BURNING POV

The large beast let out another piercing howl as it charged towards us. We all leapt out of its path as it passed, yet still hitting us with a wave of chilling ice, knocking us off our feet. Noire was the first to rise, and raised his hands towards the lion in an effort to promote peace. "We did not know you were resting here. We apologize and promise not to return." The lion responded in a low growl.

"By stepping foot into our domain, you have already issued a challenge to us, Frost Regulus. Thou would be cowardly to walk away, and cowardice is rewarded with pain. Now fight... or perish." Another wave of frost covered me as I dodged another charge, however, due to my reduced speed, was vulnerable to the jagged ice that came towards me. Noire came to my aid, summoning his Gardnablade to block the attack. Frost Regulus? I had not heard of him from any legends, making his appearance in a random cave in the middle of the freezing wastelands even more strange. Tidal and Windy went on the offensive, hitting him with wind and ice attacks, yet couldn't make a dent in the beast defense as he stood unflinching.

"Noire! Boost me!" Noire nodded and encoded my whole body. I jumped off of his sword and struck the lion with Burning Fist: Tiger, which forced Frost Regulus back a bit. It seemed to be immune to wind and water-related magic "Windy, Noire, synchronize your attacks with mine! Tidal, use pure magic to disorient it!" Tidal fired a charge wave of magic at Frost Regulus' face which left him dazed. With that opening, Windy launched a Zephyr Comet while I fired my new attack "Burning Fist: Phoenix Bullet!". Noire fired a wave of pure magic, which encoded the fiery comet. The impact created a massive explosion, and we all watched with baited breath to see how much damage we had done. The obscuring smoke cleared to see the lion with a few scratches, but looked fine.

"This guy must be built like a deity to take this much. Did you hold back or something?" Tidal questioned as Frost Regulus made a speculative look towards me, and then turned his gaze to Noire. He then took a large inhale.

"We smell a familiar scent in the air, yet different. Ah, yes, a human's scent. An avatar, it seems." Noire perked up at his deduction "How long before you show me your true power?"

"Everybody! Attack him with everything you have!" Noire leapt into the air as all three of us prepared a focused attack.

"ZEPHYR COMET!"
"GRAND TIDE'S TRIDENT!"
"BURNING FIST: DRAGON!"

All the attacks gathered around Noire as his sword burned a royal blue. "BURNING EXCODE!" He unleashed a magic slash, carrying all of our enhanced attacks. However, Frost Regulus looked up at the.

"Thy strength is praise worthy, and the growth we have felt within this lair is commendable." The dark blue of his mane began to flare up, and the fog rose until we were left blinded for a moment "As reward for not dying too easily, we too shall, as the new blood say-" an ear-piercing roar deafened the area and the fog parted almost immediately, revealing a human figure where the beast once stood, with all our attacks missing their mark "-go all out."

The new phase of the battle proceeded very differently than the last, with Frost Regulus charging faster than we expected. He grabbed Tidal by the face and slammed her into the ground, leaving her unconscious. Windy tried to gain an aerial advantage but his body was frozen by a wave of frost that left in a hole in the wall , shaking from the cold. Noire and I were the only ones left standing. "He took out Windy without even touching him. Just what the hell is he!?" As I began to panic, Noire yelled at me to grab the others while he kept Frost Regulus busy. I made my way to the knocked out Tidal, carrying her to the side, and rushed to Windy's aid. Frost Regulus tried to take me out as well, but a powerful wave of magic knocked him away slightly. Enough for his punch to miss, making a crater in the wall next to me. The beast made his way back to Noire, who was beginning to shake from the cold, but held fast and clashed with his Longblade. As I carried a shaking Windy to a safe location, I could hear him murmur.

"Burning.... the c-cold... it makes him... bulkier..." With that, he finally passed out. I laid him next to Tidal, who beginning to shiver as well. At that rate, both of them were going to die of hypothermia, if Frost Regulus didn't. I extended my palms and flames were released from them, surrounding both of their bodies.

"My Burning Fist: Rat should keep them alive at least, but not for long," I looked to the battle behind me, with Noire taking a punch straight to the gut, sending him flying. He countered by throwing a Phantom Excalibur at him. The sword, however, was frozen by another wave of frost. "The frost makes him more susceptible! I'll hold him while you hit him with the biggest Phantom Excalibur you have!"

