The sound of footsteps echoed through the lamp lit cavern as Twilight, Zen and Cadence made their way down a secret passageway from the tomb where they found Zen. The passage was shown to them by Yami, saying that Allister had planned this saying that a mysterious rider who could travel through time came and informed him of things that his heir would need to help the land. The rider was also quite accurate as to who would be using it as upon entering the first part of the passage, they found changes of clothes for all them, correctly fitted and suited for travelling across a variety of terrains. Though Zen felt that they were in for a headache when they meet the rider, seeing as they will eventually to meet them to give the information they would then give the king to prepare this for them.
Twilight was wearing a mainly purple dress with a short purple cloak over her shoulders, some light purple fingerless gloves and a pair of purple boots. (it looks similar to how she is dressed in this image https://derpibooru.org/473411) Overall it made her look like a mage from a fantasy game. At least to Zen.
Cadence, on the other hand, looked like a knight. She wore a plain light pink t-shirt, with a set of leather armour over it. She had a pair of leather arm guards and greaves. She is wore a pair of cotton trousers and belt which held a sheathed sword. She also tied up her hair into a ponytail.
Zen had also taken the chance to change out of his casual clothes he was brought there in. His set of clothes he could honestly say made him look like a pirate. He was now wearing a wine-coloured shirt with a light blue coloured leather vest over it. A pair of cotton trousers and a pair of leather greaves. He also had a pair of gauntlets, but they were made of some kind of metal instead of the leather ones Cadence had. He finished him assemble with a dark black pirate captains’ clothes. (for those who want to see what they actually look like, well at least the top half. Got to https://www.briellecostumes.com/pirates-1/ and look at the one under the title BLACK SAILS INSPIRED PIRATE COSTUME, that is essentially what Zen is currently wearing and will be wearing most of the time outside of certain events)
Once they were all changed, they continued down the path until they reached a small dock. At the end of the dock sat a small rowboat perfectly sized to fit them all in comfortably. As they all sat in Twilight turned to Yami.
“So where does this river lead?” She asked.
“It leads to a tribe which was allies of the king in the old days and made a pledge by magic to provide aid to his heir when the time came. They live deep within the forest of harmony and guard the Tree of Harmony keeping it safe from harm. Though they only act if the tree itself can’t as they allow it to make its own decisions such as granting the elements to the bearers” Yami explained.
“I see, so do we need row the boat I don’t see any paddles?” She questioned as she looked for paddles on the dock and boat and found none.
“You don’t need any; the stream will take you there with its current, you simply need to sit in the boat and wait. The tribes port is designed to catch the boat, so you need not worry about missing your exit point. I also suggest that you all take this chance to rest, as you two have surely been through a lot recently and the heir shows signs of the fatigue brought upon by the initial use of the OOO driver” Yami answered.
The trio did just that as they all set down in the boat untying the boat before they all drifted to sleep. Whether by accident or on purpose Twilight ended up using Zen as a makeshift cushion. Though the person in question didn’t have any problems as he had already fallen into a deep sleep. Cadence who was the only one of the three still awake saw this, and a small smile made its way onto her face. “I wonder if you two might have a future like me and Shining once had. I hope where ever you were sent when the world was rewritten your safe my love” She whispered to herself as she to drifted to sleep.
They were awoken a few hours later as the boat hit something shaking them all awake. One by one they got up and rubbed the grogginess out of their eyes as they looked at their new surroundings. What they saw took their breaths away, they were no longer in a cavern but instead a large dense forest filled with trees, some of which were so tall that their tops couldn’t be seen from the ground. Over the edge of the dock where to boat now rested was a large beautifully designed city which was built into or around the various trees becoming one with nature itself. Though too far to be able to identify the species they could still see large amounts of people moving about.
They slowly got out of the boat one by one, though as Zen helped Twilight, he noticed she was slightly flushed in the face. “Are you okay?” he asked as he put his hand on her forehead to check her temperature. This caused her face to go an even deeper shade of red. Cadence and the Kivats all watched this while letting out small laughs at the two actions though neither of them noticed. “I’m fine” She stuttered, trying to look away from Zen.
“Good, I don’t want my …friends to be sick,” Zen said though Cadence who was still watching the paired noticed Zen’s eyes seemed to look empty and depressed for a few seconds as he mentioned the word friend.
Before she could think any future, a commanding voice shouted from behind them. “Halt. Name yourself trespassers and declare your intentions and how come to Thicket.”
