Trapped in another world.by mild hotsauceChaptersPrologue: near death experienceCh1: Just a tasteCh2: captureCh3: new problemsCh4: in the swampsCh6: Going into town: Starting to trainCh7:Going into town: Chaos UnleashedCh8: The SacrificeCh9: Rise AgainCh10: History (optional)Ch11: Leaving PyrusCh12: WildlifeCh5: going into town: a time for restPrologue: near death experiencePrologue: near death experience. Black, black was all Twilight could see at this point. One minute she’s trying a new spell, the next she is trapped in an endless black abyss. Slowly, her vision starts to return, but what she sees isn’t the library: a shriveled corpse, a biped by the looks of it. Black eye sockets, mouth agape as if screaming, and decaying fast. She tried to scream at the sight, but couldn’t make a sound, she just lay there next to it, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She quickly regained control of her facilities and shot onto her hooves and backed up, but ran into another similar corpse leaning against a tree, the only difference was the pointed ears. She jumped forward, and tried to take in her surroundings. It was a clearing, corpses like that of different bipeds and animals, all with the same expressions. She saw her friends lying throughout the clearing too, but thankfully still very much alive. Deciding to spare them the horror of the clearing, she tried teleporting them somewhere else, but she wasn’t alone. A shadow moved across the clearing, something took a deep breath, and sighed contently. It flickered into existence slightly, the creature was bipedal, with gnarled black flesh and hunched over as if it was in pain. Four tentacles sprouted from its back, each one with a wicked looking harpoon at the end. Fading back into a shadow form, it took off in the direction Twilight teleported to. They weren’t in Equestria anymore, that much was clear. Nothing looked remotely similar to their home, even the Everfree forest didn’t feel as if everything wanted to rip you limb from limb. The floor of the woods was extremely marshy, meaning that they were in some kind of swamp. Twilight teleported to another clearing, which was actually clear. She started a fire, and laid her friends around it, trying to keep them warm. She joined the five of them, but when she got on her stomach, something pinched her. She shot up and looked around, nothing. She tried illuminating the area a bit more, but found herself unable to do so, she dropped on her knees, and felt extremely drained. Her vision started fading, and her breathing labored. When she was about to drop from random exhaustion, a gold colored arrow flew past her head, and imbedded itself into something behind her. What she heard would have made her wet herself if she had any energy to do so. A scream, otherworldly and extremely bone chilling. She fell and managed to turn her head to the screaming creature. Black leathery skin, black orbs for eyes, sharp teeth lined mouth with harpoon tipped tentacles, one of which was dripping blood, her blood. The arrow was imbedded between its eyes, tears appeared in the creatures form and were rapidly expanding. Its wails died as it finally faded away, the arrow dropped from its spot in the air, and the last thing twilight saw before closing her eyes, was a livelier looking bipedal creature with pointed ears rushing towards her. Twilight came to in a dimly lit room that had a similar feeling to it as her library did. Her friends were laying in beds similar to the one she was in. The material felt like silk and the bed softer than those from the royal palace in Canterlot. A look around showed that the walls looked exactly like those of the library, except without the books. The room was large, cabinets adorned most of the walls, ad a window allowed a little light in, it was dark outside, but a faint glow could be seen from all around. She got out of bed, and fell on her face. The bed itself was larger than the ones she was used to. A low laugh could be heard from the other side of the room she was in, when she looked, she saw a figure with pointed ears. It stood on two legs and wore ornate lime green armor with gold highlights. On its back hung a bow made of an unfamiliar material to her and a quiver of gold arrows hung from its right leg. “So, you’re finally awake, good. It’s quite remarkable really; nothing recovers as fast as you did after an encounter like that with a Ghast.” Its voice was gentle but strong, she didn’t know how it could do that, but she felt at ease around the creature, safe in its presence. “Who and what are you?” was the first thing that left her mouth. “Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Volkig, commander of the elven guard here in Landris.” It said, now that she thought about it, it sounded male. “Excuse me my ignorance, but what is an elf, and where in Equestria are we again?” “Equestria huh, must be another realm. You are on the world of Tyr, and elves are one of the many sentient races across the land. Right now you are in one of the cities close to the border between the human land of Glacialis and the elven home of Lysandus.” Twilight couldn’t believe what she heard: Elves, countries, and another realm. She almost broke down crying when a yawn escaped one of her friends. Applejack rose from her unconscious slumber, and like twilight did, fell out of bed. “What in tarnation!” she yelled, standing up from her scorpion position. She found her hat on one of the bed posts, retrieved it and placed it back on her head. She looked around and saw Twilight standing there with some strange creature. “Uh, Twilight, what the hay is going on here?” she asked. Twilight couldn’t say anything to answer Applejacks Question, so she turned to Volkig for help, who happily gave it. “Why don’t we wait for the rest of your friends to wake up before I tell you what you need to know.” “Ah would prefer you tell me now.” She said back to him, clearly annoyed with the fact that she doesn’t know where she is, and this thing aint telling her squat. “In due time, I would prefer to let you all know at once instead of repeating myself over and over again.” He kept a slight smile on his face, probably from seeing two creatures fall out of their beds in a comedic matter. “Now, why don’t we get you something to eat and drink, you must be hungry now, you’ve been out for three days. “Well, ah am mighty puckish, I could go for something ta eat, but as soon as the others wake up, you are going to tell us what the hay is happening.” “Agreed.” Volkig led the two out of the building and into what looked like a city with buildings made entirely out of trees. Each tree has golden lanterns hanging from their branches, giving the city a golden glow. The two stopped and stared in awe at the sight of the trees. Each one was different, just like the elves that walked the streets, even at nighttime. “Well, come on, the tavern closes the bar in about an hour, if you want something to eat, then we should not tarry.” They wordlessly followed their new companion, taking in the sights of the golden city around them. Ch1: Just a tasteCh1: just a taste A figure sat upon cold stone throne in the middle of a shadowed room. It donned a set of wicked looking steel armor, and its eyes glowed a ghostly red under the shadow of its helmet. It stared off into space, contemplating, a new presence has entered the land, with enough power to rival his. “Something troubling you milord?” asked a weak and raspy voice. The owner of the voice was a short light brown goblin with tattered clothes that would make rags seem like the clothes of a noble. When the figure shifted its gaze over to the goblin, it shrunk back, fearing that it may have angered its master. A deep voice seemed to come from everywhere, and it boomed in the goblins sensitive ears. “Something new has entered the land, I want to find out what it is. Go fetch me Melborn, I have need of him.” “Yes master.” The goblin hurried out to find the shade in question, if the master asked for this particular soul, then it must be something big that troubles him. When the goblin was out of sight, the figure summoned up a ball of crystal, and peered into it. He saw two figures in what appeared to be an elven tavern, they were horse like in nature, but the colors were too bright, and one had a horn while the other wore some kind of strange hat. The picture faded into mist and was replaced by one of four others lying unconscious in beds. The picture faded again and he saw no more. He contemplated what was shown to him, these were strange creatures, and even though he could only see them through the crystal ball, when he reached out with his mind, each had a different power level. The purple one interested him the most, the amount of power it held; it reminded him of himself at a young age, so much potential. His thoughts were interrupted when the goblin returned with a figure clad in black robes carrying a gnarled looking staff. The robed shade spoke, “you called my king?” its voice was neutral, as always. Melborn may have been a hard one to read, but that made him all the more capable of managing the various types of evil creatures out there. Melborn was the only other thing on Tyr that was able to stare down a pissed off Hydra. “Yes, I did. Do you have the essence of the Ghast that was struck a few days ago?” the king asked. “Yes, and I have separated the powers that it consumed, I guess you want the most recent?” “Yes. Hand it over.” “What’s the magic word?” Melborn asked smugly. “Hand it over or I’ll stick you in a never ending abyss for all of eternity.” The king replied. “Close enough, here. Now if you’ll excuse me, the werewolves are acting up again, and I need to tend to the mess they made.” Melborn handed the king a vial of purple liquid and left, and the goblin awaited his next orders. “What are you still doing here, get out of my sight.” And then the feeble goblin left, if the king were to ask twice, it wouldn’t end well. The king held the vial in front of his face and examined it. Every type of essence has its own flavor, and if examined with trained eyes, can tell a story. “interesting.” He muttered. “Seems like this isn’t the only realm I get to take over.” He uncorked the vial and took a sip of the liquid, and started coughing uncontrollably. It tasted like kindness and harmony, with a sickeningly sweet aftertaste. After his coughing fit, he made a decision, there was two ways this could go, break her and make her his servant, or destroy her. He snapped his fingers and knight in dark grey armor with a black hood and tattered cape appeared in front of him. “Yes master.” It said in a low voice. “Take some ghouls and hounds to Landrus, wipe out the town and bring me the purple creature that owns this essence.” He let the knight soak in some of the essence, and nodded his head in confirmation and quickly left to prepare the troops. The king rose from his seat, and walked to a map of the three lands that separated the continent. To the west, was the eternal plane, an ever changing environment that is the home of the ancient species known as the Terra, and to the east, the elven country of Lysandus. In the middle, Odah, the human lands. Across the map were markers of places he conquered. Half the Eternal planes belonged to him, as well as all the human lands and outposts in the elven country. The gears in his head started turning as he made plans for the future. Twilight and Applejack sat at the bar in the tavern, which allowed them to stay later because Volkig was friends with the owner. It was nice to finally eat in peace, nobody was trying to ride them like common horses like that one poor human did, and all he got for his troubles was a buck to the groin. They both watched as elves and humans alike downed mugs of ale and shots of wine, and even their new friend had a few mugs of what was called mead, and didn’t even look the slightest bit inebriated. After a minute of pondering, Applejack decided to sate her curiosity, “hey Falion, what do you have to drink?” The bartender looked up from cleaning mugs, “got a variety of ales mead and wine, but the thing people can’t seem to get enough of is my home made solar flare whisky, that stuff can knock a bear unconscious.” “Then why do people drink it?” Twilight asked after swallowing the last bit of salad she had on her plate. “Don’t know, brings in a lot of coin though.” Falion answered. “Ah think I might want to try some.” Applejack thought that if it is his best seller, it must be good, besides, she hasn’t had a good drink since the last Apple family reunion, which was two months ago. “Sure thing, you want one too miss?” he asked Twilight. “Why not.” Was her answer. Volkig leaned in to the two of them and spoke a warning, “don’t drink too much, Solar flare whiskey can leave you with a wicked hangover.” “Aint nothing ah can’t handle.” Applejack said confidently. Falion came back with a couple glasses and a bottle of his homemade whiskey. The whiskey looked like any other, but it glowed orange and bubbled like soda. He poured the liquid into both glasses, and went back to cleaning mugs. “Well, you gonna try it?” Volkig asked. Twilight and Applejack looked at the bubbling whiskey, then at each other. “Well, bottoms up.” Twilight said meekly, and they quickly downed the drink. Ch2: captureCh2: Capture Twilight opened her eyes slowly, but shut them fast. Something about the lighting in the room made her head feel like someone hit it with a hammer, that and even with her eyes closed her head felt like it was hit with a bat twice. She opened her eyes even slower, and allowed them and her mind to adjust to the light. Volkig was right, this is a nasty hangover, but how much did she drink? Twilight couldn’t remember anything after her second glass. She looked at her surroundings, which gave her a shock. “How in Equestria did I get up here!” she yelled, and abruptly covered her ears from the noise. She was on top of the canopy that covered the city made of trees, and the sun was beating down on her relentlessly. Above her, a cloud stirred, and a cyan creature with rainbow hair fell onto the same tree top as Twilight. “Hi Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said, “wait, Rainbow, when did you wake up?” Her friend pulled her head from the leaves, “Well, right now of course, weren’t you paying attention?” “I mean before this, you were unconscious last time I checked.” Twilight retorted while still shielding her eyes from the sun. “Oh, well, I woke up first, then Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie is still asleep, I think. I’m only up here because you wanted to see what the top of the city looked like.” ‘What?’ twilight thought, “When did I say that?” “Don’t you remember, oh wait, you were completely hammered last night. You know Twilight; you’re a lot more fun when you drink.” “What is that supposed to mean?” Twilight glared at Rainbow, who shied away a bit. “Why don’t we go back to the room and see if Pinkie is awake yet.” Volkig sat at his usual day post in the city. He was at the front gate watching the road that led west into the human lands, only things he saw today were humans and elves coming and going, and the odd bog creature from the fetid swamps. The swamps took up the land to the left of the road, and mountains on the right, strange, but since this was the border between countries, strange things were common. A stranger walked down the road, and upon closer inspection, was wearing the armor of a dark paladin, dark grey steel armor and everything. Volkig turned to the elf next to him, who was wearing the same gilded lime green armor he was, “go to the bell tower and watch the scene here, if he makes a move to attack, sound the warning.” The young recruit nodded, and scurried off the bell tower on the left, and got ready. “Halt, who goes there!” he yelled. The paladin paused, took out a spear, and kept on walking. “Stop right there an identify yourself!” the paladin took a spear from behind his back, and threw it, striking Volkig in the chest. One moment, Twilight and her friends were enjoying some time together trying to put together the events from the night before, the next some kind of alarm is going off and all hell breaks loose. They ran outside (probably a bad idea), and saw elves and humans trying to fight off what looked like half dog half lizard things and what looked like walking corpses that resembled the ones she saw when she first woke up in this world. Mutilated bodies and gore littered the streets where the mutant dogs made their kills. A figure in the middle with dark grey armor and a black hood and cape was throwing fire at buildings with one hand and striking down humans and elves with a mace in the other. “Everypony run!!!” she shouted, and they made a break for it. While running down the street, things only seemed to get worse, dead bodies piled the streets, and a couple of the weird lizard dog things that were previously feasting on the corpses started chasing them, barking like rabid animals. They were corralled into a dead end, and to their surprise, a dragon showed up and burned the things to a crisp, albeit a small dragon, but one none the less. On its back, was a human in armor made of interlocking steel plates with some kind of symbol on the front depicting a sword with wings on a yellow background. He held a shield with the same symbol, and a spiked mace, he jumped down and ran over to them. He seemed familiar, the dragon rose into the sky and flew around, burning more of the dog things and walking shriveled corpses. “The hell you doing standing here, we have to move now!” he yelled, and ran off. They followed him. Twilight was getting tired of the running, but was thankful to have someone to protect her and her friends; she wished it wasn’t so bloody though. Applejack had to carry Fluttershy when she passed out from watching the dog things burn and Rainbow had to carry Rarity when she fainted from all the violence and burning buildings. Without warning, a tree building collapsed right on top of her, she tried to call out to her friends, but could not make a sound, and they kept on running as if she was still with them. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed from having half a building drop on her was a hand covered in steel. Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and pinkie all made it to a tunnel with their friend from the night before. They panted from all the running as the human collapsed the tunnel behind them. They quickly recovered, except for Rarity and Fluttershy, who were still passed out. “Heh, that was a close one, right Twilight?” Rainbow asked jokingly, “Twilight?” she looked around, soon, everypony was looking for the purple unicorn. Pinkie’s mane deflated, “oh no, she must have gotten crushed by that tree-house, I should have paid more attention.” Her mouth quivered and she started to cry. “Quit the water works, it won’t take them long to dig the opening back up, we have to move now.” The human commanded. “Oh no we don’t, we need to go back out and get twilight!” Rainbow yelled when she got up into the humans face. “And get killed in the process, is that what you think she would want, for you to die trying to see if she still lives.” He retorted. “He has a point Rainbow, we just have ta make sure we get outa here and hope to Celestia Twilight is alright.” Applejack said, which calmed the Pegasus a bit. They turned and made their way down the escape tunnel, hearts heavy from losing their friend back there. The king sat upon his throne with a crystal ball in his right hand, and the other on his sword, which had a silver hilt and a blade blacker than night. A ghost of a smile crept on his face, pearly white fangs showing from the veil of shadow that covered his face. He watched the attack from his throne, and watched as his target was dragged from the cities ruins by his knight. Everything was going according to plan, the only thing left to do was break the creature, and then use its power to take over this world, and then proceed to the next one, the realm it came from. Ch3: new problemsCh3: new problems The tunnel was dark, which is to be expected of something that wasn’t used in centuries. Five ponies and a human wandered down the narrow passageways of the elven escape tunnel after the dark paladin and his pets brought down the city. The trip was mostly uneventful, just a few giant spiders that made Rarity scream in terror, but Rainbow and Applejack reveled in the chance to smash something after what happened to twilight. After about two hours of walking, they started seeing torches and crates line the walls. Something wasn’t right; nobody escaped with more than what was on their back. “Hold up, I don’t like this, stay low.” The human said in a deep voice. “Well I don’t see why we have to; it doesn’t seem that bad mister… um…” Rarity questioned. “My name is Rogvir, and nobody escaped with more than the clothes on their backs, so there may be bandits up ahead.” “bandits.” They all squeaked. Then the rainbow haired one spoke up, “let me at them, I still wanna hurt something after what happened earlier.” “I think we should let Rogvir go first, if that’s alright with you…” Fluttershy whispered. “Yea, because unlike the spiders, the bandits fight back.” He added. “What was that?” a gruff voice asked. A man with dark skin and black hair wearing leather armor walked down the tunnel. “Thought I heard something.” “get back in here, I’m not done beating you out of all your gold yet!” another higher pitched voice yelled.” “I’ll beat you this hand.” The bandit replied, and walked back. Rogvir made a motion for them to be silent, and moved forward. Rainbow, who was not one to miss some excitement, silently crept after him, the others followed suit. A wooden wall, with a heavy wooden door, blocked the passage; it appeared the bandits took this cave as their own. Rogvir carefully opened the door, which led into a newly excavated room with tables and a bar. There were bandits crowded around a single table watching a card game, where one was being badly beaten by another. The bartender was the only one not watching the slaughter of one bandit’s money pouch, and was cleaning out glasses with a piece of cloth. Rogvir crept up on him first; he snuck up behind the counter and snapped the poor sods neck, and allowed him to drop to the floor. The noise caused one bandit to turn around, “huh, damn rats, always scurrying around in the shadows.” He turned his attention back to the game. Another bandit was watching the game from the other side of the room from Rogvir, smoking some new drug made in the southern human lands. It was at this point that Rogvir made himself known. He took out his mace, and swung it at the one bandits head; the mace was stuck in the wooden beam and made a sickening crunch. The mace was stuck in the wood, and so was the bandit, whose body stayed upright when the mace crushed his head. This took the attention of the other seven bandits at the table. “Looks like we got a hero here.” One stated. “Rough him up a bit, if we can do that, we got another slave.” Went another. They rushed him, bandits against in leather armor against a man in steel plate armor, should go well. Rogvir dispatched the first one very easily; he grabbed the bandits hand, twisted it around and let him take the hit from an axe to the chest, killing him. He dropped the bandit, and took the short sword he had, and parried a blow from a mace, then jumped back from being hit with a warhammer. He tripped the first one with a chair, jumped over another hammer blow, and landed on the poor guy’s head, crushing it and splattering his brains all over the floor. “You’re gonna pay for that!” a feminine voice yelled. She charged at him with two glowing steel short swords. He blocked two strikes, but the second shattered his, and on her third swing, he ducked under, and tackled her. Rolling over her head, he dodged another hammer blow, but got an iron mace to the side. The bandit went for another blow, but Rogvir grabbed his shoulder, and jabbed him in the neck, crushing his windpipe. Rogvir let the bandit choke to death as he turned to the last three bandits. One opted to use his bow to his advantage, and took pot shots at Rogvir, but was tackled to the side into a headlock by a cyan blur, who quickly snapped his neck. The other two turned in surprise, and the bandit with the hammer was bucked into a wall, unconscious. The last one swung at the orange horse thing, but was grabbed from behind, and swung over someone’s shoulder, landing face first into a rocky floor. A boot landed heavily on her head, splattering more brains over the floor. “Yeah! That was bucking awesome!” Rainbow yelled. “What is wrong with you two, you just practically killed those poor men!” Rarity scolded. “Doesn’t bother me, I’m still mad about what happened to twilight, and if they weren’t afraid to do the same, why should I?” she retorted. “Rainbow, Rarity, stop. Ah think we should just leave this behind us and never speak of it again.” Applejack commanded. “I’m okay with that.” Something squeaked. “Let me just get my mace.” This was still stuck in the wall, covered in blood, skull fragments, and brain. With a heave, he dislodged his spiked weapon from the wall, “damn it, just cleaned the fucking thing.” He mumbled, and then attached it to a ring on his belt. He walked to the unconscious bandit, took his knife, stabbed him in the chest, and took a rusted key that hung around his neck. When he got up, the ponies were looking at him in shock. “What, he would just do this stuff again when he woke up.” “Hey guys, if you’re done being meanies to those people, I found others trapped in a cage!” Pinkie yelled, her mane was still deflated, and she opted not to talk to Rogvir because of the violence he just displayed. The five of them walked into the room Pinkie was in, and found about twelve elves slapped in irons and stuck in a cage. “Oh, thank the maker, please sir, help us.” One pleaded. Rogvir unlocked the cage with the rusty key, and the elves piled out. The last one gave him a hug, and left to follow the others. “Son of a bitch.” He mumbled. “Is there something wrong partner.” Applejack questioned. “Yeah, the fetid swamps are the most dangerous place on the border between the human lands and the elven country. Watch where you step, and watch your backs, the creatures aren’t the only things you need to worry about.” “Whys that?” Rarity asked. “Let’s say that some plants are just bit more than carnivorous than others.” Is all he said before walking off, the ponies followed wordlessly behind him, watching for anything that might attack. Twilight was getting sick of all the games that were being played on her. This weird creature has thrown almost every scenario at her to try to break her, but she held strong. “Let me go you brute!” she yelled, she then released a powerful wave of magic from her horn, and heard the creature scream in pain, and she was brought into consciousness. In front of her, a figure clad in spiked armor with a black cape and black sword was on his knees a few feet away. “Master!” something yelled, and a little light brown creature hobbled up the steel monstrosity. “Get away from me!” he yelled, he glared at the paladin that dragged her to the castle, “you have one chance, if she still resists, you know what to do.” The paladin nodded, and then the king and his minion left. He walked up to twilight, and she could see a ghost of a smile in the blackness under the hood, “you and I are going to have so much fun together.” He whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. Ch4: in the swampsCh4: in the swamps Rogvir led the ponies out into the swamps, being careful to lead them through the more safe areas, though safe, is a relative term here. The swamp had almost no pieces of land above the water, and even when there was, it was covered in a moss that he knew all too well to stay away from. Twists and turns, everything looked the same, damp and smelly trees, putrid water, and a green moss, everywhere. Finally, somepony asked a question that not even he wanted the answer to. “Why are we avoiding the green moss, it doesn’t look that dangerous.” Pinkie piped up. “Watch.” Rogvir said. Just when he did, a bog deer foal, part of a breed completely adapted to these swamps, but an inexperienced one, which was perfect for this presentation, jumped onto the moss. As soon as its hoof hit the green substance, its fate was sealed. The green substance latched onto its hooves and kept it in place, while the deer frantically tried to escape. The moss climbed up its legs, and snapped its bones. The deer fell, and the moss grew over it, crushing the bones of the creature and disintegrating its flesh with some form of stomach acid. When the entire deer was covered in green, the moss let up, bones rose from underneath it, some shattered, some not. Rogvir saw Fluttershy and Rarity faint, Pinkie immediately lost her cheerful attitude and her mane straightened, and Rainbow and Applejack just stared at the scene, mortified. “And that’s just the moss, that’s about as painful a death as you can get, through the whole process you are alive to feel the moss eat you in front of your eyes, and your friends’ eyes. When I say to stay away from something, do it, don’t question.” The ponies nodded, and Fluttershy and Rarity recovered from their fainted state. “Good, a little further and we’ll be in a town, my sisters run it, so we’ll be safe there for the time being.” “Why are we going there and not searching for our friend? She could be lost in this place, or worse.” Rainbow said frantically. Rogvir just stood there, in deep thought. “She’s not here.” “How can ya tell?” Applejack asked. “Just instinct.” A dragon’s roar rang out through the swamps. “That’s not good.” “What’s going on?” Pinkie asked A deep growl emanated through the trees, startling the ponies, and waking Fluttershy and Rarity from their fainted state. They looked around, the swamp was quiet, and places like this were never quiet. A reptilian head, roughly the same size as the ponies, peaked around some trees. It looked like a dragons, except for the bone helmet it wore, it covered the whole head, leaving room for the mouth to open and for the eyes to see through, and it made the beast look more sinister than it was supposed to be. Two other heads poked out from the same direction, wearing similar bone helmets. It they each simultaneously took a deep breath, and snorted at the group. The middle head reared back, and gave a guttural roar, the other two following suit, it lunged from its position, three long necks protruding from a large body. Four limbs with wicked claw extensions gripped and tore at the ground, plates of bone clung to its body like armor, and a crude axe was attached to its tail, the scales that they could see were a dirty yellow in color, and it had crude red markings covering it from head to tail. “Damned hydra.” Rogvir murmured. “Run!” The ponies did not need to be told twice, they dashed away from the hydra, dodging trees and carnivorous flora while the hydra just barreled through everything. They saw a city through the trees in the distance, but before they could get within eyesight of the guards, the hydra somehow got in front of them, baring its teeth. Dash thought it would be a good idea to try to hit it, but got swatted away by a claw; she hit a tree and had a bleeding wound on her chest. “Fucking hell, where is he?” Rogvir mumbled. “Who?” Applejack asked. A loud roar soon answered her and a bout of flame slammed into the hydra. The beast reared back as the leather holding the bones in place burned, causing its armor to fall off. A sapphire blue dragon landed on its middle head, and cleaved it off with a strong bite. Two more heads started forming, but were stopped when the stump was incased in ice, courtesy of Rogvir. The neck slumped down, one down, two to go. The hydra grabbed the dragon and threw it into Rogvir. The ponies watched in shock as the two heads got closer to their two friends. The hydra stopped in its tracks, the two remaining heads sniffed the air, and turned to the right, and a large ball or fire emerged from the trees and incinerated the left head. The hydra screeched in pain, and then a wolf-like creature tackled its remaining head, and ripped into its skull, gouging out its brain. Again, Fluttershy and Rarity fainted, Rainbow passed out from blood loss, Pinkie was hiding behind her mane the entire time, and Applejack lost whatever was in her stomach. The dragon removed itself from on top of Rogvir, and then he too got up, covered in swamp water. The wolf-like creature removed itself from the hydra’s cranium, and lumbered over to Rainbow on its two hind legs, as it reached for the Pegasus; Applejack gave it a hard buck, sending it flying across the newly made clearing. The wolf howled and charged, only to be held in place by a blood red aura. “Damn it Celia, I thought I told you to think before you jump into battle.” A female voice rang out. A figure in red robes entered the clearing, holding out a gloved hand with the same red aura around the wolf, which stopped thrashing, and changed its form. Bones cracked and fur receded as a female human took its place. “Good to see you too Narine.” Rogvir said. “Dear brother, we have to stop meeting like this.” She said as she dropped Celia into the swamp water face first. “Now, who are your friends here?” “Help the rainbow one and I’ll explain later.” “You better, colorful horses, where did you get them from?” she asked as she approached Rainbow dash, Applejack still looming between her friend and the robed figure. “Please move aside so I can heal your friend.” Narine commanded. Applejack did so, and watched as the figure cut her wrist, and formed a dried blood bandage over Rainbows wounds. She then enveloped her in a red aura and the dried blood was then replaced by cyan fur. “How the hay did you do that?” Applejack asked. “Oh, this? Its simple blood magic, even my swamp brain of a sister could learn it if she could focus for more than a second.” Applejack recoiled at the statement. “Speaking of which, where is- Celia, what are you doing?” The girl in question took to her more canine side and was getting a belly rub by Pinkie pie, whose mane sprung back up while she was petting the dog-like human. “Never mind.” Narine grumbled. Fluttershy and Rarity recovered from their fainted state to the sight of a hooded figure, and a half-naked human. “What just happened?” Rarity groaned. “Would you believe me if I told you we were just saved by my older and younger sister.” Rogvir replied. “By the way, how’s the vampirism treating you Narine?” “Pain in my ass, but the gods above know how useful it can be.” She replied. “Anyway, let’s get out of the swamp; the water is starting to eat through the cloth of my robes.” Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Celia, who whined when Pinkie stopped petting her. “Get up Celia; you’re making a fool of yourself again.” Narine commanded. Celia stood up straight and quickly regained composure. She slung Dash over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and followed the rest of the group back to the town that they saw. Twilight was having the worst possible day so far, and it all started out really well too. First, her friends saved her from the shade, and then she was taken back to Ponyville via portal created by Celestia. Now, all her friends are suddenly acting very cruel to her. She just lay on the bench in the park crying her eyes out, not even noticing the black colored earth pony stallion with red eyes approaching her from the western pathway. “Excuse me lass, but would you happen to know why I’m in here, not that ah don’t enjoy the dreams of you mortals, but ah have a very pressing schedule to keep.” He asked. Twilight just looked up at him with teary eyes and a confused expression. “What? You didn’t know that this is a dream?” “How could it be a dream if it hurts so much?” she sobbed. “Hmm, yes, that is quite the predicament. Anyway, let me be the first to welcome ya to the dream realm.” He said with a happy expression, standing on his back legs and extending his arms wide. Twilight just sniffled and gave an un-amused expression. “Dang, not even the demons back home are as bad as you, hmm, let’s see here…” he then reached into Twilights head, much to her surprise, and pulled out a scroll. “How did you do that?” she asked, sadness shortly lost as he started reading it. “Ah, I see what’s goin on, that bugger you saw in the tower placed a nightmare spell on ya, and is controlling it so you have the worst possible experience in here so you can give in to him.” “I still don’t get it, why is he doing this?” she wiped the tears from her eyes. Because he’s evil ya dunderhead, and because his boss wants you either on his side, or out of the way.” He said as he bopped her on the head. “He knows you have the potential to magically surpass him, and he doesn’t want competition when he takes over the world. To him, the less and/or weaker resistance there is, the better.” “Then, how do we stop this?” she asked. “Ah was hoping you knew… wait, I have a genius idea.” He said as a light bulb literally light up over his head, which he swatted away. “What is it?” “We completely screw with the dream world he created.” “Again, how?” she deadpanned, “and if he created this world, then why hasn’t he tried to get rid of you yet?” “Because I’m a god you simpleton, well, I was given the task to keep the underworld in check, hell of a job by the way, but that is not important. Do you remember the friends you were talking to in this world?” she nodded. “good, here is what we do, you have to do, reveal to each apparition that they are not real, it will cause them to slightly fade, but you have to really convince them, and then, hit them with this…” he pulled out a gold club with ruby and sapphire gems decorating it. “It will remove them from this world, and steal power away from the Dark Paladin that holds your mind hostage. When he confronts you, call my name, and I will take care of the rest.” “What’s your name then?” “Whoops, never even thought about it, hmm. How about Melborn, he was always an interesting wizard.” “Okay then, I’ll get to- wait, did you say you worked in the underworld?” “Yes.” “Doesn’t that mean that you’re evil?” “No.” “But then how did you get the job?” “Easy, all the other positions were filled, but just because I hold a bad title doesn’t mean I’m a bad person… pony… err… whatever the hell ah am right now. Good luck.” He said before disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. “Well Twilight, even though this goes against your instinct, you have to trust him to get you out of here if he is right.” She said to herself, and then saw a Cyan blur in the sky. “And I know just who to start with.” Ch6: Going into town: Starting to trainCh6: Going into town: Starting to train Rogvir left the castle after reminiscing with his sister. Their time allowed them to remember their parents, and their home; both of which were destroyed when Vold marched through their realm. It was a sad day, only three were able to leave alive. But time of sorrow passed years ago, now was where they held their final stand against him, but they needed to get ready first. Rogvir entered the inn and gave a nod of recognition to the inn keeper. He went straight to the room to find that the ponies had just finished with their washing up. ‘How does it take that long to wash up?’ he thought to himself, remembering that Narine had done the same. “Well hello there Rogvir.” Rarity greeted. The others nodded their own greetings. “Ooh! Hey, welcome back! We were just planning a party before you came in!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We were?” Rainbow asked. “Well of course silly!” Pinkie replied. “The party will have to wait.” Rogvir interrupted. Pinkie gasped. “The party can wait! THE PARTY CAN WAIT! What are you, crazy! The party can never wait!” Rogvir rubbed his ear from the sudden onslaught of sound. “Sorry Rogvir, Pinkie is a bit eccentric about her parties.” Rarity explained. “I can tell.” He mumbled. “The reason is because we need to start training.” “Training?” they all asked. “Narine had a… vision… when she says to do something, you don’t question it. Last time I did that, I regretted it.” he explained. “Sounds a bit vague there pardner.” Applejack said. “Tomorrow, you will be assigned an instructor. Then when the training is complete, we will go meet your friend in the Eternal Plain. Now, I suggest you all get some sleep, my family was never one to go easy.” A flash appeared in the barren summer desert of the Eternal Plain, an ever shifting country that is home to the ancient race known as the Terra. For many years they have lived in peace, but when the Dark King arrived, that all changed. Now the creatures hide from the tide that threatens to consume everything, seeking safety with the elements that they were born to control. Two figures stand on a fading road, one on two legs, and one on four. The sand storm raged around them, making visibility low. “Where are we?” Twilight asked. “What! Ah can’t hear you lass! Hold on a second!” he snapped his fingers, and the storm subsided. “That’s better.” He took a look around him. “Hmm, I was sure that Pyrus would have been here.” “What are we doing here? Why aren’t we with my friends? Did you lie before?” she started. “Shut it, I think I hear something…” he leaned his ear to the east, where the road pointed towards the Dark King’s castle. “Get down.” He whispered and sank below the sandy road. “Uhm…” “Oh… right.” Twilight was then dragged under too. The sound of marching soldiers pounded their ears as the troop made their way over them. “Move it you slack jawed idiots!” an angry voice shouted. “Come on, I haven’t got all day! I dont want to hear that any of you are tired, take a break and I will skin you with your own teeth!” Twilight would have shuddered, if the sand wasn’t preventing her from doing so. “Sir, where is the city?” a small voice asked. “It should be here, keep your eyes peeled.” “My apologies, but the troops are tired, and our food is low, allow us to- AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH” the one man’s scream pierced even the sand as the sound of something snapping was heard. “Anyone else going to complain… no… good. The King waits for no one. If you stop, I’ll leave you to the Sand Dragons.” The force immediately sped up. “Those damned turtles are around here somewhere…” As the sounds of the approaching army faded, Twilight felt herself being pulled from the ground. She was then held up over the ground by the very creature that helped her in the dream world. “Who was that?” she asked. “Yep, you’re okay.” He said as he dropped her on her stomach. “What?” “That there was Odik, one of Vold’s six greatest warriors. A right nasty one he is, built like a guerrilla, but with a bigger brain. He may not seem smart, but his plans always work.” “Can you give me an example?” Twilight asked. She then figured out why he said she was alright when she asked a question… “Well, there used to be a legendary Hydra, ‘till Odik came along, best tactic I’ve ever seen too.” Twilight motioned for him to continue. “Well, the first part of his plan involved going in, and smashing the beast the old fashioned way, but that didn’t work, ‘cause he got eaten.” Melborn started to laugh. “Then… h-he burst… through the damn things stomach… covered in blood… bile and gore!” he then fell onto the ground rolling in laughter. “How is that funny!?!? It’s downright disgusting!” She yelled, starting to feel a bit green from the image. “oh, it’s hilarious… the Hydra looked at its stomach, then back at Odik like ‘how the hell did you do that?’ and then fell backwards making a sound akin to a sack of bricks hitting the floor!” he burst out laughing again. “Only you would find something like that funny.” Twilight deadpanned. “Well, I find a plethora of things funny: A beggar being punched in the face, a squirrel being torn apart by a fire ball, even when people are dumb enough to try and attack the greater creatures of this world when they have no hope of defeating them.” He let out a wistful sigh. “Aw memories. Oh well, time to get started on your training!” he said with a clap. “What do you mean? Why aren’t we going back to my friends?” “Because you simpleton, you need to be prepared for any fights you might get into in the future. As I always say, it’s better to be prepared than not… wait, ah don’t say that… maybe you just think it. Damn it all I'm starting to get your ideas in mah head! How the hell do you live with this much logic? It’s maddening!” he raged. After a minute, he calmed down. “Right, first lesson: Magic.” “Well, I already know a lot about magic, so this should be easy.” Twilight said confidently. “Really, then why don’t we skip the basics and try some more advanced techniques.” He snapped his fingers and the sand storm from earlier started up again. “If you’re so confident, turn this sand into snow, then back, and then into rain.” He gave a little laugh and he disappeared into the storm. Twilight was confused and scared, she didn’t know a spell to complete this task, but she wanted to prove herself. Her horn lit up, and the sandstorm began to emit a purple haze, and small bouts of electricity started running through the bits of sand. She closed her eyes as she then changed the sand into snow, when she opened her eyes; she no longer saw the harsh sandstorm, but a gentle snow fall. Probably not what Melborn was expecting… “Well done lass, now, finish the task.” And she did just that, she changed the snow into sand, and tried to focus on getting it to become rain. The sand stuck to her coat as the grains started turning to water. Pretty soon, she felt the harsh pelts of rain against her coat, soaking her to the bone. “Very impressive, for a novice.” He said as he reappeared in front of twilight. With a snap of his fingers, the storm dissipated, leaving him and a confused Twilight in a now hot and humid desert. “What just happened?” she asked. “You did the task I set out for you, and performed it the way I thought you would. Now that you can do that, you can manipulate the weather to your advantage, confuse your enemies or even mask an ambush you are going to do, and you will pull one off in the future, so don’t even try to argue.” Twilight just held her tongue, internally trying to figure out how he knew what she was going to say. “What’s next?” she inquired. “Actual magic.” He said while conjuring a ball of cackling electricity in his right hand. He threw the ball into the ground next to twilight, opening a trap door with a staircase leading downwards. “Now, for your next lesson, we go to the very inventors of modern magic, the Terra.” The day was warm and sunny, a perfect day to start training. Rogvir led the ponies to the castle training yard, where there was already several Lycans and Vampires training their skills. The Lycans used their mass and strength against each other, brawling in wolf form to tone their bodies in the art of combat with difficult opponents. The vampires held magic duels and often shot bursts of magic towards targets set up in the yard. “Welcome to the training yard, behold its public glory, watch where you step, if you know what I mean.” He said jokingly. Rarity cringed at the statement, looking at where she was walking. “What are we doing first? Planning parties? Throwing parties? *gasp* reading the book ‘The art of the Party’!?” Pinkie said in her usual manner. “No, we are splitting up into groups. Applejack and Dash, you’re with me.” “Alright!” Rainbow cheered, to which Applejack rolled her eyes. “Fluttershy and Pinkie, Celia awaits you in the western field for Stealth training.” He continued. “Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed as she dashed east, and then walked back with an embarrassed look on her face. “Whoops… heh-heh… wrong way.” She and Fluttershy left for their training. “What about me?” Rarity asked, pouting slightly that she was the last to be sent somewhere. “Wait… what am I saying? Training will only get me dirty and I refuse to dirty my hooves, I just polished them.” “You’re with my sister. Don’t worry, you won’t learn any questionable forms of magic with her, just basic attack and defense. She will only continue with it if you want to.” He reassured. “Well, I guess if it isn’t manual labor I’m okay with it.” “South fields, meet her by the statue with a staff.” Rarity nodded and headed off towards her target. “Okay Rogvir, what are we doing first? We going to swing maces like you? Oh. My. Goddess. Are we going to get a huge hammer like him!?” Rainbow yelled once she saw a Lycan bring an assortment of weapons towards a pair of sparing elves. “In due time, first we need to find out what you will be better with. I know you two are fighters, and no doubt will end up with a cool weapon in the end, but you must know what you will be comfortable with.” He explained. “Sound ‘bout right.” Applejack agreed. “Dang it.” Rainbow cursed. “Alright, now I want to know how much you can take. We will be doing a series of exercises to test your stamina and endurance. Let’s get a move on.” He said seriously. “What exactly will we be doin?” Applejack asked. “You'll find out later, for now, a warm up. Fifty laps around the castle training grounds, no wings Rainbow…. What are you too staring at?” “This place aint exactly small.” Appleack pointed out. “Great observation AJ, now I am going to tell you what I think about it. You are going to do nonstop running, and if you don’t start now…” a light growl emanated from behind the two mares, as a hungry looking Lycan locked eyes with them. Rogvir put a spell on Rainbows wings, preventing them from opening as they both took off with an animalistic Werewolf chasing after them, leading them around the yard. Rogvir chuckled lightly as he watched the two mares try to keep ahead of the Lycan; today is going to be fun. Ch7:Going into town: Chaos UnleashedCh7: Going to town: Chaos Unleashed As Twilight walked down the cold stone corridor to her destination, she could only wonder as to how she wound up in this world, and as to what these… Terra… were. Her answers came in the form of remembering trying to complete a complex long distance teleporting spell, and getting grabbed in a vice like grip and hauled off the ground. She locked eyes with a large creature, well, two of her eyes locked with the four of its. The beast had a head that looked like a crocodiles, with the teeth to match. Over its eyes, were rounded shell like shields that protected them. She glanced down and saw it had two long arms and legs that had three viscous looking claws on the ends of them, and a tough looking shell that covered most of its body, which was a snow white in color. “Put her down White Fang.” Melborn commanded. The creature growled deeply and then dropped Twilight on her flank. “What are you doing here?” it’s equally deep and raspy voice asked. “Ah came to visit a friend, and maybe teach this little unicorn a thing or two about magic.” He said as he pat Twilight on the head. “The elder will see no one. You are not welcome here, you will leave. If you know what’s good for you.” It answered. “You really shouldn’t treat guests that way.” Another voice, lighter this time, sounded. Fang just snarled and moved out of the way, revealing a similar yet more shriveled figure with a brown-red color, stubby fingers, and a head that more or less resembled what a tortoise would have. It smiled joyfully at Twilight, which unnerved her for a second. “Do not be afraid of me, I'm so old I bet I could barely set my own fireplace without help.” he joked. “You on the other hand, are much more interesting. What brings a creature like you to our humble city?” “Apparently you could teach me more about magic.” Twilight answered. “Ah yes, magic, no doubt that it is your special talent I presume?” Twilight nodded. “I thought so, you’re not the first to enter our world, and hopefully not the last, it’s always fun when your kind gets lost here. Remember the last one Melborn?” the elder asked. “Oh yes, she was a riot! A thousand years of ale and night time fun! Though it was a bit creepy too, I never thought an elf could bend that way…” Melborn shuddered at the memory. “But… back to the matter at hand, do you happen to have any spare trainers?” “Yes, Shifting Sands should be available.” The elder replied. “Okay Twinkle-“ Melborn started. “It’s Twilight.” Twilight deadpanned. “Whatever, let’s get going!” he said enthusiastically as he started to stroll towards the city. When Twilight saw it, she was shocked. The city seemed to be perfectly carved from stone: from the smallest hut to the largest temple, this place spanned easily three times the size of Canterlot. Twilight could see waterways and roads in which the Terra would use to get around the city. She could also see a few of them fly through the air with angelic looking wings. The buildings themselves were a reddish gold in color, and the temple in the center of the city seemed to emit its own glow. To say Twilight was shocked was an understatement. It hurt her brain trying to figure out how they could possibly make everything look so perfect when it was carved out of the stone around them. “Ya comin?” Melborn called. This snapped her out of her trance, and she ran to catch up to her companion. A dark figure watched as his target walked into a trap door in the desert. He was about to go and report this to Vold, when something stopped him, or rather someone. “HI GRIM!” a high voice called behind him. The large being jumped into the air, the light revealing his form. He was tall, and very muscular, easily dwarfing the Terra in size. His black leather armor and helmet concealed his body, and bandoleers with various vials adorned most of his upper and lower body. On his back was a large grey axe, and by large, its axe head was as big as Odik’s torso, and easily weighed twice as much. Yet the behemoth of a creature could swing it like a wooden sword when in the right body. “Master.” Grim grumbled. “Oh you remember me! Good, because it took me a while to try and find you. You better not have been hiding from me mister.” The voice asked. Grim turned around to look at his master, a young girl dressed in a pink springtime outfit, she looked to be no more than eight, yet looks can be deceiving. “Grim follow orders from Vold.” He explained, his current body not capable of long, drawn out sentences, he just had to take over the body of an idiot. “You don’t follow orders from a poor excuse of a king, you are my banshee, and you do as I say.” She said in a tone you couldn’t argue with. “Very well.” He conceded. “Good, now I'm bored. Go smash a sand dragon.” Grim couldn’t help but smile. “As you wish.” “I'm sick of this walking Cain, where is it!” Odik yelled at his not so fortunate ‘teammate.’ “Calm down you blubbering brute. Pyrus should be here somewhere, give it another day, then we will go and get the others near the swamp. I doubt she would be here.” the man in question replied. Cain is one of the mighty six in the army, second next to Sol, who is a shape shifter. Cain is nothing special, he is only powerful because he can take down a mountain dragon with a flame spell, the weakest one. Cain is a strategist, but sometimes he doesn’t think, like when he decided to use his black mage robes on this expedition. The beast that is Odik just growled. His figure was more imposing. He is smaller than Grim, but his brute force can solve most any problems. He is wearing thick steel armor and is wielding a heavy dragon bone axe. “Let’s go now, if they’re not here, then why waste our time.” “Because if we’re not here for the designated number of days that we’ve been assigned, then we will get put in the void… do you not remember your last failure.” Cain challenged. Odik shuddered. “Not even the banshee known as Grim could survive there.” “What about Sol?” “His mind is already broke, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have one in the first place.” He mocked. “Too true, being a shape shifter will do that. Now, keep looking.” Cain ordered as he and his brute of a ‘friend’ separated and began searching again. Applejack and Rainbow collapsed at Rogvir’s feet after their run, thoroughly exhausted. “I’m… going… to… buck him… in the face…” Rainbow said between gasps. “Git…in…line…Rainbow.” Applejack said back. “Drink up.” Rogvir said, handing the gasping mares a bottle. They looked at it questioningly, wondering what it was for. “Never seen a stamina potion before?” he asked. “A what?” Rainbow asked. “A potion that restores any energy you lost doing something.” He explained. The mares looked at each other with apprehensive glances. Rainbow took a sip first, then gulped her bottle down. When she finished, she gave a sigh of relief as her energy returned to her. Applejack sniffed hers, and scrunched her face up, not happy with the smell, then took a small sip. She too, fell prey to the taste of the potion. “Well ahl be, now that is some good stuff!” the farm pony exclaimed. “Yea what’s in it?