"Great plan and all, but I need him still for it to work or else he'll just dodge!" He nodded and floated in the air, lifting his sword high. Frost Regulus saw this and tried to stop him but I took both his arms and hooked his legs to the ground.

"Burning Fist: Full Body Concentration!" My entire body tensed up, and an intense pain surged through my body but I felt unmovable like this. It seemed to work as even though Frost Regulus fought with all his might, he was rooted to the ground.

"Final Decode: Phantom Ascalon!" I could see the tip of a lance descending towards us, and as a last resort, he let out a loud roar, releasing all of his cold energy. The resulting shockwave stopped the blade from making contact, but was gradually getting closer. I fought against the cold wind long and hard, but was losing my grip. I felt hands hold onto my sides. I looked down to see Tidal and Windy holding onto me. The lance came closer, I could see it slowly, but surely absorbing the magic of the cold wind, turning it a pale blue.

"It seems thou are... all brilliant warriors." With his final words, everything went black.

When I came to, the first thing I notice was the hot spring water I was laying in, and that I was stripped down to my boxers. I looked around to find the others in a similar state, rousing from their slumber and surprised by their lack of clothing. Tidal took it especially poorly by slapping Windy, who was unfortunately placed right next to her, giving him a free look at her sports bra. "Evening to you all." We found Frost Regulus, in his lion form, sitting by the springs. We all were on alert until we found ourselves too drained to even stand "It would be best to relax. The rejuvenating waters should help you recover your strength and magic. Plus, we have things to discuss, starting with you, human. Explain why look and smell like Grim but newer, somehow," Frost Regulus asked.

"Well, I'm a part of his soul that fragmented before he came to Equestria. That would explain our similarities. In more ways than I would like..." he said as he look at his reflection in the waters "But now we have to know who exactly you are. You feel familiar but-"

"We are the guardian of these lands, Vindr, known as the Frost Regulus. The reason why thou feel a familiarity towards us is because we fought against your originator, along with the other Reguli."

"There are others!? Are they as strong as you!?" Windy asked.

"There were six of us in total. Along with us, there was Ignius, the Flame Regulus, Prusilla, the Vortex Regulus, Aes, the Terra Regulus, Squall, the Gale Regulus, and Lucus, the Woodland Regulus." Some of those names were recognizable, with Ignius being the first Dragon King. "We were all simply companions of that Heros before being taken to distant areas of Equus to serve as guardians, given immense power through the code." That explained why it took all of us at our best just to weaken him. It was evident he was the victor of our bout, from how he managed to carry all of our unconscious bodies to this spring. "Now for my next question. Why are thou here?"

"We came to train and get stronger. Grim has returned and is intent on remaking Equus, recruiting other nations under the promise of creating an 'ideal world'. His next stop is Griffonstone, so we're preparing for the worst." Windy said.

"Thou hath proved your strength in combat. Unicorn, pegasus, thou battled through my freezing winds in critical condition. Earth pony, do not think I didn't notice your co-ordination of thine allies, and human, while you still have much to learn about your own abilities, your power is not one to scoff at. However, I do wonder why we smell Lucus' scent on you." We all looked to Noire in curiosity as he held his chin in his hand.

"That old timberwolf in the Everfree! He's a regulus!?"

Vindr let out a wry chuckle "Yes, Lucus is a good friend of mine. One of the few that remain. It is sad to say that Ignius was not the only one to perish in the battle 10,000 years ago." The lion's body became transparent "Ignius, Aes, Squall, and myself fell in battle, confined to our domains in spirit by Heros, while Lucus and Prusilla were the only surviving members."

"Guys, we should get back to the castle before everypony gets worried. We were supposed to be back by now," Tidal said as she exited the spring, and found our items. We all followed and as we equipped ourselves, Vindr began to fade away.

"It seems we expended more magic than we thought. May you depart with this warning. The Reguli's blessing does not extend to you alone." With that he vanished and we left the cave, alive and well. However, we left wary of the threat we may find in Griffonstone, and the reality that we were far from ready to end this war.

Author's Note

Two chapters in a month this time! I thought of releasing the first part sooner but I felt you all would want both now, and they both are just fights with some lore. I hope you all enjoyed the uploads and I'll be sure to bring you more next month as well!

Oh! and before I go:
Phantom Ascalon: The lance version of Phantom Excalibur which absorbs a portion of the magic used against it. A perfect finisher for more defensive enemies.

Stay dizzy. Wuzzy out.