Author's Note

I had to fix the chapter a part of the bottom did not post sorry about that

chapter 41 fixed

“The dragon kingdom is under attack.” The guard said, immediately we rushed out of the room. I hastily sent a letter to my liches and captains with orders to gather the army, Celestia in the meantime was gathering any guards she could and got them ready to fight, she had a total of 500 guards ready to travel in less than ten minutes.

“Are you ready?” I asked, Celestia nodded, in the time she ordered her guards she also went off to wear her personal armor, a beautiful piece of smithing, filled with arcane symbols and commemorative engravings, the whole piece was of a golden colour which shone under the light of the Sun. The armor covered her entire figure leaving an opening for her wings and horn, when she finally strapped it on fully a multitude of runes light up in awakening showing off the true power of the armor, and the mastery of the one who crafted it. Even then there was no time to admire her, there was a battle to win. We immediately rushed out and went off into the air with a chariot.

“So the demons have made their move, I was hoping to have the meeting tomorrow before they had a chance to attack.” Celestia said as we rode the chariot which was being pulled by pegasus guards, in little time we moved to the open fields below canterlot where I could see my army, ready and prepared for battle, marching off towards the dragon kingdom. Waiting for them would have been a waste of time so we decided to arrive there before them and start the council as soon as possible.

“We better try to come up with a strategy now while we have the chance to, I don’t think we will have the time when we get there.” I said, she thought about it and nodded. Celestia pulled a map out of thin air then it unrolled and flattened in the air showing us the dragon kingdom. The dragon kingdom was filled with mostly mountains and volcanoes, there were very few traces of green on the map but that was to be expected, the map though showed some marks on it. “The markers is where they are being attacked?” I asked and she nodded.

“Right here is where the bulk of the demons are from what we heard.” She said as she pointed to a base of a volcano. “It is the dragons stronghold, unfortunately the battle is going south pretty fast they won’t resist for long.” She said as I looked over the map and came to a conclusion.

“We should send the guards to the other areas that are in conflict, the volcano could be too much for them to handle especially the extreme temperature of it, if we can help the dragons in the other battles they can use their forces to sustain the stronghold’s defenses, I can also send my undead there, they are immune to the effects of the scorching heat.” I said as I pointed to the other areas around the kingdom.

“I see you’re right it would be too much for them they were trained to handle high temperatures.” She said agreeing with my plan and told the guards to be ready for battle since we reached the border of the dragon kingdom already and we were above rocky terrain.

“We will reach the battle shortly I guess?” I asked her, she nodded but remained silent afterwards. After some time we landed on the ground, the guards got off their chariots and grabbed their weapons making also sure their armor was on correctly, the pegasi in the meantime were resting on some rocks not too distant from us.

“I’ll scout ahead to see how the battles are going.” As I said that I jumped up on a few large rocks and started climbing it till I got to the top of the small rocky mountain and looked around the area. I could see several battles around the area the closest one was with a few dragons and demons, the demons were large and wielded great swords and warhammers. There were many types of demon but the most common were two, one had a bright red skin, with a pair of ram horns and a long slim tail, they sported a well defined body but not to an extreme, they wielded black greatswords which seemed to be their weapon of choice.

The black demons had snake like features, they had the head of a snake and the body of a minotaur, with their massive size they wielded massive warhammers. I hadn’t have the time to check through all the other kinds of demon, I had to be quick. I rushed down the hill and spoke to Celestia letting her know of the many battles around us and more importantly, the one that was ragin just a few hundreds meters away from us. We regrouped the guards and marched towards the battlefield, fortunately the demons didn’t see us coming so we took them by surprise sneaking up on them from the flank. The battle was quick and with very few injured, not surprisingly considered mine and Celestia presence. After the battle we helped the injured dragons while also directing the others to the stronghold.

