ended up backing up and hissing at Luna with unfocused eyes. She had been holding Eclipse in one claw as her other was up in a defense position ready to lash out. It had taken Luna the most of half an hour to calm Kiara down and bring her to her senses. Since then she had gone about having guards clean up the mess outside and getting Kiara to her room. She had tried to take Eclipse back but Kiara had begged her to let her continue watching over Eclipse. Luna had reluctantly agreed because her duties demanded she do something about this attack which meant staying up and talking to her sister.
So here she was walking next to her sister as Celestia walked around with her while wearing a troubled look on her face. Celestia finally spoke up after a moment of silence after Luna finished telling her tale of last night's events. "What you have told me is troubling sister. If the events of last night mean what I think they do then we are in for some very hard times. I believe that the dimensional barriers of our world are starting to fail faster then ever. While you were still gone, a villainous creature known as Grogar broke through our dimensional barriers from his own dimension known as Tambelon. My friend at the time along with myself managed to defeat him but now without some repercussions. First and foremost of all was the fact that the dimensional barriers had been shattered and it took the combined magic of myself and my friend to patch them up enough to give us some semblance of normality."
"However I fear that our magic is now failing and failing very fast Luna. If these villains keep on coming at the rate they have been then it will only be a matter of time before the dimensional barriers shatter completely once again. I believe that even if you were to help me and my friend with your own magic it would only delay the inevitable again for a short time. What we need to do is find a way to repair our dimensional barriers completely and for good."
Luna replied softly,"I understand sister but who is this friend of yours that you speak so highly of?"
Celestia's cheeks tinged pink a bit as she spoke up warmly,"His name is Bahumat and of all things he's a dragon Luna. An immortal being just like the two of us and a friend I can keep for all time. The only problem is that he's a wanderer. He travels through different dimensions and worlds without damaging their dimensional barriers."
Luna blinked as she looked at Celestia and her faint blush but still listened to Celestia talk before a small grin spread across her face,"Well sister it doth sound as if you have a crush on this fine drake you speak of."
Celestia's blush deepened but she looked at her as seriously as she could,"I do not have a crush on him. He's just a very good friend Lulu."
Luna chuckled,"You may say those words but your body betrays you sister." She continued to walk alongside Celestia quietly. Finally she spoke up again,"Still sister I hope that I get to meet him someday. Why has he not visited recently?"
Celestia's smile dropped to a frown as she replied with much sadness in her voice,"Because of our battle with Grogar. At the end of the battle as he was dying Grogar was able to cast one other spell other than the one that shattered our dimensional barriers. It was a spell that banished him from our world and dimension never to return. I tried so hard to bypass his spell to let him back in but it wasn't to be. I haven't seen him since and the only thing I have been able to do is send him letters via a special spell the two of us had worked out among ourselves before the battle with Grogar."
Luna frowned after she heard this,"Oh Tia I am sorry. I shouldn't have asked that question at all."
Celestia sighed,"It is fine Luna. I have spent a long time without him and the pain of being without him has lessened. Besides I have good news regarding him anyways."
Luna looked at her curiously,"And what is that dear sister?"
Celestia's frown switched to a large smile,"It would appear Bahumat may have found a way to bypass Grogar's spell. He has been crafting a spell of his own to try and visit and has been testing it he tells me. He hopes to arrive sometime around noon today. The reason he is coming is to help me with raising Solaire since I feel I am incapable of raising him by myself. I just don't have enough hours in the day to spend enough time with Solaire. And Solaire should have one parent with him as much as possible."
Luna listened quietly before speaking up softly,"Tis good news indeed sister. But when would he be arriving if he succeeded."
Celestia's smile grew a bit bigger,"if all goes well then he'll be arriving about noon today."
Luna nodded,"That is good indeed. If you'll excuse me sister I must be collecting Eclipse and getting to bed with her. She had a horrible time of it after she woke up after the attack last night. I believe she is currently asleep right now being held by the guard I hired."
Celestia dipped her head a bit,"Go ahead Luna. But you should be very careful with Eclipse right now. That parasite was no small thing to remove. And I sense that it is not as gone as you think it is. I just hope it hasn't left young Eclipse with adverse effects or something else to that affect."
Luna sighed,"Me too sister. I will be watching over her as closely as possible to make sure nothing bad has happened to her." She then moved off away from Celestia to go back and pick up her daughter from Kiara.
Unknown to the both of them, they were being watched by a creature that hadn't shown its since before Luna's banishment. It stuck to the shadows of the hall it was currently in as it watched Luna leave Celestia with piercing red eyes mixed with a burning yellow. The shadows around it moved silently as they ran up its body. Slowly it took a more solid form in the shadows before all its dark glory was revealed to the world around it. It had taken the shadowy shape of an alicorn with no cutie mark. It slowly opened its wings to reveal that they were skeletal as was the rest of its body. The shadows merely wrapped around it in a physical sense but disappeared if the light hit it. Its eyes glaring at the remaining alicorn in the hall silently. This creature had a name that had once been feared throughout the realms and it was only now that it was finally coming out of its old hiding spot. Its name was Creeping Corruption and just what it was is no mystery for those who read fantasy novels.
Corruption was a lich of all things but to be more exact it was an Alicorn Lich. Corruption at one time had been a mortal alicorn instead of immortal but sought the immortality that all other alicorns seemed to possess. He had done many unspeakable things as he researched ways to become immortal himself. It was he who had advanced the art of necromancy for so many necromancers of his era and down through the centuries as well. It was his research into necromancy that had ended up with him becoming a lich. And ever since then whatever he had touched had ended up becoming corrupted with evil and darkness. To this day that still happened and all he wanted was to become the last remaining immortal of this world even if it was a twisted mockery of a true immortal.
He glared at Celestia for a moment longer as she continued to walk down the hall before he stepped further back into the shadows. He close his eyes and soon enough his form disappeared completely from view. He had stepped back through the shadows into his own hideaway where no immortal would be able to find him. He figured he'd bide his time while he waited for events to unfold. After all he, Corruption had to prepare his next spell in order to deal with the immortal that would try to arrive here soon and he wanted to be prepared.
Luna ended up picking Eclipse up from Kiara about 20 minutes later before she went off to bed with Eclipse. She ended up falling asleep rather quickly after seeing to necessities. What she didn't know was that by removing the parasite from Eclipse she had actually done something that was harmful to Eclipse. The parasite had actually been a good one instead of a bad one. It had been doing its best to make sure that Eclipse's neck healed without having to draw on her internal magic to do so knowing full well what would happen should that have happened. Sadly Luna had found it because it had sadly not been working fast enough to come up with a workable solution to the problem.
The biggest thing was that the healing spells would not have been enough to heal Eclipse's neck in the first place. There had been some kind of harmful energy injected into Eclipse from Sigma. To be more exact Sigma had unknowingly been trying to inject her with the sigma virus through the electricity that coursed through his body. When his hand had started to choke Eclipse out the electricity in his hand had run through Eclipse's body depositing bits and pieces of the sigma virus code which could have corrupted her completely and turned her evil. The parasite had managed to consume the pieces of the sigma virus and had just been about to start the actual healing of Eclipse's neck when Luna had found it and almost destroyed it. It was lucky that a small piece of itself had survived and was currently trying to make its way back to Eclipse.
Eclispe herself was starting to head into a coma as her sleep started to deepen more and more the longer she stayed asleep. The reason for this was that the parasite was also helping to keep her fused form stable. It was an integral part of her immune system but having it removed had been very harmful to her so now she was moving towards a coma. The only thing that would bring her out of the coma if she entered it would be the parasite returning to her body. But both Luna and Eclipse did not know this. So Luna slept on unaware of the damage she had done to Eclipse.
Kiara herself was still in her room standing on all fours looking around it. She sighed as she pulled her device out of its holder and frowned. "This thing helped me last night to defeat those other beings. But I was so sloppy last night. I need to train if I'm going to get any better."
Her face grew hard and determined as she thought about just what she could do to train. She figured that using one of the other soul chips she had could help her out with training. She nodded to herself as she pressed one of the buttons on the side of her device which injected one of the soul chips inside of it into the the slot. She slid the circular band around the chip downwards and then back up so that her Archiver could scan the chip and archive it. She flipped the back piece of her Archiver down so it could become the small screen that she could read.
Once she'd done this, the Archiver hummed with energy as it scanned and archived the injected chip. Finally it beeped with a message which she read,"Kamen Rider Decade soul chip has been scanned and archived. Soul chip running at full capacity. Soul Unison program is on standby. Synchronization level is 95 percent. Time to hold form is one hour. Please be careful while using this chip. This chip is directly connected to the world and the dimensional barriers. Please say initiation phrase to begin the program."
Kiara blinked in confusion as she read the message not sure what to make of it as it said that is was directly connected to the word. Just what could it mean by that. She could understand it being connected to the dimensional barriers for whatever reason but not the world. She then looked at the caption underneath the image again and shook her head at her stupidity. What the message probably meant was this this form had the power to destroy the world if she was not careful so this form was connected with the fate of her world. She shrugged but held her Archiver up in the air as she spoke out the phrase she had thought of.
"Protecter and Destroyer of Worlds walk the lonely path with me! Soul Unison, Kamen Rider Decade!" A beam of energy shot from the circle of her device up into the air to form the orb before said orb came down around her and engulfed her. Instead of like the last time this orb was a dazzling orange as if to match her conviction of a new inner fire.
She closed her eyes as she tossed her device into the air as it spun and glwoed. It turned into the five golden rings as she stood on her hind legs.Two of the smaller rings moved up her hind legs and encased them in metallic boots that conformed to her paws. They were marked with flame motifs all around them. Then her hind legs were covered by special metallic bracers. On her left hind leg the color of the bracer was half black going down horizontally while the other half was purple. The other bracer was half black on one side and white on the other half. And a yin yang symbol were on the bracers. Then the rings moved up her middle to meed at her waist where they formed into one large gold ring and then into Kamen Rider Decade's belt and special card holder. The other two small rings moved up her forelegs. They encased one arm in a black glove that had metal on the back and then connected to actual black armor that ran up to a purple pauldron. The other foreleg was encased in a black glove connected to black arm armor going to another purple pauldron. Then the rings disappeared as the large golden ring came down and encased her head in a helmet that covered her head except for her eyes. She had two green scouter type pieces from dragon ball z over her eyes. The ring continued down her chest to connect with the belt leaving behind the armor she needed. And instead of the normal diagonal x on the chest of the armor a symbol depicting the world appeared on the chest circled about by a large serpent. After that happened she lashed out with a vicious claw which shattered the orb and let her out back into the world.
She stood in her room as pieces of orange light fell down around her. She looked at herself in a mirror that was in the room and nodded her head. She could use this form for an hour so she might as well see what it was capable of. She closed her eyes to feel for some kind of power inside of her only to open them a bit later when she realized that this form was brimming with power that could cause untold destruction. This form really could bring about the end of the world if she was not careful but she also had a feeling that his form could somehow heal the dimensional barriers. She did not know how only that it had the power and potential to do such a thing.
She blinked as she moved her claw down to the special card holder on the side of her belt and unhooked it. She saw a couple of grips on the card holder and held onto them with her claw only to blink in surprise as the holder glowed and became Decade's signature sword. She swung the sword around a couple of times to get a feel for it. It seemed to fit in her hand just right although she felt the blade was too lightweight for her to effectively use. Then there was the fact that she had never really trained with the blade in the first place.
She frowned as she noticed a few other grips on the guard of the sword that she touched with a claw. The sword glowed with a soft light before it morphed into a gun which fit into her claw. She blinked but twirled the gun around a bit before stopping and holding it in front of her. She felt that this strange form for the weapon would suit her a lot better than the sword. Still it would require quite a lot of practice to use this new weapon she figured.
She grunted and moved the gun back towards her belt where it switched back to the regular weird card holder that it was. She clipped it back onto her belt as she moved around the room. She had a feeling that she would need to stay in Canterlot today for some reason although she could not tell why. All her sixth sense was telling her right now is that there was danger nearby and it was threatening Eclipse the most. That meant she would stay as long as needed to make sure the threat was gone and Eclipse would be unharmed.
For now she'd get used to moving around in this armored form. There was no telling when she would need to use it for real combat. She would also be practicing with this form's weapons and powers. So she set about trying to do so as quietly as she could in her room.
Celestia moved around the castle hallways with young Solaire on her back at a normal pace. Solaire was fully awake and looking around everywhere with wonder in his eyes. While he had been sleeping his memories of his previous life as Jack Hunt had all drained away. All he remembered from his previous life were his sword skills and how to use the Soul Archiver otherwise he was just a little kid all over again. This meant that he would be starting everything over again which didn't really bother him at all. He finally spoke up in curiosity.
"Mama what's going on? Where are we going?" He looked up at Celestia with intensity.
"We are heading to the gardens Solaire. You'll hopefully get to meet somepony very special once we arrive there." Celestia replied warmly.
"Oh ok. Can you tell me who it is?"Solaire asked.
"No Solaire. I would like this to be a surprise for you. I am sure you'll be excited once you finally meet the one I intend for you too."Celestia replied.
Solaire's ears drooped,"Aww but Mom I want to know now." He pouted up at her as he sat on her back.
"No buts young colt."Celestia replied as she moved along. She finally made it outside to the gardens as the guards behind her continued to follow the two of them.
She walked along one of the many garden paths before stopping in a large clearing that she hoped would be where Bahumat would appear. She used her magic to set Solaire on the ground as she sat on her haunches. She looked down at Solaire who she had set in front of herself.
"Now Solaire I need you to behave for me. You may go play around right now but when I tell you to come here I need you to come understand?" Celestia asked in a serious tone.
Solaire looked up at her and nodded his head,"Yes mama. I understand."
She smiled down at him in her motherly way,"Good. Now go ahead and go play. I will tell you when its time to come meet with the pony I want you too."
Solaire smiled and ran off to romp around in the clearing. He smiled happily as he moved around playing with a ball that Celestia had let him bring with them. That should keep him occupied for at least a little while. Celestia looked up at the sky hoping that soon her friend would return.
An hour went by but nothing had happened within that time other than Solaire tiring himself out from playing so much. He was now asleep on the ground between Celestia's front hooves as she stared down at him with a small smile. Finally there was a crackling sound which caused her to move her head to the sky to see where it had come from. She wasn't disappointed when she could see small bits of electricity moving around in the sky as a distortion started to form. The thing was that this distortion was huge. It swirled around in the air as the electricity grew into lightning that danced around in the sky around the distortion.
Celestia quickly cast a sound canceling spell on Solaire so that he would not wake from his sleep due to all the noise. She looked back up at the growing distortion as the lightning crackled through the air. She had told her guards not to worry when this happened as it was most likely her friend trying to get through. The dimensional barriers fluxed into view of the mortal eye as gray shimmering barriers that could not be seen through. They had cracks running through them all over which was a testament to just how badly the barriers were doing at the moment. But where the distortion grew the barriers seemed to slowly be peeling away from undamaged. The lightning that was dancing around in the air was not the normal color of lightning. Instead it was a neon green color that seemed to seep in naturally with the dimensional barriers.
Finally she could hear a terrible roar split the air as The distortion opened up into a swirling blue portal about the size of a house. Out of the portal came a large gigantic claw that belonged to a dragon of some kind. Then the foreleg came behind it but filled the portal up completely. The claw seemed to be tearing at the air as a roar sounded through the portal yet again. Finally the roar died down to be replaced by a furious growling that was more than recognizable to Celestia. To her it was the sound of growling belonging to her old friend Bahumat. Finally words coalesced in that growling as she started to smile. The portal slowly started to grow bigger as she listened to the voice.