The all turned to see a group of about five soldiers — theywere all dressed in brownish armour except for the leader who wore a more reddish Armor around each of their necks where a small barrel which was held in place by a ribbon. Though the most eye-catching part of their appearance was the deer horns which stuck out form openings in their helmets.
Zen’s eyes suddenly gaining small purple flecks as he stepped forward and spoke. “We mean you no harm, I am the heir of the multi king and have come to seek aid in accordance to the oath of the thirteen which was signed by the previous Multi king and Heart of the Forest. If you doubt my claim, I will willingly accept the Sacred trees trial to prove myself.”
As he finished spiking the purple flecks vanished leaving his normal brown eyes. Everyone except the Kivats looked at Zen the deer guards where in shock while the Cadence and Twilight both looked at him in a mixture of intrigue and shock.
“Very well, we shall take you to meet the current Heart as if such an oath exists then he would know of it if he doesn’t then we’ll make you prove yourself in the trial.” The lead guard said as he kept an eye on Zen.
The guards then separated and moved so that the leader was head of them with two of them behind him while the other two moved, so they stood behind Twilight, Cadence and Zen. With that, the group set off into the wooden metropolis. As they walked Twilight moved closer to Zen to talk with him.
“How’d you know all that?” She asked
“I think Allister’s memories acted up as the information just came to me, and my body seemed to move like it was on autopilot” Zen replied.
“Auto-what?” She asked looking a bit confused.
“Autopilot, best way to think about is acting on habit or instinct without really thinking about doing the action” Zen replied.
“You two keep quiet” one of the guards ordered.
“Sorry” the replied in sync.
With that, they walked in silence as they were brought through the city. All three of them marvelled at the buildings which were built into the trees and the methods that seemed to have been used to achieve this.
They eventually reached what was most likely the largest tree in the forest which seemed to have a castle built into it. In front of them stood and intricately carved gate which stood in grandeur. They where quickly lead in and took through the halls until the reached another large door.
“Halt, I will go inform the King, you four stay here and guard them” the guard in the reddish armour said as he left through the doors. It was a few moments later that he came back out and ushered them in.
They found themselves in a grand throne room. Along either side where various murals depicting various scenes made from some kind of coloured glass-like substance. Directly in front of them stood a large wooden throne. On it sat a man in elegant white robes. Like the guards, he too had a pair of antlers coming out of his light brown hair. Around his neck was a heart-shaped vial which was attached to a golden necklace. He looked at each of them closely his eyes focusing mainly on Zen.
“So, you claim you are the heir of the multi king. I ask you what proof do you have?” The King asked.
“I have the OOOs driver, and I can summon the armour of the king” Zen replied politely.
“I see, then present this driver and show me the armour of the legendary king” The king replied.
Zen nodded as he pulled the driver out of his coat and first showed it to the king before placing it on his waist. Then putting his hand in his coat pocket, he summoned the taka, tora and batta medals to his hand and made it look like he took them from his coat. He then placed the medals and transformed. The king’s eyes widened as he the armour appeared on Zen. They darted around taking in every detail of OOO’s TaToBa combo.
“It looks exactly like the armour depicted in the legendary scriptures left by our ancestors of the adventures of the Thirteen if you truly are the heir then do you know what has happened to our people’s warrior who served you ancestor the Advent Knight Imperere?” The king asked.
“He along with the other advent knights each went into hibernation in their respective temples across the lands, so that they would be able to aid me, as my awakening was only meant to happen when the world was once again in need of the power of the multi king” Zen answered.
“I see guards at ease. It as he said. There is an oath between our people and the multi king which requested that we would aid his heir and their companions. Please send for my son I believe he would like to meet the inheritor of OOOs and get the cooks to prepare a feast I suspect that our guest hasn’t eaten in a while.” The king said as he sent off the guards.
They all bowed and left to fulfil the Kings orders.
“Know then I don’t think I properly introduced myself. I am King Aspen the current Heart of the forest and King of Thicket, may I get your names please.” The king asked now taking a more relaxed tone in his voice.
“Of Course, your highness, I am Cadence, and it is an honour to meet you, my aunts used to tell me stories of you and your people, would I be correct in assuming that we are currently in the heart of the Everfree Forest?” Cadence asked as she introduced herself.
“You are correct; we are in the very heart of the forest. Nothing is able to get past our defences here, not even those monstrous soldiers Sombra and Chrysalis are so proud over.” Lore Aspen replied. A low growl could be heard as he mentioned Sombra and Chrysalis.
“Your Highness I am Twilight Sparkle, and you know of the Yummies they use?” Twilight asked.