“You should head to the stronghold we will help with the surrounding battles my undeads should arrive shortly.” I said, they were a bit reluctant about leaving their fellows in battle but understood that the main objective was to defend their most powerful position. In the end we managed to finish off the remaining demons from the different battles mostly thanks to the fact they didn’t know we were there.

“The dragons should have a better chance of defending their stronghold now.” I told Celestia, she didn’t answer immediately so I looked at her, she was breathing heavily probably because she wasn’t used to fighting especially after thousands of years of peace and… Cake eating.” You ok there Celestia?” I asked and she gave me a thumbs up while sitting down on a nearby rock. I could feel my undead approaching the main battle and I decided to join them, I explained this to Celestia and she just nodded still winded. I teleported to the front of my army and saw the general and the captain of my royal guard, they were busy leading the troops to battle doing a fine job at that too, I walked over to them and joined them in the march to the stronghold at the volcano.

“Nice of you to join us, we already finished the other battles only the strongholds needs defending bring the manticore riders and the Centaurerkers,” The same centaur like creatures that showed up during the fight in the crystal empire. ”at upfront we will charge with cavalry first then the main force will follow.” I explained, with my orders given I saw the creation of the undead manticores thanks to a necromancy spell, this way we didn’t have to hunt them down first..

“We will arrive soon.” The general said as we marched to the stronghold.

“Have the archers prepare their bows same goes for the foot soldiers, we strom in after the chavalry opened us a window.” I ordered, the undeads immediately followed the command and readied themselves behind our mounted infantry. We marched forward maintaining our formation, we neared the stronghold and saw situation. The demons were numberend in the thousands the picture was grim the dragons were losing ground even with their aerial advantage, there were simply too many. Fortunately for the dragons I was there to see that rectified.

“CHARGE.” I yelled, immediately the chavalry shot out in a wild run towards the enemies the infantry was right behind them waiting for them to open the road. The manticores and the Centeraurkers smashed into the back of the enemy force like a hammer on an anvil leaving behind them a trail of dead demons.

“We will hang back for a bit let’s watch for now.” I said to the general and captain and they understood and we watched the battle unfold.

The zombies and the rest of the infantry made contact shortly after the passage of the chavalry, the plague spread by my undeads was decimating their numbers bringing them back to life again on our side. While the blunt of our formation was massacrating the demons our archers started firing on the back of the demon’s force, killing their archers thus giving the dragons an easier time with the rest of the attacking army. With the newly acquired breathing room the dragons managed to lift up safely into the air and wash the earth below them with a torrent of flames. I immediately ordered to the zombies to back off and retreat but left the rest of the troops there.

“Let’s wrap things up here.” I said as we decided to join the battle, the demon force was at the breaking point and us joining in the battle only served to make them die faster. After the battle ended I set the undead around the stronghold for extra security while me and Celestia entered the stronghold. We didn’t have to walk much so we immediately encountered Torch who sported a broken limb and an injured wing. Torch himself was also different than before he was way bigger, his frame and figure shadowed ours and filled the majority of the room we were in.

“Sorry we had to meet under these circumstances Talion.” Torch said with a deep and ancient voice, one that made the air tremble. He tried to get up but grunted in pain and sat back down. “I was ambushed before the fighting started and got these injures.” He said, Celestia ignited her horn and channeled a healing spell which would help him heal faster and also helped easing the pain.

“Yes I was with Celestia when we got the news, we rushed as fast as we could to get here and help out.” I said, from there the conversation shifted to how to push back the demons but not for long. We decided to keep our ideas for the council the very next day, but then a thought entered my mind.

“Hey Celestia how did the demons get here isn’t the gate to tartarus under Canterlot?” I asked her and she looked at me with worry.

“The gates… they disappeared. I should have told you sooner but I wanted to wait for the council before, what a mistake that was.” She said, I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.