"Curse this confounded barrier and Grogar's spell. Just why did he have to throw so many matrixes over each other is beyond me. Curse him and his black heart for all this in the first place. Come on you stupid portal open up further. I need to get back to her now. I won't let this stupid spell keep me from her any longer." The voice kept on growling but there seemed to be some kind of echoing overtone to it that was very deep.
Finally the portal grew to the size of a medium sized skyscraper as the draconic being emerged from the portal fully. His clawed feet stamped down into the ground with heavy thuds as he stood before everyone completely. The form that Bahumat had decided to take this time was the one belonging to Final Fantasy 12. He stood before everyone with his great spear resting in his hand with the giant haft buried into the ground. He turned back to the still open portal and waved with his free clawed hand which caused said portal to close.
Finally he turned back away from it to look around at his surroundings. He blinked as he saw all the plants and vegetation but not anyone else. That is until he decided to look straight down and a grin spread across his giant muzzle. "Well if it isn't old Celly."
Celestia smiled warmly up at him from her spot on the ground as she continued to sit on her haunches,"Hello to you to old friend."
Bahumat chuckled,"Old friend? Well now doesn't that make me feel all my years? And why no hug Celly? To afraid that you'll hurt me?"
Celestia laughed herself so crystal clear that it sounded like little bells,"You know its no such thing. No I haven't gotten up to hug you because my son is sleeping right now between my forelegs. Can't you see him?"
Bahumat blinked for a moment as his grin disappeared. He knelt down on the ground as gently as he could so as to not make the ground shake. He focused his eyes and spotted the young foal asleep between Celestia's forelegs. The grin slowly reappeared on his face,"Ah. Such a fine young lad from appearances. It seems you have yourself a fine young son Celly."
Celestia's smile grew bigger,"Thank you Bahumat. I'm glad that you were able to get around Grogar's spell."
Bahumat's eyes became colder at the mention of Grogar as he said as calmly as he could,"So am I Celly so am I. That blasted centaur is gone and that is all that matters. But if I ever meet his son then I will end his son before anything else can happen. I won't let something like that happen ever again."
Celestia nodded calmly,"I understand Bahumat but you need not worry about his son. Tirek is is firmly in a cell in Tarturus. I do not believe that he will be getting out any time soon."
Bahumat growled,"Tartarus. Celly you know that foolish centaur should have been put to death by now. No good will come of him just being locked up. A being like that should be eradicated completely."
Celestia narrowed her eyes a bit,"Bahumat you know very well why I lock up threats to Equestria instead of destroy them."
Bahumat growled a bit longer before sighing,"Yes Celly I know. I may never agree with it but I understand. Now on to another matter at hand. Why is it you just keep calling me old friend? Do the flames of your heart still not burn for me as mine still does for you? Have they cooled after all these centuries apart?"
Celestia chuckled as a blush spread across her cheeks as she motioned for her guards to leave them for the moment. The guards quickly obeyed even if they did want to stay and know more about this strange dragon. Once they were all gone she looked back up at him with a happy smile.
"The flames of my heart burn just as brightly as they did back then if not even more so now. I have missed you for so long. But you must remember that my little ponies can be very skittish around dragons. Even one such as yourself." Celestia said warmly.
Bahumat sighed once again,"Of course Celly. Hold on a moment while I adjust my current size." He glowed with a soft light as he chanted in his home language for a moment. Then he grew smaller and smaller until he was a few feet taller than her. Bahumat then approached her with a grin on his maw,"There we are. This is much better isn't it?"
Celestia giggled with a smile as she waited for him to come close enough,"Oh yes its much better. Now come here you old scaly lizard."
Bahumat stopped where he was and protended to be offended as he held his free claw to his chest,"A scaly old lizard, me? Oh how those words hurt Celly."
Celestia gave him a playful glare,"Oh you know very well what I meant by that Bahumat."
Bahumat grinned at her after a moment,"Of course Celly." He finally came over to her and she stepped away from Solaire for the moment as he continued to sleep.
Celestia came over to him and placed her forelegs around his neck as she gave him a big old bear hug pony style. Using her super earth pony strength she was able to make the plates of his armor creak from the force of the hug. He himself seemed to be just fine as he carefully wrapped his free claw around her shoulders and hugged her back. He had to keep his grip on his spear with his other claw though.
Bahumat whispered in her ear,"Its been far to long my darling sun." Celestia giggled at this as she nuzzled his face.
"Indeed it has my lord. Indeed it has." She hugged him tightly as she moved her muzzle to his maw and kissed him on the side of his maw. This was their version of a kiss seeing as how Bahumat's maw was shaped and he didn't exactly have any lips.
He chuckled as he moved his claw back to his side,"Now let me see the young immortal again. If I am to help raise him then I'll need to get to know him."
Celestia chuckled,"Of course." She moved back over to Solaire and gently moved him to her back as she kept her wings folded. She nuzzled Solaire's cheek with her own which roused him from his sleep as she canceled her sound spell that she'd placed on him.
Solaire woke up to look up at Celestia,"Huh? What's going on Mother?"
Celestia smiled,"I'd like for you to meet that pony I was talking about Solaire. Although I guess you can't really call him a pony." She pointed with her forehoof gently at Bahumat who was still standing upright while leaning on his spear.
Solaire's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he looked up at the big dragon before him,"Wow your awesome. Who are you mister?"
Bahumat grinned as he pointed his claw at himself,"My name's Bahumat kid. I'm an old friend of your Mom's here. I'm going to be hanging around for a while to take a break from where I normally live."
Solaire looked up at him with wonder,"Wow that's so cool. So if your a dragon then why are you wearing armor? Why do you have a spear? And do you have fire breath?"
Bahumat chuckled as he replied,"Because you can never do without to much protection kid and this weaon helps to channel my power. And yes I have fire breath among other things."
Solaire started to speak up again as the ground trembled around them. Bahumat turned around back to where his own portal had been only to start growling as electricity started to spark in the air. The dimensional barriers which had slowly faded from view after he closed his portal reappeared as the electricity surged around them. The electricity turned into regular lightning that cracked across the sky and sent Solaire tumbling off Celestia's back in fear. He hit the ground with a thump but that didn't faze him as he ran right under Celestia's legs to hide underneath her stomach as she watched the lightning.
Bahumat himself was growling as he glared at the lightning that danced across the sky. Cracks appeared in the barriers in different points before they shattered and the distortions appeared. There were three of them this time that grew to half the size of Bahumat's own portal. These ones were swirling green and figures emerged from each of them.
Out of the portals stepped a being of fire with horns curling from the top of his head, a lady who's skin was as blue as the clearest ice, and another lady wearing a kimono with an aura of fire all around her. The beings who had appeared were Ifrit, Shiva, and Amaterasu. Their portals closed behind them as they looked towards the much smaller Bahumat.
Amaterasu moved a hand to her mouth as she laughed,"Hahaha. So this is where the mighty Bahumat has gone? And you have shrunk yourself down to such a pitiful size? You did that for what, that pony right there? My how the mighty have fallen."
Ifrit himself was laughing although with malicious glee,"Finally I can crush you into little pieces you smug dragon. I'll teach you to mess with me after all this time. You will beg me for mercy. Then again maybe I'll just take care of that creature behind you and the little one."
Shiva just remained silent as she looked at Bahumat with her gold eyes. A frown graced her face as she remained silent while wearing her own kimono. She tilted her head a bit as she looked at Bahumat and then to Celestia. Bahumat himself glared at the three of them as he quickly grew back to his original size although he was careful of Celestia.
"I do not know how the three of you managed to follow me here but rest assured I will be sending you back. Most especially you Ifrit for the threat you have brought against my friend and her son. You should remember full well what its like to deal with me when you threaten a harmless child!" He slammed the half of his spear into the ground as it charged with electricity. He then held it in a battle position as he prepared himself for battle.
That is when things went downhill and rather fast at that. He was about to make a charge with his weapon when blue lightning arced across his form making him roar in pain. One of his legs buckled underneath him forcing him to kneel on the ground as he held his free claw to his chest. The lightning arced across him again as she tried to move yet again. He kept roaring in pain not knowing why this was happening until he stopped trying to move. Ifrit and Amaterasu laughed at his pain and helplessness while Shiva remained quiet and watched him with unsure eyes.
Bahumat cast his magical senses about to see what could be keeping him from moving only to open his eyes wide in anger and shock when he realized that he was incapable of moving thanks to another secret spell that Grogar had woven into the dimensional barriers should they be fixed or patched up and he tried to come back through. He had been forced to leave Celestia the first time in order to heal from wounds he received in the battle against Grogar only to find that a spell from Grogar kept him from returning to Celestia.
Now here he was once again helpless as he knelt down on the ground unable to move. He growled in anger only to stop when he heard a feminine scream of pain behind him. Although it caused him much pain he moved his head to see that Celestia herself was kneeling on the ground in pain as lightning coursed along her form. She was just barely keeping above the ground enough to keep from squashing Solaire underneath herself. Solaire himself quickly scrambled out from under Celestia with squeaks of fear.
Amaterasu laughed and held up a finger which glowed with her fiery power. She then shot 5 different points of fire down towards Solaire which came right at him. He stopped a moment in fear before snapping out of it and rolling out of the way just in time as the first bolt of fire hit the ground where he'd been. He had to keep rolling as the other bolts of fire came at him and tracked his position. He was yelling and screaming in fear the whole.
Ifrit and Amaterasu laughed evilly at the misery and suffering they were causing young Solaire. Shiva herself was frowning deeply as she turned her gaze to the other two summons. She looked back at the helpless Solaire who was currently in a heap of bushes sobbing and heaving in fear at the three summons before him. She then turned her gaze to the helpless Celestia who's fear for her child ran through her eyes even as she screamed and yelled in pain as she tried to move. And lastly she looked at Bahumat who's anger burned behind his eyes even as he stayed still. He growled at them all as Amaterasu charged up more of her firey power behind her finger tip.
Shiva's eyes narrowed as she came to a decision then and there. She stepped towards Bahumat and Solaire. She walked over to them with all the grace that she normally possessed only to turn around and take a defensive stance in front of them. She kept her narrowed eyes on Amaterasu and Ifrit as she spoke with a voice as cold as ice,"I will not let you bring any harm to the young immortal. You know full well the rules that were brought before us by Lord Bahumat. We are his vassals and allies and should protect what he does."
Amaterasu let out scoff,"Ha! Are you even listening to yourself Shiva? Since when have you ever cared about what we do? Your heart is as cold as your ice is. So don't get preaching to us about being that dragon's allies. He didn't create us and we were only his vassals when he beat us down so ruthlessly in battle. Now is your chance to finally break free and be done with it."
Shiva shook her head with a glare,"No. My bond as a vassal is one of the only things I have left. I won't let you take that away from me. I will protect what Lord Bahumat does and only death will stop me."
Amaterasu growled,"Then so be it Shiva. You have chosen your fate."
Amaterasu charged up more power behind her hand as a whole as Ifrit put his hands above his head and charged up a giant ball of demon fire. "Together the both of us will erase you from existence. Not even your so called eternal ice will be able to stop us from destroying you and the pests there."
Shiva hissed before slamming her hands into the ground after kneeling and creating a large wall of ice between her and her foes. Amaterasu pulled her hand back before launching it forwards as a large beam of sun fire shot out of it and collided with the ice wall. Ifrit jumped into the air and launched his demonic ball of fire down at Shiva and had his attack hit the ice wall together. The two attacks together caused a rather large explosion that knocked Shiva off her feet completely and sent her tumbling down into the ground.
The ice wall had exploded from the force of the two attacks and now shards of ice rained down everywhere and buried themselves in the ground. Shiva may have tumbled to the ground but she quickly moved herself over the still bawling Solaire. She raised a giant dome of ice around her and the young Solaire right after she had reached out with a hand and pulled Celestia to her. It caused Celestia quite a lot of pain as the lightning danced across her body but it hurt Shiva as well. Still Shiva managed to get the ice dome around the three of them and repeatedly froze layer after layer of ice all around the dome to increase its thickness.
Amaterasu hissed before turning to Ifrit,"You take care of the dragon. I will deal with the traitor and the ones she protects." She then walked calmly towards the giant ice dome in order to start attacking it.
Bahumat roared out in anger and fury,"Don't you dare touch them Amaterasu. If you do then you will regret it believe me. I won't let you get away with going after them in the first place."
Ifrit came upon and smashed Bahumat in the jaw hard causing him to his the ground hard as the lightning coursed around his body. Bahumat roared in pain due to that as Ifrit growled,"Your one to talk oh mighty dragon. You can't even protect yourself at the moment. You won't be doing anything to the both of us. You are helpless before us and won't ever be able to do anything about it." He charged up another of his giant balls of demon fire above his head.
Amaterasu herself had started to fire away with more sun fire filled beams at the giant dome of ice. Each time she blasted the dome it cracked and hissed as the ice evaporated instantly. But the cracks would repair themselves as the dome just became thicker and thicker. She hissed at Shiva,"I will make sure that you are erased from existence in both our world and this one."
Shiva hissed back,"You'll have to get past my wall first to do that." She focused on making the ice dome around her and the ones she was protecting even thicker.
Amaterasu was about to unleash another beam of sun fire when there was a flash of light and she was forced back with a cry of pain. Her divine blood splattering onto the ground in a bright splotch. There before her was some kind of armored figure much smaller than her. That figure was none other than Kiara in the form of Kamen Rider Decade.
Kiara glared up at Amaterasu from behind her scouter pieces,"I will make sure you don't get the chance to attack them again. You have threatened the life of one of the princesses of this kingdom and her young son. I won't let that stand especially after you've threatened the life of a child."
Meanwhile Ifrit had launched his ball of fire right at Bahumat only to have it deflected right into the sky by a much smaller figure. His ball of fire launched high into the sky above the castle before exploding like a giant firework. There floating in the air in front of Bahumat was some kind of metallic figure. This figure was none other than Swift Shot using a form that he had acquired earlier that day. That form being none other than Burning Gundam's form which had allowed him to punch said fireball high into the air.
Swift was once again in an anthro form and pointed with a finger at Ifrit. "You dare to try and harm someone who can't protect themselves? You are low creature of Tarturus. I don't know exactly what you are other than that you don't belong in this world. You have threatened the life of the princess and her son the prince. And you have tried to destroy their protector who lies helpless before you. For this injustice you will pay. The wrath of the heavens will be brought to bear on you by myself."
Ifrit growled at the armored figure before him,"We shall see about that puny creature. I will destroy you just as easily as the dragon. I don't know how you deflected my fire ball but that is of little importance at the moment. All that matters is that you are destroyed for good."
From the shadows watched none other than Corruption as he observed the events unfolding before him. He frowned as he looked at the two warriors that were opposing the summons. He had worked hard to open those portals in order to bring the summons here but it might just all be for naught if these warriors defeated them. He growled to himself at his inability to do anything in this situation. It had drained him of most of his energy and power to go through the ritual he did to open those portals. And when all was said and done he only ended up with two evil summons instead of three.
He retreated back into the shadows which engulfed him as he stepped back into his own hiding place far from here. He would be safe in his hideout from prying eyes that tried to follow him. After he had left things continued for the rest of the beings in the clearing. Swift continued to hover before Bahumat as he took a martial artist stance. "Just try to defeat me you demonic beast and see what it gets you."