“Of course, they are exactly the same as those monsters created by the traitor Gara that my ancestors fought against with the multi king and the advent knights. Though any more information about them was lost over the years. I don’t know how they got access to them, but I know that it will lead to no good for my kingdom. Unfortunately, due to current circumstances, I can do little more to play along and act as an ally so that they will leave my kingdom alone, as we do not have the power to fight against a force as big as there’s. That is your goal isn’t it multi king, to overthrow those who are making use of those monsters?” Aspen asked as he turned to Zen who had just de-transformed.
“Most likely, I only got here, so I haven’t gotten the full scope of the situation only know that I needed to help these two escapes from a yummy which was chasing them. But if I do plan to fight, I need to know more about the current state of the world, and from there I would probably work on gathering various allies first and awakening the Advent Knights. After all, no one can win a war on their own. And you can call me Zen” Zen answered with a smile.
“Right you are. It was that very reason our ancestors along with the other twelve tribes joined together with the multi king, funnily enough, the power of the king was inspired by the various tribes or species of the same family” The King replied.
Just then the door cracked open, and a young boy around the age of ten or eleven who looked like a slightly younger version of Aspen came running in, followed shortly after by a guard. “Father you’ve called for me,” The boy said as he did a small bow to Aspen before standing off to the side of Zen’s group. As Zen gaze settled on the boy, he felt a strange sensation in his body which passed a few moments after though he noticed that the boy also glanced towards him in curiosity.
“Yes, my son. I would like you to meet the heir of the multi-king and his companions.” The king answered.
“I see it is an honour to meet you, your highness; I am Prince Bramble. I don’t suppose I could see the legendary armour” Bramble asked as he aimed the deadliest weapon known to man usable only by women and children puppy dog eyes at him.
Zen started to speak, paused for a moment before as his eyes accidentally met brambles again and began mumbling something to himself and let out a smallsigh of defeat. “Stupid puppy dog eyes, I’ll show you the armour after the feast, that way I will be well rested and I your majesty would there be a place of land where I could so off some of the abilities of the armour without having to worry about the collateral damage?” Zen asked as he turned to Aspen though he noticed behind him the girls giving a small laugh to his reaction to Brambles question.
After that, they talked a bit more before they were lead to a separate hall where a table was set for the feast. They were each lead to their seats by the guards. Twilight was beside Zen, with Bramble and Cadence sitting on the opposite side of them, with King Aspen at the head. Most of the feast was spent talking about plans on what to do next and rules for the demonstration which was taking place after the feast. Once they were all done King aspen lead them all to a large open area which his men used for training. While the filed was being set up for the demonstration Zen was checking his satchel having remembered there being a medal holder in it before he awoke in the temple. With some searching, he found the holder, and upon opening, he found it just as it had been when he last looked at it. He quickly removed the medals for the TaToBa combo, along with the Kamakiri medal and the cheetah medal. He also summoned forth some cell medals to create waste yummies for him to fight.
“Are you ready Zen?” A voice asked from behind him, causing him to jump slightly.
He turned around to see King Aspen.
“Yeah, and please don’t do that again, I swear I felt my heart jump into my throat” Zen replied with a smile. He quickly headed to the now clear field and took out the belt.
“Now before I start I will just explain something, so you don’t think I’m secretly evil, I’m going to use these cell medals to create some waste yummies for me to fight against” Zen explained as he showed a pair of cell medals to the King and the others. They all nodded in understanding. With that confirmation, he snapped the medals in half and tossed them across from himself. As they flew through the air, he quickly slotted in three random medals form the ones he took into his belt.
“Taka, Kamakiri, Cheetah”
A Familiar glow covered him and the OOO’s armour formed around him. Though while the head was the same as the previous times, he used it the body and legs had changed. He now had a green torso with two elongated blades coming out from around his wrist, and his feet where now head yellow parts instead of green which covered far more of his legs then the green ones did. As the transformation finished the medal fragments hit the floor. As the tip hit, the floor bandages erupted outwards from each piece and began to intertwine with each other. After a minute each fragment had formed a mummy like a creature with a circular mask where a face would be.
All the others looked at the waste yummies in a mixture of fascinated, fear and anger. As these where the main troops of Sombra. “So that is how those monsters are made as well?” Twilight asked.
“No, these are failed versions of them in a sense. These are what are known as waste yummies. Unlike their normal counterparts, they can’t grow stronger and take a long while to produce cell medals. They make up for it by being tough to take down and very durable. The fact that Sombra has a squadron of these with the greeed most likely he has enough surplus of cell medals that making these aren’t really a waste of resources. Now watch closely as I curb stomp them” Zen replied.