“I will try to look for it with the palantir when we get back.” I said and Torch looked at me with confusion but also curiosity.” I will tell everyone at the meeting and I will bring it along with me to show everyone there.” I said and he nodded, deciding to just wait for me to get more information. “Now that that is out of the way, we need to make some repairs to your fort don’t you think so Torch?” I asked, he gladly accepted so his dragons and my undead worked together to patch the stronghold up, it wasn’t a one day job but at least we could make it a bit more solid in case of another offensive.

“You should head back too you look exhausted from all the fighting.” I told Celestia she nodded a bit unsure but teleported nonetheless. With the the most importants repairs done I ordered the return of my troops back leaving only a small contingent of them there just to be sure. My orders given I teleported back to my rooms and immediately Luna rushed to me. I stopped her before she could speak and motioned her to the couch.

“Is there something you want to discuss Talion?” Luna asked me as we sat down on the couch.

“Yes, why did you ask Chrysalis to do that?” I asked, Luna had a nervous smile on her as I looked at her in the eyes.

“I have been worried about my sister since my return, she often wandered the halls of the castle in the middle of the night, she has been growing distant from everypony lately. I was worried that she might just detach from everypony else, I couldn’t bear the thought of her doing that so I thought, if you two got to know each other better she would be more open around others.” She explained.

“Well I think she liked your idea, we now have another herd member and she looked pretty flustered when I said she would be in the same bed as you and me.” I said and she blushed just like Celestia. “Just remember you are the one that caused this so you better be ready for the outcome that comes with it Luna.” I said and she nodded still blushing from the thought of sleeping with her sister and me very soon.

After that she went to bed and I went to the secret chamber where the palantir was so I could locate the gates.

Next morning

I arrived to the castle early in the morning, with me I had the Palantir covered in a thick blanket covered in runes to protect others from its power. I made my way into the castle and reached the council room, I was the first to arrive so I just relaxed on a couch while I waited for the others. I didn’t have to wait much, Celestia and Luna arrived after a few minutes and kept me company while we waited.

The guests and dignitaries started to arrive and fill the room, we waited for everyone to arrive before calling the council officially starting the meeting. I sat down next to Celestia there were around 15 people in the room with us, several of them were of course familiar faces, the dragon king Torch, Daron Stonpelt and Queen Phaenna. The latter seemingly brought with them their heir, a young zebra with long braided hair, she wore a long silver coloured dress and a necklace she was maybe fifteen or sixteen years old and was obviously not comfortable with the situation often looking left and right to avoid eye contact, but even with that I could notice a long scar right under her right eye which was completely white. Obviously the injury costed her her sight.

“Who is the newcomer and where is Dainn.” A booming voice asked, the voice belonged to a lion, his figure was imposing with golden hair under his crown, a rather simplistic one at that with very few jewels in it but probably made out of pure gold, the design was also simplistic in nature with few and scarce details. He wore an elegant suit but nothing too frivolous, on his chest he sported a lot of medals from war, on his hips a sword was strapped, on his shoulders was draped a long red mantle with a fine line of gold adorning it. The king obviously didn’t take the throne without a motive, he seemed a skilled fighter and probably a well experienced general.

“I am a new king, as for Dainn I am glad to say he is no longer with us.” I said simply, many gasp rose from around the table but the lion king silenced them all.

“What do you mean?” He asked in a low threatening voice.

“He is dead and I have taken over his land overseas.” I said and that shocked everyone in the room beside the people I knew there.

“That’s impossible! His army is massive and his land is vast, I know about his secret research that can draw magic from unicorns and inject them into caribous.” The lion king said as he banged the table with his clenched fist sporting a lot of rings that I previously missed. I snapped my finger and several screens appeared around the room, the screen showed how I contacted Torch, Daron, Phaenna, Celestia, and Luna, how my undeads fought against Dain’s forces and how they all contributed to our final victory. Lastly the screen showed how I defeated and killed Dain.

“This should cover why I am present here, now unless there are other question I suggest we starts this council. Celestia if you may.” I said, everyone remained silent and let Celestia use her magic to create a map that stretched along the whole table.