"Very well you puny creature. You will beg for mercy once I'm through with you." Ifrit growled back. He covered one of his claws in fire and swiped at the small figure in front of him.
Swift continued to float in the air due to his wings which were flapping behind him out the back of his armor. They were coated in a metallic white armor themselves at the moment but he could still effortlessly fly. He raised an elbow up vertically and smacked it against Ifrit's claw as it came at him. A ringing sound rang throughout the air as the claw collided with his elbow. The claw was knocked backwards with great force as Swift followed up the block with a roundhouse kick straight to Ifrit's face as he zoomed forwards.
The kick connected with Ifrit's chin sending him flying upwards about 20 feet before he collapsed back down on the ground hard. Swift glared down at Ifrit,"Hmm your not even a challenge are you?"
Ifrit growled as he quickly got back up off the ground,"I don't know how you did that you little pest but you'll pay for it." This time both of his claws became encased by his demon fire as he swiped hard with both of them.
The claws came in fast towards Swift and he sadly only had enough time to block one of the shots as he wasn't experienced enough to deal with more than one thing at a time. So he was able to knock one of the claws off course at he pinpoint blocked one with a kick but the other ended up slamming into his side. The blow sent him careening through the air to land on the ground where his hooves dug into the earth as he skidded to the side. He stopped after a moment while pain coursed through his side. The giant claw had left some nasty gashes along the side of his armor. They were right below the armpit of his right arm and ran down to the middle of his stomach. The armor sparked with the exposed wiring underneath.
Swift growled as he looked back at Ifrit,"So it would seem that you have some fight in you after all."
He sped back into the air with his wings as he charged at Ifrit again. Ifrit laughed at him because he was fully prepared this time. He swiped downwards at the blindly charging Swift only to blink in surprise as Swift rolled to the right to avoid his claw swipe. Swift followed this up with a punch right into his face causing him to howl in pain as he put a claw up to his face. He pulled it away after a little bit and spat glowing red blood on the ground as he glared at Swift. He did a rapid series of fire claw swipes at Swift who had to move out of the way of most of them as he tried to get his own kicks or punches in on Ifrit.
Ifrit was able to block his attacks with his hands and finally managed to smash Swift in the chest with a bit of his fist which sent him flying backwards into the wall of the castle. Swift groaned in pain as he was embedded into the wall of the castle but managed to get his right arm out of the wall. The armor around his arm was crushed and broken and some of it was sticking into his arm. He yelled in pain but moved it down to his waist and managed to grab hold of the handle of one of his beam sabers before he moved it to his other beam saber. He activated both sabers as Ifrit approached.
"Ha I knew you were nothing but a pathetic bug." Ifrit laughed as he held a clawed hand above his head to make a small fireball in. His other claw was coated in fire as he kept it ready just in case.
Swift winced in pain but managed to draw his freed arm back before moving it forwards and tossing the active beam sabers right at Ifrit. Ifrit brought his firey claw up to block the minuscule swords only to roar in pain as the beam punched right through the fire around his claw and into his claw itself. He quickly the fireball he had managed to create at Swift before quickly moving his free claw to his stabbed claw. He scrabbled to get the tiny handles out of his claw and managed to crush them with his big free lumbering one which of course stopped the beams.
Meanwhile the fireball launched through the air at a high speed down at Swift who was still stuck in the wall. He brought his arm around in front of him so that his elbow was out in front of him with the pinpoint deflection pad showing. He yelled in pain as the fire ball collided with his elbow at a precise angle. The fireball was launched back up into the air because of the deflection but a small part of it still exploded against his elbow causing the armor there to burn and melt making him yell in pain even more. His arm then hung against his side as a complete mess of twisted metal and other things.
He just couldn't stop yelling while stuck in the wall as he desperately tried to pry himself out of the wall. Ifrit was furious as his stabbed claw bled a bit from the two small wounds he'd received. He growled and engulfed his claw in fire again which cauterized his wounds before turning back to Swift. Swift finally managed to pry himself from the wall and landed on the ground hard. He ended up kneeling on the ground as the pain threatened to overwhelm him.
Ifrit raised his claw above his head as he growled,"This is the end you pest!" He then swiped downwards with his claw.
Swift closed his eyes as he spoke,"I can't move. I should just accept that this is the end." That's when he felt a presence appear in the back of his mind that whispered to him.
"Its not over yet. Its never over till your actually dead. You just have to keep on Trying," the voice whispered to him. "I am still willing to fight and I will move this body if needed."
Swift's eyes opened in surprise even as the claw descended down towards him. Time seemed to slow as he looked up at the approaching claw and he felt the chest armor open up to reveal the red core along with the electronics inside. It glowed with a fiery orange light as he coughed up a bit of blood,"You're right. This isn't the end. I'll put my all into one final attack. Thank you whoever you are."
He stood up back onto both legs as he held his remaining good fist into the air as he yelled,"I'll put all my remaining power into this fist!" His whole form glowed golden as the 6 things on the back of his armor spread out and the red halo appeared over them to signal power as his armor became golden. Then it all spread out into his fist as he yelled and jumped upwards meeting Ifrit's fist and knocking it back upwards causing Ifrit to fall to his back again.
Ifrit growled in pain but got back up as he glared at the once again standing pest as the pest's fist glowed. "Why must you always get back up. Just die!" He started to charge another giant fireball.
"You've done enough you monster. It all ends now." Swift Shot yelled as he glowed and then launched his fist forwards only for a blue sparkling phantom version of himself launched forwards with fully repaired armor straight at Ifrit.
He himself had disappeared completely from view as the blue phantom version sped through the air towards Ifrit. Ifrit stopped charging his fireball as he swept downwards with a claw,"This is all just a joke." His claw passed through the phantom version which disappeared in a flurry of sparkles only to reappear after the claw had passed through.
Blue energy swirled around its fist before it connected with Ifrit's chest as Swift's voice roared out,"Seiken!" The blue phantom then disappeared in a flash of light.
Immediately afterwards a green phantom version appeared which used its other fist which swirled with green energy to lash out at Ifrit. It connected as Swift continued to roar,"Shippu!" The green phantom disappeared as a red phatom took its place with red energy swirling around the fist to connect with Ifrit's chest. Swift roared out the next word,"Soten!" The red phantom disappeared to be replaced with a yellow phantom that roared through the air from the red phantom's last position. Ifrit had been knocked through the air backwards and the yellow phantom twirled in the air before delivering its punch into Ifrit's chest. Swift's voice roared out another word,"Hagan!"
The yellow phantom dissolved into sparkles to be replaced by the next colored phantom. The next phatom was silver colored and instead of punching Ifrit it passed up by his face and kneed him hard there causing him to fly up further into the air. Swift's voice roared out another word when that happened,"Senko!" The silver phantom disappeared into sparkles as well. Then from high in the air a purple phantom appeared with glowing purple energy around its fist as it connected with Ifrit's chest. Swift's voice shouted out another word,"Ryusei!" The purple phantom disappeared in a flash of sparkles as finally one last phantom appeared the color of burning gold. It moved its fist up into the air with determination before it knelt and slammed its fist into the ground. Swift's voice let out one final roar,"Reppaku!" A jagged line split across the ground before eruptive fire exploded outwards from that line and smashed into Ifrit with one final explosion as Ifrit roared out in pain.
The fire engulfed him completely and his body glowed before turning back into a small crystal known as magicite. Said magicite dropped right into a small swirling green portal that appeared which sent him back to one of the many worlds of the Final Fantasy universe. The gold phantom disappeared leaving behind a rather broken and battered Swift who's broken wings hung down behind his back a broken mess. He huffed and puffed before he collapsed to the ground on his face in pain.
He glowed with light as the soul unison he'd been using ended and the chip took most of the damage upon itself. He still had broken wings but other than that he only had nasty bruises and slightly damaged legs. He was still fully unconscious as his Archiver appeared on his leg and the Burning Gundam chip was ejected from it back into his satchel. The image of the Burning Gundam upon it was shattered into many pieces. Then with a flash both satchel and Archiver disappeared in a flash of light as his unconscious body lay there. Meanwhile the other battle had progressed in the mean time during his own fight.
Amaterasu glared at the figure in front of her with a glare,"Get out of my way you little bug." She put both of her hands forwards and fired beam of sun fire at Kiara faster than Kiara had anticipated.
The beams of fire collided with Kiara and sent her flying through the air to land somewhere out of sight. Kiara screamed in pain as she flew through the air and landed on the ground. Kiara's armor had sustained heavy damage from being hit directly by those powerful beam. Her armor had cracked all over and her sight had disappeared for now as she lay unconcious on the ground from the attacks. She wouldn't be moving for a bit. Amaterasu then turned back to the dome to continue what she had started.
Amaterasu herself was less than happy at Shiva's interference with what she considered to be her fun. She was happy that Bahumat was trapped where he was at the moment unable to move. She smirked as she kept firing away with her sun fire beams at the annoying ice dome. She looked back for a moment to where Bahumat was only to see him glaring back at her dangerously. He was still and unable to move at all but his presence still unnerved her.
She looked away from him and back towards the ice dome as she put more and more power into her sun fire beams. Finally two of her beams finally managed to shatter the ice dome completely. Shiva immediately put herself in front of Celestia and Solaire as she crossed her arms in front of herself. She was panting from having to continually use her energy to keep adding layers to the ice dome.
Amaterasu growled as she raised her hand as she charged up power,"This is the end for you Shiva. Your a traitor to us for staying on that filthy dragon's side and for that I will return you to your magicite before destroying it."
She brought her hand forwards and fired one giant sun fire beam at Shiva who screamed in pain as it connected with her. She was lifted up off the ground as the beam engulfed her before her form glowed. It turned back into the small magicite which quickly fell to the ground with a soft clinking sound. Amaterasu smiled in satisfaction before pointing a finger at the magicite. She fired a small beam of sun fire down at the magicite only to growl in annoyance as a form darted out of somewhere and grabbed the small crystal. The beam collided with the ground where the magicite had been a moment before and Amaterasu looked to see who had interfered.
She blinked in confusion to see that it had been Solaire who had grabbed the magicite. He growled up at her having gotten over his overwhelming fear once the ice dome had enclosed over him and his mother. He had managed to calm down as Shiva knelt down among them and his mother whispered calming things to him. He had finally gotten his emotions back in control as he glared at the lady before him who dared try to destroy his protector and his mother.
"I don't know who you are miss but you're just a great big jerk. Why don't you go back home where you came from and leave us alone."He demanded with a hoof pointed at her.
Amaterasu glared down at him,"How dare you speak to me that way you little brat. I will destroy you!" She pointed her hand at him to fire another of her sun fire beams at him.
It was then that a figure leaped down to stand in front of Solaire as he continued pointing a hoof at her. The figure was none other than the pest that Amaterasu had brushed aside before with her sun fire beams. She growled as she gazed at the figure who's armor had mostly repaired itself somehow.
Amaterasu growled,"How is this possible? How is it you are back up so quickly you little pest. I melted that armor of yours into molten slag."
The figure wagged a claw tip back at her,"That's what you think you old hag. Turns out having the power to destroy worlds can be used to heal oneself somewhat. Pretty nifty trick. Now what else can you do?"
Amaterasu growled,"A lot more than you think you little pest." She pushed power into her hand before making a weapon appear in it. It was a great long sword with fiery designs down the blade.
She growled as she walked towards the figure as she held her sword out before her,"I'll just have to take care of you the old fashioned way."
Kiara looked up at Amaterasu before replying,"We'll see witch." Her armor still bore cracks on the chest and shoulder pauldrons but she had managed to heal her body and a majority of the damage using the power that she felt inside of herself in this form.
She wouldn't be able to pull that kind of thing off again though as it had taken a majority of her internal magic and the form's power to do so. She could have died had she not done so though. For now she moved her free claw to the holder and opened it while using her other claw to extract a card from the holder. She held the card up in front of herself casually as she looked at the approaching Amaterasu lazily.
She called back to Solaire behind her,"Hey kid. Get out of here. Go on back over there to your mother." Solaire looked up at her for a moment before nodding and scrambling out of there.
She then flicked the card down into the slot on the top of her belt buckle that was the driver. A warning sound blared out around her as she did that and she brought both claws together to the handles of the driver and pushed them together. A male voice spoke up as words appeared from the red jewel in the center of the driver. The voice spoke the words that had appeared,"Kamen Ride! Kabuto!"
She was engulfed in light as her armor shifted to resemble Kamen Rider Kabuto's on her but made for a griffon. That and the earth symbols were still in the same places on her new armor along with the belt being the same. She opened her card holder again and withdrew yet another card before flicking it down into the now open slot of her driver. She pushed the handles closed together as the male voice spoke out the next words that appeared,"Attack Ride! Clock Up!"
She disappeared from view right as Amaterasu walked up and swung her fiery sword downwards at where she had been standing. The sword collided with the ground in a heavy thump as Amaterasu blinked in confusion,"Huh? Where did that pest go."
That's when she was sent flying to the ground in a heap as she felt an incredible force hit her right in the stomach. She let out a huge gasp as the wind was knocked out of her. Her sword clattered to the ground out of her grip as she put her hands to her stomach. She took a moment to regain her breath wondering just what had hit her so hard. She slowly got back up onto her feet and picked her sword back up.
Kiara was right back where she had been and started to wag her talon tauntingly at her. "You'll have to be faster than that if you want to hit me." She pulled another card out of her holder and flicked it down into the slot before pushing the handles together. The male voice spoke out,"Kamen Ride! Faiz!" Her armor shifted to that of Kamen Rider Faiz although suited for a griffon rather than a human.
Amaterasu growled as she walked forwards again,"I don't know how you did that but I'll make sure you don't get the chance to do it again."
Kiara snorted,"You keep making all these threats but they are all rather empty aren't they."
Amaterasu screamed in fury as she swung her sword yet again. Kiara rolled underneath the sword swung and came back up standing as she pulled another card out and flicked it into her driver. The voice spoke up,"Form Rider! Faiz Accel!" Some plates on her armor shifted to the sides to reveal circuitry underneath as a some kind of device appeared on her foreleg. She grunted as she rolled backwards due to Amaterasu swinging the sword back her way again. She came back up again and pressed a button on the device making a different male voice speak up as a revving sound could be heard,"Start up!" Then a countdown timer appeared with ten seconds on the timer.
Kiara took a stance as Amaterasu brought her sword down again,"Die you little pest."
Kiara laughed,"This will be over in ten seconds flat!" She then faded out of view again as if she was simply to fast for Amaterasu's eyes to track.
That's when she felt the pain in her stomach yet again as she was forced to drop her sword. Then she was launched up into the air and felt great force hit her all over her body as she screamed in pain. The force hit all over and so quickly that she couldn't keep up and her energy depleted to nothing. Her body glowed before turning back into its small magicite whic promptly dropped down into a small glowing green portal. The portal closed up and whisked her back to one of the worlds of Final Fantasy.
Kiara reappeared back where she had been standing as the timer ran down to zero and the voice from before spoke up,"Time Out!" After it said that her armor glowed red before disapating completely into nothingness leaving just her behind. Her archiver appeared in a flash and the soul chip she had been using ejected from it. It landed back in her open satchel before both Archiver and Satchel disappeared with a flash of light.
Kiara stood there for a moment feeling completely drained. She was missing her feathers in places as jagged cuts ran across her chest due to the damage she had sustained from Amaterasu. They were bleeding a little and the soul chip had only been able to take about half of the damage upon itself. It would take her a while to recover from this. She wobbled before dropping back down onto all fours and putting a claw up to her chest as she grit her teeth in pain.