With that, the lower section of his chest plate which showed a cheetah glowed and the light travelled down to his legs. Before their eyes, he became a blur, and they all saw as he flew between the yummies slashing them back and forth. That was until he ran into a wall.
“Are you okay?” Cadence asked as looked to see any signs which might indicate injury.
“I’m fine, just this is the first time I’m using super speed and accidentally forgot to break. Now then let's finish this” Zen said as he pulled out his scanner and scanned the belt.
“Scanning Charge”
Three golden rings then appeared in a line in front of Zen leading up to the waste yummies. He sped forward as he passed through each ring the ring became energy and entered the blade on his arms. They grew brighter as he passed through the other two rings and with a grand crossing of his arms he blurred past the waste yummies appearing on the opposite side of them. behind him, a glowing x cut through all form yummies, and they exploded leaving behind a half medal each. With that, he turned to the others and undid his Henshin. Though he noted that he was less tired, then he was before. Still drained but less, he wondered if perhaps the medals in him were different from the ones in the holder, maybe the journals will mention something. But for now, he concluded that it would be safer to use the medal holder medals as they will at least allow more consecutive transformation which will be plus for the future.
“So, what did you think?” He asked with a smile as he rubbed the back of his head.
“It was awesome, that armour was so cool do you think I could get one?” Bramble asked with excitement only a child could have.
“Maybe when you’re older” Zen replied
“Your decent but you need work, and I can have some of my men help you get more used to the powers while you’re here,” Aspen replied bluntly.
“Thanks, so I don’t suppose we could leave that to tomorrow and instead move onto the talking about the current state of the land?” Zen asked
“Yes, we can, follow me to my study. Bramble this is a more delicate matter, so I can’t allow you to come with us for now, though I suspect that you still have some of your studies left to do?” The king answered.
“Yes father, see you guys later,” Bramble said as he left with a guard.
The rest of them relocated to Aspen’s personal study where they all took a seat around a round table which held a map of Equestria laid across it.
“So, before I begin to explain would you mind telling me what you already know?” Aspen asked.
It was Twilight who responded first. “We don’t know very much aside that Sombra had taken control of the crystal empire and the surrounding land and the rest of my friends and princess Celestial where split up between, Chrysalis, someone called The Storm King, and two mysterious figures known as Kazari and Gara who were the only ones who we physically saw when they visited us in our cells though both where covered head to toe in cloaks hiding their features.
Another thing which I don’t know if you’d believe me when I say it, but the world shouldn’t be like this, they were not ruling here for as long as they appear to be here, and those yummies did not exist before something changed. I know for a fact that me and my friends managed to drive each one of those evils back, aside from the three we never heard of using the elements. Which I believe protected their bearers, Cadence, Celestial and Luna, as we were all gathered at the tree when it happened having been summoned there by someone via a letter.”
“I see and don’t worry I believe you, due to the original multi king and our ancestors meeting with a time-travelling rider, we have ways of telling if history was altered. But from what you said it seems I have a good bit to tell you. To start the lands of Equestria and beyond have been divided seven ways. As you already stated Sombra is in control of the Crystal Empire and the surrounding lands, another curious fact is that has in recent years taken the title of the Green king.
What you knew of as Manhattan was turned into the new hive by Chrysalis and has been running the city from the shadows which I speculate is to generate the needed love for her and her changelings to feed on. Though honestly doubt the people there even notice what’s going on, seeing as both there and in the crystal empire the wealthy are consumed by their own desires. Like Sombra she also has started to use a new title, I believe hers is the Blue Queen.
What used to be the Dragon lands where taken over by the one known as Gara who is called the Orange king and not much else is known except that he is trying to make new kinds of monsters to add to their armies.
The other individual known as Kazari took over the deserts creating a large colosseum and casino’s where he forces others to fight for his and the so-called noble people's amusement. His title is the Yellow King.
The Storm King, however, was ruling the outer lands in both timelines, I suspect that you would have eventually fought him if things have not changed though the outcome I don’t know. As with the others, his title has changed in the recent years and he is know known as the Grey King, he is also rumoured to have a magic user with him who goes by the name the Black Witch.