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t ask what my little sis does to make things, its best that way.” The mares stared at him in shock when he said that. “Now that I’ve had a good laugh-“ “Hey wait a minute, you just had us do that for laughs?!” Rainbow yelled. “A bit, also wanted to see if you could do it. It’s always nice to know your limits, know what I'm saying.” The AJ and Rainbow nodded their heads. “Good, now, let’s go to the weapons.” Fluttershy and Pinkie were patiently waiting for the arrival of their instructor, and watching their friends be chased around by a werewolf. Their task, is to find out how to be great assassins, or cutpurses if they don’t have the guts to kill. They don’t notice it, but the person they were waiting for, was sneaking up on them at the moment, wearing a black cowl with equally black leather armor. Pinkies tail shook… “BOO!” Celia yelled. Fluttershy looked as if she was about to have a heart attack, and Pinkie was nowhere to be found. “Ooh, did I scare you too much, sorry.” She said. “I-it’s okay, n-no harm d-done.” Fluttershy said shakily. “Wow you’re good, but not as good as me!” Pinkie chirped, perched on top of the woman’s head. “Well, that’s new. Alright girls, we need to see how stealthy you can be, the market is buzzing today, so our first test is to see how much you can loot without being caught.” “Isn’t that stealing?” Fluttershy asked. “Yep, that’s why it’s a good test, Vampires and Lycans don’t like having things taken from them, so this will be good training. Now, let’s go!” “This can’t end well.” Fluttershy said to herself. “Come on! This will be fun!” Pinkie yelled from behind Fluttershy, scaring her. They followed the werewolf out of the training grounds, ready for this new challenge that awaits them… well… Pinkie is ready, Flutters is frightened. “So…” Rarity started. “You’re just going to sit there?” “Yes.” Narine replied. “In the dirt?” Rarity asked with a slight shudder. “Yes.” “Why?” “I'm meditating, building my mana pool, which will allow me to cast either more spells or stronger spells. The more mana you have, the more magic you can do.” “Is that how you do what you can do?” “Yes, although, there are those who take it a step further.” Narine said darkly through her usual red cowl. “How so?” asked Rarity, thoroughly interested. “There are many forms of magic, from spells to runes, manipulating nature, and even magic that doesn’t require you to use mana.” She explained. “You can do magic without using the traditional method?” Rarity was astounded, a way to do magic that didn’t require the use of mana, or whatever. She could use magic for everything and not become tired! “Yes, but if you use this method, you might as well kiss any respect others have for you goodbye.” “Why, what is so bad about it?” “What I do to perform my magic, I use the energy I get from the blood of others, or even my own blood. Blood magic is as hated as necromancy, and both, I know very well how to use. They are not paths I suggest that you learn, but that is your choice.” She explained. Rarity put a hoof to her chin in thought… “I will stick to regular magic, maybe a few runes… but just in case, it might come in handy, so a little of the forbidden schools could be useful.” “I think I know what you want then, healing, right?” “A bit, like what you did for Dash, in case my friends get hurt, I want to be able to help. I am a fashionista, so I don’t know much about fighting with magic other than hitting things with floating objects.” Rarity answered. “Very well, I shall teach you enough about the many schools as you need to know, if you wish to further your study, you may tell me, or any other mage. But if it is about the other two schools, then you will talk to me alone, understood.” “Y-yes.” “Very well, let’s get started. First, let’s bring magic into the visual world. Usually, what you see will be an aura, like mine.” Her hand began to glow red as she focused her magic. “Show me your aura.” Rarity focused her magic and her horn began to glow light blue. “Like this?” “Yes, now, I want you to create an icicle, like this.” Narine formed a crude ice spike with her hands, and floated it in her right palm. Rarity focused on doing what Narine did, but couldn’t form the ice needed. “Ice is solid state that water is in when you place it in more frigid temperatures. The air around us, has traces of water vapor, pull it together, and then freeze it.” Narine explained. Rarity tried again, and succeeded in making a ball of water form in front of her, and then her horn glowed brighter and it froze into a solid ball of ice, as big as a cannon ball. Her eyes widened as she saw that she succeeded, but her break in concentration to celebrate caused the ball to drop on the floor. “I did it!” “Yes, you did, now lift the thing back up.” Narine said through gritted teeth. “Why- oh… hehe, sorry.” Rarity lifted the ball back into the air, and off her instructor’s foot. “Alright, you have a ball, good enough for this part, but after try to make a spear like figure. See that target?” “No.” Narine snapped her fingers and a human shaped target appeared several feet away. “Launch the ice at it, like this.” She hurled the icicle and speared the target through the chest. Rarity floated the ball up, and lobbed it through the air, much like one would lob cannonball if they didn’t have a cannon. The ball landed on the target and crushed it. “Good job, now, let’s try again with a projectile that’s more spear like.” “What?” Twilight asked the Terra in front of her. It was a fire Terra, with its dark crimson shell and shriveled skin. “I want to see how much you have in you, fire a continuous beam of light at this gem.” He motioned towards a large sapphire on a pedestal in the center of the room. The building was small and dome shaped, lying on the other side of the city. The building was earthy in color and in texture, simple for a master mage. Twilight did as she was asked and fired a beam of light at the gem, which readily absorbed the magical beam like a sponge. She kept this up for about an hour before the beam started to falter, sweat was falling from her body as she strained to show her magical prowess. Finally, after a few tense seconds, she collapsed, halting the flow of magic. The sapphire glowed a brilliant blue in color, and bathed the entire room in its glow. “Good, at least you can keep it up as long as one of the air heads, their much easier to work with.” Shifting Sands said. “How… so?” Twilight managed to gasp out. “Because the Earth idiots don’t need any more magic than they could a brain. Their thick skulls and talons kept them alive for many generations, I don’t know how though.” He answered. “The water breathers are stubborn, they never accept help, insisting they know everything. The only others that would ever accept help are the air heads. Drink this.” He handed Twilight a vial, which she drank from, and immediately felt her strength return to her. “What’s next?” she asked. “We get you comfortable with a type of magic. There are many out there, but can be designated into their own groups. Light and dark magic basically cuts the list a bit, and then there are other categories: such as what I like to call, mysticism, or manipulation, containing spells like telekinesis, dispel and the like. Destruction with spells that, well, destroy things. Healing magic, conjuration, and alteration, there are many types. Which path do you choose?” the Terra asked. “Well, they all sound promising, which ones would be of better help dealing with the Dark King?” “Well, a few destruction spells, maybe some healing magic and a few spells in conjuration. Either way, we have some work to do. Let’s start with-“ the entire cave rumbled, shaking the two violently. “What was that?” Sands walked to the door and opened it. “They’re here! Their bloody here! Everyone, get ready!” an air Terra yelled as it flew overhead. “Who’s here?” Twilight asked. “Vold’s army, seems they found us. Looks like you get to practice destruction first.” The Terra motioned for Twilight to follow. “Enemy Army Sighted! Everyone, to your battle stations!” A Lycan shouted through the city. As of the moment, Celia was showing her charges how to be proper assassins, Rogvir was getting his warriors used to their weapons, and Narine has just finished showing Rarity how to manipulate various elements to her advantage. “Alright ladies, looks like we need to put this to a hold, get ready!” Rogvir shouted. The three of them met up with the others near the front gate, where the army already breached through. What came in was an army only Vold could put together. Ghouls, banshee (both male and female), and hellhounds littered the plaza, striking down the ones fighting back whilst also being struck down. “Rogvir!” a voice cried out. A bloody Lycan ran up to the eight of them. “They are coming in from everywhere, we need to evacuate everyone through the castle catacombs.” “Very well, I have a hunch with what they are here for, go and start the evacuations.” He ordered. “Yes sir.” The Lycan bowed and left to sound the alarms. “Girls, ready your arms, this is about to get fun.” He whistled loudly and a roar sounded over the city. “No need to leave him out.” he smiled darkly as he drew his mace. “Hey Grim.” The girl called. “What?” he asked. “What are Vold’s plans?” she asked. “Domination.” He responded. “That’s it? Boring! Let’s shake things up a bit!” she said cheerfully. “Why?” “Because, I'm Eris, chaos is what I do. And if I can’t cause chaos, then I'm out of a job, and then I’ll be bored, and then I’ll be forced to bother you for the rest of eternity for something fun to do.” Grim shuddered at her words. “What we do?” he asked. “Take over the body of a sand dragon, I’ve got an idea!” Eris commanded. “Give up fools, nobody can resist the might of my axe!” Odik boomed as he hacked the head off another Terra. “Don’t get cocky Odik, strategy is the key.” Cain warned. “Yea, I have a strategy, smash everything!” He laughed maniacally as he continued to smash things. “Must you be such a brute all the time?” Cain face palmed. “Yes, it makes me feel good.” Odik replied. “Oh look, there she is, Cain, mind doing something useful for once in your life and capture her while I kill things?” “No.” “I wasn’t asking.” “Fine.” Ch8: The SacrificeCh8: The Sacrifice Sol looked over the chaos taking place in the city. His sole desire was to take part in the destruction, but he was ordered to leave it be. He was supposed to supervise, not get involved. His talons itched in anticipation, his current form causing him great discomfort; he never liked stalkers, similar to gators, only much more nimble, with human shaped heads and teeth as large as its claws. The scales were light brown and had spikes running down the spine. These creatures were never meant to sit still while the prey flees. He caught a glimpse of the army’s targets, five mares with the three off-worlders. The orange one wielded a large hammer, the blue Pegasus had a heavy claymore, the pink and yellow ponies had daggers, yet they didn’t attack, and the white one was somehow turning the ghouls against their masters. He let out a low and sinister hiss that gave his form away and silenced all other background noise around him. He started to change form, ignoring his order to stay out of the fight. His body stretched and shifted, his scales changed from brown to red, and he started taking on a more draconic appearance. He grew in size, and wings ripped from his back. Three wicked horns jutted from his head and his spines multiplied. A Hellfire Dragon, one of the more violent varieties, now stood in place of the stalker. He was as large as an inn, and looked as fearsome as an erupting volcano. He let out a loud roar and charged towards the city. He leapt over the wall and let out a bout of flame, engulfing all those in front of him, even his own men. It is said that when fighting, Hellfire Dragons lose themselves in their bloodlust, destroying everything in the area, and that was what Sol was doing. He trashed anything that was in his path as he made his way to the castle. “Get to the library!” Rogvir yelled. The troops he could save were now in the castle, preparing to evacuate the city. He couldn’t believe his luck, that blasted fiend Sol was here too, as if things weren’t bad enough already. They made it to the grey library, the three siblings and the five ponies were the last ones to make it this far. Rogvir’s mind was filled with draconic rage, the anger threatened to overcome him, but he held it back, he had more important things to take care of first. He ushered the ponies toward the catacomb entrance. When they started moving the castle shook violently, causing two of the ponies to lose their balance. Rogvir helped them up and gave them a reassuring nod. He looked to his sisters, Narine held a hurt expression. He knew she was reliving what had happened to their home. Celia was fidgeting like crazy, throwing nervous glances all around her. “The banshees are in the castle, I can smell them. It won’t be long before the others get in here too.” Celia said. Rogvir looked to the mares, who stopped when they saw the three weren’t budging. “Go on, we will be there shortly.” He said. “Oh no, I’ve read to many adventure novels to see where this is going, you tell us to go, and you stay behind and get killed! Not gonna happen bud.” Rainbow retorted. “You read?” Applejack asked with an amused expression. “They’re right Rogvir, we should go, this place is lost.” Narine almost begged. He sighed. “No, not again Narine, no more running. Girls, get going, no arguments.” “But-” Rainbow started. “Butts are for sitting, get going, meet up with the others, and head west, you will find friends there.” He interrupted. They reluctantly left, and he closed the secret door behind them. “Are we really going to stay and fight?” Narine asked. “This place won’t end up like our world.” He said angrily as the shrieks of the ghosts became audible. “We are the last of our kind-” “I know that sis!” he bellowed. “Sorry, but we have no choice, you saw it too, didn’t you.” “Yes, I might be scared, but I am ready to take the fall with you brother.” Celia said. “I hate you both, but I guess it can’t be helped.” Narine conceded. “Where are they?” a scraped up werewolf asked. “Typical adventure novel, the cool people stay behind and sacrifice themselves to let the main characters live. Unfricking believable.” Rainbow grumbled. “We must leave then. If they stayed behind, then they expect us to be long gone. We are traveling to Pyrus, where you will continue your training.” He said, leading the way. The group felt worse than they looked, sure some of them were caked in blood, but they were torn up by their friend’s sacrifices. Applejack and Rainbow were probably the least visibly affected, the only thing they showed was the very pressing urge to either lob something’s head off, or beat it to a fine pulp. Fluttershy and Pinkie were practically crying, and Rarity seemed lost in her thoughts, making the others wondering what was going on in her head. They walked the dead-lined tunnels of the castle, making their way to their new destination, Pyrus, and hopefully, their friend Twilight. “Wait for it… wait for it… wait for it…” Eris has been saying this for the past thirty minutes, and being a sand dragon right now, Grim was about as agitated as you can get without slaughtering a country full of people because a juvenile goddess who used you like a horse wouldn’t shut up. His body looked a lot like a serpents, the only difference is the wings and legs. Sand dragons can literally swim through the sand, making them one of the fastest reptiles. His head was pointed like an arrow and had a pair of sharp horns pointing at a backwards angle, a flaw that made it nearly impossible for this species to remove its head from something going backwards. He let out a low hiss. “Fine! Go!” she yelled. He and twelve other Sand dragons dove into the ground above Pyrus. After about a minute of sifting through the soft sand, and another two through the rock, the dragons broke through the ceiling above the city, raining death down upon Vold’s troops. Grim in particular, was going after Odik and Cain, whom he saw going after the purple unicorn. The unicorn was gaining a large amount of kills at this point with the help of a Terra; bodies littered the streets they fought in. Grim flew over to and grabbed Cain, throwing him into a nearby building. Odik seemed to notice him. “Grim! You filthy Traitor!” He landed in front of the brute, towering over him. “Grim found his master, tell Vold to suck off a serpent.” Eris yelled as she kicked Grim in the side, making him launch a torrent of flames towards the warrior. Grim looked back at his master and snarled. “Oh shut it, you knew that was coming.” “Eris?” the Fire Terra asked. “Sands, so good to see you again! Where’s my brother, we have some catching up to do!” she yelled, jumping from Grim’s back and hugging the oversized turtle. “Yes, he should be in the temple with the elder.” “YOU THINK I'M DONE! I’VE ONLY BEGUN TO FIGHT!” Odik yelled as he foolishly lunged at Grim. Grim, being the gentleman he is, he casually flicked the man to the side with a claw. He hissed in annoyance and glared at Odik. “You blubbering brute, we need to retreat, not piss off the lizards even more.” Cain said as he limped towards his companion. “I can take him.” he growled lifting his axe again. “His little trick took out three fourths of our army, the men already ran, it’s over you idiot.” Cain rationalized. “I can take him.” Odik repeated as he started moving towards Grim, who looked unamused. Cain zapped Odik before he could do something stupid again, and hauled him away. “Seems like there isn’t much cooperation between them.” Twilight observed. “Yeah, I don’t see why they are paired up, maybe Vold thought brains and brawn were poor separate, bad together, but two individuals together could make it work, obviously not.” Eris mocked. Grim let out a guttural roar, signaling the other sand dragons to leave the city. “Well, looks like I have some work to do.” Sands said with a sigh. “That’s what I’m here for!” Eris said, and with a snap of her fingers, the city stopped burning, and the rubble rebuilt itself into buildings. “How did you…” Sands started. “You should learn not to question me, if I know how I did half the things I do… then I don’t know what would happen.” She said cheerfully. Sands let out a hefty sigh. “Right, I’ll start on casualty reports then.” He walked off grumbling. Grim hissed again. “Alright…” Eris groaned as she conjured up a body from thin air, which Grim moved into from the sand dragon. The beast shook its head and dove into the earth, leaving the city. “Our action will not go unnoticed.” The spirit said. His true form was a black ghost; he had leather wrapped around him and his fingers ended in steel claws. His head was covered in a black helmet with two eye slits that emitted a light red glow, and he had vials attached to his leather straps. “What or who are you?” Twilight asked, a contemplative frown on her muzzle. “A banshee, an old one at that.” He replied. “I thought banshees were female, and only used a screech as an attack.” “On this side of the gate, nothing is as it seems, magic here doesn’t flow in waves like yours does, ours’ spikes at random intervals, and is sometimes nonexistent.” He explained. “But-” a muzzle appeared over Twilights mouth. “Seriously Twinkle, you should stop questioning our world, it will only lead to you getting a massive headache.” Melborn interrupted. Twilight just frowned. “Grim, how much longer do we have till they get here?” “The banshees out east have been silenced by the siblings’ blades, the last I heard was Sol’s rage about how his prey escaped, but I know no more.” Grim replied. “Good, we have two days till they get here.” Melborn said with a clap of his hands. “Who’s coming brother?” Eris asked. “Five more colorful ponies… don’t look at me like that, they came with her.” he said back. Eris shrugged and walked towards the center of the city. “Mhmhmnmnm.” Twilight mumbled. “Only if ya promise to stop questioning our home.” Twilight nodded. Melborn snapped his fingers and the muzzle disappeared. “Thanks.” She said. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go and find another host; this form isn’t one you should parade around in near others.” Grim said before slinking towards the shadows. “How do you think they’re doing?” Twilight asked. “Ah should say that they are shaken, but not stirred. As soon as they see you, they should forget about Rogvir and his band o wolves ‘n bats.” He replied. “I doubt it.” Twilight retorted. Sol stood before the three siblings, each tied up and being subdued by several possessed Lycans. He was in his human form, spiked iron armor covered his body and his light brown hair was spiked up, making it look like a mace. His eyes never stayed the same color, always changing, and looked like a rainbow. He gave a crooked and toothy smile as he looked at his prizes. “I will only ask nice once, where is my prey, I can’t seem to sniff them out, only you three. Potent like garlic is to vampires.” He said. His voice had a slight change in tone, like he was slowly forgetting who he was; it is likely that he doesn’t remember half of the things about himself. “Sit on a pike Sol.” Rogvir taunted. Sol’s smile widened. “How about I do this…” he took out a silver dagger, and dragged it along Narine's arm, singing her robe and burning her flesh. “AAAAAAHHHHH!” she screamed in agony as the enchanted dagger exploited two of her weaknesses, fire and silver. “Need I continue?” he asked with an insane look in his eyes. “Go burn in hell, Sol!” Celia and Rogvir yelled at the same time. “Do you want me to die from torture?” Narine yelled. “Silence!” He yelled as he used his blade to weld Narine’s mouth shut, and then stabbed it upwards into Celia’s head, being careful to only keep her mouth shut and not kill her. They both squirmed in pain as the weapon exploited their weaknesses. “You will tell me where they are.” He glared into Rogvir’s eyes. Rogvir spit blood into Sol’s face. “Fine. Have it your way.” His face twisted into a toothy and maniacal grin. He brought his hand up, morphed it into a claw, and ripped out Narine’s undead heart, and Celia’s beating heart. He crushed them both, killing the sisters. Rogvir just glared at Sol with hatred. “Oops, did you still need them? Sorry, I was having fun. How about this, you tell me where the ponies are, and I’ll kill you quickly.” “I will hang you from the rafters by your intestines.” Rogvir growled. Sol frowned deeply, but then he smiled widely. “I’m going to enjoy torturing you for a long time. Who knows, maybe I won’t kill you. It would be fun to watch you squirm in pain with no hope left in your heart.” Razor Wing could only watch through his master’s eyes as his family was tortured by the shape shifter. He stood upon a tower away from the town; it used to be a watch post in the older days, and now served as his roosting point. He let out a howl of pain as his last friend became a torture doll. As he looked away, he remembered what Rogvir told him. “You are the glue that will hold their power together. Now live and end this nightmare.” Rogvir told him. The man that hatched the last living Blood Dragon might as well be dead now, and it was Razor who was going to be the essence that held the elements together, once the ponies found them. He leapt from his perch and flew west, determined to reach his destination and meet with the ones that Rogvir sacrificed himself for. ============================================================= Sweet Merciful Mara, do you see what the difference is when i get an editor? i must thank Fluttershy_Is_Metal for editing this. i also must send my thanks to BIGBLACKINTOSH for helping me with the chapter title. Ch9: Rise AgainCh9: Rise Again Vold sat on his throne, looking excruciatingly bored. He waved off what he hoped to be the final peasant for today. “Damn mortals.” He grumbled. “Master, do you want me to get you the punching bag?” his pale goblin servant asked. “No, I just want to make sure those six are dead!” he growled as he slammed his armored fist on his throne. “My lord.” Someone greeted. “Ah. Cain, were you successful in killing the purple one?” “Grim betrayed us, Eris found him.” he replied. Vold growled deeply, making both Cain and the goblin back away in fear. “Goblin!” he yelled, “Get over here!” the pale creature obliged, but as soon as he was within arm’s reach, he got his skull crushed by an angry king. “I’ll need more goblins…” “No need to get angry sir, I'm sure Sol was-” he was cut off as a green drake swooped in through a window and proceeded to knock him over. “Speak of the devil… so, were you successful? Sol gave a shrill screech, and then shook his head and face-clawed. He morphed back into his human form. “I took care of the siblings; the dragon was nowhere in sight, and the five ponies escaped.” Vold glared at Sol, and then sighed. “I expected you to be successful, now this means we need to step up our game. You two are aware of the standings I placed on my six deadliest warriors?” they both nodded. “List them for me…” Sol picked up first, “Me, Cain, Odik, Gr-” “Grim is a traitor.” Cain interrupted. “I will handle him, go on Sol…” Vold commanded. “Umm, Siid…. And… who is the last one?” Sol asked. “Lord Dred, show yourself.” And as commanded, a figure clad in Black robes and silver steel plates materialized in front of the throne. “Yessss massster.” He let out a hiss that one would expect to receive from a snake… if they could talk. “This is Lord Dred, master of shadows, and a Vampire behemoth.” Vold said. Lord Dred looked at the other two in the room. His skin is paler than the moon, his eyes redder than fire, and his fangs were exposed from the corners of his mouth. His skin was pulled tightly to his body, the signs of blood-starvation, which was the form that you would expect to see on the day of your death. “So, these are the ones you want me to work with?” Dred asked, putting emphasis on the S’s in his words. “No, just Sol, you two will be going to the Air Temple. I want you to await the arrival of the six there.” Vold explained. “What?! Him?! That runt looks like he couldn’t kill a fly.” Dred mocked. “I’ll flay your corpse for that!” Sol raged. “Care to try it out?” Dred replied, his tongue flicking out at the promise of blood. “Enough! You can kill each other after our business in this realm is taken care of.” Vold scolded. “What will the others be doing? Or are we the only ones who are capable of working?” Dred asked mockingly. “Cain and Odik will awaken the Leviathan and lead it into the earth temple and then wait by the element chamber for them.” “A leviathan! That’s suicide!” Cain yelled. “Do I look like I care?” “…no.” Cain conceded. “Very well, Grim will be in the fire temple and Siid will go to the water temple.” “Bug boy is going to the water temple?” Dred asked. “Yes, do you have a problem with that?” Vold glared at his least known knight, his eyes threatening to rip him apart. “No ssssssire.” “Very well. I have chosen you to go to those temples because your powers will enable you to combat them better. Fail there and we might have some fun little torture sessions in the future. Dismissed.” He ordered. The three of them left to complete their tasks, leaving the king to his thoughts. “Wrath!” he called. “Yes master?” A figure in spiked steel armor with a black ethereal hooded cloak appeared in a cloud of black smoke. “Retrieve Eris, I will shroud your actions from Grim until I get what I want.” Vold ordered. “As you wish.” The armored figure disappeared the way he came in. Vold turned towards the window in his throne room. “Either way, it will all be over soon.” “Twilight!” Applejack yelled as she tackled the purple unicorn to the ground in a bone shattering hug. “Applejack… can’t… breathe….” Twilight gasped. “What was that?” “I… need… air.” “Whoops! Sorry sugarcube.” Applejack lessened her embrace, only to have her and Twilight tackled by the other four mares in another bone crushing hug. “Twilight!” the rest of the mares screamed. “Alright ladies, let go of Twilight, we still need her.” Melborn said. The group hug abruptly ended on his word. “Uh, Twilight, who’s that?” Applejack asked. “Yeah, and what is this place?” Rainbow added. Twilight cleared her throat, “Girls, this is Melborn. Welcome to Pyrus, the capital city of the Fire Terra!” she said gesturing to the rock city around her. Miles under the sea, something stirred, several somethings. Lights started shining in the dark depths as a city became illuminated. The buildings were laced with coral and it started to rise to the surface. Its elegance would put even the greatest Elven architects to shame, as it blended the aspects of sea life with those of polished stone and gold. Among the glowing underwater metropolis, various sea creatures swam through the alleyways. The city was several miles in diameter and at the center rested a temple plated in gold. The creatures scattered as it broke surface, the sun glistened off its surface as the city seemed to come back to life. Specters walked its streets and odd draconic beasts were congregating around the peaks of the buildings. As life slowly returned, a pair of menacing eyes could be seen in the steeple of the temple; they pointed east and glared, challenging those from the mainland to claim its treasure. The hunt has begun. There is a volcano in the center of the Ethereal plane that is normally dormant, but as the sun radiated on it, it came back to life. Ash spewed into the air as the giant mountain raged and roared. Magma spewed from its mouth as a city rose from its fiery depths. It spanned wide, but stopped a mile from the edges of the volcano, which still had magma spilling from it. Shadows moved along the fiery streets and loud roars could be heard. The sky was soon filled with the largest dragons ever seen on Tyr, each seeking to take advantage of the rare opportunity to absorb power from the ancient city. The brimstone buildings sucked up the sunlight and the temple in the center was glowing a fierce red, sending a challenge to all who listen, daring them to try and take its treasure. The earth shook to the south of the volcano, causing the forest to shake violently. Trees fell and mountains toppled as the third great city rose. Peaks began to rise from cracks in the earth. A city made of smooth rock was glistening the sun’s light. Creatures of various types moved within its limits, unaware that the inviting aura was a lure to something much more sinister. The city of earth has returned. And with it, the ancient warriors that once walked its streets. The temple in the center glowed a welcoming gold, leading adventurers to their deaths as the promise of fame and fortune was made. A dark cloud rose as storms were ravaging the north. Weather of all types unleashed their fury on anything that happened to be under the path of the storm front. Inside the massive super storm rested a city made of clouds. Its buildings had the look of some sort of ancient architecture. Columns and domed buildings littered the streets and flyers of all types took refuge from destructive storm that it rested on. The silver temple in the center sent out bolts of lightning. It seemed to host content for those of the land beneath, who have hunted its children near extinction. The city would have revenge, and since it couldn’t leave the planes, then it would lure the land dwellers to their deaths as the spirits of the air terra walked its streets. The shriveled elder woke from his meditation. He rose from the floor of the Pyrus Temple, squinting in the darkness that encroached on him. The vision, the candles, it was all coming together. He walked to the balcony of the temple, and looked over his domain. “Raging Storm.” He yelled out. An air terra dropped on the balcony. His white shell glistened like a polished pearl, and his feathered wings looked like they were recently preened. “Yes Elder.” He said in a deep voice. “Tell them it’s time and have White Fang lead them to the fire temple.” He ordered. “As you wish.” The air terra flew out into the city to carry out the orders that had been given to him. “I can’t believe it’s almost over. To think that, after all these years, Tyr will belong to us again. The thought is tantalizing.” He said. “Yes, it will. It has been too long.” A gravelly voice agreed. The elder turned around to see a unique terra. His eyes widened as he recognized the variety. It was an astral; the race that was said to be responsible for the creation of their planet. It held the body of an earth terra, but was pitch black with stars covering its body. Its eyes glowed like miniature suns that stared into the elder’s soul. “To think, we had to listen to those fool gods for so many millenniums. Only Melborn and Eris had any real sense and with them gone, the gods won’t be able to do anything. Our races will finally be able to govern themselves without their interference.” It said in an echoed voice. “And it will be an age to last.” The elder agreed. “Let me go you bastard!” Eris yelled as she was manhandled into the throne room. “Shut it you runt, now watch as I predict the future. He should be here in three, two, one…” Grim howled in rage as he hurled himself at Vold, who trapped the banshee in a black cage. “Right on time Grim. Say, did you ever wonder what it looks like when you drain a god of their life essence?” Eris cringed and struggled even more. “Grim! Help me!” she screamed. Vold held a hand to Eris’s forehead and started to suck her immortality right out of her. She screamed in agony as her powers were ripped from her body. “Master!” Grim yelled. The draining stopped, and Eris looked at Vold fearfully. “WH-what did you just do?” “Made you mortal. Now you can feel pain. Good. This will be fun.” His face twisted into a maniacal grin. He then growled and stabbed a knife into her stomach. She screamed in pain as he twisted the knife, blood oozed from the wound and dripped onto the floor. Vold ripped the blade out and began to mock her. “What’s wrong? Can’t take a little pain? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” He then shoved the knife into her thigh. She let out another bloodcurdling scream. “Stop! Please, I concede! Just, leave her alone.” Grim said from behind the bars of his prison. Vold looked at Eris, who was shaking from the pain, her head dripped as she jumped in and out of consciousness. “You have one more chance, kill them, or I kill the girl. Slowly.” He warned. “Grim… no…let me die.” Eris said shakily. “I promised your father Eris, I should have done as I was told before. You better live up to your word Vold.” “When do I not?” Vold said defensively. “I'm not going to answer; there are just too many instances.” Grim growled. His spectral form disappeared as Vold sent him to the fire temple. “Throw her in the dungeon.” Vold ordered. “She will die if she isn’t healed.” Wrath reminded him. “Not my problem.” He snarled as he sat back down on his throne, and idly played with his jet black sword. “No way! You can actually change the weather!” Rainbow yelled as the six mare swapped stories in a local tavern. “It’s one of the many spells I learned while here, what about you Rarity, learn anything new?” Twilight asked. Rarity just looked a bit, out of it. “What… oh, I'm sorry; I just got lost in thought there for a bit.” “What’s the matter Rare?” Applejack asked. “It’s nothing, just some side effects of some of the spells Narine taught me.” “Like what?” Pinkie asked, taking a swig of a large mug of Terra ale. She shivered as she finished the cup and hiccupped heavily. “She said that some schools required sacrifices, I just, need some time to think. And to answer your question Twilight, I learned many spells. I learned how to use runes, how to make my mana pool larger, and even some more things that even you would question.” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked, confusion masking her face. “For the protection of my friends, I learnt some things from Narine; you will all see when we get out there and fight.” She replied. ‘Rarity’s not acting like herself.’ Twilight observed. She looked at the alabaster mare closely, and saw a slight red glow emit from her eyes, and sharp fangs protrude slightly from her muzzle. “Rarity… did you…?” Twilight asked. Rarity just sighed, and moved her mane, revealing a set of bite marks. The others gasped, their friend, was bitten. “Who did this, ah’ll murder them!” Applejack roared. “You can’t, Narine is dead, and I volunteered for this. It makes me more powerful and ensures some of the spells I do won’t kill me. I'm a fashionista, not a fighter. She taught me spells to defend myself, and it was my decision to go further!” she yelled, shocking her friends. “Um… Rarity?” Fluttershy squeaked. “Oh, dear, I'm sorry Fluttershy, but it just… what she told me… the visions she shared… I felt like I had to do it. If you h-” “Don’t even finish that sentence Rarity. It’s getting too sappy in here as is, and you know we wouldn’t hate you for anything.” Rainbow reassured. The others nodded in agreement. Rarity wiped a tear from her eye, “Thank you girls.” They got into a heartfelt group hug and… They heard slow clapping. Melborn looked amused and the other patrons looked agitated. “So sappy, but I believe we have a problem.” He said. “Lay it on us.” Twilight said. “It’s time that I tell you about the weapons you will use to fight Vold and where they are located.” ============================================================= A/N: Baddass editing done by Fluttershy_is_Metal. Ch10: History (optional)AN: this chapter is unedited, and optional. read if you want. Ch10: History. The six mares and the god Melborn each sat in a circle of a domed room. The walls were smoothed out, and a pedestal rested in the center, with an icy blue glowing stone, about the size of a pony’s head. Melborn slowly got up, his red and black robes swayed as he made his way to the stone. He placed a hand over it, and mumbled a few incoherent phrases, and the stone started to glow. What happened next was fascinating, the entire room disappeared. They could see the stone, Melborn, and each other, but nothing else. “Cool…” Rainbow muttered as she looked around her. “Very.” Melborn agreed as he swept his hand over the stone again. It changed from an icy blue, to a light brown as they were set in a new place. They appeared in a throne room made of sandstone, the pillars had intricate carvings depicting great battles on them, and ornate red and gold banners hung from the rafters. Several guards stood at attention at each pillar, eight in all, and two from each race. They wore armor on the part of their bodies unprotected by their shells, the metal shone in the light, and it was colored bright silver. The eight guards held vicious pikes and halberds, completing the steadfast royal guard look. Who were they guarding? Four regal Terra sitting at a table by the foot of the throne, one of each race. The Fire Terra was male, wearing nothing but a pair of red and gold strips of cloth draped over his shoulders, a gnarled oak staff leaned against his stone chair. The female Water Terra wore armor made of hardened coral, exotic in color even when out of the water, a steel trident lay in front of her on the table. The Earth Terra, also female, wore armor made of polished marble, and rested her claw on the ball of a large mace she had resting next to her chair. A vicious scar ran diagonally down both her right eyes, and her shell was chipped and scratched in many places. Finally, a male Air Terra, young and strong looking, he wore what appeared to be a white armor made from a foreign metal, and a great sword stuck up from the ground next to him, tip burrowing into the stone floor. His wings were neat, like the rest of him, a complete contrast to his earth sister. “See them girls?” Melborn asked, and they each nodded their heads. “The Earth Terra is named Crag, the most feral warrior ever to be seen on the field of battle. The Water Terra is Aqua, the oldest yet youngest looking Terra alive; her skill in magic is only rivaled by the Astral that created our world. The Fire Terra is known as Obsidian, he is strong in magic, but is limited to fire spells, but he has been known to melt the faces off the ones he touches. Finally, the air head is Storm, a cocky and stubborn bird if I ever saw one. Despite that, he is quicker than the crack of a whip, and his voice once crashed a mountain on an attacking army.” The girls looked upon the terra before mentioned beings with awe and respect, formidable foes if they were on the field together. “They were the first and only creatures on this world that were able to wield the elements. Powerful weapons that reared their true power in the first era, four seventy six, when Tyr was attacked.” “Attacked? By who?” Twilight asked. “There are beings higher than the gods on Tyr, Astral's, who have the power to create worlds of their own, growing in power as things under their control flourish. The more worlds one controls, the more powerful they get, and this was one such an instance, where one tried to increase his power. Watch.” Storm shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “We need to do something.” His voice echoed off the walls, even though this was a memory of the past, the girls snapped to attention. His voice demanded attention even greater than Celestia’s. “My people suffer at the blades of these… off-worlders…” “I feel your pain brother, their poison seeps into the waters, harming my people and the creatures we care for. But we cannot leave the plains, not until he breaks the bonds.” Aqua commented. “They cannot continue to march on our homes. I lose more sons and daughters to these fools than I do to time and disease!” Storm roared. “Calm yourself Storm, rage will only cloud your judgment, you remember last time you let your anger go unchecked.” Obsidian said sagely. Storm grumbled as he leaned back into his chair. “I for one think we should take the fight to them, we are obviously superior to them in might, why not take them out now?” the arrogant Crag said, balling up a claw into a fist. “We cannot leave the plain; the Astral’s power prevents us from leaving.” Aqua reminded her. “Can’t believe that thing created us, we’re no more than body guards.” Crag grumbled. “There could be a way.” Obsidian offered. “Spill it sand strider.” Storm demanded. “Years ago star fragments fell onto my Kingdome. They bore the seals of the creator, and upon my touch, glowed with power. After a few tests, I found that they have the potential to help us with the Astral. If it can regain its power, we may be free to move from the plain.” He explained. “If we can get our claws on them, than we could be done with this mess and move on.” Crag said, smiling widely and showing some sharp fangs. “The only problem is that they choose their bearers. If you are chosen to wield them, than I would gladly march into battle alongside you.” Obsidian said. “So sweet, I didn’t know you cared.” Crag mocked. “Seems that way from what I heard last night.” Storm muttered, cracking a smile on his beak. “This coming from the one who could be heard from across the city, or did you two forget.” Crag said, holding back a laugh. Storm glared at her, but soon the four of them shared a round of laughter. “Ah old friends, we should have moments like this more often.” Aqua said. “We should, but our people need us. So Obsidian, where are these fragments?” Storm asked. Obsidian pulled four fragments from his shell and placed them on the table. The others looked at them unamused; they looked like they were recently mined diamond spikes. “Is this a joke? I thought that was Aqua’s thing.” Crag asked. Obsidian merely picked up one of them, and in a bright flash, it transformed into a golden staff with a dragons claw holding a flawlessly cut spherical ruby at the head. The staff had red glowing runes down the sides, and radiated power. The other three just looked at the remaining fragments. Crag picked one up, and it turned into a fierce golden battle axe: the blades span out like the wings of an eagle and a sharp spearhead donned the tip. At the bottom of the rod, was another spearhead, making this axe deadly at both ends. Between the blades of her axe, was a red imprint of a dragon. Crag swung her new weapon a few times, “Incredible, it’s like it weighs nothing at all…” she mumbled. Storm was next: his piece glowed brightly and a great sword fit into his hands. The pommel had a ruby set on it, and the guard above the handle was in the shape of a star. The blade itself was heavy, or should have been it looked like only an ogre could wield it; bit Storm swung it with ease. As the blade neared the tip, it became serrated, like a set of teeth. “By the creator…” he said as he rested the blade tip in the sandstone, putting a hand to his chin in thought. Aqua took hers, and it morphed into a pair of whips, or whip handles with dragon heads at the top. She looked at them quizzically, and gave a test swing to them. Water whips formed out of the handles, she swung them in intricate patterns, and then kicked her trident into the air, and with one swing, cleaved it in half vertically. “Most amusing, can’t wait to see what it does to those pig humans.” She said in awe. “Melborn, are those the weapons?” Twilight asked, watching the Terra marvel at their new toys. “Yes and no, they won’t be in that shape when we go for them, but they will morph into a weapon the user will be most comfortable with.” Melborn answered. “I call bullshit, how can a creature that large move like that?” Rainbow asked, gesturing to Aqua. “Looks can be deceiving.” Melborn retorts. “Why show us this?” Rarity asks. “This is before it all went to hell.” Melborn answered. The room went black again; the sounds of fighting and the screams of death could be heard. The stone lights up blood red, and the land shows itself again. The girls see a gruesome sight, bodies littered the sands of the Ethereal Plain, human, and Terra, but the most heart wrenching sight, is that of Storm looking over the battlefield, expression hurt and eyes glazed. “We won Storm; we should get to burying our dead.” Obsidian said, putting a hand on Storms shoulder. Storm remained silent; he looked over the carnage, what had bothered this terra so much? “They’re all dead…” he muttered. A closer look reveals the broken corpses of Air Terra making up more than ninety percent of the dead on the Terra side. “We will have time to mourn, but for now we have other duties.” Storm turned to his Fire brother, anger growing in his features. “Don’t you see? Do you ever see?” he shouted. “Do you not feel the pain they did before they died? Of course not, you have not the ties to your race like I do. Every soul that was slain, I can feel them, I still can, the spirits are in agony!” “Calm down, I may not feel your pain, but we have a job to do, they knew the risks.” Obsidian countered. Storm grabbed the Terra by the front of his shell and lifted him into the air. “You said this wouldn’t happen; now my people are down to a handful! We cannot keep fighting do you understand!?” “Storm, put him down.” Aqua ordered. “He should not be the one to take your anger, it is not his fault. We all lost children today, and it pains me to see any amount of death on our side, but you must know that this is war, they will not hold back.” Storm dropped Obsidian on his back and turned away. “Where are you going? There is still some cleaning up to do, and not to mention the feast at Země!” Crag called. “Home, where we will stay.” Storm replied. The others looked at him confused. “Those who wish to stay shall, but my army is going back to Vítr.” “If you are attacked we can’t help you.” Obsidian warned. “We have been working on a defensive tactic, we will survive.” With that, he flew off, and most of his army went with him. “How many stayed?” Obsidian asked. “Fifty, not enough.” Crag answered. “They’ll be extinct by the time this war ends.” “Not if we use their troops wisely. Get them back to Pyrus, we will continue planning there.” “The colony? Are sure it’s wise to keep them there?” “It’s underground and on the outskirts of our territory, they will be safe there.” Obsidian answered as he made his way to check on the wounded. “I have a bad feeling about this.” Aqua said. “You and me both, we will go check on storm tomorrow, today we must recover.” Crag agreed. “So Storm went off, big whoop.” Rainbow mumbled. “There is more to our world’s elements than just being weapons. Only together will they grant true power. Only in… blech… harmony can they banish the terrors of the world.” Melborn gagged at the word harmony. Twilight pondered his words for a second. “Bit fer yer thoughts Twi?” Applejack asked. “I'm not certain, let’s wait to see what happens next.” Twilight replied. “Good choice lass. On to the next scene!” Melborn clapped his hands and a new scene showed itself. They were sitting on clouds, looking over a city in chaos. Soldiers were killing Terra left and right, and they could see Storm at the top of the center Temple. Their focus made the gem glow and take them there. On top of the temple, was a shrine, with what appeared to be a lightning bolt stylized on the altar. Storm looked out upon his city with Aqua and Crag. Storm looked detached, and his eyes had a dead look to them. “You don’t have to do this, we can get everyone out.” Aqua said, putting a hand on his shoulder, which he shrugged off. “Leave; there is nothing else to be done.” He said as he carved a rune into the altar. “You’re not going to…” Crag started. “They want the blood of my people, then they must work for It.” he took his great sword and cut his hand, letting blood drop onto the rune. The city shook and trembled, knocking the human soldiers and the other two terra off balance. “Storm, what did you do?” Aqua asked. Storm didn’t answer, he just pointed off to the left, and the others were met with the sight of the city lifting off the ground. The humans and non-winged Terra started sinking on the cloud streets of the city. “Leave.” Storm ordered, and his friends did just that. “He made the city fly?!?” Twilight yelled. “Yes he did, but the very defense mechanism he created would become a nightmare for all..” Melborn explained. “What do you man?” Twilight asked. “Just watch.” The gem focused on a grizzled human commander: he wore reinforced leather armor with a heavy steel Two-handed sword. His face was pale and had an unkempt grey beard and a scar over his left eye, which was milky white while his other one was brown. He growled at Storm menacingly from the street he was in. “fall back, get to the siege weapons!” he shouted, voice thundering across the city. He stabbed his sword through the shell of a small Terra, and made his way back to the human lines. As he marched along, he cut down any Terra in the way. Males, females, children, he cut them all down. As he neared the edge of the city, the clouds turned dark grey. The city flashed yellow once, and a bolt of lightning struck one of the soldiers next to him, frying the poor sod. “Hurry up if you want to live!” he shouted. The men practically dropped their weapons and ran for the edge of the city. He blocked bolt after bolt with his sword as he made his way towards the edge, the clouds were up to his chest now, and he dove to the ground as another bolt sailed over his head and struck another soldier in the back. He approached the Trebuchet line with a scowl on his face. “Did the mages finish the weapon?” he asked. “Yes, the new ammo is ready.” A thin looking scout replied. “Good. Alright men, get ready!” the soldiers around the trebuchet got into position. The city started getting higher in the air, sending bolts closer t their lines. “Aim!” the men tensed as they readied their weapons. The bolts got closer, and even singed one of the trebuchet’s bases. “Fire!” The new ammo sailed into the city, exploding into white balls of fire. The screams of pain and agony roared across the battlefield as the denizens burned alive. The commander smiled at this. “Fire again, doesn’t stop till that city is nothing but ash!” he yelled. The Trebuchet kept firing, hitting their mark every time, sending a new wave of screaming across the battlefield. After the fourth wave, the screaming stopped, a roar of rage could be heard as the bolt output nearly tripled, striking and destroying the trebuchet and torching the soldiers. As the commander looked upon the city, he saw a raging lightning storm, with a glowing silver city resting on it. White fires still raged in the streets, which fueled the lightning strikes, still hitting the human lines. “Fall back, their done!” he yelled as he walked away from the flying city. The ponies looked at the battle with shock and disgust painted on their faces. “How can anypony do something like that?” Fluttershy squeaked. “Humans weren’t natives to this world, they belonged to another one. But their orders were to kill off this world’s first borne so their Astral can take over.” The world around them darkened and went black once more. “I don’t know what happened to storm, but his weapon floated around the northern part of the plains until the war ended, where it disappeared.” “What about the others?” Applejack asked. “Aqua was devastated, Crag was pissed, and Obsidian basically said told you so. Not the best of friends after this incident. Aqua went back to her home while Crag and Obsidian talked strategy in Oheň, the volcano in the center of the plains.” Melborn explained. The six ponies gave the fallen a moment of silence while the world started to change. On a beach, three armies squared off, the prize: Polít, the floating home of the Water Terra. Aqua’s lines consisted of spear troops in front, ballistae and catapult in the city, and archers and mages firing from the walls. “Fight your way to Aqua’s lines, we mustn’t them fall!” Obsidian yelled. He let loose a group of fireballs from his staff as he and his troops charged into the human lines. The mares watched the carnage unfold before them as Obsidian and Crags forces flanked the humans. The cries of pain and death filled the air as the surprise attack took an intense chunk out of the human offensive front. Slowly, the invading force was pushed back from the Floating city, giving Aqua a moment to breath as she regrouped with Crag and Obsidian. “These humans are bold, think you can hold them off while I awake Scylitha?” Aqua asked. “The serpent?” Obsidian questioned. “Yes, she was bred to defend the city, but she must be awakened, though I am unsure of how she will react to being forcibly shoved from her bed.” Aqua replied. “Forcibly… has the damn snake gone through mating season already?” Crag asked, albeit a bit too loud. “Yes, she is irritable, but what a better time than now to sick her on the humans?” Aqua shrugged before turning down one of the coral streets. “Hold the humans off; get the civilians out of here. Scylitha won’t be happy.” And with those words, she sprinted to the temple. “She’s going to get herself killed messing with that serpent.” Obsidian sighed. “Yes, but this should make for quite the show.” Crag countered. “Grrr, damn turtles. Magnus!” the human commander yelled. “Yes?” the mage answered. “Poison the sea. If they draw power from water, then we will take the power from them.” he said with an evil grin. “Gladly.” The mage matched it with a smile of his own. “What are they doing!?!?” one of the archers yelled over the wall. Crag and Obsidian rushed up to the battlements to see a mage place a green mist on the water, and it slowly changed the waters color from its vibrant blue, to a sickly green. “Their poisoning the sea…” Crag surmised. “The children of water draw their power from the sea…” Obsidian added. As the sickly green spread across the ocean, it started showing on the water Terra. Some of them dropped to their hands and knees from exhaustion, and others were sent into coughing fits. The earth and fire terra tried to help, but since the water was poisoned, the only hope for them was if Scylitha could fix what those humans did. “Heads up!” someone yelled as a giant boulder sailed over the battlements and smashed into a building, creating a hole in the stonework. “Troops get your wounded brothers and sisters to safety!” Obsidian ordered. The humans pushed forward again, but the Terra mages kept them at bay with fire spells that set the beach on the front lines ablaze. The terra who weren’t fighting helped drag the incapacitated water terra out of the city and towards the nearest safe haven, Země. Other terra from the walls followed them to provide cover, but once half of them left the city… A loud roar pierced the air, as well as a shrill cry of terror. “Stars above…” Crag cursed. The city shook, soldiers from both lines halted their marches as they looked towards the temple in the center of the city. Large yellow eyes opened within the dark spire, and a set of white teeth showed themselves as if smiling. A large blue head emerged from the spire and the rest of the creature snaked its way to the infected water, but instead of being harmed, it healed the sea. Where it swam, the water went back to its clear blue color. The serpent slithered on the shore and the humans and terra alike backed away. “Is that…” crag started. “Scylitha.” Obsidian took in the size of the serpent, it was as big as a juvenile leviathan, which on average were half the size of mountains, and had a hunger in its eyes to match. A near translucent sail went down its back, and small arms stuck out from its sides. It licked its lips and lunged towards the humans, scooping many of them up in her maw. “Quickly, we need to leave this place!” Obsidian yelled. The others were happy to oblige. “What about Aqua?” Crag asked, seizing a hold of obsidians arm. “She is lost, that scream was hers.” He said. “We need to leave, save as many as we can.” He shrugged off her claw and followed the others. Crag stood back and took one last look,saying a silent prayer for her sister. Fluttershy passed out in fright from the sight of the serpent, and the others just said their own prayers for the humans who stood no chance against Scylitha. “Why would they do this?” Twilight asked. “The humans were following the will of their creator… the Terra were helpless as their Astral grew weak throughout the war, drawing power to keep itself alive from its very creations. There were some who were not in the plains at the time, but they stayed isolated where no other creature would dare go.” Melborn explained. “Both races are like cockroaches, they will survive no matter what, but the city on the other hand, seeing nothing left, Scylitha sank it to the bottom of the sea, where she would live out her hibernation” “What about the elves?” Rarity asked. “They stayed in their territory, they had free roam, but they were still new to life, and were weak because of it. The Astral kept them hidden, a failsafe if its first fell. Scylitha sunk the city the day after the human army retreated; they were hurt and scared of the Terra’s power. half the force they came with deserted and hid wherever they could, but there were still enough humans left to fight against this world’s first.” He explained. “Ah don’t think ah want to see more.” Applejack said, her eyes downcast and mood soured. “I agree with Applejack, we don’t need to see more, we just need to teach those guys a lesson!” Rainbow yelled. “No, you need to see what you’re up against in Země and Oheň.” He answered. “Why not just tell us?” Twilight asked. “Some things, are best left shown.” Was all they got when the world went black and shimmered to life again. The world opened up to a tropical forest, a stone city jutted from between the trees. The Temple rose high, the largest of the four cities. All the buildings were made from smooth granite and marble, all had the same shape but different feels, the homes had a different aura than the shops, it also helped that the homes had runic symbols carved into them to differentiate them from the shops. A large crowd formed around two Terra near the temple in the center. “Graah!” Crag yelled as she swiped Obsidian with a claw. “What’s gotten into you!?” he yelled. His sister had tears streaming from her eyes. “How could you be so cold as to ignore everything around you? Your brothers and sisters lie dead and you do nothing!” “We must not let the humans take the last two cities! If-” “What is a stone structure compared to the life of our kin?” she said, cutting Obsidian off. “They knew the risks, when they joined, they became expendable.” He answered. She shook her head and swiped at him again, cutting his shell. Three claw marks were emblazoned on his chest now, a sign from her that they were no longer kin. “Leave Obsidian; There is nothing for you here now!” He stared at her in shock. He put a hand to the fresh cut, it went deep enough to start bleeding, it burned, but his physical wound did not hurt the most. “I said leave Obsidian, take your Sand Striders and go home.” She snarled, using the old insult to salt his wounds. “Fine… I will go… goodbye Crag.” He said as he signaled his troops to leave for Oheň. Storm fell to her knees and sobbed. Over the past month more and more cities fell and her brother merely watched as their kin were slaughtered. He refused to send troops to help the others, and in doing so, left them for dead. Now she felt dead, with what she did, she separated her people from his. “Are you alright elder?” a terra from her right asked. She looked over to see her high general looking at her with concern. “No Shale, I'm not okay.” She replied. “I hate to add more bad news, but the humans have been sighted at the edge of the forest, they are prepared for a large battle, and with Obsidian gone…” the high general started. “Get me Seraph and Mace; we are going to use the Miasma.” Crag said. “Are you sure? It hasn’t been perfected; test subjects turn into mindless zombies instead of going to sleep.” Shale warned. “With the element’s power… it will be enough.” She said while drying her tears and standing up. She walked to the temple and shut the large wooden doors with a loud slam. “Clear the area, there is nothing else to see here…” the high general ordered. “What just happened?” Twilight asked. “Crag and Obsidian used to be mates, then she learned how cold hearted he was. The irony of this is that he only knew loss when he lost the one closest to him. That’s when the scale of this war finally took its toll on him.” Melborn explained. “So they were really close, then she dumped him?” Rainbow asked. “Bingo.” He replied. “What happens next?” “Watch…” “Are you sure this will work Crag?” a grey terra asked. His entire body was a dull color, but his claws were bright silver and a ruby amulet hung from his neck. Crag thought for a moment. “No mace, I'm not.” “Alright then, let’s get this over with. Shale, tell us when they get within our borders.” Mace ordered. “This may go horribly wrong.” A clay colored terra warned. His body resembled a walking bundle of molded clay, even his claws took on a dirty appearance. “I know, but this may help.” Crag said, taking out her axe, she then morphed it back into its crystalline appearance, and waited. The three heard boulders crash against the walls of the temple, but no screams, either the humans had terrible aim, or the bulky earth terra got better at dodging. Their spines chilled as they waited, getting more apprehensive about what they were going to do. The door slammed open, and the high general stumbled in, a gaping hole in her shell bled profusely. “They… have breached the lines…” she gasped before dropping to the floor. The life left her eyes as Crag started the spell. Crag gathered energy within her claws and used it to float the crystal between her and the two other Terra. They did the same and let their power flow into the crystal. The element glowed a bright orange as the power in it reached its peak, and then it went purple and emitted a strange mist. “The spell is going smoothly thus far, do not lose concentration.” Seraph ordered. The mist covered the crystal and thickened. It soon became a solid purple ball with stray wisps of smoke leaving its surface. The sounds of conflict grew outside as the ball slowly became bigger and bigger, it eventually took up the space between the three terra as the first human entered the temple. “Stars above what is that?” he said to himself. The general and several men joined him after, staring at the ball of purple mist. “What is that?” the general asked his mage. He gasped in fear and surprise. “They have created the miasma?!?! We must retreat!” he yelled, scrambling from the room as fast as he could, the men and general following soon after. Once the last foot exited the room, the ball exploded outwards. A translucent purple dome covered the city, humans on both sides of it banged their fists on the energy barrier in an attempt to open it, but it grew futile as the mist covered the city and then blocked the view from the outside, hands that were previously gripping the shield slid downwards, and the mist slowly dissipated. The fog was still thick, but now it allowed some form of sight. The humans on the outside stared in, hearts pounding as they waited for the first sign of life… then it hit them. The shield shattered as a wave of animated dead flowed into the remaining human lines. Soulless black marbles staring out of once living bodies charged at the remaining humans. “Retreat! Retreat!” the general yelled, the mage hadn’t made it out like he had, he would have stayed and fought, but he wasn’t going to be zombie bait. The humans fled, but those who weren’t fast enough were dragged back into the city, kicking and screaming for their lives, not knowing the fate that was to befall them. “How in Equestria did they do that?” Rarity