Bahumat himself had watched the whole fight and was rather impressed by the scrappy young griffon. She focused on the spell that was keeping him in place and growled as he realized that the solution was so simple. He reached out with his magic senses and tugged on a couple of loose threads in the spell and pulled them apart. The spell had been sitting for so long unused that it had decayed quite a lot so it was rather easy for him to pick it apart. After he had done so he was able to stand up easily before making his way over to where Celestia was at. He quickly pulled apart the spell that was around her as well before turning to look back at where the two beings who fought for good were at. He sighed as he realized that the pegasus was in worse shape then the gryphon.
Celestia noticed their condition as well and quickly called for the guards to come back and get the two to the medical wing of the castle. The guards came as quickly as possible and a couple of pairs of medical guards were able to come forth and get the two exhausted combatants onto stretchers. They then proceeded to take them back inside the castle to get them to the infirmary. They went as fast and safely as possible so that the two of them would be fine as soon as possible.
It took convincing to get Kiara to get on the stretcher though as she kept on saying she'd be fine. It took several guards logically pointing things out to her and tapping on her wounds to get her to relent. Once on the stretcher she just let herself feel the pain and blacked out after a moment. They would be just fine now though once in the infirmary.
Bahumat turned back to Celestia after most of the guards had retreated back inside. "Well I feel rather stupid that I was unable to figure out how to get out of the spell sooner than I did."
Celestia gave him a tired smile as she replied,"It is fine my love. For now we should get back inside the castle ourselves so that we can recover." Her coat was stained by scorch marks all over where the lightning had danced across her body.
Bahumat sighed,"I know. Let's get back inside. I do not think its safe outside at the moment for young Solaire there."
Solaire himself was currently sitting underneath his mother's stomach as she stood in place. He was holding the magicite in his hooves in wonder as he looked at it. He frowned as he held it up and it pulsed with a cool blue light. He brought it closer to his face up near his chest only to yelp in surprise as it started floating on its own accord. It floated to his chest for a moment before floating inside completely and disappeared from view. He blinked in surprise and touched his chest wondering where the heck the crystal had gone.
Bahumat saw what happened and chuckled a bit,"Do not worry young Solaire. Shiva has simply decided that she wants to help and protect you. She is residing inside your heart and soul at the moment waiting for the time when you need her most. She also needs to recover her energy."
Solaire looked up at Bahumat with wonder in his eyes but concern also,"Really? Gee I hope that she'll be alright. She seemed really nice after all."
Celestia gave him a small warm smile as she spoke up,"Indeed my little sun. Now let us get back inside. I think we've all had enough excitement as it is for now." She used her magic to put him on her back as she walked slowly into the castle.
Bahumat ended up reducing his size yet again to be several feet taller than Celestia as he walked behind her slowly as well. He continued to hold his spear in his one claw as they walked along. He noticed the guards taking their positions for their assigned patrols and nodded. He was glad that Celestia had listened to his advice about patrols and such.
As they walked further inside the castle Corruption reappeared in the shadows. He said not a word but his eyes burned with anger as he watched them walk on. His minions had been defeated yet again and he had to figure out another way to get what he wanted. It looked like the dragon would be staying for now but he hoped to get rid of it in time.
He stepped back into the shadows and his hideaway just as a patrol started to come by where he was. He was going to do his best to work out a new plan of attack to keep his grand plan on schedule. He might just have to do things in person rather than through proxies. So for the moment he stayed in his hideout plotting and scheming.
The day ended rather quickly from there as Celestia went about her remaining duties while an illusion spell covered her body to give the appearance that nothing had happened to her. Meanwhile Bahumat stayed out of view of all the nobles and regular ponies as he watched over Solaire. It wouldn't do to let Solaire go off by himself for the moment so he needed to be watched. And who better to do the watching then Bahumat himself who felt it was his duty to do so anyway. He couldn't let the young immortal get himself hurt after all.
Once the day came to a close it was time for dinner and Celestia was more than happy to get to the dining hall where she would be having a meal with her sister and niece. She could finally introduce her old friend to Luna although she suspected that Luna would figure out the connection between the two of them rather quickly. Still this was something that had to be done and couldn't be avoided seeing as how Bahumat would be staying here for a long time.
She ended up arriving at the dining hall rather quickly with Solaire on her back and Bahumat in tow. She stopped in front of the golden doors to the dining hall before taking a deep breath and opening them with her magic. She trotted inside rather quickly as Bahumat's steps were quiet and light behind her somehow. Bahumat cloaked himself in an invisibility spell for some reason. Luna had not looked up at their approach yet but did a moment later. She frowned up at Celestia with a worried frown on her face as Celestia sat down in her chair.
The parasite that Luna had removed had managed to make it back to Eclipse and back inside of her. But it would take some time before it could bring Eclipse out of her deep sleep. Luna herself had tried to wake Eclipse back up via magic spells but nothing had happened. She was growing increasingly worried and just did not know what to do at all.
She spoke up after a moment to Celestia,"Sister I believe there is something wrong with young Eclipse. She has been in a deep sleep for a while it seems and I can't wake her up. It isn't a coma thank goodness but she still won't wake up. I have tried multiple spells but nothing seems to be working at all."
Celestia ended up frowning herself,"That is rather odd. Just give it time though and I'm sure she'll wake up on her own."
Luna nodded her head after a moment before she frowned for a different reason,"Tia where is this friend of yours that you spoke of. The guards alerted me that he arrived yet I do not see him around. Has he already retired for the night?"
Celestia smiled at her warmly,"Oh he is around. He just wants to surprise you. He watched Solaire for me all afternoon while I tended to my duties. And I think now would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to him. Bahumat please stop hiding."
Bahumat appeared in a flash of light as his illusion spell dropped. He was grinning down at Luna who's jaw had dropped. "Hey there little princess. It seems that your sister here didn't tell you about me till recently. Makes sense seeing as what you went through. But I'm sure my magnificence speaks for itself doesn't it. You don't need your sister's words anymore."
Luna frowned for a moment and then gave him a small smile,"It is nice to meet you Lord Bahumat. And I see you are just as boastful as a certain friend of mine. I would suggest you tone it down or you'll fall flat on your head from how much air its got in it."
Bahumat looked at her for a moment before breaking out into laughter. He turned to Celestia,"Oh dear. Celestia, you didn't tell me your sister has quite the sense of humor. I like her already."
Bahumat leaned against his spear as he looked down at Luna and Eclipse. He just grinned as he watched them with his bright blue eyes. Celestia was chuckling a bit,"Oh. I thought I had told you about her. I guess it slipped my mind."
Luna smiled softly over at the two of them,"It is good to see that you both have such a strong friendship. It is nice to know that my sister had some comfort while I was in exile."
Bahumat looked down at Celestia with a soft twinkle in his eyes as he replied,"Indeed. She seemed oh so lonely until I came along."
Celestia was blushing a tiny bit as she looked back up at him with a twinkle in her eyes as well,"Indeed. When he arrived and I made friends with him the loneliness I felt was pushed back for the first time."
Luna was observing the two of them rather intensely and soon enough a grin spread across her muzzle,"You two are the strongest of friends it seems and maybe even more?"
Celestia's blush increased as she looked away,"We're just friends Luna, nothing more."
Bahumat put a hand to his chest to feign hurt,"Just friends Celestia? That hurts it really does."
That just confirmed it for Luna right then and there,"Ha. I knew you two had to be more than friends. Sister you know you can't hide your blushes at all with your pure white coat."
Celestia sighed as her blush stayed in place as she looked back at Luna,"You have me there Luna. You would be correct in assuming that me and Bahumat are more than friends. We were dating before the final battle against Grogar ripped us apart. But the letters we sent each other kept our love burning if not more brightly than before."
Bahumat nodded,"Indeed. Luna your sister's letters helped me get through some rather hard times in the past. I have had to see countless worlds end or almost end due to some mortal's stupidity. It was thanks to your sister's letters that I found the strength to keep on caring and step in to help save those worlds."
Luna smiled happily at all this,"That is good to hear. I wish you two the best of luck in your continuing relationship."
Bahumat nodded,"Thank you princess. I too hope that our relationship can grow ever stronger."
Celestia smiled warmly as her blush stayed the same,"Indeed. We can only hope to see what the future brings us."
Bahumat's grin softened to a smile as he knelt down on one knee next to Celestia as he had a box appear in his free claw,"Indeed. But would it not be best to see what the future brings us both together as something more than special someone's to each other. Celestia would you be my mate?" He carefully used a claw tip to open up the small box to reveal an ornately formed horn ring with a special gem in the center that seemed to hold an entire galaxy within it.
Celestia's hooves went up to her face as Luna, Eclipse, and Solaire all watched on in awe. Celestia's eyes teared up as she stared down at the ring and the softly smiling Bahumat. She looked back down at the ring as she started to cry large tears. It was a good thing that Solaire was in a seat of his own at the moment because of what happened next. Celestia jumped from her seat with a large cry of joy as she tackled Bahumat clear off his hind legs. He fell to the ground and completely dropped his spear in order to catch and hold her.
Celestia started to cry into his chest as she shouted,"Yes. A thousand times yes!" Bahumat's grin turned into a rather goofy one as he held her close and gently nuzzled her cheek. "That makes me happy to hear my love." Celestia just continued to cry into his chest as he set the box in his claw down on the ground and withdrew the ring. He gently placed it on her horn as he nuzzled her cheek again.
So here we see what can happen when two old friends have a reunion and come together for a mutual goal. How will Celestia's relationship with Bahumat progress in the future? And what is to come of Eclipse since it will soon be the end of her week? And just how will Solaire cope with the loss of a family member so soon after gaining one? Guess you'll just have to tune in next time.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I figured it was finally time for Bahumat himself to make an appearance. Hope you all have a good day.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
(presented by myself and guest author Sonic Rainboom Dash)
It was nearing the end of the first week of Eclipse having been adopted and brought to Canterlot to live. The Archiver was growing even closer to completing the program that would separate Souls from Nightmare Moon. A couple of more days had passed and it was now Saturday in the week. As everyone knows Eclipse had managed to watch Bahumat propose to Celestia and that was due to the fact that the parasite had finally managed to wake her up in time to see it. After the whole proposal from Bahumat, Luna had been so happy to see Eclipse awake and hungry. Things had gone on from there in a sort of blur.
Unfortunately Kiara and Swift Shot had ended up having to stay in the infirmary for the past couple of days. Swift Shot would be fine for the most part as some engineers had managed to fix his legs so he was up and walking again. His wings were fine as well thanks to the soul chip having taken most of the damage onto itself. He was able to make it back to Ponyville where he was forced by Rainbow Dash to take it easy for the past couple of days.
Kiara herself was nowhere near as lucky as Swift Shot. Kiara's wings were both so broken and messed up from her battle with Amaterasu despite her healing herself that they were both in casts. Then there was the fact that she seemed to be moving real sluggishly. This was due to the fact that a gryphon's internal magic reserves were far different from a pony's. Her magic reserves were actually bigger than a pony's but ran out rather quickly compared to a pony's. She had used so much energy with her last transformation coupled with the form's own power that she'd run out of energy and more. She'd ended up using her actual life force to pull off her last move. It didn't cause her to age but she would be weak for quite a while. So for the most part she had been sleeping quite a lot.
With all of the excitement that had gone on in Canterlot this past week, Luna felt that maybe getting away from the castle might help herself and Eclipse a bit. So she decided that she'd take a couple of days to vacation in Ponyville since it was nearby and relatively peaceful. Besides she figured that going there would give her an excuse to meet with her potential student's parents. She could get their answer directly rather than waiting on Rarity to send her a reply on what her parents had said. She knew that earlier that week she'd called the mane six to come meet her daughter.
She felt that Rarity had done an admirable job of acting as if she'd never met Eclipse before. Luna had ended up visiting Rarity in her dreams to ask her to act as if she'd never met Eclipse before so that the rest of the mane six wouldn't wonder how she'd already met Eclipse. She didn't want the rest of the mane six to know about how Rarity and her sister were involved in the incident earlier that week with the robotic monkey. And as for Eclipse she had told Eclipse to act as if she'd never met Rarity before. Eclipse had asked why but Luna had asked her to just trust her and do so. Eclipse had agreed to but not without reservations.
So all and all now would be a good time to go to Ponyville to relax after all the things that had happened. She just wanted a couple days of rest without something big happening. What she didn't know was that by going to Ponyville she was setting things in motion that would reveal the true evil in this world and bring her sorrow and heartbreak. But she didn't know that yet. Luna ended up leaving the castle Saturday morning with a contingent of her night guards as she headed for Ponyville after Celestia and Bahumat both bade her farewell.
It had been decided that Luna would take Solaire with her so that Solair and Eclipse could have more bonding time. Solaire had been having a blast with Eclipse the past couple of days despite the fact that Eclipse couldn't move around that much without the spell from Luna that took away pain. They had been able to bond and Solair had been able to grow closer to his cousin who he viewed as more of a sister than anything at this point. He'd actually grown rather protective of her after seeing just how easily she was injured now.
Luna rode on a chariot holding Eclipse in one foreleg while Solaire rode on her back happily chatting away just talking to quiet Eclipse. Eclipse just kept up her soft smile as her cousin chatted away about everything under the sun to her. Luna herself was smiling softly as she just let her guards carry her in the chariot all the way to Ponyville.
Finally they arrived high in the air above Ponyville near Princess Twilight's castle. She directed her guards to land on the ground behind the castle as she turned her attention back to the two young ones that had accompanied her. She spoke softly to them,"Alright young ones. We are here in Ponyville. We are going to be going into Princess Twilight's castle. We'll be staying here a couple of days before we head back up to Canterlot."
Solaire piped up,"Ok Aunt Luna." He just looked around the place with a sense of wonder and curiosity.
Eclipse spoke up softly,"Yes mommy." She went silent herself as her eyes started to droop. For some strange reason she just felt really tired. Probably because it was the day and her sleep schedule had been messed with yesterday.
Luna directed her guards to follow with the few suitcases that she had packed with the things she needed for herself and the two young ones. She walked towards the entrance to Twilight's castle with a grace only an alicorn could have. The two night guards who had pulled her in her chariot set about getting the luggage in the back of the chariot. They quickly grabbed the suitcases and rested them on their backs before they caught up to Princess Luna and started walking behind her like they usually did.
Luna walked around to the entrance of the castle and on up the steps to the door. She stopped for a moment at the doors as the fur on her back rippled as she shivered. It felt like someone was watching her but she didn't know why she was getting this feeling. She looked all around the area to see if she could find someone that could be watching her only to frown when she realized that there was no one there. Solaire himself was curious as to what his Aunt Luna was looking around for so he looked around as well. He saw nothing himself and shrugged before he went back to chatting with Eclipse.
Luna used her magic to open up the door of the castle knowing it would be unlocked because Twilight hardly ever locked anything. She moved inside of the castle with her guards following right behind her. She called out,"Hello? Twilight Sparkle are you here?"
There was the sound of hoof steps coming from behind a door in the hall. The door opened and Spike the dragon popped out from behind the door,"Oh hey princess. Twilight's in her library at the moment. I can lead you right to her. We have a room ready for your use when your ready for it."
Luna nodded her head,"Thank you Spike. If you could please lead us to Twilight right away that would be appreciated."