I’m sorry to say this, but the one who took over Canterlot and the lands around it except for this forest was Nightmare Moon. I’m sorry as I know that she was the corrupted form of Princess Luna. I don’t have any clue if it is the princess corrupted or if she was something made in the image of the princess form by Gara. She unlike the others didn’t gain a new title. There are rumours of a warrior Gara uses known as the Red Knight who shares the colour theme, so they might also be related to the new titles. All that is known about them gaining the titles is apparently some ceremony they called the Stripping.” Aspen explained pointing out each location as he named it. Though Zen noticed that the map was colour coded to display the territories of each person.
“Interesting, I think I might know a reason why they took those specific monikers or at least a rough guess,” Zen said as he glanced at Aspen.
“And that is?” Twilight asked.
“They’ve all become Greeed, we’ll all accept maybe nightmare moon, but both Kazari and Gara are definitely ones, it is likely that the other five became or were turned into greeeds or have one working for them, as only a Greeed can control the yummies which they create,” Zen replied.
“What is a Greeed?” Candance asked
Zen stayed quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “I think I best start at the begging” he then took out the medal holder which held the core medals and several cell medals. Putting them in the plain view of the other three. “These are core medals and cell medals the source of mine, the Greeeds, Yummies and one of the drivers in my bag powers. The colourful ones are the core medals, and the silver looking ones are the cell medals. Yummies and Greeeds are beings created from desire and are quite similar in build both have bodies constructed out of cell medals. The main difference between the two is that a Greeed will have medals of a certain type within their body, they dictate both its appearance and the type of yummy they can create. Another difference is that a yummy can grow stronger by feeding off the desire that spawned it, increasing the number of cell medals it has. The method in which this is done depends on which core medals the Greeed making it had.
For example, yummy born form, a Greeed who only has green medals will create insect-like yummies similar to the one form the temple. They gain strength by consuming the source of desire most of the time; there are some odd ones which have more unique methods which depend on the yummy itself if the desire doesn’t really have a physical form for it to consume. For example, let’s say the yummies host had a desire for wealth the yummy would go around consuming gold, cash and stuff similar to that which symbolise wealth. The more it eats, the more cell medals are created and the stronger it grows.
Greeed, on the other hand, have two methods to grow stronger; the first is to absorb large amounts of cell medals into their body, large amounts of cell medals can grant them incredible strength and durability. The other method and the more dangerous of the two is them absorbing core medals. The more core medals a Greeed has of their type, the more access to their full powers they have. Nine medals of their respective set are what is need for them to become whole and gain their most destructive power; probably the scariest is the power the grey Greeed.”
“Why is that?” Aspen asked
“Because, the power it gains with all nine of its medals inside of it, is to turn anything it touches into to cell medals. Though I would say what happens should one Greeed be filled with several different types of medals at once might be equally scary. The reason is because first they will turn into a super Greeed which is just a destructive beast, but should even more core medals be added, then the Greeed will turn into what is known as the medal vessel which then proceeds to consume the world. Back to my original reason for speaking the reason, I believe they may have become Greeed is that each set of core medals is differentiated by a different colour, of which include the sets with the colours, Green, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Grey, Red and Black” Zen finished explaining.
“I see, that is worrying. Do you know how many core medals they each may have already?” Aspen asked in a worried tone.
“There are ten medals in each set they have between one to seven medals of their respective sets; I have three of each set in my holder here. Without having a confrontation with them, I won’t be able to tell for sure.” Zen answered.
“I see. Is there anything else you need before I have the guards show you to the guest rooms?” Aspen asked
“We’re fine” Twilight and Cadence replied
Though Zen paused for a minute remembering the fuestle he was given by the Kivats.
“There is one thing I need to check from the stuff we got from the temple I woke up in, but it needs a large open space do you know anywhere that could fit that?” Zen asked
“Yes, I have just the place I can show it to you tomorrow after breakfast” Aspen replied with a smile. They all got up, and the guards began to lead them away when Aspen stopped Zen.
“I have one more question I would like to ask you in private,” Aspen said as he signalled his guard to continue bringing Twilight and Candance to their rooms.
“Okay, ask away?” Zen said as he noticed Aspen seemed to look slightly guilty.
“How does one get turned into a Greeed?” He asked.
“The change is triggered by inserting a core medal into their body. It not actually that hard. When the medal is brought towards the body, a coin slot will appear for it to be put in. It is the same method used to create yummy, with the only difference being the type of medal used. Is there anything else” Zen answered.
“No thank you, a guard will be outside to take you to your room,” Aspen said as moved Zen out of the room and closed the door. As the door closed Zen noticed that the guilty he saw in Aspen earlier had seemed to intensify. Before he could think anymore, he felt the drain from the using the armour finally hit him and had the guard lead him to his room.