asked; the only pony not disgusted with what Crag did. “The spell was designed to put the target to sleep, but they haven’t perfected it. Instead, it killed the target and raised the body from the dead.” Melborn explained. “Remind me not to mess with magic like that.” Twilight said; a look of shear revolt on her face. “Don’t mess with magic like that.” Rainbow joked. “Don't get smart with me Dash, you don’t have the brainpower.” Twilight retorted. Just as Rainbow was about to reply, Melborn cut her off. “Time to see the last of the elements fall, and the first place you will be going to.” The world shimmered again, the view of a raging volcano was the first sight for the viewers, and a city of dull brimstone dominated the center of the raging giant. Roars of rage could be heard from the city and angry cries of blood from the sides of the volcano could be heard. As tensions boiled, so did the magma in the mountain. At the entrance, the two leaders of the respective clans squared off, eyes both filled with enough rage to force a dragon into submission. “I will give you one more chance, leave now or I will be forced to end your meaningless existence!” he bellowed, staff clutched firmly in his claw. “We will leave only when the rest of you degenerates are dead!” the general growled back. “Then so be it…” Obsidian’s eyes glowed brightly as he unleashed a torrent of flames upon the general. The general raised his shield in time, but his troops were not so lucky. Those who weren’t ready got torched, and their charred bodies rolled down the volcano. He pushed forward, shoving the Terra backwards with a shield bash. Obsidian responded by unleashing blow after blow with his staff. As they focused on goring each other, the rest of the battle started. Humans flowed into the city, weapons bared as they charged full of zeal. The Terra practically let them in, only to just unleash their own powers of fire to burn their foes. The smell of charred flesh permeated the air alongside the smell of sulfur. Weapons locked, spells were tossed, and the screams of the dying pierced the heavens. “Give up human!” Obsidian ordered as he smashed his staff over the general’s head. Shaking away the pain, he sent a glare to his opponent. “Not until one of us is dead!” he yelled back. The two locked weapons and started shoving against each other. This was a fight of pure power, no tricks. The human kicked the elder backwards and unleashed a flurry of swings with his sword, all of which the Terra blocked with unnatural ease. He shoved his attacker back and swung for his head, the gold staff connected with a sickening crack against the general’s skull. Blood started flowing from where he got hit, he dropped his shield and held the spot, tightly gripping the sword in his other hand and sent a death glare towards his enemy. “You won’t leave this fight alive!” He yelled and lunged at the towering turtle. Obsidian knocked the sword from his grip and hefted the man up by his neck. He sent a glare right into his eyes and began to tighten his hold. Dropping his staff, he balled up a fist, and brought it back, “this,” he sent a bone shattering punch into the man’s ribs, “is for Storm.” he brought it back, “this,” another punch, “is for Aqua.” he brought it back again, “this,” the sound of bone snapping and a deep gurgle sounded from the trapped general, “is for my mate!” he dropped the man to the floor. The general curled up into a ball, the pain stopping him from keeping his strong demeanor. “And this…” he brought his hoot over the fallen general’s head, “is for every other Terra you killed!” he brought his foot down, the ground cracked under the force he applied. The sounds of fighting stopped. Every eye was on him; Obsidian hefted up the dead general like a prized kill and let loose a primal roar. The humans were sent running for their lives, the mountain started erupting and magma flowed through the streets. Obsidian just stood, seething with anger. He felt rage towards the humans, but even more to himself. The magma flowed past his legs, but didn’t burn him; it never burned him, or any of the other Fire Terra. “Obsidian…” someone started from behind him. “What is it Brimstone?” he asked, dropping the dead body into the burning red liquid, he turned around to find his brother staring at him, several others bowed at his gaze. “The others lost hope, saw rage overtake you, but they are wrong to fear you. A true Terra must not adhere to the commands of underlings like that blasted Astral. You, were, and still are, the true leader of our race.” He took a knee in the flooded streets. It started to recede as crag looked at the approving faces of the remainder of his people, in his eyes, the other didn’t exist anymore. He looked over the two hundred Terra, the last of the eight hundred who lived in the city, “my friends, brothers, sisters, today will be marked down in the stone of history. No longer will we allow our betters to hold us behind; no longer will we tolerate the scourge that has tainted our lands. We are the last true sons of the sand, and as long as the humans still live, we will fight!” a cheer rose from the crowd. A bright light enveloped the element, and dissipated. The jewel from before shone in place of the weapon, its power drained, its purpose fulfilled. “Whoa, didn’t see that coming.” Rainbow said, marveling at the violence displayed by the once peaceful mage. “Obsidian broke when his mate slashed him, to a Terra; there is no equivalent, only pain and loss.” Melborn sighed. The world fizzled out, and the seven of them stood before a map, it was divided into three sectors, the ethereal plains, the human lands, and the elven country. The plains were highlighted red, and so was a spot in the Frostbite Mountains on the border of two human countries. “What’s the significance of this?” Twilight asked. “After he left the city, he led his followers to a new home in the Frostbite Mountains. After a few years the ones who followed Obsidian’s son moved back in. but without the still very much alive elder living there, it started to sink. The living left, and left their mummified dead in the tombs of the temple. Years of aimless walking for both Obsidian’s disciples and the dead in Země, a new home was found in both. The marble city sank beneath the earth, and the Terra started a new clan that would only accept “true Terra.”” He explained. “So the Terra we’ve seen are the descendants of the ones from the war?” Rarity asked. “No.” the mares all gasped when he said this. “The ones you’ve seen have all been there when Obsidian snapped. His son, the current elder, rounded up the drifters from the battle and retook old minor cities for the once proud race to live. Yes, there have been new ones born, but they are too few, not many live to see their adult days. Parents have buried their children more times than they care to admit. It’s a miracle some of them survived until now…” his voice held pity to the one proud race; even the gods mourned the declining species. “What do we do?” Pinkie asked all seriousness in her voice. The other mares stared at her, mane straight, eyes hard, and muscles tense. “You go to the temples, find the elements, rally troops, and kill that blasted king.” He explained. “What about the Astral?” Fluttershy asked. “What about him?” Melborn questioned. “The Terra have been through a lot, and it seems that if all this was done for that big meanie, then why not get him to leave the poor dears alone?” she explained. Melborn thought for a moment. “That might work, it would be difficult, but they deserve peace.” “Then it’s settled, after Vold is taken care of, we will help give the Terra freedom from their oppressor.” Twilight said; she then held her hoof out between the other mares. “Who’s with me?” “If it mean we can go home and help these poor creatures at the same time, then yes.” Fluttershy said without hesitation, it seemed all shyness almost disappeared after they saw the battles. “These here critters deserve better, ahm in.” Applejack agreed. “Let’s go kick some flank girls!” Rainbow yelled. “Vold and that Astral won’t know what hit them.” Pinkie snarled. “I was never much of a fighter, but if you are all Tartarus bent on getting hurt, then I’ll be there to patch you up.” Rarity sighed. “When do we leave?” Twilight asked. “Tomorrow, we need to set up some supplies; White Fang will be your guide through the Ethereal Plains to the four main cities.” Ch11: Leaving Pyrusch11: Leaving Pyrus The six ponies decided to split up to try and explore the many markets in the city, to retrieve any supplies that they might need to travel to the different temples. Like in Equestria, nothing was free, but the Terra didn’t use any discernible form of currency. Twilight noticed some Fire Terra using tokens made from glass, some Air Terra using some kind of gas trapped in bottles, Water Terra using potions, and Earth Terra using parts of their shells. The last one puzzled her, and when she passed White Fang, she decided to inquire. “Hey.” She started. He walked as if he hadn’t heard her. “Hey, Fang!” “What is it, worm?” he replied with a scowl. “What is the deal with some Earth Terra using their shells as currency?” “Currency? Money has no place in our tribes. That’s something both the Frostborn clan and these fools can agree on. Instead of something as useless as coins, we use our powers as a form of payment. The shell of an Earth Terra is strong, and is the only one that can grow back, making it a suitable material to replace shells of the other Terra. Water Terra can create healing water and Air Terra can create different types of gasses used in various elixirs and other tasks.” He explained. “And the Fire Terra? They look like they use glass tokens.” “Those are spell orbs; each is created to hold a spell that has a single use.” “That is pretty cool.” Twilight mused. “Why did you want to know?” “Well, my friends and I are looking to get some supplies and—” “Supplies? What can you offer to trade the Terra for these... supplies?” he interrupted. “Well, I don’t know. In Equestria, we trade gold bits and—” “Useless coins? Well, what can you do that would be worth something to us?” he interrupted again. “Well, earth ponies are generally strong and great with farming, pegasi can control the weather, and unicorns can do magic.” Twilight explained. “Doesn’t say much, but it sounds like you can make your own food, even if you have to wait. But maybe you can find something unique to do with magic.” He offered. “Potion versions of spells?” she asked. “Might be interesting to see, but that’ll take a while to make, plus that would be a rip off of the sand striders. Tell you what, get someone to give two shakes of their own tail to give you charity, these idiots are suckers for poor dustlings.” He let out a deep chuckle. “Why are you so rude?” Twilight growled. “Rude? Really now, you sound like Trench Digger, the Earth Emissary staying with my tribe.” He scoffed. “’Get back in touch with your roots,’ ‘don’t forsake your origins.’ Bah, I’d sooner eat my own shell. If you don’t have anything, ask your human, he’s a god, he can do whatever he wants.” He said with a nonchalant wave of his claw before walking off. “Wait!” Twilight yelled. White Fang growled but kept walking. “Wait up!” she yelled, running after him. “Fang.” A terra called from above. Both Fang and Twilight looked up to see Storm descending to meet them. “What is it, airhead?” Fang growled. “Remember when you said you’d do anything to get out of here? Here’s your chance. The elder is offering supplies to get you to lead the ponies to the temples.” He explained. Fang growled and then turned to the pony. “Get your friends ready, I want to be away from here as soon as possible.” With a glare at Twilight and Storm, he trudged off. “What’s his problem?” Twilight asked. “He was never fond of anyone here, or anyone from outside his tribe. Being an emissary has really dampened his mood.” Storm replied. Twilight gave the area a final look before going to find her friends. Razor Wing flew over the desert, waiting for the seven beings to exit the city so that he could see if they were as good as was predicted. He saw the human army retreat, but that was expected when you try to fight against the Terra, those things can be relentless in fights. A chilling wind blew past him and he looked around for the source, and in the distance, a large shadow trudged towards the ethereal forest. He recognized the shape, even at this distance; the Leviathan was out and about. If the ponies encountered it... Well, he hoped they had big enough swords. He shook the thought out of his head, now wasn’t the time. Instead, he would wait for them at the fire temple, their inevitable first stop on this new journey. As Twilight and company waited in the viewing room, they couldn’t help but feel as if they were being watched. Even Melborn couldn’t shake the feeling that something was interested in them. “I think it might be a good time for me to leave.” He said. “Why’s that?” Pinkie asked. “Something feels wrong, and not just here. I haven’t heard from my brothers and sisters in a while, and even Eris disappeared. Sorry, but I have to make sure everything is okay up in paradise.” He replied with a sigh. With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared. “Anypony else get the feeling things are going to get really bad?” Rainbow asked, adjusting her sword and leather vest. “Ah don’t like this either Dash, feels like the walls got eyes.” Applejack replied, fidgeting with her hammer. “I think we may be in some trouble.” Pinkie pointed out. “Why do you say that?” Rainbow asked. “I have this really weird feeling in my stomach that I can’t really place a hoof on. I think it has to do with the feeling that we’re being watched, and maybe that whatever’s watching us might be plotting something.” After about a minute of silence, the door opened to reveal White Fang. He wore a leather strap on his shell and had a large axe attached to it. He looked less than pleased to see the mares, but sighed and continued with his new mission. “Get moving, I want to be out of here before sunset.” He barked. “No please?” Pinkie asked. “No.” he deadpanned. “I want to get this over with as soon as possible.” He explained. The mares then packed their equipment; Pinkie and Fluttershy strapped their daggers and throwing knives in place on their leather vests, Rarity adjusted her violet cloak, the deep blue trimmings taking notice away from her face, and Twilight just tightened a strap with a small pouch and lined up with the others to leave. They meandered through the packed market district, avoided a dispute between two Earth Terra in the residential area, and then finally made it to the exit to the city where two odd-looking creatures were waiting for them. “What are they?” Fluttershy asked, looking the creatures over. The two had large reptilian bodies that had a shape similar to buffalos. Their heads were surprisingly bland though, with the exception that the entire head opened into four large jaws that hinged in an X formation when closed. One turned its head towards her and let out a forked tongue, much like a snake would do to test the air for prey. “These are Ferosk, used for their hide and meat, while also making great pack animals.” White Fang responded. “Cool.” Rainbow muttered while poking one in the side of the head. The beast responded to her prodding by snapping at her hoof. “Um... Fang, how are we supposed to get the supplies out of here if they are attached to a cart?” Rarity asked. “Let them work it out.” he answered with a dismissive wave of his claw. The girls took one last look at the beasts of burden before following Fang up the staircase to the exit of the city. The astral followed their movements and thoughts as they made their way out of the city. It wasn’t until he heard a bit of the plan from the blue one did he get suspicious of their intents on his world. ‘It would be best to keep an eye on them.’ he thought to himself. He then flew back to the temple and rested in the darkness of an unlit spire. He got a bowl and water and cast a spell. The water rippled and an image shone on its surface, the six mares and the Frostborn emissary. It is time to see if they are going to continue being assets or not. Author's Note edited by FluttershyisMetal Ch12: WildlifeCh12: Wildlife The six ponies and the Terra waited in the desert heat for their pack animals and cart to emerge from the city. The ponies doubted that the odd animals were going to be of any use, but their guide knew better. “Just be patient,” Fang snarled as Dash tried for the tenth time to try to get moving. “I’ve been patient, but I'm tired of waiting. The sooner we get this done the sooner we can all go home,” she whined. Fang was about to berate her, but the sand in front of them shifted, catching the groups complete attention. One of the Ferosk’s heads poked out of the sand, followed by the rest of it and its partner as they climbed out of the hole they dug. The cart came out soon after. The girls stared in shock at the two beasts, which in turn merely shook the remaining sand from their bodies and hissed in recognition of their guides. Fang gave a low hiss and one the pack reptiles gave a roar and started walking forward, dragging the other along with the cart. He turned to the ponies with his usual frown, “Now we can move.” “Did those things just…” Applejack started. “Ferosk are native to the desert area of the plains. These are domesticated, therefore smaller than their wild brethren who dwell deeper in the sands,” Fang explained. “What are the wild ones like?” Fluttershy asked, hovering close to one of the reptiles. It gave a hiss of annoyance, but otherwise did nothing. “They’ll tear you limb from limb if you’re not careful. The Alpha is the real trouble you need to watch out for..” Fang let the implications sink in, and the ponies looked at the domesticated pack reptiles with a bit of trepidation. “Don’t worry, the most these two will do is snap at you if you try to pet them.” “At least you know where they nest, so this way we’ll avoid them… right?” Twilight asked. “Nobody was ever able to figure out a definite area that the Ferosk live; they migrate and expand territory all the time. We just need to hope we don’t run into them… or they into us,” he stated grimly. The girls gulped at this revelation, but moved forward. They had to, if they ever wanted to return to Equestria. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The group had been marching for two days now and had yet to even reach the halfway point to their destination. The ponies were tired and sweating from having to march in the endless desert; not even Twilight’s cold spell could cool down the group. Even White Fang started to feel the heat of the sun. The only ones who didn’t seem to be fazed were the Ferosk, which shrugged off the heat and nearly trudged too far ahead of the group. “Oh goddess, when are we going to get there?” Dash groaned as they passed another cactus. “The ruins of Diact should be nearby, look for a sun shaped tower,” Fang ordered. “I see it!” Rarity exclaimed, pointing to their right. They made a sharp turn and headed for the city. As they got closer, it started looking less like a place where they would want to rest. The sandstone buildings were crumbling in the sunlight, wisps of sand flowed down the street, skeletons of both humans and terra littered the streets. Each corpse sported armor or weapons lodged in their bodies at various angles, and some looked as if they had been chewed on recently. The gang of adventurers trudged tiredly through the scorched dead streets, nervously glancing down alleyways and through windows of the dilapidated houses. As they neared the center, the caravan stopped by a building topped with a broken crescent sun statue. Whether broken by nature or by design, they didn’t know. “Get the cart in the tomb, we camp there tonight,” Fang ordered. “T-t-the tomb?” Fluttershy stammered. “Yeah. Do you have a problem?” Fang asked. “Yeah! Common sense! You never intentionally spend the night in the cemetery of a haunted area!” Dash yelled. “Haunted? Here? The dead don’t rise here; the right of ascension ensures we go where we are meant to,” Fang explained. The group started as a loud roar shook the city. Looking around, they could not see their pack lizards or the cart. The roar came again as the ground shook beneath them, causing buildings to collapse. “Fang… what’s going on?!” Twilight shouted. “So many heat signatures…” Rarity mumbled as her now glowing red eyes scanned the ground below them. “Ferosk,” Fang whispered. Several heads broke through the sand, each one easily twice the size of the domesticated versions. Their forked tongues whipped through the air, sending an unconscious shiver of fear through the ponies before them. The group huddled together as they readied their weapons. Twilight and Rarity focused their magic, Fluttershy and Pinkie took out daggers, Applejack hefted her hammer and Dash readied her broadsword. Fang himself took out his large hand axe and extended a claw. All hell broke loose when the first body broke through the sand. Each Ferosk took its turn to charge and snap at the group of defenders. It started with small skirmishes, one going on and thrashing at the pony’s and Terra’s defenses. Then two charged in, then three, then four. The line broke. Dust permeated the air like a thick fog as Dash and Fluttershy attacked by swooping in from the sky. Twilight and Rarity sent point blank shots of magic at fast moving freight trains, missing most shots in the confusion. Applejack was using the head of her hammer to try and daze the beasts as they charged, but wound up getting tossed around as the hammer glanced off their hides. Fang fared far better than the group, having been surrounded. He used the charging beasts’ weight against them to launch the creatures into each other, occasionally scraping his axe along their stony scales to try to keep them at bay. “This isn’t working; we need to find their weak spot!” Fang yelled over the sound of the thundering lizards. That’s when Twilight had an epiphany. If she couldn’t scratch their hides, then she would need to do something to their insides. Letting one get close, she hurled a magic spear into its open mouth. The spear pierced its soft inner flesh, making the beast howl in pain. The battle stopped as the herd changed tactics and corralled the gang back into the center of a stampeding circle. “What did you do?” Rainbow said. “Their maw! The inside is their weak spot!” Twilight yelled. “Ohh, their breath is going to mess up my mane…” Rarity whined. “Just get to killing!” Fang snarled, making the first move. The Terra jumped into the rampaging Ferosk, grabbing one by the head and shoving his axe down its throat before ripping it back out, blood coating his previously white shell. Before he could attack again, he was tackled by another beast, signaling the girls to move in. Now knowing their enemy’s weakness, they used it to their advantage. Twilight and Rarity fired bolts of fire into the gaping maws of several charging Ferosk, incinerating their heads. Pinkie and Fluttershy sheathed their daggers, and took out a pair of cross bows. Apologizing profusely, they loaded them with red banded bolts and fired them down the large creatures throats. They stumbled, coughed up blood, and died. Rainbow and Applejack saved Fang after having been tackled by spearing the beast with sharp points on their weapons. The wounded beast roared before retreating back to the herd. After getting up, Fang shrugged the two ponies off before running up to another Ferosk, shoving his claw down its throat, and ripping out its heart. “A thank you would have been nice,” Rainbow grumbled. “Bloody varmin's goin to git ‘imself killed,” Applejack murmured. As soon as it looked like the battle was going well, the tides turned. The Ferosk got more aggressive, and the group was running low on energy. As Twilight fired her last bolt of magic, her horn sparked and she gasped as fatigue washed over her. “Twilight, are you alright?!” Rarity screamed, erecting a shield as she checked on her friend. “My magic is running low…” she gasped. “GRAAHH!” Fang yelled as he was hurled against Rarity’s shield, “Mind doing me a favor and kill the damned Ferosk!” The Ferosk quickly grabbed his leg and hurled him from the shield. The creatures closed in as the group was losing energy. Their defenses slowly started to whittle down until… “AAHH!” Dash yelled as one of the beasts grabbed a hold of one of her wings. It slammed her into the ground and started tearing at her flesh. “Get it off!” she yelled as pain permeated her body. Fang and Applejack were about to rush in when two more showed up and tackled them to the ground, pinning them as they tried to fend off the hungry monsters. “A little help here!” Applejack yelled as the beast snapped at her head. Fluttershy and Pinkie were pinned simultaneously as one jumped them from behind. A large foot on their backs started to crush them. “Get off please, if that’s okay with you…” Fluttershy squeaked. Rarity’s shield flickered as more Ferosk slammed against it, making Rarity flinch in pain each time. “I can’t keep this up much longer,” she gasped as another slammed into her fortifications, forming a crack. Twilight just watched as doom unfolded. “No, it can’t end like this…” Tears formed in her eyes as she thought of all that would be left behind - their friends, their family, their country… Worst yet, Equestria would be open to Vold’s advances. “NO!” she yelled as a burst of magic flared from her horn, knocking the offending Ferosk back and off her friends. The others stared at her in shock, her eyes glowed red as her coat turned bleach white and her mane and tail caught fire. The Ferosk backed away from the angry mare as she fired a wave of magic in front of her, incinerating several of the beasts. They each howled in pain as their bodies were fried to a crisp. The girls looked at their friend in fear, and Fang looked at her with respect as the Ferosk backed way. The ground rumbled as the creatures made space, the sand shifted as a beast twice the size of the others poked its head above the ground. Everyone except Twilight looked at the large predator in fear, while she just glared as it surfaced from the sand. “The Alpha…” Fang muttered. It gave a roar of anger and snarled at the group, its rotted breath wafting from its mouth like gale force winds, making the ponies manes flutter behind them, forcing them to back away. “Ever heard of a breath mint pal?” Rainbow asked sarcastically. The beast just snarled and gave off another roar before taking a lumbering step forward. Twilight responded with a roar of her own, forcing the beast to stop. “What! Are you surprised? Did you expect us not to fight back!?” she yelled at the top of her lungs, the flames that were her mane and tail growing brighter with each word. The Ferosk backed away as they watched their Alpha confront the new creature. “Did you think you could hurt my friends and expect to get away with it!?” The Alpha started to back away, lowering its head and sizing the unicorn up. “Well let me tell you something, sand for brains! As long as I live, you will not touch a hair on their heads!” The Alpha roared and charged at the pony, its footsteps thundered as it made its path to the unicorn. Twilight stood resolute, snarling and flaring her horn. The lumbering beast soon found itself air-born as it was hit with a blast of magic. As it came back down, Twilight lit up her horn again, and a large spike tore through the earth where the Alpha would land. The spike ripped through its torso with a loud ripping noise. It gurgled and thrashed about, trying to get free from Twilight’s conjuration. She walked up to the beast and looked it in the eyes. Her cold stare met its dying gaze. She fired an electric jolt, making the beast spasm and fall still, blood oozing from its maw and the spire upon which it was impaled. She glared around at the other Ferosk. Each one lowered its head from her gaze, and one by one, they burrowed back beneath the sand. Twilight slowly reverted back to her original color. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out. “Twilight!” Pinkie yelled. “Get her into the tomb and see what’s wrong, I’ll find the cart!” Fang ordered. Author's Note Edited by ClosetBrony87 this time. A big round of applause to him Ch5: going into town: a time for restCh5: going into town: a time for rest To say that walking through the town was an interesting experience would be putting it lightly for the ponies. As to not be harassed by the towns inhabitants, they walked the divide, which was a district separating the one that the Lycans resided in, and the one that the Vampires call home. Even though it divided the districts, it was still used: merchants from both casts set up stalls and opened shops all throughout the straight that made up the divide. The buildings were made from the light wood that made up the trees in the swamps, and the wares ranged from bones to gold jewelry. Food was also sold, but on both sides it involved meat that they would rather not even look at, much less eat. Several Lycans looked at them like they were dinner, but the red robed Vampires stopped them once they pointed out the three head leaders of the town walking with them, plus the dragon, who might have claimed them already. Not much is known about the race called the Blood Dragons, but it is widely known that if you mess with their stuff, you will be torn apart. The eight of them made it to the center of the town, which had a castle in it. Rogvir looked upon the massive structure of grey stone, which resembled a restored version of the one in the Everfree, with a slightly reminiscent look. “Home sweet home.” He said. “So, how is everything inside, you didn’t let the mongrels in did you?” Narine looked shocked, “heavens no! Those things are the most barbaric of the vampire race; I would rather stand in direct sunlight while being poked by an enchanted sword up the ass for three hours!” “Well, a few of the pups don’t know their boundaries; I have to teach at least six a week what it feels like to disobey the pack leader’s orders.” Celia put in, smiling from the memories of disciplining countless pups in her time at the family castle. “As long as nothing stinks in there if that’s the case.” Celia gave a nervous laugh. “What did you do?” He asked in a stern voice. “I might have marked my territory to make sure the others know their boundary.” “What the fuck Celia!” Rogvir yelled “I was in wolf form!” she retorted. “What’s the difference!?! You pissed in the castle! Not even dad would do that, and he was even worse than you!” “Ugh… alright, I’ll find another way to make the boundaries…” she walked towards the castle with a hand to her chin in thought. “Don’t worry Rogvir, it doesn’t smell too bad in the western wing.” Narine comforted. “Why is that?” he asked. “Do you think I would be dumb enough to let her pee near my room?” “Smart girl, but what does it leave me with?” he rose an eyebrow. “A big mess.” She replied with a laugh as she trailed after her sister. “This is going to be a long day.” He muttered. “And it already isn’t? Not to offend you, but is there somewhere else we can stay, I already smell like swamp water, I won’t want to step or fall into any puddles.” Rarity shivered at the thought. “We got an inn open both sides, your choice really.” He answered. “Ooh, we should go say hi to the puppies!” Pinkie exclaimed, waving a red ball, which several Lycans were following with their eyes. “Why are they acting like dogs?