Spike smiled,"Sure thing. Right this way Princess Luna." He waved her along with a claw as he headed on down the hall towards another door.
It took them upwards of 5 minutes before they finally came to the door that lead to the library. Spike stopped outside of the door before reaching up with a claw to the handle as he turned his head to Luna,"If you wouldn't mind waiting a minute princess. Twilight's deep into her research at the moment. She's trying to find a way to get in contact with her friend who hasn't been seen all week since she rescued Eclipse there. I need to be the one to pull her out of her research otherwise something bad could happen."
Luna frowned but nodded her head,"Very well then. But please hurry. I do not know how much longer I can keep Solaire occupied. He wishes to be outside so he can play. I do not think Eclipse will be a problem. Normally she is sleeping by this point and I know that she will probably fall asleep fairly soon." She looked down at Eclipse to see how close to falling asleep she was.
Eclipse was lying in her foreleg with her eyes only open a crack as she fought to stay awake. Luna chuckled as she looked down at her daughter before turning her attention back to Spike. "It would seem that she will be asleep in only a moment,"Luna said warmly." She turned her attention back to Solaire who looked disappointed that Eclipse was going to sleep.
Spike nodded his head,"Right. Well I'm going in." He pushed open the door and slipped inside through the small crack that he had made.
Luna had to wait for about 10 minutes as she proceeded to hear Twilight yelp inside of the library followed by what sounded like an argument. Twilight sounded really panicked and stressed out as she argued with spike. Eventually it sounded like Spike had managed to calm Twilight down before she could hear him walking back over to the door. After he opened the door a crack, he popped his head out with a strained smile.
"Well Princess she is ready to see you now. Um please don't ask about her friend right now. She's stressed out enough as it is and it's a bit of a touchy subject for her,"Spike said in worry.
Luna nodded,"Of course. Thank you young spike." She walked inside the library once Spike had opened up the door.
Once Luna had walked inside, she looked around to find Twilight. She spotted Twilight sitting at a desk towards the far side of the room with a huge pile of books on either side of her. Her mane was frazzled and individual strands were sticking up out of it. She looked up from the book she had been pouring over to give Luna a strained smile. Luna gave her a gentle frown as she walked over towards Twilight.
Luna asked her in concern,"Are you feeling well Twilight Sparkle? It looks as if you haven't slept for the past couple of days."
Twilight ran a hoof through her mane as she replied as normally as possible,"I'm just fine Princess. I've just been into my latest research project as you can see. I just can't stop researching and studying. So much to do and learn."
Luna sighed,"Twilight Sparkle you need to go and lie down. I know that you are concerned for your missing friend but you won't do any good for your friend if you are a nervous wreck. And as far as I can see that it what you are right now."
Twilight looked back up at her,"I can't do that princess. He has to be found. He hasn't been seen in a week by anybody. He hasn't sent a message to anybody least of all me. He's probably out there still badly hurt and unable to send a message. He could have been captured by some villains or something. I have to find someway to contact him."
Luna shook her head,"Not right now Twilight. Go and sleep for now. The solution should come to you once you've had enough sleep." Luna was looking down at her sternly.
Twilight sighed as she looked up at her fellow princess,"Fine princess. All this worrying won't do any good." She got up from the desk as she used her magic to quickly put the books all back in their proper places.
Luna nodded her head,"I will be retiring to my room for a bit before going outside to let young Solaire play. When I have time I will see about doing what I can to help you find your friend."
Twilight gave her a more genuine smile,"Thank you Princess. I can use all the help I can get right now."
Luna gave a tiny nod before she left the room herself. One of her guards came over to her,"Princess, we have found the room that has been prepared for you. If you would follow us we can lead you to it."
Luna simply replied,"Thank you private." She followed behind the guard and his partner as they lead Luna to the room that had been prepared for her.
Once in the room she set about adjusting it to make it more comfortable for herself and the two young ones. She set up large draperies in the large windows of the room so that the sunlight was blocked out completely. She also used her magic to make actual glass windows appear in the long archway like window holes. She also used her magic to make sure that locks appeared on them which she latched shut. She followed all this up by using her magic to teleport a crib into the room for Eclipse to sleep in while she took Solaire outside.
She looked down at Eclipse to see if she was still awake. Eclipse was actually fast asleep in her fore leg with tiny snores emitting from her muzzle. She had a small smile on her muzzle while Luna held her. Luna set her down into the crib gently while she hummed the lullaby she normally did for Eclipse. Eclipse's small smile grew wider as the lullaby was hummed to her. After setting her down, Luna looked down at Eclipse for a moment before leaning down and kissing her softly on the forehead.
She whispered quietly,"Oh my little moon. I'm so sorry for all the suffering you've had to go through. I promise I will find a way to heal you. I will help you regain that which was taken from you by the parasite."
She then quietly moved out of the room to let Eclipse sleep in peace while she went to go outside with young Solaire. Solaire looked at Eclipse from his Aunt's back as they moved across the room and out of it. His eyes slowly became filled with determination to make sure she stayed safe even while they were out here in this supposedly safe place. He turned back to his Aunt after they left the room and stayed quiet.
Luna took them outside to the ground behind the castle before carefully setting Solaire down using her magic. Solaire looked up at his Aunt as Luna smiled gently down at him. "Ok young Solaire. You may play to your heart's content for a few hours. I will be watching you while you do so. Don't leave my line of sight as I don't want you running off where I can't see you."
Solaire listened quietly to his Aunt as she said her piece,"Yes Aunt Luna. Thank you for letting me come with you and Eclipse."
Luna continued to smile warmly at him,"It was no trouble at all nephew. Now go ahead and go play. I believe one of my guards will play with you if you just ask nicely."
Solaire's eyes started to sparkle a bit after Luna said her last statement,"Really?"
Luna chuckled,"Yes nephew. I am certain that the guard you asked would be happy to play with you if you wanted."
Solaire grinned happily as he raced over to one of the guards who was standing at attention the way guards always seemed to do around here. He looked up at the guard who was actually a mare. The armor just made her look like all the other guards because of all the enchantments that were on the armor. "Excuse me. Would you play with me please miss?"
The mare smiled as she pulled off her helmet and set it on the ground,"I'd be happy to prince Solaire. Just give me a minute to take off my armor."
Solaire smiled,"Ok." He waited as patiently as he could for the guard to take off her armor. It didn't take her long to do so and soon she was chasing him all over the area in a friendly game of tag.
Luna watched on happily as she used her magic to cast a spell that made a tea kettle appear with a small teacup. She poured herself some tea before she slowly started sipping it. Heaven knows that she need the caffeine from the tea in order to keep herself awake throughout the day. If she didn't then she would most likely fall asleep which is not what she wanted right now while she watched Solaire. So she relaxed into a lying position as she watched Solaire play with her guard.
Corruption himself was currently in his lair in a far away place looking through a crystal ball into different worlds and dimensions. He was currently searching for the next creature or villain he'd bring to Equestria to unwittingly do his bidding. After the failed attempt with the summon creatures of the Final Fantasy Universe, he decided that maybe smaller and smarter would be better. He finally came upon a universe that seemed to be filled to the brim with different superheroes and supervillains.
He searched across the universe till he settled upon one particular city within it that seemed to be teeming with all sorts of villains and only one super hero that single handedly kept them at bay. His gaze settled on one villain in particular that seemed to be the biggest rival for the super hero of the city. This super villain was normally dressed in a suit but his face seemed to be painted like some sort of clown. He seemed to be completely deranged at times but completely sane at other times.
This villain could possibly be what he needed in order to fulfill his plans but at the same time he seemed incredibly dangerous and might just throw things askew. So he set his crystal ball to look at the hero of the city where the villain was located. What he saw pleased him because he realized that this hero would be able to contain and neutralize the villain he had found just in case things got out of hand. So Corruption decided that this villain would be the one he would use for his plan this time. But before he would go about bringing that villain here, Corruption would check around to see just what his foes were up to at the moment.
Corruption refocused his crystal ball to find just where Princess Luna was at the moment. After it had refocused on Princess Luna, he could see that she was laying down in a grassy field watching a young half dragon hybrid playing with two of her royal guards. He looked to see if young Eclipse was with her and was rather pleased to see that Eclipse wasn't with her. He refocused his crystal to see where exactly young Eclipse was at that moment in time. A malevolent grin spread across his muzzle as the shadows continued to wrap around his skeletal bones and form skin for him at the moment. This is what allowed him to smile like he was at the moment.
The gears in Corruption's mind turned as he watched little Eclipse who was sleeping in the crib at the moment. Maybe instead of going with his original plan of using the villain he could corrupt the young princess and turn her to the side of evil. He was unaware that Eclipse was actually the fusion of Nightmare Moon and Shattered Souls. Corruption gazed upon Eclipse through his crystal ball for a moment later before he turned from it and moved to his work area. It was here in his work area that he performed his many rituals and other spells to spread corruption and darkness throughout the land.
Corruption moved around his work area as his horn glowed with a black light as he grabbed materials in his magical aura. He brought all the materials he needed over to a circular area of his work area. The materials he had grabbed were just clay and stone which he set down on the ground a little bit later. Then his horn glowed with even more power as he fired off a spell which shaped all the stone and clay into the shape of a pony. Once that was done he cast all sorts of illusion spells on the stone pony to make it look like a real pony. He had basically made a really high end stone golem that he would be able to control just like a puppet.
After he finished making the golem, he used his magic to open up a shadow portal into the interior of Twilight's castle right into the room that had been given to Luna to use. He was pleased that there had been plenty of shadows for him to use in the first place to open the portal. He could have done the job himself but he didn't want to take a chance that he would be caught in the act and attacked if such a thing happened. That is why he decided to use this golem instead so that if his golem was discovered it wouldn't be able to be traced back to him. He had made sure to include spells in the golem that would erase his magic signature and mask it while he was controlling it.
He quickly moved back over to his crystal ball as he fired off another series of spells directly from his horn. One of the spells hit the golem he had just finished creating, while the other hit the crystal ball he was standing beside. The spells that he had cast connected the golem to his crystal ball so that Corruption would be able to control the stone golem through it. He decided to test the crystal ball to see if he would be able to successfully control the golem with the spells he had just cast. Corruption issued a couple of basic commands to the golem to have it move around the work area. He was pleased to see that it followed his commands perfectly as he looked into the crystal balls and saw things from its perspective as it moved about the room.
Satisfied that the golem was working perfectly, Corruption commanded it to move through the shadow portal into the room belonging to Luna. The golem moved into the shadowy portal with soft thumps that impacted the ground due to its stone hooves. After the golem had moved through the portal, Corruption closed it with a quick spell from his horn. Then he turned to the crystal ball so that he could start controlling the golem through his crystal ball again.
While Corruption was just starting to control the golem, the sleeping Eclipse awoke with a start. Something had alerted her in her sleep, whatever it was had told her that great danger was nearby. But she just couldn’t think of what had told her that there was danger. She had a foggy memory of a pony’s silhouette in her dream but that was about it. She frowned and concentrated on her foreleg and with a flash of light her Archiver appeared. A beeping sound emitted from the device as a message flashed on the screen. She read the message which said, “Warning! Warning! A great evil presence has been sensed nearby. This unit recommends immediate Soul Fusion for further action.”
She scowled at the message and swiped it away only to blink as the machine beeped yet again with another message. This was a system message the machine had for her. She quickly looked at it and frowned in thought. What it said was, “Separation program has been completed. Modifications for the separation program have been completed as well. Would you like to engage the original program which will cause subject Shattered Eclipse to disappear or engage modification to allow Shattered Eclipse to remain.” She frowned at the message and what it could mean. Obviously she didn’t want to disappear but this separation program had her curious. She pressed on the button that would engage the program along with the new modification that had already been made for it.
The Archiver hummed with power as it drew on her magical energy. Soon enough it started to glow and so did Eclipse who closed her eyes. Soon enough she was surrounded by a bubble of energy that was colored midnight blue. She felt something inside of her give way and then seperate from her. She kept her eyes closed but wondered what was going on. Physically she had been encased in another orb of energy that was half the size of the bubble of energy. And it was separating into two different orbs of energy. All this while Corruption’s golem was getting closer to its goal unaware of the fact that something new and wondrous was happening.
Soon enough the larger orb had separated completely into one bigger sized orb and one smaller sized orb. Both orbs disappeared leaving behind Shattered Eclipse and Shattered Souls but the biggest difference was that due to the special separation Souls was different from before. He now sported a pair of ice blue wings at his sides which had not been there before. He was the first to regain consciousness and looked around with wonder. He spotted the smaller alicorn that had fallen unconscious during the seperation. He lashed out with a hoof and destroyed the bubble around them which shattered into pieces and left the young Shattered Eclipse still in her crib. She shifted from unconsciousness to a peaceful sleep. The biggest thing was that the Archiver was no longer on her foreleg and instead back on Souls’ foreleg.
Souls was subconsciously aware of motion, but otherwise unresponsive as his body moved on autopilot once the separation was completed, so he could not detect the presence of another in the room along with him and Princess Eclipse, her memories of the Soul Archiver replaced with fake memories.
Unaware of the danger, yet sensing that something bad was about to happen, Soul subconsciously tapped into another hidden program set into the archiver itself and pressed the blinking button and lost consciousness. The message that appeared read “Initiating archiver backup: Complete. Registering new user: Shatter Eclipse.” A beam of Midnight blue light emitted from the Archiver and connected with Eclipse’s foreleg. The machine spoke up with a electronic female voice, “ Registration of Shattered Eclipse, Complete. Storing Shattered Soul’s personality in chip…” a soul chip floated out of Souls bag and started glowing a deep purple color, indicating that it was unbreakable, but also not very powerful. Appearing on the cover was an image of Soul standing over a pony protectively in his his human form. “...Complete.”
With that done, Soul’s archiver went dark. All power shut-down as the device completely stopped working. Finally, as if to finalize the process, a hidden clasp came undone and the archiver fell off Soul’s forearm. The Archiver slipped to the ground from off his forearm before it slowly floated up into the air. A soft light blue glow emitted from the Archiver as it slowly floated over to Eclipse and reattached itself to her foreleg again after downsizing. The machine rebooted itself as the main power was restored and the screen came alive again.
Shattered Souls regained consciousness a few minutes later as he groaned in pain while rubbing his head. He winced as he tried to remember anything from the last time he blacked out but there was nothing but a blank space. Unfortunately for Souls the separation had three side effects that the Archiver had not anticipated. The first was the fact that Souls had lost all recollection and Memory of having been a pony in the first place. The separation from her had not gone completely as intended due to the modification in the program having a few bugs in it due to it being rushed. These bugs just so happened to erase his memory of his time here so far and instead replace it with fake memories. Memories of having entering this world as a human and having made friends with Twilight and the rest of the mane six before some magical disaster had happened which caused him to black out. The second side effect was of course that he had become an alicorn as all that magical power from the separation had a bleeding off effect that he had absorbed in order to stabilize himself. The question of whether or not he was an Alpha alicorn or a Beta alicorn had yet to be seen. The third side effect was that Souls had gone from a he to a she again because of the bugs in the program. It had overlaid Eclipse’s physiology over his old pony body’s which is another reason why he had become an alicorn. As such it had overridden his old body somewhat and turned him into a girl. Unfortunately Soul’s couldn’t remember ever being a guy in the first place anymore. Souls believed and thought she had always been a girl.