“Demons have been coming to our world and started attacking our nations, the first attacker was unfortunately the dragon kingdom, before we discuss any strategy though I suggest we all introduce ourselves to our new member of the council.” She said and the lion spoke up first.

“I am Regem and this is my son, Leo.” He said pointing to his son, a young boy in his teens. He wore a pregiate suit that showed off his title as prince, he also had a small sword strapped to his hip, his hair was like his father’s golden in colour. He also had a small crown, this one silver in colour probably to show that he was a prince and not a king yet, he like his father also had a cape over his shoulder with the same golden patterns and coloration. The boy simply nodded, then the Zebra chief spoke up in turn.

“I am the chief of the Zebra tribes my name is Toa Kaha of the white clan, you’ve already met my daughter her name is Wairua Kaha.” He said gesturing to his daughter she blushed and hid her face behind her hands. The zebra chief was a tall man, his eyes were brown and his mane was a deep black, short but not too much he kept it in a maokai like style. He wore a pelt armor with a diagonal leather strip. The armor showed off his impressive musculature and the many scars he gained in time. Wairua instead wore a simple cloth made out of leather and fur which covered her breasts and hip but left her stomach uncovered, the armor also covered her legs in the same brown like texture.

The final one was a rather interesting one, for I’ve never seen something like her. She was a tall woman, her eyes were a deep purple while her hair were straight and long with a combination of violet and cyan, her skin was an alabaster white similar to Celestia’s. She wore a long white dress which also showed a lot of her voluptuous breasts, the dress was long enough to cover her legs, it was short sleeved but a pair of long gloves covered her hands up to her elbow. At her neck there was long necklace made out of pearls with one in the center that was especially big. She had a pair of wings but her body figure wasn’t one of a gryphon. “I am Queen Novo, ruler of the hippogryphs. This is my daughter Skystar.” She said presenting her daughter, a cream coloured girl with a similar dress to the one of her mother but without the necklace. “Hi.” She said happily.

“It is nice to meet you all.” I said nodding and we got down to business.

“The reason we are here today is because the gates of Tartarus are missing and demons are roaming free in our world.” Celestia said.

“That reminds me.” Torch started looking at me. “ Have you found it Talion?” He asked, I pulled out the Palantir and answered his question.

“Yes and no. Every time I found it it changed location making it difficult to track down.” I said as they all looked at the cloth covered orb.

“What is that?” Torch asked as he looked at the cloth.

“This is the Palantir I mentioned it in our encounter at the fort.” I said as I uncovered it revealing the orb. “It holds great power and it can only be used safely by one that has a great will and mind. It allows one to view what they want to see and I have been using it to track the Gates but like I said it moves everytime I find it.” I said, the others showed interest in the item but many hid it well, queen Novo especially showed a great deal of restraint towards the orb putting on a stone like face. The same couldn’t be said for her daughter who was looking at it with wide eyes. I put it high enough for everyone to see it and used it to find the gates, as previously stated the gates disappeared immediately after their discovery.

“So if you can’t find it with your fancy orb thing we will have to do this the old fashioned way.” Regem said still looking at the Palantir.

“So why did they attack my kingdom first?” Torch asked.

“From what I believe they were just scouts.”I said and he nearly shouted.

“What do you mean they were only scouts?” He asked enraged. “ They came by the thousands and nearly won the battle if you had not come.” He yelled and that got everyone worried, if my analysis was correct that meant that the demons were far stronger than I anticipated, if just scouts could almost destroy one of the toughest fortress on the planet then their main force was something to fear. And everyone there knew it.

“From everything I have gathered from Hecale, my proxy, there are demons that are immune to flames. The question is why would they send an army that was not immune to your fire and why would they send them in the first place if they were not going to be serious about it.” I said.”Dragons by far are the strongest species in strength and are perfect for battle, their size and fire breath gives them a lot of advantage in the battlefield.” I said.