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, I don’t mind too much, they seem harmless when they act like that… if you don’t mind me saying.” Fluttershy put in. “Those are the ones who just said ‘Fuck it,’ and embraced their inner canine, well, the good side anyway.” He said as he watched pinkie play fetch with several of the pups. “Ah don’t think Winona would appreciate it if ah came back smellin like ah was just in a dog park.” Applejack said. “So, two for the lycan side, and two for the Vampire side.” Rogvir announced. “Why do you assume I want to stay on the vampire side?” Rarity asked. “Do you honestly want to know?” he asked. “Since it’s you asking, then no.” She shivered at some of the things he might say, 99.99% of the scenarios involve her getting dirtier than she is now. “That just leaves you Rainbow.” He pointed out. “Well… um… I guess I could just sleep on one of those clouds up there…” she flew up and tried to plop down on the cloud, only to fall through it. “Sweet Celestia! What the hay!” she flew back down. “Clouds here aint magic ah guess.” Applejack gave a light laugh at her friend’s misfortune. “Well Dash, choose. You are the deciding factor that will decide where we spend the night.” Rogvir said with a grin, the Brave Pegasus from before was now hovering with a slightly concerned look on her face. “What’s the matter, scared of a couple of hounds, or maybe it’s the bat brains?” “Hey! I heard that!” a vampire yelled. “Shut up Volkar!” Rogvir yelled back. All eyes were on Rainbow… “Ugh, alright. I guess we could go with the… um… vampires?” The Blackwater Inn, the oldest inn in the Vampire district, nearly as old as the castle itself. The wood was dark in color, and the sign hung out on a limb, depicting the inn’s logo of a swamp pond with rotted trees around it. It used to serve as a rest stop for those who didn’t want to bother with the castles old masters, Rogvir’s great grandparents. Since the old days, the place became slightly bigger to accommodate any new patrons, and also got itself a washing area out back, covered of course, not all vampires are the picture of maturity. It was here they stayed, unfortunately, thanks to King Vold, or the dark king as many called him, many vampires and lycans that didn’t join his cause ended up in this city. The lycan district was downright packed, and the vampire district only had one room left between its three inns. The last room in this inn was of modest size, and can easily accommodate three patrons, but was cramped when you shoved five ponies and a muscular soldier in it. The girls went to get washed up while Rogvir lay on a cot, thinking to himself. A knock was heard on the door, and he walked over to answer it. A blue robed vampire was behind it, one of Narine's special guards. “Message from the master.” A gravelly voice emanated from his masked face. “What she want?” Rogvir asked. “Your presence, immediately.” The robed figure walked off. “Well hello to you too.” Rogvir mumbled. He grabbed his pack and left a note, saying he was going to be away for a bit, and left for the castle. Rogvir stepped up to the castle, which seemed more intimidating at night with the full moon hovering behind it. He had to admit that the whole damn city would make a royal guard shit his metal pants if he was an enemy of his family. He stepped up to the front gate, a massive set of mahogany doors, with a transformed lycan and a blue robed vampire standing on each side. The vampire unlocked the door for him and let him inside, to which an unrobed vampire was waiting for him. This vampire was about his height, with wrinkled skin, pointed ears, and deep red eyes. “Greetings my lord.” He said with a bow, showing off his red royal robes. “I shall be taking care of you while you stay within the castle, my name is Cairn.” “Great, now I got a summons from my sister before…” “Ah yes, the greater of the siblings.” He said, even with Rogvir in front of him. “She has requested you in the hall of the ancients, right this way.” They walked through the dark halls down to the library. So many fond memories of learning magic from his mother here, but the signs of use here were non-existent, such a pity, tomes of spells and knowledge lay unused among the various shelves of the library. The vampire led him to the far back, with more dust settled on the shelves than in the front, and pulled a red book from the shelf. A section of the bookcase swung outwards slowly, ancient hinges groaning with effort. They entered the dark staircase, and the wall shut behind them with a loud slam. Rogvir’s steel boots clunked loudly on the stone stairs, while Cairns were seemingly silent. They made it down the stairs and yet another hall, and finally to an old door. They opened it and found themselves in a large chamber, with a glowing red circle painted on the floor. Every layer of the circle was lined with old runes, and flowed like blood, it was recently used. “Greetings brother.” Narine said from the middle of the runic circle, sitting in a meditative state. “Yeah I'm here, what did you want?” “Cairn, leave us, this is family business.” She commanded. Cairn did what he was told, and left the two of them to their own devices. “Have you heard the news?” “I’ve heard a lot, assaults on the Eternal Plain, rising number of hostile lycans and vampires to the castle, and even an army invading the elven lands.” He replied. “No, it’s something else, something warping this dimension.” A pained look spread across her face for a brief moment, before returning to its passive state. “Like what happened before?” “Yes, it will happen here too soon.” “So what? We pack up and leave again? I'm not running anymore, I'm going to kill his ass.” “I was going to get to that brother, control yourself. Moving will be our last resort if need be.” She took a deep breath, and sighed. “The blood tells of the elements of this world, the ones protecting it from evil.” “Hell of a job their doing.” “They are active now; their chosen are in this realm.” “Who are they?” “Your friends.” Rogvir stared at her I shock, “The ponies? How could that be? They aren’t the types.” He retorted. “You have not seen their accomplishments in their world; this must be why they have been chosen.” “How do we get them then?” “From their Terra guardians in the Eternal Plain, but all six must be present to receive their gifts.” “Why all six, don’t they choose one?” “Foolish brother, magical artifacts have mind of their own, and will choose their own destiny, and the destiny of others, at their convenience.” She waved a hand over a pool of blood that formed in front of her, and an image showing the six mares he met, each wearing a set of bright gold armor, bearing the symbol of the Blood Dragons, standing triumphant over the evil that plagued the universe for millennia. “As much as I hate to admit it, you are right.” He said with a sigh. “When am I ever wrong… don’t answer that.” She chuckled. “You know what this means right?” He asked. “They must train.” She replied. “I have seen their souls, I shall take on Rarity as my apprentice, Fluttershy and Pinkie will train with our sister, and you will get the other two.” “What about Twilight?” “She will not need our help. A spirit of light forced into darkness will awaken her true potential.” “Damn you and your riddles.” He cursed. “A girl has to keep secrets somehow, besides, you and he have already met. Now, be gone, I must prepare.” She waved him off. Rogvir retraced his steps out of the castle and back to the inn, the girls were all asleep. H looked upon them, and with his inner magic, sensed a power he hasn’t seen since his first home. ‘Maybe here it will end.’ He thought as he remembered other homes, other friends, and other deaths at the hands of Vold. Twilight stood in front of the Dark Paladin, now beaten and bloody thanks to her new friend. The dream world final shattered, and they stood in nothing but complete darkness. “Damn you all, Vold will have your head.” He cursed through weak breaths, his magic quickly draining. “You should have thought this through, ah would have. Maybe you should have seen the clues, and shown up with something better than before.” Melborn said. “Anywho, its time you died, and this young lass to get out of this tower. Twilight, if you would…” “Oh, my pleasure.” Twilight replied as a bright light emanated from her horn and engulfed the paladin. He screamed as flames arced over his body and he was torn from the dream world. “well, time to wake up.” he stomped a hoof and the darkness shattered, revealing a dark tower room with a kneeling paladin before her, and a tall man wearing black and red spike armor standing beside her. He wore no helmet, and she could see long brown hair covering his head, dark red eyes staring from their sockets, and sharp teeth peeking out of a sinister smile. “Now that’s much better.” He said as he rolled his shoulders, stretched, and cracked several of his bones. “How about we get you out of those restraints.” He snapped Twilights bonds with a swift wave of his hand. She just stared at him in shock. “Don’t keep me waiten, fry the bastard already, it’s the only way to break the wards and escape this tower.” Twilight hesitantly lowered her horn to the paladins form, and readied a spell. “I'm going to suck the marrow from your bones mortal!” he wailed and lunged at the unicorn. Twilight unleashed a ball of energy with enough heat to make the sun seem cold, well, to the undead anyway. The dark being burned, the odor of burning flesh could be smelt, and the wails of pain from the paladin deafened her ears. As quick as it started, it stopped, nowhere was there a piece of evidence he existed. Melborn turned to Twilight. “Ah must say lass, that is some pretty impressive magic.” “I didn’t know I could do that…” she said as she sat on her haunches and stared at the spot her adversary once stood. “The magic of this land opened some new magical doors for you, take advantage of that new power, and use it to protect yourself. You will need it.” he put in. “How do I get to my friends now?” she asked. “Ah got an idea.” He said slowly. He turned to her, and touched her forehead with his pointer and middle finger, and then the world went black.
Prologue: near death experiencePrologue: near death experience. Black, black was all Twilight could see at this point. One minute she’s trying a new spell, the next she is trapped in an endless black abyss. Slowly, her vision starts to return, but what she sees isn’t the library: a shriveled corpse, a biped by the looks of it. Black eye sockets, mouth agape as if screaming, and decaying fast. She tried to scream at the sight, but couldn’t make a sound, she just lay there next to it, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She quickly regained control of her facilities and shot onto her hooves and backed up, but ran into another similar corpse leaning against a tree, the only difference was the pointed ears. She jumped forward, and tried to take in her surroundings. It was a clearing, corpses like that of different bipeds and animals, all with the same expressions. She saw her friends lying throughout the clearing too, but thankfully still very much alive. Deciding to spare them the horror of the clearing, she tried teleporting them somewhere else, but she wasn’t alone. A shadow moved across the clearing, something took a deep breath, and sighed contently. It flickered into existence slightly, the creature was bipedal, with gnarled black flesh and hunched over as if it was in pain. Four tentacles sprouted from its back, each one with a wicked looking harpoon at the end. Fading back into a shadow form, it took off in the direction Twilight teleported to. They weren’t in Equestria anymore, that much was clear. Nothing looked remotely similar to their home, even the Everfree forest didn’t feel as if everything wanted to rip you limb from limb. The floor of the woods was extremely marshy, meaning that they were in some kind of swamp. Twilight teleported to another clearing, which was actually clear. She started a fire, and laid her friends around it, trying to keep them warm. She joined the five of them, but when she got on her stomach, something pinched her. She shot up and looked around, nothing. She tried illuminating the area a bit more, but found herself unable to do so, she dropped on her knees, and felt extremely drained. Her vision started fading, and her breathing labored. When she was about to drop from random exhaustion, a gold colored arrow flew past her head, and imbedded itself into something behind her. What she heard would have made her wet herself if she had any energy to do so. A scream, otherworldly and extremely bone chilling. She fell and managed to turn her head to the screaming creature. Black leathery skin, black orbs for eyes, sharp teeth lined mouth with harpoon tipped tentacles, one of which was dripping blood, her blood. The arrow was imbedded between its eyes, tears appeared in the creatures form and were rapidly expanding. Its wails died as it finally faded away, the arrow dropped from its spot in the air, and the last thing twilight saw before closing her eyes, was a livelier looking bipedal creature with pointed ears rushing towards her. Twilight came to in a dimly lit room that had a similar feeling to it as her library did. Her friends were laying in beds similar to the one she was in. The material felt like silk and the bed softer than those from the royal palace in Canterlot. A look around showed that the walls looked exactly like those of the library, except without the books. The room was large, cabinets adorned most of the walls, ad a window allowed a little light in, it was dark outside, but a faint glow could be seen from all around. She got out of bed, and fell on her face. The bed itself was larger than the ones she was used to. A low laugh could be heard from the other side of the room she was in, when she looked, she saw a figure with pointed ears. It stood on two legs and wore ornate lime green armor with gold highlights. On its back hung a bow made of an unfamiliar material to her and a quiver of gold arrows hung from its right leg. “So, you’re finally awake, good. It’s quite remarkable really; nothing recovers as fast as you did after an encounter like that with a Ghast.” Its voice was gentle but strong, she didn’t know how it could do that, but she felt at ease around the creature, safe in its presence. “Who and what are you?” was the first thing that left her mouth. “Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Volkig, commander of the elven guard here in Landris.” It said, now that she thought about it, it sounded male. “Excuse me my ignorance, but what is an elf, and where in Equestria are we again?” “Equestria huh, must be another realm. You are on the world of Tyr, and elves are one of the many sentient races across the land. Right now you are in one of the cities close to the border between the human land of Glacialis and the elven home of Lysandus.” Twilight couldn’t believe what she heard: Elves, countries, and another realm. She almost broke down crying when a yawn escaped one of her friends. Applejack rose from her unconscious slumber, and like twilight did, fell out of bed. “What in tarnation!” she yelled, standing up from her scorpion position. She found her hat on one of the bed posts, retrieved it and placed it back on her head. She looked around and saw Twilight standing there with some strange creature. “Uh, Twilight, what the hay is going on here?” she asked. Twilight couldn’t say anything to answer Applejacks Question, so she turned to Volkig for help, who happily gave it. “Why don’t we wait for the rest of your friends to wake up before I tell you what you need to know.” “Ah would prefer you tell me now.” She said back to him, clearly annoyed with the fact that she doesn’t know where she is, and this thing aint telling her squat. “In due time, I would prefer to let you all know at once instead of repeating myself over and over again.” He kept a slight smile on his face, probably from seeing two creatures fall out of their beds in a comedic matter. “Now, why don’t we get you something to eat and drink, you must be hungry now, you’ve been out for three days. “Well, ah am mighty puckish, I could go for something ta eat, but as soon as the others wake up, you are going to tell us what the hay is happening.” “Agreed.” Volkig led the two out of the building and into what looked like a city with buildings made entirely out of trees. Each tree has golden lanterns hanging from their branches, giving the city a golden glow. The two stopped and stared in awe at the sight of the trees. Each one was different, just like the elves that walked the streets, even at nighttime. “Well, come on, the tavern closes the bar in about an hour, if you want something to eat, then we should not tarry.” They wordlessly followed their new companion, taking in the sights of the golden city around them.
Ch1: Just a tasteCh1: just a taste A figure sat upon cold stone throne in the middle of a shadowed room. It donned a set of wicked looking steel armor, and its eyes glowed a ghostly red under the shadow of its helmet. It stared off into space, contemplating, a new presence has entered the land, with enough power to rival his. “Something troubling you milord?” asked a weak and raspy voice. The owner of the voice was a short light brown goblin with tattered clothes that would make rags seem like the clothes of a noble. When the figure shifted its gaze over to the goblin, it shrunk back, fearing that it may have angered its master. A deep voice seemed to come from everywhere, and it boomed in the goblins sensitive ears. “Something new has entered the land, I want to find out what it is. Go fetch me Melborn, I have need of him.” “Yes master.” The goblin hurried out to find the shade in question, if the master asked for this particular soul, then it must be something big that troubles him. When the goblin was out of sight, the figure summoned up a ball of crystal, and peered into it. He saw two figures in what appeared to be an elven tavern, they were horse like in nature, but the colors were too bright, and one had a horn while the other wore some kind of strange hat. The picture faded into mist and was replaced by one of four others lying unconscious in beds. The picture faded again and he saw no more. He contemplated what was shown to him, these were strange creatures, and even though he could only see them through the crystal ball, when he reached out with his mind, each had a different power level. The purple one interested him the most, the amount of power it held; it reminded him of himself at a young age, so much potential. His thoughts were interrupted when the goblin returned with a figure clad in black robes carrying a gnarled looking staff. The robed shade spoke, “you called my king?” its voice was neutral, as always. Melborn may have been a hard one to read, but that made him all the more capable of managing the various types of evil creatures out there. Melborn was the only other thing on Tyr that was able to stare down a pissed off Hydra. “Yes, I did. Do you have the essence of the Ghast that was struck a few days ago?” the king asked. “Yes, and I have separated the powers that it consumed, I guess you want the most recent?” “Yes. Hand it over.” “What’s the magic word?” Melborn asked smugly. “Hand it over or I’ll stick you in a never ending abyss for all of eternity.” The king replied. “Close enough, here. Now if you’ll excuse me, the werewolves are acting up again, and I need to tend to the mess they made.” Melborn handed the king a vial of purple liquid and left, and the goblin awaited his next orders. “What are you still doing here, get out of my sight.” And then the feeble goblin left, if the king were to ask twice, it wouldn’t end well. The king held the vial in front of his face and examined it. Every type of essence has its own flavor, and if examined with trained eyes, can tell a story. “interesting.” He muttered. “Seems like this isn’t the only realm I get to take over.” He uncorked the vial and took a sip of the liquid, and started coughing uncontrollably. It tasted like kindness and harmony, with a sickeningly sweet aftertaste. After his coughing fit, he made a decision, there was two ways this could go, break her and make her his servant, or destroy her. He snapped his fingers and knight in dark grey armor with a black hood and tattered cape appeared in front of him. “Yes master.” It said in a low voice. “Take some ghouls and hounds to Landrus, wipe out the town and bring me the purple creature that owns this essence.” He let the knight soak in some of the essence, and nodded his head in confirmation and quickly left to prepare the troops. The king rose from his seat, and walked to a map of the three lands that separated the continent. To the west, was the eternal plane, an ever changing environment that is the home of the ancient species known as the Terra, and to the east, the elven country of Lysandus. In the middle, Odah, the human lands. Across the map were markers of places he conquered. Half the Eternal planes belonged to him, as well as all the human lands and outposts in the elven country. The gears in his head started turning as he made plans for the future. Twilight and Applejack sat at the bar in the tavern, which allowed them to stay later because Volkig was friends with the owner. It was nice to finally eat in peace, nobody was trying to ride them like common horses like that one poor human did, and all he got for his troubles was a buck to the groin. They both watched as elves and humans alike downed mugs of ale and shots of wine, and even their new friend had a few mugs of what was called mead, and didn’t even look the slightest bit inebriated. After a minute of pondering, Applejack decided to sate her curiosity, “hey Falion, what do you have to drink?” The bartender looked up from cleaning mugs, “got a variety of ales mead and wine, but the thing people can’t seem to get enough of is my home made solar flare whisky, that stuff can knock a bear unconscious.” “Then why do people drink it?” Twilight asked after swallowing the last bit of salad she had on her plate. “Don’t know, brings in a lot of coin though.” Falion answered. “Ah think I might want to try some.” Applejack thought that if it is his best seller, it must be good, besides, she hasn’t had a good drink since the last Apple family reunion, which was two months ago. “Sure thing, you want one too miss?” he asked Twilight. “Why not.” Was her answer. Volkig leaned in to the two of them and spoke a warning, “don’t drink too much, Solar flare whiskey can leave you with a wicked hangover.” “Aint nothing ah can’t handle.” Applejack said confidently. Falion came back with a couple glasses and a bottle of his homemade whiskey. The whiskey looked like any other, but it glowed orange and bubbled like soda. He poured the liquid into both glasses, and went back to cleaning mugs. “Well, you gonna try it?” Volkig asked. Twilight and Applejack looked at the bubbling whiskey, then at each other. “Well, bottoms up.” Twilight said meekly, and they quickly downed the drink.
Ch2: captureCh2: Capture Twilight opened her eyes slowly, but shut them fast. Something about the lighting in the room made her head feel like someone hit it with a hammer, that and even with her eyes closed her head felt like it was hit with a bat twice. She opened her eyes even slower, and allowed them and her mind to adjust to the light. Volkig was right, this is a nasty hangover, but how much did she drink? Twilight couldn’t remember anything after her second glass. She looked at her surroundings, which gave her a shock. “How in Equestria did I get up here!” she yelled, and abruptly covered her ears from the noise. She was on top of the canopy that covered the city made of trees, and the sun was beating down on her relentlessly. Above her, a cloud stirred, and a cyan creature with rainbow hair fell onto the same tree top as Twilight. “Hi Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said, “wait, Rainbow, when did you wake up?” Her friend pulled her head from the leaves, “Well, right now of course, weren’t you paying attention?” “I mean before this, you were unconscious last time I checked.” Twilight retorted while still shielding her eyes from the sun. “Oh, well, I woke up first, then Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie is still asleep, I think. I’m only up here because you wanted to see what the top of the city looked like.” ‘What?’ twilight thought, “When did I say that?” “Don’t you remember, oh wait, you were completely hammered last night. You know Twilight; you’re a lot more fun when you drink.” “What is that supposed to mean?” Twilight glared at Rainbow, who shied away a bit. “Why don’t we go back to the room and see if Pinkie is awake yet.” Volkig sat at his usual day post in the city. He was at the front gate watching the road that led west into the human lands, only things he saw today were humans and elves coming and going, and the odd bog creature from the fetid swamps. The swamps took up the land to the left of the road, and mountains on the right, strange, but since this was the border between countries, strange things were common. A stranger walked down the road, and upon closer inspection, was wearing the armor of a dark paladin, dark grey steel armor and everything. Volkig turned to the elf next to him, who was wearing the same gilded lime green armor he was, “go to the bell tower and watch the scene here, if he makes a move to attack, sound the warning.” The young recruit nodded, and scurried off the bell tower on the left, and got ready. “Halt, who goes there!” he yelled. The paladin paused, took out a spear, and kept on walking. “Stop right there an identify yourself!” the paladin took a spear from behind his back, and threw it, striking Volkig in the chest. One moment, Twilight and her friends were enjoying some time together trying to put together the events from the night before, the next some kind of alarm is going off and all hell breaks loose. They ran outside (probably a bad idea), and saw elves and humans trying to fight off what looked like half dog half lizard things and what looked like walking corpses that resembled the ones she saw when she first woke up in this world. Mutilated bodies and gore littered the streets where the mutant dogs made their kills. A figure in the middle with dark grey armor and a black hood and cape was throwing fire at buildings with one hand and striking down humans and elves with a mace in the other. “Everypony run!!!” she shouted, and they made a break for it. While running down the street, things only seemed to get worse, dead bodies piled the streets, and a couple of the weird lizard dog things that were previously feasting on the corpses started chasing them, barking like rabid animals. They were corralled into a dead end, and to their surprise, a dragon showed up and burned the things to a crisp, albeit a small dragon, but one none the less. On its back, was a human in armor made of interlocking steel plates with some kind of symbol on the front depicting a sword with wings on a yellow background. He held a shield with the same symbol, and a spiked mace, he jumped down and ran over to them. He seemed familiar, the dragon rose into the sky and flew around, burning more of the dog things and walking shriveled corpses. “The hell you doing standing here, we have to move now!” he yelled, and ran off. They followed him. Twilight was getting tired of the running, but was thankful to have someone to protect her and her friends; she wished it wasn’t so bloody though. Applejack had to carry Fluttershy when she passed out from watching the dog things burn and Rainbow had to carry Rarity when she fainted from all the violence and burning buildings. Without warning, a tree building collapsed right on top of her, she tried to call out to her friends, but could not make a sound, and they kept on running as if she was still with them. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed from having half a building drop on her was a hand covered in steel. Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and pinkie all made it to a tunnel with their friend from the night before. They panted from all the running as the human collapsed the tunnel behind them. They quickly recovered, except for Rarity and Fluttershy, who were still passed out. “Heh, that was a close one, right Twilight?” Rainbow asked jokingly, “Twilight?” she looked around, soon, everypony was looking for the purple unicorn. Pinkie’s mane deflated, “oh no, she must have gotten crushed by that tree-house, I should have paid more attention.” Her mouth quivered and she started to cry. “Quit the water works, it won’t take them long to dig the opening back up, we have to move now.” The human commanded. “Oh no we don’t, we need to go back out and get twilight!” Rainbow yelled when she got up into the humans face. “And get killed in the process, is that what you think she would want, for you to die trying to see if she still lives.” He retorted. “He has a point Rainbow, we just have ta make sure we get outa here and hope to Celestia Twilight is alright.” Applejack said, which calmed the Pegasus a bit. They turned and made their way down the escape tunnel, hearts heavy from losing their friend back there. The king sat upon his throne with a crystal ball in his right hand, and the other on his sword, which had a silver hilt and a blade blacker than night. A ghost of a smile crept on his face, pearly white fangs showing from the veil of shadow that covered his face. He watched the attack from his throne, and watched as his target was dragged from the cities ruins by his knight. Everything was going according to plan, the only thing left to do was break the creature, and then use its power to take over this world, and then proceed to the next one, the realm it came from.