Problem was that even though he was an alicorn now, he still only had the memory of the first two days in Equestria… and a timberwolf? Soul frowned in confusion as to what the significance of the memory was when she had been her for a week already. Why was she thinking she had only been her for two days and not the week she remembered, and why was she thinking she was a he. Shaking her head, Souls tried standing up only to fall back down as her center of gravity had shifted. She tried again and fell a few more times before looking down at her legs and let out a yelp as instead of seeing her human legs, she saw they were a pony’s legs instead. She yelped as she looked towards where her hands were supposed to be only to see forelegs ending in more hooves. She whimpered for a moment as she looked herself over and found she had a long tail and a mane that seemed to flow in its own non existent wind. The aura of the mane seemed to have snowflakes in it along with balls of light that moved around here and there all over as if under their own direction. Her coat was a light ice blue and her tail color was a frosty white. The flowing mane was a color of blue that let the snowflakes be seen along with the moving balls of light. She looked back behind her to see if she had a cutie mark. And she did indeed have a cutie mark. This mark consisted of a pony image that was shattered into smaller pieces and she frowned at what it could mean. One thing she could recall was her name which was Shattered Souls. Strangely she couldn’t recall her human name at all or most of her human life other than that she’d been a huge fan of the show known as My Little Pony friendship is magic and all the episodes in the show. She whimpered and looked around for something to explain all this. She looked around and spotted the still sleeping Eclipse in her crib and backed away slowly. She frowned and looked at her forelegs feeling as if something should be there but there was nothing.
She looked herself over again and noted that she had wings and a horn along with her flowing mane. This caused her to frown as she said out loud, “How can this be? I’m an alicorn now when I was human before. This doesn’t make any sense. And how long has it been since I arrived here? I can’t seem to remember.”
That’s when the golem finally showed itself to her. It strode into the room with heavy thumps from its stone hooves and caused her to look up startled. She looked at it uneasily and felt something dark radiating from it. She backed up a bit which caused her hindquarters to bump the crib a bit as she whimpered, “What are you and what do you want?”
“Hehehe. So the secret behind the luner diarchs brat was you’re magic,” A sinister sounding voice said from the open balcony window.
She stayed backed up against the crib as she shivered in fear. She replied in a scared tone, “I don’t know what your talking about.” She had turned to the balcony where the voice was coming from while doing her best to keep an eye on the stone golem at the entrance to the room. “What lunar diarch’s brat? You’re not making sense.”
Souls couldn’t make out what the other figure looked like due to the sun's angle entering the room, making the other pony stand out as nothing more than a silhouette. “Hehehe, so not only do i get to corrupted that brat of the luner whorse, i also get to corrupt her protector as well. I always love two for one specials.”
Souls whimpered as she looked at the figure she couldn’t make out and then back to the golem that had started moving towards her again. She then looked back down at the still sleeping filly who the figure was talking about harming. As she gazed down at the sleeping filly time seemed to slow down considerably and she felt feelings of protectiveness and determination fill her. She felt her fear becoming distant even though it was still there. She turned back to the figure as she spoke in a quivering but determined voice, “I w-won’t let you h-harm this young one.” She then charged the golem knowing she wouldn’t be able to do much damage to it but she could at least delay it as she called out in a loud yell, “Somepony help! Please help! There’s a foal here in danger please help!”
Her shout managed to ring out through the windows and down to the base of the castle where Luna was still watching her young nephew play. Her ears pricked up as her head shot up to look back up at the castle with alarm. It sounded like her daughter was in trouble and someone was trying to protect her at the moment. She nodded to her guards subtly to watch after her young nephew as she shot into the air completely forgetting she could teleport and heading for the balcony to the room. By now The silhouetted figure had vanished, leaving the corruption Golem to do his bidding. Souls was already panting from trying to break through the golem’s tough exterior, only making little taps as opposed to the attacks she had been able to do before. It wasn’t long before the golem gained the upper hoof and landed a massive buck to soul’s body, causing her to fly towards the open window right as Luna landed.
Luna reacted on instinct and reflex alone as her magic became active and she caught the mare flying towards her through the air. She gently set the mare down on the ground as she looked down at her. She gasped in surprise to see that the mare was an alicorn like herself but not only that she was barely conscious as a large purple bruise appeared on her chest and one cheek. The mare looked up at her through blurry eyes and spoke in a pained panting voice, “Please…..save…..the….foal…..I….failed.” With that she went unconscious even as something black started to move up from her hooves to the rest of her body. This was the corruption from the golem which had passed into her slowly corrupting her. Luna nodded sadly at the mare but moved into the room just as she saw the golem approaching the crib of her daughter. She growled and teleported from her place by the balcony entrance and reappeared in front of her daughter’s crib, “Halt intruder. I won’t allow you to do any harm to my daughter. Stand down now and you might be spared!”
Luna barely had time to blink, for in the very next second, a stone hoof was mere inches from her face, spreading the same black substance that was slowly spreading over the unconscious mare, who now that she looked at her a bit longer, resembled a grown up version of her daughter, at least it you looked at her from a distance. Squaring her withers, Luna shouted in the RCV, after placing a sound proof barrier around her foal and the room. “FOUL BEAST! YOU DARE TRY AND LAY A HOOF ON THY PRINCESS! I WILL REMOVE YOU FROM THIS PLACE BY FORCE. PREPARE THYSELF FOR THE COMING STORM!”
The golem remained impassive as it backed up a few steps before lunging forwards again with a stone hoof. It was intent on landing at least one hit on the lunar princess to try to start corrupting her. And if it only knocked her out of the fight then that was just as good. Its stone hoof gained momentum as it put its weight and force behind the swing straight at Luna’s side. Luna managed to put up a thin, but flexible shield in the spot, with knowledge gain from the invasion of the changelings a few years back that a rigid shield did little when a stronger force was applied. So by making the shield flex and bend, luna caused the stone hoof to not only bounce off the shield, but the momentum of the swing sent it right back into the golem’s own face. Luna let out a mocking chuckle as she said, “Stop hitting thyself.”
The golem’s hoof swung back with the same force and momentum right back into its face with a loud cracking sound as it connected. The golem’s stone hoof ended up splitting right down the middle with a large crack as a few chunks of its face fell down onto the ground from where it struck itself. The dark sinister voice emitted from the golem which stopped Luna cold as she recognized it, “You have learned much since we last met princess. I am impressed! Sadly, as much i would just love to catch up, I have a new pony to train in the ways of corruption.” with that said, the golem fell to pieces, leaving a smoking pile of rubble in it place. The dark wisps of corruption dissipating as the lingering spell faded. Before Luna could breath a shy of relief, her eyes widened when she recalled that vile creatures words. She looked over the the unconscious mare to see that the corruption had nearly reached her heart, the last place that would lock her in a corrupted state. Before she could even take two steps, a bright flash of light happened, and the same creature she had met over a thousand years ago was standing over the poor mare, smiling it’s widest, creepiest smile. “Thank you so much for being gullible.”
But then something happened that the creature had not anticipated happening at all. There was a loud cry of, “Hyaaaahhh!” as from behind him a cloaked figure wielding a sword swung a sword down towards him even as another silently cloaked figure approached him from the side. Activating his foul black magic on instinct, Corruption let loose a small sinister chuckle. “I can see I’ve overstayed my welcome, Princess , but allow me to leave you a parting gift.” An orb of tainted magic flew from the tip of his horn faster than the party in the room could react and dove into Eclipse’s chest. “Hehehe, Have fun trying to purge the corruption this time.” with that a bright flash of light, Both Corruption and the unconscious mare were gone, along with the pile of rubble that had been the golem.
One of the cloaked ponies had attempted to jump in front of the sphere, only to miss it by mere inches. What none of the ponies noticed was the strange device on Eclipse’s foreleg start emitting a soft alarm as an almost invisible glow surrounded the sleeping filly. “Warning! Warning! Device Corruption imminent! Purging all non essential files… complete. Backing up registered user’s mind….”a small blue beam fired from the archiver and wrapped around Eclipse’s head, before turning to a forest green, “complete.” by now the corruption and all but reached her mind despite the rest of the ponies trying to stop it. As the last traces of corruption seeped into Eclipse, another message emerged from the device, “Warning! User completely corrupted, initiating corruption purge, scanning nearby lifeform susceptible to hold corrupting influence at bay. Scanning...scanning. Scan complete. Match found. Purging corruption.” As bright glow form around Eclipse, taking everypony in the room by surprise, most of them tensing up, thinking that the foal was about to attack, but instead that same black, tar-like substance oozed out of the young filly’s body and flowed onto Night Shade, one of Luna’s new night guards.
This was the same Night who had accepted the job to be Eclipse’s bodyguard in the first place and had already served one night on duty as her guard. He had decided he wanted a full job so he had applied for Luna’s night guard and was easily accepted into it due to already being Eclipse’s bodyguard and having field experience. Now the corruption flowed into him instead of Eclipse and surged through his body. The bad part of this was that Eclipse’s Archiver had messed up in its assessment because Night was actually very vulnerable to the corruption. It flowed through him easily as his Archiver appeared and desperately tried to purge the corruption from him. But Sadly it failed and it quickly claimed him as it reached his heart. It turned his eyes red to show his corruption as he laughed darkly and bowed, “I thank you for the employment princess but my new master calls me to his side!” And with a flash of light he disappeared as Corruption’s dark magic showed itself again and teleported him to Corruption. The only thing the was left of Night Shade was a slightly sparking Archiver, one final message appearing on the screen before it went dark for the last time. “User, Night Shade. Status: Corrupted. Chance of recovery: 0%. Failsafe activated: Complete.”
Author's Note
Hey guys. Sorry for taking so many months before posting this. But life has been very busy for me since the last chapter what with my job and other life things. That and I was stuck with a large case of writer's block as I just didn't know how to go about a certain part in this chapter. So I had some good old help with this chapter from my good friend Sonic Rainboom Dash. Thanks Rainboom. So feel free to leave comments about what you liked in the chapter or any constructive criticism. That would be appreciated. Also if you have an OC you'd like entered into the story then just pm me. With that I hope you all like the chapter.
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
There was a time long ago where I was just like you. A time when I stood on two legs and worked things with my hands rather than these hooves that I have now. A time when I could laugh and talk with my family like anyone else on earth. But in my present circumstances and time that is not possible and never will be again. For I am no longer a human, I am a pony.
But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me introduce myself to you, my name is Shattered Souls and I'm a pony. If your reading this then I'm sure your wondering what I look like. Well to give you a description, I stand around 4 and a half feet tall with piercing green eyes, the color of a forest in spring. My mane coat is a light ice blue like the icecicles you can see through out in a snowy wasteland, while my mane is an icy white to compliment it. Upon my flank you can see my cutie mark which consists of a pony shattered into pieces like a broken mirror while a scythe hangs above these pieces. Oh and before I forget I am a unicorn and my horn just out half a foot out of my forhead where all unicorns' horns are. I also prefer to wear a green camo type hoodie with the hood down to cover my face.
So yeah, That is what I look like now. I don't think there is any use in telling you what I looked like as a human right at the moment but then again I do have to start the story.
I stood at 5'4 inches with brown hair, green eyes, and white skin. You could normally find me wearing my favorite hoodie that depicted a dragon soaring through the sky while I wore a Pokemon t-shirt underneath. I also wore the standard blue jeans that you can get at Wal-Mart for cheap or could get anyway. Don't know if it is even still around now. I use to like hanging out with other people back when I was human but I still liked to keep my personal space and distance when I could. I would approach people I think would share my interests while staying spaced and away from other people. As for personality that will be up to you to observe through what I tell you.
At the time I disappeared from earth forever I had just started to work on a bachelor's degree in Computer hardware. I lived in a small apartment just outside of the campus of a university in North Carolina. And no I don't remember the name of the university or much else about it. Time had degraded my memory of my past as a human so I can't tell you a whole lot other than I had a routine. Get up in the morning, get ready for classes, go to classes, hang out with friends for an hour afterwords, then go back to the apartment to do schoolwork and prepare for work. I worked at a grocery store as a bagger and minimum wage was barely enough for me to live off of but I made it work.
I don't remember much about my friends other than we all liked dragons and talking about them. Oh and of course we all loved that kids TV show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. I never did have much in the way of merchandise for the show as i just couldn't afford to spend the money on such things. I did have a couple of comics and even a plushy of Princess Luna but that was about it. I did have a couple of game systems to play like an Xbox 360 and a DS but for the most part all I did for free time was watch MLP or read fanfics for it.
The day I disappeared I had just come back to the apartment straight from classes and I needed a little time to cool down. So I sat down at my computer and pulled up Fimfiction in Google Chrome so I could read over some parts of one of my favorite stories, Past Sins. The only problem was that the page didn't seem to want to load and I irritably stated,"Oh come on. You were working just fine this morning you piece of junk."
I tried refreshing the page but that didn't help either but I tried refreshing it one more time before giving up. The odd thing was that when I refreshed it that last time text appeared on the screen saying,"Connecting to portal home of site please hold." Next thing i know the screen glows blinding white and I have to shut my eyes or otherwise go blind. While I had my eyes shut I felt this strange pulling sensation that was trying to get me to go forwards and with a jerk it did manage to pull me forwards.
I kept my eyes closed the whole time but next thing I know I'm feeling like i'm being ripped apart molecule by molecule and reassembled into a totally different being or object. I couldn't help but think,"Please don't let me be reassembled into a toaster!" Next thing I knew I was passing out from all the pain that I was feeling. I didn't even have time to scream out or anything. And all went black for me as my mind faded for a time.
When I next woke up, I still had my eyes closed but I could hear the sounds of birds and other animals nearby. I could feel a light breeze blowing over me which at the time felt very pleasant as my body felt hot all over. Opening up my eyes, I hissed in pain as everything seemed overly bright and I had to let my eyes adjust. I put my arm up over my eyes to my head to block out some of the light but the shape of my arm didn't seem quite right through my blurry vision.
Once my eyes had adjusted I could see that my forearm wasn't a human's forearm at all. It was a lot thicker and stubbier then a human's forearm is and there was no hand at the end of it like there should be. All I saw was a light blue leg where my arm should be and ending in a hoof. A freaking hoof! To say the very least I sat there for a few moments trying to process what I was seeing and I still didn't believe it. It was only when i tried moving my arm up and down and the blue foreleg responded that I was forced to see the truth that it was mine. I then proceeded to have an epic meltdown where I screamed like a little girl. And yes I'm fully admitting that I did so. My voice sounded a lot lighter then I remembered it being yet it was obviously still deep enough to be recognizable as my voice. It still had a good base to it so I was still a guy thank goodness for that.
After screaming my lungs out for about 15 minutes I finally stopped as my voice started to go hoarse and scratchy. I took a few more minutes to calm down and then looked around myself at my surroundings. I was in a forest clearing with all sorts of scraggly underbrush around it. The trees themselves loomed large and tall over me and so growing so close together that not much light penetrated into the woods themselves. Clouds roamed over head with a dark gray tint to them which signaled them as rain clouds of some sort but they didn't start raining. Little songbirds were flitting around the edges of the clearing looking down at me in curiosity.
I couldn't help but look up at them and feel a small smile come on to my face as I wistfully said,"Ah to be able to fly like you little things and see where I am." Still something about the woods all around me seemed hauntingly familiar somehow, but I just couldn't pinpoint what.
I lay there for maybe another half an hour before I worked up the courage to try and get up by telling myself out loud,"Well nothing is going to happen by just laying around being lazy." So I tried to get my new hooves down underneath me but because I had no previous experience or coordination I fell flat on my face into the dirt.