“So why would they hold back?” Novo asked.

“They were testing their strength to see what they were up against and with their near victory they will much more bold about their movements. They will be far more vicious and aggressive, their forces will completely stomp any of us if we act Independently.”I said, this made them hum in thought.” If we do not join together to fight the demons, all is lost.” I said and then I remember something from the lord of the rings movie and I quietly chuckled but Regem heard it.

“What’s so funny?” He asked growling and I was surprised he could hear me.

“Just remembering something from my world.” I said simply.

“What do you mean from your world?” Novo asked actually surprised.

“I am not originally from this world.” I said, this made them all fall, the silence was broken by Leo.

“You can’t honestly think we would believe such bullshit right.” Leo said as he crossed his arms.

“It’s true, he is from another world.” Celestia said and everyone in the room looked at her.

“You can’t be serious.” Regem said and she shook her head.

“It’s true he is from another world.” She said and Regem, Novo, and Toa Kaha started whispering to their heirs but then they stopped shortly after.

“So what was that funny from your world, which obviously outweigh our current situation.” Novo asked me looking at me with cold eyes. I wasn’t scared by that so I just continued and explained myself.

“There was a situation just like this in my world Celestia knows about this.” I said and she looked at me.

“You mean Sauron?” She asked and I nodded.

“Who is Sauron?” Phaenna asked.

“He was the dark lord that tried to take over the world with is army of orcs.” I said.

“So how did your stopped him?” Torch asked

“Well first I need to explain the rings I guess, first I will recite the poem that was written about them let me see if I remember.” I said and I thought for a moment then it came to me and I started reciting it.

“Three rings for the elven kings under the sky, seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone, nine for mortal men doomed to die, one for the dark lord on his dark throne in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie one ring to rule them all one ring to find them one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.” (Link in case you forgot where I got it) I said and the same thing happened when I first told Celestia and Luna it and I started to explain the rings.” The rings were created by an elf by the name of Celebrimbor but the designs were created by Sauron, after they created them they gave them to the rulers of each race but Sauron forged his own ring after that and made an army of orcs and a last alliance of men and elves was the only thing that could stop them, but after the war instead of destroying the ring a human king took it for himself. But the ring had a will of its own, Sauron poured his malice and will to dominate all life in it this in turn corrupted the foolish king and plunged his kingdom into darkness.” I said finishing it and I snapped my fingers and a hologram of Sauron aperred behind me.

“Well I guess we have a common enemy don’t we.” Regem said and we all nodded, then I noticed that Leo was missing, I looked around and saw him sneaking up on me. When he noticed that he has been caught he shot off and grabbed the Palantir in both his hands looking into it.

“What are you doing you fool?” I yelled.

“This thing can’t be that dangerous.” He said with nonchalance, the Palantir immediately glowed and a red eye opened in the middle. Suddenly Leo started screaming and thrashing around as he fell to the ground in pain, I ran over to him and knocked the orb out of his hands making it roll on the floor meanwhile the cloth that I used to bring the palantir there flew off of the table and covered it. The last thing I saw in it was the red eye looking at me maliciously before it was covered by the cloth with that done I focused my attention on Leo who was just starting to breath normally, he then opened his eyes looking around scared.

“Is he ok?” He asked and I nodded, then I turned my gaze to the boy.

“What did you see?” I asked and he tried to collect himself but he was still sweating and still looking around like a scared animal.

“I saw fire everywhere and a desert with a village and what looked like a celebration.” He said but I needed more information.

"Anything else that stands out" I asked.

"A statue in the center of the village." He said and Toa stood up.

"That's my village and the celebration is next week in 6 days." He said and I stood up.

"we need to get there and defend the village but first we should wrap things up here and Regem was checking on his son and he stood up.

"Yes I agree I need to get my son home so he can be checked I approve of this alliance any other that approve." He said and everyone agreed and we finished our meeting and I left with Toa to gather my army.