Ch3: new problemsCh3: new problems The tunnel was dark, which is to be expected of something that wasn’t used in centuries. Five ponies and a human wandered down the narrow passageways of the elven escape tunnel after the dark paladin and his pets brought down the city. The trip was mostly uneventful, just a few giant spiders that made Rarity scream in terror, but Rainbow and Applejack reveled in the chance to smash something after what happened to twilight. After about two hours of walking, they started seeing torches and crates line the walls. Something wasn’t right; nobody escaped with more than what was on their back. “Hold up, I don’t like this, stay low.” The human said in a deep voice. “Well I don’t see why we have to; it doesn’t seem that bad mister… um…” Rarity questioned. “My name is Rogvir, and nobody escaped with more than the clothes on their backs, so there may be bandits up ahead.” “bandits.” They all squeaked. Then the rainbow haired one spoke up, “let me at them, I still wanna hurt something after what happened earlier.” “I think we should let Rogvir go first, if that’s alright with you…” Fluttershy whispered. “Yea, because unlike the spiders, the bandits fight back.” He added. “What was that?” a gruff voice asked. A man with dark skin and black hair wearing leather armor walked down the tunnel. “Thought I heard something.” “get back in here, I’m not done beating you out of all your gold yet!” another higher pitched voice yelled.” “I’ll beat you this hand.” The bandit replied, and walked back. Rogvir made a motion for them to be silent, and moved forward. Rainbow, who was not one to miss some excitement, silently crept after him, the others followed suit. A wooden wall, with a heavy wooden door, blocked the passage; it appeared the bandits took this cave as their own. Rogvir carefully opened the door, which led into a newly excavated room with tables and a bar. There were bandits crowded around a single table watching a card game, where one was being badly beaten by another. The bartender was the only one not watching the slaughter of one bandit’s money pouch, and was cleaning out glasses with a piece of cloth. Rogvir crept up on him first; he snuck up behind the counter and snapped the poor sods neck, and allowed him to drop to the floor. The noise caused one bandit to turn around, “huh, damn rats, always scurrying around in the shadows.” He turned his attention back to the game. Another bandit was watching the game from the other side of the room from Rogvir, smoking some new drug made in the southern human lands. It was at this point that Rogvir made himself known. He took out his mace, and swung it at the one bandits head; the mace was stuck in the wooden beam and made a sickening crunch. The mace was stuck in the wood, and so was the bandit, whose body stayed upright when the mace crushed his head. This took the attention of the other seven bandits at the table. “Looks like we got a hero here.” One stated. “Rough him up a bit, if we can do that, we got another slave.” Went another. They rushed him, bandits against in leather armor against a man in steel plate armor, should go well. Rogvir dispatched the first one very easily; he grabbed the bandits hand, twisted it around and let him take the hit from an axe to the chest, killing him. He dropped the bandit, and took the short sword he had, and parried a blow from a mace, then jumped back from being hit with a warhammer. He tripped the first one with a chair, jumped over another hammer blow, and landed on the poor guy’s head, crushing it and splattering his brains all over the floor. “You’re gonna pay for that!” a feminine voice yelled. She charged at him with two glowing steel short swords. He blocked two strikes, but the second shattered his, and on her third swing, he ducked under, and tackled her. Rolling over her head, he dodged another hammer blow, but got an iron mace to the side. The bandit went for another blow, but Rogvir grabbed his shoulder, and jabbed him in the neck, crushing his windpipe. Rogvir let the bandit choke to death as he turned to the last three bandits. One opted to use his bow to his advantage, and took pot shots at Rogvir, but was tackled to the side into a headlock by a cyan blur, who quickly snapped his neck. The other two turned in surprise, and the bandit with the hammer was bucked into a wall, unconscious. The last one swung at the orange horse thing, but was grabbed from behind, and swung over someone’s shoulder, landing face first into a rocky floor. A boot landed heavily on her head, splattering more brains over the floor. “Yeah! That was bucking awesome!” Rainbow yelled. “What is wrong with you two, you just practically killed those poor men!” Rarity scolded. “Doesn’t bother me, I’m still mad about what happened to twilight, and if they weren’t afraid to do the same, why should I?” she retorted. “Rainbow, Rarity, stop. Ah think we should just leave this behind us and never speak of it again.” Applejack commanded. “I’m okay with that.” Something squeaked. “Let me just get my mace.” This was still stuck in the wall, covered in blood, skull fragments, and brain. With a heave, he dislodged his spiked weapon from the wall, “damn it, just cleaned the fucking thing.” He mumbled, and then attached it to a ring on his belt. He walked to the unconscious bandit, took his knife, stabbed him in the chest, and took a rusted key that hung around his neck. When he got up, the ponies were looking at him in shock. “What, he would just do this stuff again when he woke up.” “Hey guys, if you’re done being meanies to those people, I found others trapped in a cage!” Pinkie yelled, her mane was still deflated, and she opted not to talk to Rogvir because of the violence he just displayed. The five of them walked into the room Pinkie was in, and found about twelve elves slapped in irons and stuck in a cage. “Oh, thank the maker, please sir, help us.” One pleaded. Rogvir unlocked the cage with the rusty key, and the elves piled out. The last one gave him a hug, and left to follow the others. “Son of a bitch.” He mumbled. “Is there something wrong partner.” Applejack questioned. “Yeah, the fetid swamps are the most dangerous place on the border between the human lands and the elven country. Watch where you step, and watch your backs, the creatures aren’t the only things you need to worry about.” “Whys that?” Rarity asked. “Let’s say that some plants are just bit more than carnivorous than others.” Is all he said before walking off, the ponies followed wordlessly behind him, watching for anything that might attack. Twilight was getting sick of all the games that were being played on her. This weird creature has thrown almost every scenario at her to try to break her, but she held strong. “Let me go you brute!” she yelled, she then released a powerful wave of magic from her horn, and heard the creature scream in pain, and she was brought into consciousness. In front of her, a figure clad in spiked armor with a black cape and black sword was on his knees a few feet away. “Master!” something yelled, and a little light brown creature hobbled up the steel monstrosity. “Get away from me!” he yelled, he glared at the paladin that dragged her to the castle, “you have one chance, if she still resists, you know what to do.” The paladin nodded, and then the king and his minion left. He walked up to twilight, and she could see a ghost of a smile in the blackness under the hood, “you and I are going to have so much fun together.” He whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
Ch4: in the swampsCh4: in the swamps Rogvir led the ponies out into the swamps, being careful to lead them through the more safe areas, though safe, is a relative term here. The swamp had almost no pieces of land above the water, and even when there was, it was covered in a moss that he knew all too well to stay away from. Twists and turns, everything looked the same, damp and smelly trees, putrid water, and a green moss, everywhere. Finally, somepony asked a question that not even he wanted the answer to. “Why are we avoiding the green moss, it doesn’t look that dangerous.” Pinkie piped up. “Watch.” Rogvir said. Just when he did, a bog deer foal, part of a breed completely adapted to these swamps, but an inexperienced one, which was perfect for this presentation, jumped onto the moss. As soon as its hoof hit the green substance, its fate was sealed. The green substance latched onto its hooves and kept it in place, while the deer frantically tried to escape. The moss climbed up its legs, and snapped its bones. The deer fell, and the moss grew over it, crushing the bones of the creature and disintegrating its flesh with some form of stomach acid. When the entire deer was covered in green, the moss let up, bones rose from underneath it, some shattered, some not. Rogvir saw Fluttershy and Rarity faint, Pinkie immediately lost her cheerful attitude and her mane straightened, and Rainbow and Applejack just stared at the scene, mortified. “And that’s just the moss, that’s about as painful a death as you can get, through the whole process you are alive to feel the moss eat you in front of your eyes, and your friends’ eyes. When I say to stay away from something, do it, don’t question.” The ponies nodded, and Fluttershy and Rarity recovered from their fainted state. “Good, a little further and we’ll be in a town, my sisters run it, so we’ll be safe there for the time being.” “Why are we going there and not searching for our friend? She could be lost in this place, or worse.” Rainbow said frantically. Rogvir just stood there, in deep thought. “She’s not here.” “How can ya tell?” Applejack asked. “Just instinct.” A dragon’s roar rang out through the swamps. “That’s not good.” “What’s going on?” Pinkie asked A deep growl emanated through the trees, startling the ponies, and waking Fluttershy and Rarity from their fainted state. They looked around, the swamp was quiet, and places like this were never quiet. A reptilian head, roughly the same size as the ponies, peaked around some trees. It looked like a dragons, except for the bone helmet it wore, it covered the whole head, leaving room for the mouth to open and for the eyes to see through, and it made the beast look more sinister than it was supposed to be. Two other heads poked out from the same direction, wearing similar bone helmets. It they each simultaneously took a deep breath, and snorted at the group. The middle head reared back, and gave a guttural roar, the other two following suit, it lunged from its position, three long necks protruding from a large body. Four limbs with wicked claw extensions gripped and tore at the ground, plates of bone clung to its body like armor, and a crude axe was attached to its tail, the scales that they could see were a dirty yellow in color, and it had crude red markings covering it from head to tail. “Damned hydra.” Rogvir murmured. “Run!” The ponies did not need to be told twice, they dashed away from the hydra, dodging trees and carnivorous flora while the hydra just barreled through everything. They saw a city through the trees in the distance, but before they could get within eyesight of the guards, the hydra somehow got in front of them, baring its teeth. Dash thought it would be a good idea to try to hit it, but got swatted away by a claw; she hit a tree and had a bleeding wound on her chest. “Fucking hell, where is he?” Rogvir mumbled. “Who?” Applejack asked. A loud roar soon answered her and a bout of flame slammed into the hydra. The beast reared back as the leather holding the bones in place burned, causing its armor to fall off. A sapphire blue dragon landed on its middle head, and cleaved it off with a strong bite. Two more heads started forming, but were stopped when the stump was incased in ice, courtesy of Rogvir. The neck slumped down, one down, two to go. The hydra grabbed the dragon and threw it into Rogvir. The ponies watched in shock as the two heads got closer to their two friends. The hydra stopped in its tracks, the two remaining heads sniffed the air, and turned to the right, and a large ball or fire emerged from the trees and incinerated the left head. The hydra screeched in pain, and then a wolf-like creature tackled its remaining head, and ripped into its skull, gouging out its brain. Again, Fluttershy and Rarity fainted, Rainbow passed out from blood loss, Pinkie was hiding behind her mane the entire time, and Applejack lost whatever was in her stomach. The dragon removed itself from on top of Rogvir, and then he too got up, covered in swamp water. The wolf-like creature removed itself from the hydra’s cranium, and lumbered over to Rainbow on its two hind legs, as it reached for the Pegasus; Applejack gave it a hard buck, sending it flying across the newly made clearing. The wolf howled and charged, only to be held in place by a blood red aura. “Damn it Celia, I thought I told you to think before you jump into battle.” A female voice rang out. A figure in red robes entered the clearing, holding out a gloved hand with the same red aura around the wolf, which stopped thrashing, and changed its form. Bones cracked and fur receded as a female human took its place. “Good to see you too Narine.” Rogvir said. “Dear brother, we have to stop meeting like this.” She said as she dropped Celia into the swamp water face first. “Now, who are your friends here?” “Help the rainbow one and I’ll explain later.” “You better, colorful horses, where did you get them from?” she asked as she approached Rainbow dash, Applejack still looming between her friend and the robed figure. “Please move aside so I can heal your friend.” Narine commanded. Applejack did so, and watched as the figure cut her wrist, and formed a dried blood bandage over Rainbows wounds. She then enveloped her in a red aura and the dried blood was then replaced by cyan fur. “How the hay did you do that?” Applejack asked. “Oh, this? Its simple blood magic, even my swamp brain of a sister could learn it if she could focus for more than a second.” Applejack recoiled at the statement. “Speaking of which, where is- Celia, what are you doing?” The girl in question took to her more canine side and was getting a belly rub by Pinkie pie, whose mane sprung back up while she was petting the dog-like human. “Never mind.” Narine grumbled. Fluttershy and Rarity recovered from their fainted state to the sight of a hooded figure, and a half-naked human. “What just happened?” Rarity groaned. “Would you believe me if I told you we were just saved by my older and younger sister.” Rogvir replied. “By the way, how’s the vampirism treating you Narine?” “Pain in my ass, but the gods above know how useful it can be.” She replied. “Anyway, let’s get out of the swamp; the water is starting to eat through the cloth of my robes.” Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Celia, who whined when Pinkie stopped petting her. “Get up Celia; you’re making a fool of yourself again.” Narine commanded. Celia stood up straight and quickly regained composure. She slung Dash over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and followed the rest of the group back to the town that they saw. Twilight was having the worst possible day so far, and it all started out really well too. First, her friends saved her from the shade, and then she was taken back to Ponyville via portal created by Celestia. Now, all her friends are suddenly acting very cruel to her. She just lay on the bench in the park crying her eyes out, not even noticing the black colored earth pony stallion with red eyes approaching her from the western pathway. “Excuse me lass, but would you happen to know why I’m in here, not that ah don’t enjoy the dreams of you mortals, but ah have a very pressing schedule to keep.” He asked. Twilight just looked up at him with teary eyes and a confused expression. “What? You didn’t know that this is a dream?” “How could it be a dream if it hurts so much?” she sobbed. “Hmm, yes, that is quite the predicament. Anyway, let me be the first to welcome ya to the dream realm.” He said with a happy expression, standing on his back legs and extending his arms wide. Twilight just sniffled and gave an un-amused expression. “Dang, not even the demons back home are as bad as you, hmm, let’s see here…” he then reached into Twilights head, much to her surprise, and pulled out a scroll. “How did you do that?” she asked, sadness shortly lost as he started reading it. “Ah, I see what’s goin on, that bugger you saw in the tower placed a nightmare spell on ya, and is controlling it so you have the worst possible experience in here so you can give in to him.” “I still don’t get it, why is he doing this?” she wiped the tears from her eyes. Because he’s evil ya dunderhead, and because his boss wants you either on his side, or out of the way.” He said as he bopped her on the head. “He knows you have the potential to magically surpass him, and he doesn’t want competition when he takes over the world. To him, the less and/or weaker resistance there is, the better.” “Then, how do we stop this?” she asked. “Ah was hoping you knew… wait, I have a genius idea.” He said as a light bulb literally light up over his head, which he swatted away. “What is it?” “We completely screw with the dream world he created.” “Again, how?” she deadpanned, “and if he created this world, then why hasn’t he tried to get rid of you yet?” “Because I’m a god you simpleton, well, I was given the task to keep the underworld in check, hell of a job by the way, but that is not important. Do you remember the friends you were talking to in this world?” she nodded. “good, here is what we do, you have to do, reveal to each apparition that they are not real, it will cause them to slightly fade, but you have to really convince them, and then, hit them with this…” he pulled out a gold club with ruby and sapphire gems decorating it. “It will remove them from this world, and steal power away from the Dark Paladin that holds your mind hostage. When he confronts you, call my name, and I will take care of the rest.” “What’s your name then?” “Whoops, never even thought about it, hmm. How about Melborn, he was always an interesting wizard.” “Okay then, I’ll get to- wait, did you say you worked in the underworld?” “Yes.” “Doesn’t that mean that you’re evil?” “No.” “But then how did you get the job?” “Easy, all the other positions were filled, but just because I hold a bad title doesn’t mean I’m a bad person… pony… err… whatever the hell ah am right now. Good luck.” He said before disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. “Well Twilight, even though this goes against your instinct, you have to trust him to get you out of here if he is right.” She said to herself, and then saw a Cyan blur in the sky. “And I know just who to start with.”
Ch6: Going into town: Starting to trainCh6: Going into town: Starting to train Rogvir left the castle after reminiscing with his sister. Their time allowed them to remember their parents, and their home; both of which were destroyed when Vold marched through their realm. It was a sad day, only three were able to leave alive. But time of sorrow passed years ago, now was where they held their final stand against him, but they needed to get ready first. Rogvir entered the inn and gave a nod of recognition to the inn keeper. He went straight to the room to find that the ponies had just finished with their washing up. ‘How does it take that long to wash up?’ he thought to himself, remembering that Narine had done the same. “Well hello there Rogvir.” Rarity greeted. The others nodded their own greetings. “Ooh! Hey, welcome back! We were just planning a party before you came in!” Pinkie exclaimed. “We were?” Rainbow asked. “Well of course silly!” Pinkie replied. “The party will have to wait.” Rogvir interrupted. Pinkie gasped. “The party can wait! THE PARTY CAN WAIT! What are you, crazy! The party can never wait!” Rogvir rubbed his ear from the sudden onslaught of sound. “Sorry Rogvir, Pinkie is a bit eccentric about her parties.” Rarity explained. “I can tell.” He mumbled. “The reason is because we need to start training.” “Training?” they all asked. “Narine had a… vision… when she says to do something, you don’t question it. Last time I did that, I regretted it.” he explained. “Sounds a bit vague there pardner.” Applejack said. “Tomorrow, you will be assigned an instructor. Then when the training is complete, we will go meet your friend in the Eternal Plain. Now, I suggest you all get some sleep, my family was never one to go easy.” A flash appeared in the barren summer desert of the Eternal Plain, an ever shifting country that is home to the ancient race known as the Terra. For many years they have lived in peace, but when the Dark King arrived, that all changed. Now the creatures hide from the tide that threatens to consume everything, seeking safety with the elements that they were born to control. Two figures stand on a fading road, one on two legs, and one on four. The sand storm raged around them, making visibility low. “Where are we?” Twilight asked. “What! Ah can’t hear you lass! Hold on a second!” he snapped his fingers, and the storm subsided. “That’s better.” He took a look around him. “Hmm, I was sure that Pyrus would have been here.” “What are we doing here? Why aren’t we with my friends? Did you lie before?” she started. “Shut it, I think I hear something…” he leaned his ear to the east, where the road pointed towards the Dark King’s castle. “Get down.” He whispered and sank below the sandy road. “Uhm…” “Oh… right.” Twilight was then dragged under too. The sound of marching soldiers pounded their ears as the troop made their way over them. “Move it you slack jawed idiots!” an angry voice shouted. “Come on, I haven’t got all day! I dont want to hear that any of you are tired, take a break and I will skin you with your own teeth!” Twilight would have shuddered, if the sand wasn’t preventing her from doing so. “Sir, where is the city?” a small voice asked. “It should be here, keep your eyes peeled.” “My apologies, but the troops are tired, and our food is low, allow us to- AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH” the one man’s scream pierced even the sand as the sound of something snapping was heard. “Anyone else going to complain… no… good. The King waits for no one. If you stop, I’ll leave you to the Sand Dragons.” The force immediately sped up. “Those damned turtles are around here somewhere…” As the sounds of the approaching army faded, Twilight felt herself being pulled from the ground. She was then held up over the ground by the very creature that helped her in the dream world. “Who was that?” she asked. “Yep, you’re okay.” He said as he dropped her on her stomach. “What?” “That there was Odik, one of Vold’s six greatest warriors. A right nasty one he is, built like a guerrilla, but with a bigger brain. He may not seem smart, but his plans always work.” “Can you give me an example?” Twilight asked. She then figured out why he said she was alright when she asked a question… “Well, there used to be a legendary Hydra, ‘till Odik came along, best tactic I’ve ever seen too.” Twilight motioned for him to continue. “Well, the first part of his plan involved going in, and smashing the beast the old fashioned way, but that didn’t work, ‘cause he got eaten.” Melborn started to laugh. “Then… h-he burst… through the damn things stomach… covered in blood… bile and gore!” he then fell onto the ground rolling in laughter. “How is that funny!?!? It’s downright disgusting!” She yelled, starting to feel a bit green from the image. “oh, it’s hilarious… the Hydra looked at its stomach, then back at Odik like ‘how the hell did you do that?’ and then fell backwards making a sound akin to a sack of bricks hitting the floor!” he burst out laughing again. “Only you would find something like that funny.” Twilight deadpanned. “Well, I find a plethora of things funny: A beggar being punched in the face, a squirrel being torn apart by a fire ball, even when people are dumb enough to try and attack the greater creatures of this world when they have no hope of defeating them.” He let out a wistful sigh. “Aw memories. Oh well, time to get started on your training!” he said with a clap. “What do you mean? Why aren’t we going back to my friends?” “Because you simpleton, you need to be prepared for any fights you might get into in the future. As I always say, it’s better to be prepared than not… wait, ah don’t say that… maybe you just think it. Damn it all I'm starting to get your ideas in mah head! How the hell do you live with this much logic? It’s maddening!” he raged. After a minute, he calmed down. “Right, first lesson: Magic.” “Well, I already know a lot about magic, so this should be easy.” Twilight said confidently. “Really, then why don’t we skip the basics and try some more advanced techniques.” He snapped his fingers and the sand storm from earlier started up again. “If you’re so confident, turn this sand into snow, then back, and then into rain.” He gave a little laugh and he disappeared into the storm. Twilight was confused and scared, she didn’t know a spell to complete this task, but she wanted to prove herself. Her horn lit up, and the sandstorm began to emit a purple haze, and small bouts of electricity started running through the bits of sand. She closed her eyes as she then changed the sand into snow, when she opened her eyes; she no longer saw the harsh sandstorm, but a gentle snow fall. Probably not what Melborn was expecting… “Well done lass, now, finish the task.” And she did just that, she changed the snow into sand, and tried to focus on getting it to become rain. The sand stuck to her coat as the grains started turning to water. Pretty soon, she felt the harsh pelts of rain against her coat, soaking her to the bone. “Very impressive, for a novice.” He said as he reappeared in front of twilight. With a snap of his fingers, the storm dissipated, leaving him and a confused Twilight in a now hot and humid desert. “What just happened?” she asked. “You did the task I set out for you, and performed it the way I thought you would. Now that you can do that, you can manipulate the weather to your advantage, confuse your enemies or even mask an ambush you are going to do, and you will pull one off in the future, so don’t even try to argue.” Twilight just held her tongue, internally trying to figure out how he knew what she was going to say. “What’s next?” she inquired. “Actual magic.” He said while conjuring a ball of cackling electricity in his right hand. He threw the ball into the ground next to twilight, opening a trap door with a staircase leading downwards. “Now, for your next lesson, we go to the very inventors of modern magic, the Terra.” The day was warm and sunny, a perfect day to start training. Rogvir led the ponies to the castle training yard, where there was already several Lycans and Vampires training their skills. The Lycans used their mass and strength against each other, brawling in wolf form to tone their bodies in the art of combat with difficult opponents. The vampires held magic duels and often shot bursts of magic towards targets set up in the yard. “Welcome to the training yard, behold its public glory, watch where you step, if you know what I mean.” He said jokingly. Rarity cringed at the statement, looking at where she was walking. “What are we doing first? Planning parties? Throwing parties? *gasp* reading the book ‘The art of the Party’!?” Pinkie said in her usual manner. “No, we are splitting up into groups. Applejack and Dash, you’re with me.” “Alright!” Rainbow cheered, to which Applejack rolled her eyes. “Fluttershy and Pinkie, Celia awaits you in the western field for Stealth training.” He continued. “Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed as she dashed east, and then walked back with an embarrassed look on her face. “Whoops… heh-heh… wrong way.” She and Fluttershy left for their training. “What about me?” Rarity asked, pouting slightly that she was the last to be sent somewhere. “Wait… what am I saying? Training will only get me dirty and I refuse to dirty my hooves, I just polished them.” “You’re with my sister. Don’t worry, you won’t learn any questionable forms of magic with her, just basic attack and defense. She will only continue with it if you want to.” He reassured. “Well, I guess if it isn’t manual labor I’m okay with it.” “South fields, meet her by the statue with a staff.” Rarity nodded and headed off towards her target. “Okay Rogvir, what are we doing first? We going to swing maces like you? Oh. My. Goddess. Are we going to get a huge hammer like him!?” Rainbow yelled once she saw a Lycan bring an assortment of weapons towards a pair of sparing elves. “In due time, first we need to find out what you will be better with. I know you two are fighters, and no doubt will end up with a cool weapon in the end, but you must know what you will be comfortable with.” He explained. “Sound ‘bout right.” Applejack agreed. “Dang it.” Rainbow cursed. “Alright, now I want to know how much you can take. We will be doing a series of exercises to test your stamina and endurance. Let’s get a move on.” He said seriously. “What exactly will we be doin?” Applejack asked. “You'll find out later, for now, a warm up. Fifty laps around the castle training grounds, no wings Rainbow…. What are you too staring at?” “This place aint exactly small.” Appleack pointed out. “Great observation AJ, now I am going to tell you what I think about it. You are going to do nonstop running, and if you don’t start now…” a light growl emanated from behind the two mares, as a hungry looking Lycan locked eyes with them. Rogvir put a spell on Rainbows wings, preventing them from opening as they both took off with an animalistic Werewolf chasing after them, leading them around the yard. Rogvir chuckled lightly as he watched the two mares try to keep ahead of the Lycan; today is going to be fun.