I spat the dirt out,"Pahh. Blagh I hate the taste of dirt." And with that I tried to get up again but was unsuccessful yet again as my legs splayed out to all sides as the wind was knocked out of me again. After recovering I finally decided to drag myself over to a tree by a small pond that I had just noticed. So after about 20 minutes of painful dragging across the dirt I made it to said tree.
While leaning on the tree, I finally managed to at least get myself into a sitting position as I looked into the pond to see my reflection. What stared back at me was something completely alien yet familiar at the same time. I saw an ice blue unicorn with a white spiked main staring right back at me with the same green eyes I possessed while I was a human. It was then that I realized that I lacked my clothes and I set about searching the clearing again hoping to see my clothes.
"Where could those pieces of fabric be? Its not like they have legs to get up on and walk away with." I said to myself irritatedly. I then finally noticed that my hoodie was hanging from a branch right above my head. How I had not noticed it there before was beyond me. Guess I failed my perception check at the time. I was thankfully able to reach up and tug it down and tried to wrangle myself into it. But the hoodie's sleeve seemed to keep catching on something.
I stopped trying to put my hoodie on and instead looked at my left foreleg to see what was stopping me from putting it on. And what I saw I could swear hadn't been there ten minutes ago. It was some type of watch-like device that seemed like the ultimatrix from another old favorite cartoon Ben 10 Ultimate Alien. Yet it was far different from it at the same time.
For one there wasn't even a dial to turn to look for aliens and press down to become one. No instead there was a long thing rectangular screen the size of say an Iphone's screen. Next to it were 6 slots each the size of an SD card port in the side of a laptop all arranged in a circle. And the small buttons right in the center of that circle each a different color.
"What the crap is this thing? And how the heck did it get on me without me even noticing?" I shook my foreleg a bit frantically to see if that would help loosen the device but of course that did nothing. It was like the stupid thing was stuck on just like the watch had been for Ben in the beginning of his show. I then noticed a satchel of some sort leaning against the tree on the side that was facing the pond. Again how I didn't noticed it was beyond me. I reached out with a foreleg and manged to run my leg through the strap to pull it towards me.
Once I had easily done so I managed to get the satchel flap up only to see plenty of blank SD card chip looking things inside the satchel. So many so that it almost completely filled the satchel up. Setting the bag aside for now I concentrated on trying to stand again. I finally managed to do so and silently congratulated myself.
I then set myself to working on how to walk in this new form of mine. I finally managed to work out how to do so within a couple of hours and was comfortably walking around the clearing if stumbling every now and then. And I had finally been able to wriggle back into my hoodie despite the sleeve catching on the device a time or two. I finally walked back over to the satchel and slipped my head through the strap so it rested against my side. I wanted to get out of here and hopefully to some kind of civilization that had food and water but it might be a while before I got there.
Although it appeared that I wasn't to far from the forest's edge as i could see rolling hills through the trees on one side of the clearing. So after seeing that I said to myself,"Well might as well get out of here." And headed right for the edge of the forest. I passed out of the clearing into the trees only to feel like the sense of serenity that had encompassed me had suddenly disappeared.
That's when my ears swiveled and I heard creaking and groaning that hadn't been there before. I looked in the direction of the sound which was to my left only to see piercing yellow eyes glaring back to me. And they belonged to a creaking wooden looking wolf of all things. That's when my brain recognized it and flashed a warning,"Timberwolf! Beware! Runaway or your tree food!" And with that I frantically scrambled away from it trying to get out of the forest even as I stumbled and tripped a lot in my haste. The wolf easily keeping pace behind me trying to toy with me.
I finally tripped and fell flat on my face right outside of the forest at the base of a hill when I heard it growling behind me. I couldn't run for crap right now as I had only just learned to walk at a slow pace. I turned my body frantically to face it only to be met with its muzzle 2 inches from my own. With a great sense of panic I struck upwards with one forleg and cracked the thing right in the muzzle which caused it to back off with a yelp of pain. It hurt my own hoof quite a lot to do that as I yelped too.
But I has managed to get it to back off as the device on my forleg started to glow underneath the hoody sleeve and the satchel glowed too. I froze completely and then before I know it my body was moving on its own without me doing anything. I felt like I was just watching a movie at this point as whatever force was controlling my body made it stand up and growl back at the wolf.
My hoof reached into the satchel and pulled out one of the chips which was glowing only to show it now had an image on the front. An image of one of my favorite cartoon characters from my childhood. And that character was BlackWarGreymon from Digimon Adventure 02. My body could hear shouting in the distance from behind while it used its right foreleg to move my hoody's left sleeve back while still holding onto the chip.
It uncovered the device while moving in a circle and keeping its gaze on the timber wolf which also circled. That timberwolf looked like it was going to pounce any minute now as my foreleg slotted the chip into one of the empty slots on the device. The screen of the device lit up with the words "Soul Unison Program Ready!" My foreleg then pressed the middle button, colored green, on the device and the screen changed to read,"Program executing."
I spoke out without meaning to and said,"Soul Unison Execute! Soul of the defeated be reborn again!" And with that I was englufed in a blinding white light and I could feel something about my body changing again. I just couldn't see what.
It was at that time that a purple alicorn that everyone seems to know finally crested the hill only to stare in shock at the sight in front of her. One of her friends skidded across the ground to stand next to her as she saw a figure emerge from a bright white ball of light. What emerged was a unicorn wearing some sort of metal mask over his face that had a horn right at the tip and a covering for his natural horn on his head. His natural mane seemed to be some gray and all bunched up and was mostly centered from the back of the mask. And odd black armor ran across his body with a weird shield on his back that had a sun of some sort carved into the back. Deadly looking claws were attached to armor on his forelegs and the claws dug into the dirt.
She also saw the timberwolf and called out a warning to the strange being,"Hey watch out. That's a timberwolf there. Get away from it. Me and my friend can take care of it."
The figure glanced at her and snorted before turning back to the timber wolf and saying,"I don't need your help lady." It then glared at the timberwolf and said,"Time to dance you overgrown woodpile."
He dug his back hooves into the ground and then pushed forwards practically flying through the air and slamming into the timberwolf which yelped. The figure snarled and shouted out,"Dramon Killers! Terra Tornado!"
And he lashed out with the deadly claws and ripped into the wooden wolf pulling sections of wood out with its wild slashes. The wolf letting out loud yelps and cries of pain as the wood was ripped out of its frame. Greenish blood splattered on the ground all around from the chunks ripped out.
The unicorn then hovered in the air and started to spin rapidly before a veritable mini tornado appeared and piled right through the hapless wolf turning it into kindling and killing it for good. The figure landed on the ground unperturbed and turned back to the princess looking at her horrified expression solemnly. Its once pristine, shining black armor now covered all over in dripping green ichor. A bit of which dripped down from the horn at the tip of the muzzle of the mask.
Twilight was in shock at what had just happened and then the smell hit her. The terrible smell of death and destruction assaulted her senstitive nose and caused her to feel sick to her stomach. He friend which happened to be a particular party pony we all know and love was also staring on in shock if not plain fear. Twilight finally asked horrified and tentatively,"Just what are you? And what are you doing here?"
The unicorn replied,"I'm a pony just like you who's trying to protect himself. As for what I'm doing here that's my business alone. But I should probably let the owner of this body speak for himself now."
The next thing I remember after the flash of light was looking at freaking Twilight Spark the princess of friendship looking down at me from a hilltop while I stood in weird black armor with a mask over my face. I blinked and looked up at her for a moment before I completely keeled over and passed out from the shock of seeing her and the sudden fatigue that overcame me. Thus I felt and knew no more for now.
Author's Note
A/N Well guys. I hope that you all enjoy the first chapter of this new story of mine. Its my first official fanfic published on any sight and I'm really nervous about it. Any constructive criticism you guys could give would be appreciated. Also just comment about any references you see or what you just liked in general. Thanks for reading my story!
Warrior of Souls: A New Beginning
Revelations of X and Zero
Chapter 12
It was the following day after the attack by Machinedramon and everyone was so tired of the constant monster attacks. The cyborg pegasus Swift Shot would end up taking a long time to heal since had to go through surgery all over again. He was grounded from flight for the next several weeks and even then he would have to take it easy after that. The half dragon guard, Jack Hunt, had been patrolling endlessly it seemed fighting off smaller monsters as well as a few large ones. But even he couldn't defeat the mechanical monstrosities that had appeared recently or any of the other inter-dimensional villains. Suffice it to say that he was feeling really put out by it all and rather helpless that he couldn't do anything about it.
Shattered Souls was relaxing on the bed in his room at the castle. After he had transported the cyborg pegasus to the hospital, he had quickly teleported to where Rainbow Dash was after getting a lock on her. He had appeared about 50 feet away from her in the midst of a cafe. She had been looking into a cup of tea sullenly not really doing anything. He had placed a hoof on her shoulder to get her attention and there had been an electric shock that had run through them. He had quickly told her that she was needed at the hospital and teleported away right after that before she could get a word in edge wise.
He had ended up teleporting right into his room in the castle using the red beam of light he was transported in. From there Zero took over and halted the transformation as he took all the damage upon himself. Or at least that was his intention when he stopped the internal flow of magic. Instead Zero had ended up taking most of the damage onto himself but still left Souls with a long thin cut on his right side. It luckily wasn't deep or anything but it was still an annoyance that he had to keep bandaged to make sure it didn't get infected.
Twilight had laid into him verbally after she discovered the cut. She had lectured him about being careful with his magic and being in combat. The other day with the whole pizza place had scared her rather badly and she didn't want Souls to be going out into battle like that without help from someone else. He'd had a bad concussion when he came to her after the pizza place went up in flames. So she was equally scared upon discovering the bandaged cut on his side. He had calmed her down after about an hour of talking to her using logic. But she was still very upset and angry with him. She had forbidden him from going out of the castle the following day which was today.
So here he was just lounging around on his bed wondering just what it was he could do today. He pulled his satchel up onto the bed with him and nosed open the flap to look inside of it. Scanning over the different chips, his eyes widened a bit as he noticed a new soul chip with Rainbow Dash's image on it. It must have happened when he touched Rainbow Dash the other day. That meant the only ones he didn't have yet were Fluttershy and Applejack. There was no telling when he'd meet the two of them although he hoped that it was soon.
He looked over at the clock on the wall to see it was about 10:30 in the morning. Souls sighed to himself,"What the heck am I going to do today? Twilight isn't letting me out of the castle and there's not much to do. Sure I could just read but even that gets tiring after a while."
A few of the chips in his satchel glowed brightly before rising up into the air out of the satchel. The chips belonged to none other than Megaman X and the Megaman Zero version of Zero the Reploid. The two chips shined brightly before moving off to the left of his bed and glowing brighter. Soon enough their brightness increased and the chips disappeared as the transluscent images of X and Zero appeared.
Souls looked at them with surprise,"Huh? What are you two doing? Zero I'm rather surprised that your trying to talk to me. After all that damage you took in the battle yesterday I thought you would be resting to repair your systems. Don't those cracks hurt?"
Zero's image bore small cracks all over his armor with sparks coming out of the cracks. The cracks were slowly closing over time and it was a wonder that Zero was even functioning right now enough to talk. Zero waved his hand dismissively,"There is no need to worry about me Shattered Souls. My system's are repairing themselves as we speak.
Souls frowned,"Ok. Then what the heck are you both doing using your energy to talk to me?"
X chuckled,"Well you did say that you were bored and wanted something to do and we needed to talk with you anyway. We have a couple of important topics to talk with you about. The first of which is over your concern of being an adquate Soul Warrior."
Souls cringed at that last statement,"I can't help it. With all the damage I keep taking in battle when you all aren't in charge I can't help but feel bad. I mean come on, you are all legendary warriors that can keep getting back up to fight. I'm just a regular mortal who blacks out after one big hit."
X sighed as she frowned and shook his head,"That's why your learning and practicing. These battles are good experience for you whether you believe it or not. Only true combat experience can help you get better in combat. Book learning and formal education can only get you so far out in the field. Its actually experiencing things that helps add to your knoweldge and gives you a base to work from."
Zero spoke up,"I started out not knowing who I was or what I could be. But throughout my journey I learned more and that life experience helped make me into the being I was when I fought original Zero. I stood up for what was right to help all the people and reploids that were remaining in the world at that time.
Souls sighed,"That still doesn't help explain anything about how I'm an adequate Soul Warrior."
X gave him a small smile,"Think about it like this. Your just starting out. Its a new beginning for you both as a pony here in Equestria and as a Soul Warrior protecting the land. You already have knowledge of Equestria because you watched and studied it in your previous life as a human. You have been gaining knowledge of what a Soul Warrior is and what a Soul Warrior does by talking to the souls that inhabit the chips you use. And you are gaining real battle experience by actually participating in battle and not just playing a video game. So you are just learning the ropes per say right now. There is no being adequate right now there is just learning to be what you need to be."
Souls contemplated this for a moment before nodding,"I guess that makes sense. But what else is it that you needed to talk with me about?"
Zero sighed as he frowned,"You may just be learning the ropes of being a Soul Warrior but that doesn't stop our enemy. Lately you've been fighting enemies that are far to strong for you at your current level of ability. You've had to let us take over in order to survive your battles and destroy your enemies. This last battle we were lucky that we had an ally that could provide us with aid. "
X nodded his head,"That's why we want to give you the information on how you can help other people become Souls Warriors. You need the allies and the threats are only going to grow as time goes on. Keldeo did not believe you were ready for this information and maybe he was right but things are different at the moment. We perceive that things will go downhill rapidly if you don't get backup that can really help you. That pegasus was able to help you but look at the state he was in afterwards.
Zero spoke calmly as he continued in X's place,"Thus why we have decided to give you the information you've been seeking. There is already one candidate that will most likely be able to become a Soul Warrior like yourself. The main difference is that he will have a specilization instead of being a general user."
Souls frowned in a confused manner,"Huh? What do you mean by having a specilization? I get that I use all sorts of different soul chips. Do you mean he'd only use a certain type of soul chip?"
Zero nodded his head,"That is correct. The way you determine if someone is eligible to be a new Soul Warrior is by having a Soul Archiver near them along with different kinds of soul chips. The Archiver will secretly scan the individual and determine if their magic pool could be efficiently used to power a transformation. It would also determine many other things like if they would be able to remain good while using a Soul Archiver."
X continued,"As for the soul chips. Certain types of soul chips will start reacting in the presence of the potential candidate if the Archiver determines they could become a Soul Warrior. The archiver calculates which certain type or types of soul chips they could synchronize with best and then sends the data to the souls in the chips directly and lets them decide if the candidate should become a Soul Warrior. The soul chips that glow indicate physically to the candidate which soul chip type or types they'd best be able to synch with. It also helps the candidate see which souls actually want to help him start his journey as a Soul Warrior. The ones that glow are the ones that want to help the candidate out once he gets his own Soul Archiver."
Souls nodded his head,"Ok. So how does a new Soul Archiver come into existence?"
X smiled,"A new Soul Archiver comes into existence when the candidate has been determined worthy to become a Soul Warrior. The Soul Archiver already present will send a beam of light out to the candidate's arm. The beam of light is actually a spell which draw's upon the candidate's magic pool to create the new Soul Archiver magically. The user's own magic create's the Soul Archiver and optimizes as well as customizes it just for the new user. The new Soul Archiver will be specialized to only use the chip type that glowed in the new user's presence. Furthermore the new Soul Archiver will not be able to seek out new Soul Warrior's. Only a general user with no specialization such as yourself is able to find new Soul Warriors. And there can only be one general user at a time. So you are the only one capable of finding new Soul Warriors."
Soul's head spun a bit with all the new information,"Ok. I'm a little dizzy now but I think that I get it."
Zero nodded his head,"Good. We know you can't leave the castle today so you won't be able to go actively look for the candidate today. But we have a feeling that somehow that candidate will show up here today anyway. The candidate already knows that you are able to transform into things you should not be able to. So that person already knows your secret."
Souls looked out the window in thought,"So I can gain new allies by seeking them out with the Soul Archiver. But what if they don't want to be a Soul Warrior? Do the people get a choice or not?"
X chuckled,"No need to worry about that. The person will get a choice in the mater. When the red beam hits their arm they will get a feeling. This feeling will help them to question if they really want to be a Soul Warrior or not. If they don't then the beam of light from the Soul Archiver will fade and the person won't become a soul Warrior and they'll be able to go on their merry way."
Souls chuckled a bit himself,"Good. I don't want to take away people's freedom of choice. That would be just wrong. Thank you for all of the information."
X and Zero nodded and Zero continued,"No problem. Although there is one more matter that we should speak to you about. Its in regards to that Mega Charizard soul that managed to make its way to you. That Charizard's name is Cinder. He had a rather hard life when he was still alive. We think you should talk to him about it. If you can talk with him about it you can raise your synchronization rate as you come to understand him and his thoughts.
Nodding softly at them, Souls replied,"I guess I can. The two of you should return to your chips before your completely out of energy."
They nodded their heads,"Right." With flashes of light they returned to their chips and the chips floated back into the bag.
Souls sighed for a moment as he looked back at the bag full of blank chips as well as the ones with images. He moved his hoof over to the one bearing the image of the charizard. He pulled it up and tapped it with his hoof before throwing it up into the air. The chip glowed with light before the translucent image of the charizard appeared to the right of his bed. The charizard looked rather irritated at the moment as his wings hung limply at his sides still not having been repaired by the Soul Archiver. It would take more time before he was fully recovered,"What do you want? Can't you seem I'm trying to rest and heal?"
Souls winced,"Yeah but a few of the others wanted me to talk to you so I am. I know you'd rather be resting at the moment and I'm sorry for disturbing you."
Cinder grumbled as he glared at Souls,"You better be. I was having a perfectly good dream before you woke me up. What did you want to talk with me about?"
Souls winced again,"Um. I wanted to talk with you about your past. How exactly did you die?"
Cinder's eyes widened for a moment at the question before they narrowed considerably in anger,"Wouldn't you like to know you nosy little jerk."
Souls held up a hoof in a peaceful manner,"Please calm down. Getting worked up won't do anything for you. Please I'm just asking how you died."
Cinder growled,"I'd rather not talk about how I died. Besides it not like the information would do you any good."
Souls sighed,"Ok. Then why not tell me what your life was like back in its hay day?"
Cinder grumbled for a moment as he calmed down. He finally replied,"I guess I could do that."
Souls nodded his head slowly,"Ok. Then please go ahead. What was it like early on in your life?"
Cinder grumbled as he took a moment to compose himself,"Back when I was alive before I had a trainer things were great. I grew up in this nice little area called Dragon's Roost. A nice little place for us pokemon of the charizard line. I wasn't like the other charmanders after I had hatched. Where all of them followed the rules and took their parents teachings to heart I was more of a rebel. I did things that charmanders shouldn't do like go outside of Dragon's Roost. Heh. I was nearly caught by a trainer when I did that. If it hadn't been for the human lady who took care of Dragon's Roost I would have been a trainer's pokemon right off."
Souls smiled a bit,"Sounds cool."
Cinder nodded,"You bet. I did listen to my father but not really my mother. I felt my mother was way to soft about things. She was a more timid charizard even though she was one of the strongest in the whole group. Father was the pokemon of some famous trainer named Ash. Apparently this Ash was a pokemon master or something of the like. Never really did care about that part all that much. Dad taught me things that were useful as a charmander. Survival skills along with other skills like how to cook meat that tastes so delicious smoked or otherwise."
He smiled a bit to himself,"Those were the days when I could lounge around as I wished and just take it easy alongside my pops. We had the greatest times just sunbathing on a good rock. Sadly those days came to an end when I had to test myself against all the other charmanders in the Roost. The pack is more or less very strict when it comes to hierarchy and I had to prove my place. I had to fight about 20 other charmanders and I managed to come out near the top. Fighting all those battles gave me enough battle experience that I was able to evolve into a charmeleon along with a couple of others."
Souls frowned a bit,"Huh. Guess I should have figured that. What was it like once you became a Charmeleon?"
Cinder started grumbling,"It wasn't the greatest. The whole pack hierarchy thing chafed at me. I didn't like all the rules and other things that came with it. Even told my Dad straight off that I hated it. He said I'd just have to get used to it if I was going to live there. So I tried to fit in as best I could. For our generation of Charmeleons and charmanders I was pretty much the second in command. But man the guy who was in charge of all of us was a jerk. Always making me run petty errands just because he didn't like who my parents were. Still I did my best to stick with it all. Then finally the day came that changed everything."
Cinder sat down as best he could as he continued with a wistful expression,"One day when I was 5 years old and had been a charmeleon for a year things changed. I was out running one of my numerous errands outside of the Roost when a strange trainer happened to cross my path. His name was Brandon and he worked for some group of humans called Team Rocket. He ended up defeating me in battle fairly and captured me. He was kind enough to let me say goodbye to my family although he was hiding his Team Rocket disguise. I left with him as one of his pokemon but things started to go down hill from there."
Cinder sighed as he looked out a window,"As one of his pokemon I was made to do terrible things to other pokemon and humans. We stole pokemon from their companion trainers and various other things. My trainer was sickened by all this but was forced to comply with orders due to some blackmail material they had on him. They were basically holding one of his family members hostage and if he didn't do as they said then they would kill that family member. We both grew to greatly hate Team Rocket. But still we were forced to comply with their orders. This continued on for several years until they finally did something that neither of us forgave them for. They attacked Dragon's Roost. "
Cinder's expression darkened,"They hurt so many pokemon there and captured a few. My father was able to drive them off even though he was getting on in years but he was still badly injured thanks to the attack. He lived and healed in time but that still didn't change the fact that it was the last straw for us. Me and my trainer then took it upon ourselves to eradicate Team Rocket once and for all. It took us about a year but we nearly toppled the organization and got rid of it. However the leader who's name was Giovanni was getting desperate. He challenged my trainer to a battle which he accepted. Things were going well for us against him until he became so enraged he had his pokemon partner attack my trainer instead. I wasn't able to react fast enough and the pokemon's attack ended up killing my trainer."
Cinder's expression turned very angry and pained at the same time,"He had been my best friend for years and he was just gone. Stolen away by the man and his pokemon partner right in front of me. My gaze turned blood red and I couldn't think of anything other than getting revenge for my trainer. I felt a strong burst of energy well up within me and everything went white. When everything cleared I had somehow evolved past a normal charizard all the way to a Mega Form and it was permanent. With this newfound energy I was able to defeat Giovanni's pokemon partner. But right as I was about to go for him he slipped through a door and got away. I was unable to follow and my rage left me. "
He started to cry,"I sat there by my trainer's body for over 3 hours as it cooled. Then finally the police arrived on the scene. They didn't realize that it wasn't me who had killed my trainer but Giovanni. They thought I was responsible and it was only through the actions of my family and the lady who ran Dragon's Roost that I got off free. I was cleared of the murder charge but the damage was still done. I was an outcast unable to freely move about in my home. So I decided I would stay away from Dragon's Roost and travel the land to help those in need."
Soul's nodded his head,"I'm sorry you had to go through all that hardship. You don't have to talk about it anymore right now. I just hope that talking about it has helped you in someway."
Cinder turned to him for a second before looking back out the window,"A bit maybe. Its hard to say. It does feel better having talked about it but there is still a lot weighing on me. I'm going to go back to resting if you don't mind." Tears were still streaming down his face to disappear into fragments as they fell off his face.
Soul's sighed,"Yeah its fine. Go ahead and rest." Cinder nodded and he glowed before his soul chip reappeared and drifted back into the satchel.
Souls' stomach growled to signal his hunger a moment later. He sighed and got up to get himself something to eat. He glanced at his clock on the way out to see that it read 12:30 in the afternoon. So he went off to get something to eat.
An hour later, Souls was now lounging around in one of the rooms of the library with a book in his hooves. It was a pony fiction book on humans that just made him laugh. It was written by Lyra of all ponies and her thoughts on humans were hilarious. Its a good thing it was just a fiction book. He was reading a very interesting part when his ears twitched in response to the sound of multiple pairs of hooves coming his way.
He lowered his book as the hoof steps got even closer then before. He blinked in surprise when he realized that Twilight was coming towards him leading that unicorn stallion he had met with a few times back at the hospital.
He looked up at Twilight,"What's up Twilight?"
Twilight looked flustered,"This is Jack Hunt but you already know that. He says he's come here to see you about something. He wants to talk to you privately."
Rolling his eyes, Souls put a hoof on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes,"Calm down Twilight. Its not a big deal. I'm feeling well enough for it and I'm not leaving the castle. Especially with all the spells you've put up. So just go back to your studies for now."
Twilight took a deep calming breath and calmed down in the manner that Princess Cadance had taught her. "Ok. But holler for me if anything big happens."
He nodded his head,"Can do Twilight. Now go on back to your books." He smiled warmly at her and pushed her a bit to go.
She frowned but left anyway still feeling a bit flustered and at the same time suspicious of Souls.
Souls looked up at the bigger unicorn stallion,"So...You wanted to see me Mr. Hunt?"
Jack Hunt eyed him for a moment before subtly nodding,"Yes. I know about your secret of transformations and the foes that you have been fighting."
Souls just shrugged,"I kinda figured that due to a couple of people I know telling me."
Jack grunted,"Well I'd like to be able to help out. Ponyville is my home and I need to be able to defend it. I'm one of the few guards for the town after all. I can deal with regular monsters big or small but the things that have been appearing lately have been way out of my league. I've seen you fighting them with ease and destroying or defeating them. Sure you get knocked around but you always seem to be around for the next fight. So I want to know how I can do those transformations like you can."
Souls tilted his head as he looked at Jack,"Yes it is true that I can beat them using those transformations but there is far more to it then just magic. My magic is a new special type called Soul magic. I work with the souls of warriors who have passed on to complete transformations that can defeat the foes that have been appearing. Its not exactly an easy thing to do considering my magic kind of just does it on its own so I can't exactly teach you a spell or anything."
Jack sighed,"I see. But surely there is something you can do to show me?"
Souls frowned,"Yeah I can do something. It has to do with this device you see on my arm. This is the thing that lets me spark my transformations and hold them steady. Its the thing that holds the spell inside of it. It has a neat little trick to see if you could do the transformations yourself.
Jack thoughtfully looked at the device,"So if I had such a device I could do these transformations myself? How would I get my hooves on such a device?"
Souls responded calmly,"Yes you would be able to do the transformations yourself. As for how I can't exactly explain it at the moment. I know how it works but I don't think the information is relevent at the moment. Now let me tell you something. I'm known as something called a Soul Warrior. Because as I said I work with the souls of past warriors to power these transformations to fight off the threats that have been appearing. Those threats are from different dimensions or worlds and they come through those portals that have been appearing. Its also my duty to fight against any evil that's native to this world although there has yet to be any sign of such an evil. The device on my fore leg is called a Soul Archiver. It scans and archives these small chips known as Soul chips. The Soul chips are what contain the souls of warriors who have come back from the afterlife to help out. You got all this?"
Jack's head was reeling from all the information he was absorbing but he still nodded,"Yes. What else?"
Souls grinned a bit,"My Soul Archiver will determine if you have the potential to become a Soul Warrior. If you do then certain soul chips will light up to show just which kind or kinds you can use in battle to spark transformations. Now do you wish to proceed to see if you can be a Soul Warrior?"
Jack nodded his head instant,"Yes I do."
Souls nodded solemnly,"Very well. Now let us begin." He held his fore hoof out in front of him lengthwise to bring the Soul Archiver out in front of Jack. The machine started to hum with noise as a nonvisable scanning spell was cast on Jack Hunt. The machine ran through so many calculations in seconds as it calculated things like synchronization rates and other things. But it finally came to a halt as it beeped and a message displayed onscreen for Souls.
Souls looked down at the message,"Jack Hunt is a prime candidate for becoming a Soul Warrior. Synchronization rates are high. Candidate's alignment is within the correct parameters. Do you wish to continue with the process to make him a Soul Warrior? Yes or No?" Souls quickly tapped the yes button as he looked at Jack. He sat down on his haunches and used his free hoof to bring the satchel forwards.
He opened the flap of the satchel to reveal all the blank soul chips along with the occupied ones. A beam of light was admitted from Souls' Soul Archiver. It was red in color, very small, and targeted at Jack's own left foreleg. Jack's eyes widened in surprise a bit but let things proceed as they should. A couple of the soul chips within the satchel started to glow brightly. The ones that glowed were all of the MegaMan Soul chips along with one of the Zero Soul chips.
A calm feeling overcame Jack Hunt as he closed his eyes. The feeling spread all throughout him as it nudged his thoughts in a new direction. It had him thinking about whether he was really sure about all this and what his motivations for doing it all were. He thought to himself that yes he was sure about becoming a Soul Warrior and he was doing this to protect all the townspeople and the one he secretly loved. He would do anything protect them and see justice done.
The beam pointed at his foreleg intensified as he felt his mana pools being drawn upon heavily. Slowly a glowing white shape started to form on his foreleg. the beam of energy from Souls' Soul Archiver cut off at the shape continued to take form on Jack's foreleg. Then with a bright flash of light the new device finished taking form. It was a far sleeker model with a nice black coloring on the main parts and a red coloring on the other parts. There were 6 buttons total in the circle of 6 slots on the device. The screen was larger and seemed to have a stronger computer to it. Furthermore Jack's cutie mark was featured on the front of the device right after the circle of slots and was featured on the underside of his hoof too.
There was a flash of light as another new object appeared draped across Jack's side on top of the saddle bags that he was currently wearing. It was a new satchel filled with blank soul chips. The MegaMan soul chips along with the Zero soul chip all floated into the new satchel to take their place as his helpers.
Jack examined the new device on his foreleg with intense curiosity before looking back up at the grinning Souls. Souls grin threatened to split his face,"This is great. I finally have a new ally to help me out with these fights. Welcome to the Soul Warriors Mr. Hunt."
Jack nodded his head,"I'll do what I can to help out. I want to figure out how to do these transformations on my own so please don't tell me how to do them."
Souls looked uncertain but responded,"Um okay if your sure about that. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions though."
Jack nodded his head,"Thank you. I'll see you around sometime." He turned with a wave and left Souls alone as he left the castle. It was off to his home on the outskirts for now to try and practice.
So thus we see the revelations brought to us by X and Zero to Shattered Souls as well as the birth of a new Soul Warrior.
Author's Note
Hey Everyone. Here's yet another new chapter. This took me a bit to work on because I had to consult with the different user's who are letting me use their OCs. But I think It turned out rather well. I'm good on people sending in any more OCs as I have all that I can work with right now. However if anyone wants to suggest a character for a Soul Chip be my guest. Go ahead and leave a comment on what you liked or something like that. I hope you all have a good day. See ya next time.