Ch7:Going into town: Chaos UnleashedCh7: Going to town: Chaos Unleashed As Twilight walked down the cold stone corridor to her destination, she could only wonder as to how she wound up in this world, and as to what these… Terra… were. Her answers came in the form of remembering trying to complete a complex long distance teleporting spell, and getting grabbed in a vice like grip and hauled off the ground. She locked eyes with a large creature, well, two of her eyes locked with the four of its. The beast had a head that looked like a crocodiles, with the teeth to match. Over its eyes, were rounded shell like shields that protected them. She glanced down and saw it had two long arms and legs that had three viscous looking claws on the ends of them, and a tough looking shell that covered most of its body, which was a snow white in color. “Put her down White Fang.” Melborn commanded. The creature growled deeply and then dropped Twilight on her flank. “What are you doing here?” it’s equally deep and raspy voice asked. “Ah came to visit a friend, and maybe teach this little unicorn a thing or two about magic.” He said as he pat Twilight on the head. “The elder will see no one. You are not welcome here, you will leave. If you know what’s good for you.” It answered. “You really shouldn’t treat guests that way.” Another voice, lighter this time, sounded. Fang just snarled and moved out of the way, revealing a similar yet more shriveled figure with a brown-red color, stubby fingers, and a head that more or less resembled what a tortoise would have. It smiled joyfully at Twilight, which unnerved her for a second. “Do not be afraid of me, I'm so old I bet I could barely set my own fireplace without help.” he joked. “You on the other hand, are much more interesting. What brings a creature like you to our humble city?” “Apparently you could teach me more about magic.” Twilight answered. “Ah yes, magic, no doubt that it is your special talent I presume?” Twilight nodded. “I thought so, you’re not the first to enter our world, and hopefully not the last, it’s always fun when your kind gets lost here. Remember the last one Melborn?” the elder asked. “Oh yes, she was a riot! A thousand years of ale and night time fun! Though it was a bit creepy too, I never thought an elf could bend that way…” Melborn shuddered at the memory. “But… back to the matter at hand, do you happen to have any spare trainers?” “Yes, Shifting Sands should be available.” The elder replied. “Okay Twinkle-“ Melborn started. “It’s Twilight.” Twilight deadpanned. “Whatever, let’s get going!” he said enthusiastically as he started to stroll towards the city. When Twilight saw it, she was shocked. The city seemed to be perfectly carved from stone: from the smallest hut to the largest temple, this place spanned easily three times the size of Canterlot. Twilight could see waterways and roads in which the Terra would use to get around the city. She could also see a few of them fly through the air with angelic looking wings. The buildings themselves were a reddish gold in color, and the temple in the center of the city seemed to emit its own glow. To say Twilight was shocked was an understatement. It hurt her brain trying to figure out how they could possibly make everything look so perfect when it was carved out of the stone around them. “Ya comin?” Melborn called. This snapped her out of her trance, and she ran to catch up to her companion. A dark figure watched as his target walked into a trap door in the desert. He was about to go and report this to Vold, when something stopped him, or rather someone. “HI GRIM!” a high voice called behind him. The large being jumped into the air, the light revealing his form. He was tall, and very muscular, easily dwarfing the Terra in size. His black leather armor and helmet concealed his body, and bandoleers with various vials adorned most of his upper and lower body. On his back was a large grey axe, and by large, its axe head was as big as Odik’s torso, and easily weighed twice as much. Yet the behemoth of a creature could swing it like a wooden sword when in the right body. “Master.” Grim grumbled. “Oh you remember me! Good, because it took me a while to try and find you. You better not have been hiding from me mister.” The voice asked. Grim turned around to look at his master, a young girl dressed in a pink springtime outfit, she looked to be no more than eight, yet looks can be deceiving. “Grim follow orders from Vold.” He explained, his current body not capable of long, drawn out sentences, he just had to take over the body of an idiot. “You don’t follow orders from a poor excuse of a king, you are my banshee, and you do as I say.” She said in a tone you couldn’t argue with. “Very well.” He conceded. “Good, now I'm bored. Go smash a sand dragon.” Grim couldn’t help but smile. “As you wish.” “I'm sick of this walking Cain, where is it!” Odik yelled at his not so fortunate ‘teammate.’ “Calm down you blubbering brute. Pyrus should be here somewhere, give it another day, then we will go and get the others near the swamp. I doubt she would be here.” the man in question replied. Cain is one of the mighty six in the army, second next to Sol, who is a shape shifter. Cain is nothing special, he is only powerful because he can take down a mountain dragon with a flame spell, the weakest one. Cain is a strategist, but sometimes he doesn’t think, like when he decided to use his black mage robes on this expedition. The beast that is Odik just growled. His figure was more imposing. He is smaller than Grim, but his brute force can solve most any problems. He is wearing thick steel armor and is wielding a heavy dragon bone axe. “Let’s go now, if they’re not here, then why waste our time.” “Because if we’re not here for the designated number of days that we’ve been assigned, then we will get put in the void… do you not remember your last failure.” Cain challenged. Odik shuddered. “Not even the banshee known as Grim could survive there.” “What about Sol?” “His mind is already broke, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have one in the first place.” He mocked. “Too true, being a shape shifter will do that. Now, keep looking.” Cain ordered as he and his brute of a ‘friend’ separated and began searching again. Applejack and Rainbow collapsed at Rogvir’s feet after their run, thoroughly exhausted. “I’m… going… to… buck him… in the face…” Rainbow said between gasps. “Git…in…line…Rainbow.” Applejack said back. “Drink up.” Rogvir said, handing the gasping mares a bottle. They looked at it questioningly, wondering what it was for. “Never seen a stamina potion before?” he asked. “A what?” Rainbow asked. “A potion that restores any energy you lost doing something.” He explained. The mares looked at each other with apprehensive glances. Rainbow took a sip first, then gulped her bottle down. When she finished, she gave a sigh of relief as her energy returned to her. Applejack sniffed hers, and scrunched her face up, not happy with the smell, then took a small sip. She too, fell prey to the taste of the potion. “Well ahl be, now that is some good stuff!” the farm pony exclaimed. “Yea what’s in it?” Rainbow asked. “I don’t ask what my little sis does to make things, its best that way.” The mares stared at him in shock when he said that. “Now that I’ve had a good laugh-“ “Hey wait a minute, you just had us do that for laughs?!” Rainbow yelled. “A bit, also wanted to see if you could do it. It’s always nice to know your limits, know what I'm saying.” The AJ and Rainbow nodded their heads. “Good, now, let’s go to the weapons.” Fluttershy and Pinkie were patiently waiting for the arrival of their instructor, and watching their friends be chased around by a werewolf. Their task, is to find out how to be great assassins, or cutpurses if they don’t have the guts to kill. They don’t notice it, but the person they were waiting for, was sneaking up on them at the moment, wearing a black cowl with equally black leather armor. Pinkies tail shook… “BOO!” Celia yelled. Fluttershy looked as if she was about to have a heart attack, and Pinkie was nowhere to be found. “Ooh, did I scare you too much, sorry.” She said. “I-it’s okay, n-no harm d-done.” Fluttershy said shakily. “Wow you’re good, but not as good as me!” Pinkie chirped, perched on top of the woman’s head. “Well, that’s new. Alright girls, we need to see how stealthy you can be, the market is buzzing today, so our first test is to see how much you can loot without being caught.” “Isn’t that stealing?” Fluttershy asked. “Yep, that’s why it’s a good test, Vampires and Lycans don’t like having things taken from them, so this will be good training. Now, let’s go!” “This can’t end well.” Fluttershy said to herself. “Come on! This will be fun!” Pinkie yelled from behind Fluttershy, scaring her. They followed the werewolf out of the training grounds, ready for this new challenge that awaits them… well… Pinkie is ready, Flutters is frightened. “So…” Rarity started. “You’re just going to sit there?” “Yes.” Narine replied. “In the dirt?” Rarity asked with a slight shudder. “Yes.” “Why?” “I'm meditating, building my mana pool, which will allow me to cast either more spells or stronger spells. The more mana you have, the more magic you can do.” “Is that how you do what you can do?” “Yes, although, there are those who take it a step further.” Narine said darkly through her usual red cowl. “How so?” asked Rarity, thoroughly interested. “There are many forms of magic, from spells to runes, manipulating nature, and even magic that doesn’t require you to use mana.” She explained. “You can do magic without using the traditional method?” Rarity was astounded, a way to do magic that didn’t require the use of mana, or whatever. She could use magic for everything and not become tired! “Yes, but if you use this method, you might as well kiss any respect others have for you goodbye.” “Why, what is so bad about it?” “What I do to perform my magic, I use the energy I get from the blood of others, or even my own blood. Blood magic is as hated as necromancy, and both, I know very well how to use. They are not paths I suggest that you learn, but that is your choice.” She explained. Rarity put a hoof to her chin in thought… “I will stick to regular magic, maybe a few runes… but just in case, it might come in handy, so a little of the forbidden schools could be useful.” “I think I know what you want then, healing, right?” “A bit, like what you did for Dash, in case my friends get hurt, I want to be able to help. I am a fashionista, so I don’t know much about fighting with magic other than hitting things with floating objects.” Rarity answered. “Very well, I shall teach you enough about the many schools as you need to know, if you wish to further your study, you may tell me, or any other mage. But if it is about the other two schools, then you will talk to me alone, understood.” “Y-yes.” “Very well, let’s get started. First, let’s bring magic into the visual world. Usually, what you see will be an aura, like mine.” Her hand began to glow red as she focused her magic. “Show me your aura.” Rarity focused her magic and her horn began to glow light blue. “Like this?” “Yes, now, I want you to create an icicle, like this.” Narine formed a crude ice spike with her hands, and floated it in her right palm. Rarity focused on doing what Narine did, but couldn’t form the ice needed. “Ice is solid state that water is in when you place it in more frigid temperatures. The air around us, has traces of water vapor, pull it together, and then freeze it.” Narine explained. Rarity tried again, and succeeded in making a ball of water form in front of her, and then her horn glowed brighter and it froze into a solid ball of ice, as big as a cannon ball. Her eyes widened as she saw that she succeeded, but her break in concentration to celebrate caused the ball to drop on the floor. “I did it!” “Yes, you did, now lift the thing back up.” Narine said through gritted teeth. “Why- oh… hehe, sorry.” Rarity lifted the ball back into the air, and off her instructor’s foot. “Alright, you have a ball, good enough for this part, but after try to make a spear like figure. See that target?” “No.” Narine snapped her fingers and a human shaped target appeared several feet away. “Launch the ice at it, like this.” She hurled the icicle and speared the target through the chest. Rarity floated the ball up, and lobbed it through the air, much like one would lob cannonball if they didn’t have a cannon. The ball landed on the target and crushed it. “Good job, now, let’s try again with a projectile that’s more spear like.” “What?” Twilight asked the Terra in front of her. It was a fire Terra, with its dark crimson shell and shriveled skin. “I want to see how much you have in you, fire a continuous beam of light at this gem.” He motioned towards a large sapphire on a pedestal in the center of the room. The building was small and dome shaped, lying on the other side of the city. The building was earthy in color and in texture, simple for a master mage. Twilight did as she was asked and fired a beam of light at the gem, which readily absorbed the magical beam like a sponge. She kept this up for about an hour before the beam started to falter, sweat was falling from her body as she strained to show her magical prowess. Finally, after a few tense seconds, she collapsed, halting the flow of magic. The sapphire glowed a brilliant blue in color, and bathed the entire room in its glow. “Good, at least you can keep it up as long as one of the air heads, their much easier to work with.” Shifting Sands said. “How… so?” Twilight managed to gasp out. “Because the Earth idiots don’t need any more magic than they could a brain. Their thick skulls and talons kept them alive for many generations, I don’t know how though.” He answered. “The water breathers are stubborn, they never accept help, insisting they know everything. The only others that would ever accept help are the air heads. Drink this.” He handed Twilight a vial, which she drank from, and immediately felt her strength return to her. “What’s next?” she asked. “We get you comfortable with a type of magic. There are many out there, but can be designated into their own groups. Light and dark magic basically cuts the list a bit, and then there are other categories: such as what I like to call, mysticism, or manipulation, containing spells like telekinesis, dispel and the like. Destruction with spells that, well, destroy things. Healing magic, conjuration, and alteration, there are many types. Which path do you choose?” the Terra asked. “Well, they all sound promising, which ones would be of better help dealing with the Dark King?” “Well, a few destruction spells, maybe some healing magic and a few spells in conjuration. Either way, we have some work to do. Let’s start with-“ the entire cave rumbled, shaking the two violently. “What was that?” Sands walked to the door and opened it. “They’re here! Their bloody here! Everyone, get ready!” an air Terra yelled as it flew overhead. “Who’s here?” Twilight asked. “Vold’s army, seems they found us. Looks like you get to practice destruction first.” The Terra motioned for Twilight to follow. “Enemy Army Sighted! Everyone, to your battle stations!” A Lycan shouted through the city. As of the moment, Celia was showing her charges how to be proper assassins, Rogvir was getting his warriors used to their weapons, and Narine has just finished showing Rarity how to manipulate various elements to her advantage. “Alright ladies, looks like we need to put this to a hold, get ready!” Rogvir shouted. The three of them met up with the others near the front gate, where the army already breached through. What came in was an army only Vold could put together. Ghouls, banshee (both male and female), and hellhounds littered the plaza, striking down the ones fighting back whilst also being struck down. “Rogvir!” a voice cried out. A bloody Lycan ran up to the eight of them. “They are coming in from everywhere, we need to evacuate everyone through the castle catacombs.” “Very well, I have a hunch with what they are here for, go and start the evacuations.” He ordered. “Yes sir.” The Lycan bowed and left to sound the alarms. “Girls, ready your arms, this is about to get fun.” He whistled loudly and a roar sounded over the city. “No need to leave him out.” he smiled darkly as he drew his mace. “Hey Grim.” The girl called. “What?” he asked. “What are Vold’s plans?” she asked. “Domination.” He responded. “That’s it? Boring! Let’s shake things up a bit!” she said cheerfully. “Why?” “Because, I'm Eris, chaos is what I do. And if I can’t cause chaos, then I'm out of a job, and then I’ll be bored, and then I’ll be forced to bother you for the rest of eternity for something fun to do.” Grim shuddered at her words. “What we do?” he asked. “Take over the body of a sand dragon, I’ve got an idea!” Eris commanded. “Give up fools, nobody can resist the might of my axe!” Odik boomed as he hacked the head off another Terra. “Don’t get cocky Odik, strategy is the key.” Cain warned. “Yea, I have a strategy, smash everything!” He laughed maniacally as he continued to smash things. “Must you be such a brute all the time?” Cain face palmed. “Yes, it makes me feel good.” Odik replied. “Oh look, there she is, Cain, mind doing something useful for once in your life and capture her while I kill things?” “No.” “I wasn’t asking.” “Fine.”
Ch8: The SacrificeCh8: The Sacrifice Sol looked over the chaos taking place in the city. His sole desire was to take part in the destruction, but he was ordered to leave it be. He was supposed to supervise, not get involved. His talons itched in anticipation, his current form causing him great discomfort; he never liked stalkers, similar to gators, only much more nimble, with human shaped heads and teeth as large as its claws. The scales were light brown and had spikes running down the spine. These creatures were never meant to sit still while the prey flees. He caught a glimpse of the army’s targets, five mares with the three off-worlders. The orange one wielded a large hammer, the blue Pegasus had a heavy claymore, the pink and yellow ponies had daggers, yet they didn’t attack, and the white one was somehow turning the ghouls against their masters. He let out a low and sinister hiss that gave his form away and silenced all other background noise around him. He started to change form, ignoring his order to stay out of the fight. His body stretched and shifted, his scales changed from brown to red, and he started taking on a more draconic appearance. He grew in size, and wings ripped from his back. Three wicked horns jutted from his head and his spines multiplied. A Hellfire Dragon, one of the more violent varieties, now stood in place of the stalker. He was as large as an inn, and looked as fearsome as an erupting volcano. He let out a loud roar and charged towards the city. He leapt over the wall and let out a bout of flame, engulfing all those in front of him, even his own men. It is said that when fighting, Hellfire Dragons lose themselves in their bloodlust, destroying everything in the area, and that was what Sol was doing. He trashed anything that was in his path as he made his way to the castle. “Get to the library!” Rogvir yelled. The troops he could save were now in the castle, preparing to evacuate the city. He couldn’t believe his luck, that blasted fiend Sol was here too, as if things weren’t bad enough already. They made it to the grey library, the three siblings and the five ponies were the last ones to make it this far. Rogvir’s mind was filled with draconic rage, the anger threatened to overcome him, but he held it back, he had more important things to take care of first. He ushered the ponies toward the catacomb entrance. When they started moving the castle shook violently, causing two of the ponies to lose their balance. Rogvir helped them up and gave them a reassuring nod. He looked to his sisters, Narine held a hurt expression. He knew she was reliving what had happened to their home. Celia was fidgeting like crazy, throwing nervous glances all around her. “The banshees are in the castle, I can smell them. It won’t be long before the others get in here too.” Celia said. Rogvir looked to the mares, who stopped when they saw the three weren’t budging. “Go on, we will be there shortly.” He said. “Oh no, I’ve read to many adventure novels to see where this is going, you tell us to go, and you stay behind and get killed! Not gonna happen bud.” Rainbow retorted. “You read?” Applejack asked with an amused expression. “They’re right Rogvir, we should go, this place is lost.” Narine almost begged. He sighed. “No, not again Narine, no more running. Girls, get going, no arguments.” “But-” Rainbow started. “Butts are for sitting, get going, meet up with the others, and head west, you will find friends there.” He interrupted. They reluctantly left, and he closed the secret door behind them. “Are we really going to stay and fight?” Narine asked. “This place won’t end up like our world.” He said angrily as the shrieks of the ghosts became audible. “We are the last of our kind-” “I know that sis!” he bellowed. “Sorry, but we have no choice, you saw it too, didn’t you.” “Yes, I might be scared, but I am ready to take the fall with you brother.” Celia said. “I hate you both, but I guess it can’t be helped.” Narine conceded. “Where are they?” a scraped up werewolf asked. “Typical adventure novel, the cool people stay behind and sacrifice themselves to let the main characters live. Unfricking believable.” Rainbow grumbled. “We must leave then. If they stayed behind, then they expect us to be long gone. We are traveling to Pyrus, where you will continue your training.” He said, leading the way. The group felt worse than they looked, sure some of them were caked in blood, but they were torn up by their friend’s sacrifices. Applejack and Rainbow were probably the least visibly affected, the only thing they showed was the very pressing urge to either lob something’s head off, or beat it to a fine pulp. Fluttershy and Pinkie were practically crying, and Rarity seemed lost in her thoughts, making the others wondering what was going on in her head. They walked the dead-lined tunnels of the castle, making their way to their new destination, Pyrus, and hopefully, their friend Twilight. “Wait for it… wait for it… wait for it…” Eris has been saying this for the past thirty minutes, and being a sand dragon right now, Grim was about as agitated as you can get without slaughtering a country full of people because a juvenile goddess who used you like a horse wouldn’t shut up. His body looked a lot like a serpents, the only difference is the wings and legs. Sand dragons can literally swim through the sand, making them one of the fastest reptiles. His head was pointed like an arrow and had a pair of sharp horns pointing at a backwards angle, a flaw that made it nearly impossible for this species to remove its head from something going backwards. He let out a low hiss. “Fine! Go!” she yelled. He and twelve other Sand dragons dove into the ground above Pyrus. After about a minute of sifting through the soft sand, and another two through the rock, the dragons broke through the ceiling above the city, raining death down upon Vold’s troops. Grim in particular, was going after Odik and Cain, whom he saw going after the purple unicorn. The unicorn was gaining a large amount of kills at this point with the help of a Terra; bodies littered the streets they fought in. Grim flew over to and grabbed Cain, throwing him into a nearby building. Odik seemed to notice him. “Grim! You filthy Traitor!” He landed in front of the brute, towering over him. “Grim found his master, tell Vold to suck off a serpent.” Eris yelled as she kicked Grim in the side, making him launch a torrent of flames towards the warrior. Grim looked back at his master and snarled. “Oh shut it, you knew that was coming.” “Eris?” the Fire Terra asked. “Sands, so good to see you again! Where’s my brother, we have some catching up to do!” she yelled, jumping from Grim’s back and hugging the oversized turtle. “Yes, he should be in the temple with the elder.” “YOU THINK I'M DONE! I’VE ONLY BEGUN TO FIGHT!” Odik yelled as he foolishly lunged at Grim. Grim, being the gentleman he is, he casually flicked the man to the side with a claw. He hissed in annoyance and glared at Odik. “You blubbering brute, we need to retreat, not piss off the lizards even more.” Cain said as he limped towards his companion. “I can take him.” he growled lifting his axe again. “His little trick took out three fourths of our army, the men already ran, it’s over you idiot.” Cain rationalized. “I can take him.” Odik repeated as he started moving towards Grim, who looked unamused. Cain zapped Odik before he could do something stupid again, and hauled him away. “Seems like there isn’t much cooperation between them.” Twilight observed. “Yeah, I don’t see why they are paired up, maybe Vold thought brains and brawn were poor separate, bad together, but two individuals together could make it work, obviously not.” Eris mocked. Grim let out a guttural roar, signaling the other sand dragons to leave the city. “Well, looks like I have some work to do.” Sands said with a sigh. “That’s what I’m here for!” Eris said, and with a snap of her fingers, the city stopped burning, and the rubble rebuilt itself into buildings. “How did you…” Sands started. “You should learn not to question me, if I know how I did half the things I do… then I don’t know what would happen.” She said cheerfully. Sands let out a hefty sigh. “Right, I’ll start on casualty reports then.” He walked off grumbling. Grim hissed again. “Alright…” Eris groaned as she conjured up a body from thin air, which Grim moved into from the sand dragon. The beast shook its head and dove into the earth, leaving the city. “Our action will not go unnoticed.” The spirit said. His true form was a black ghost; he had leather wrapped around him and his fingers ended in steel claws. His head was covered in a black helmet with two eye slits that emitted a light red glow, and he had vials attached to his leather straps. “What or who are you?” Twilight asked, a contemplative frown on her muzzle. “A banshee, an old one at that.” He replied. “I thought banshees were female, and only used a screech as an attack.” “On this side of the gate, nothing is as it seems, magic here doesn’t flow in waves like yours does, ours’ spikes at random intervals, and is sometimes nonexistent.” He explained. “But-” a muzzle appeared over Twilights mouth. “Seriously Twinkle, you should stop questioning our world, it will only lead to you getting a massive headache.” Melborn interrupted. Twilight just frowned. “Grim, how much longer do we have till they get here?” “The banshees out east have been silenced by the siblings’ blades, the last I heard was Sol’s rage about how his prey escaped, but I know no more.” Grim replied. “Good, we have two days till they get here.” Melborn said with a clap of his hands. “Who’s coming brother?” Eris asked. “Five more colorful ponies… don’t look at me like that, they came with her.” he said back. Eris shrugged and walked towards the center of the city. “Mhmhmnmnm.” Twilight mumbled. “Only if ya promise to stop questioning our home.” Twilight nodded. Melborn snapped his fingers and the muzzle disappeared. “Thanks.” She said. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go and find another host; this form isn’t one you should parade around in near others.” Grim said before slinking towards the shadows. “How do you think they’re doing?” Twilight asked. “Ah should say that they are shaken, but not stirred. As soon as they see you, they should forget about Rogvir and his band o wolves ‘n bats.” He replied. “I doubt it.” Twilight retorted. Sol stood before the three siblings, each tied up and being subdued by several possessed Lycans. He was in his human form, spiked iron armor covered his body and his light brown hair was spiked up, making it look like a mace. His eyes never stayed the same color, always changing, and looked like a rainbow. He gave a crooked and toothy smile as he looked at his prizes. “I will only ask nice once, where is my prey, I can’t seem to sniff them out, only you three. Potent like garlic is to vampires.” He said. His voice had a slight change in tone, like he was slowly forgetting who he was; it is likely that he doesn’t remember half of the things about himself. “Sit on a pike Sol.” Rogvir taunted. Sol’s smile widened. “How about I do this…” he took out a silver dagger, and dragged it along Narine's arm, singing her robe and burning her flesh. “AAAAAAHHHHH!” she screamed in agony as the enchanted dagger exploited two of her weaknesses, fire and silver. “Need I continue?” he asked with an insane look in his eyes. “Go burn in hell, Sol!” Celia and Rogvir yelled at the same time. “Do you want me to die from torture?” Narine yelled. “Silence!” He yelled as he used his blade to weld Narine’s mouth shut, and then stabbed it upwards into Celia’s head, being careful to only keep her mouth shut and not kill her. They both squirmed in pain as the weapon exploited their weaknesses. “You will tell me where they are.” He glared into Rogvir’s eyes. Rogvir spit blood into Sol’s face. “Fine. Have it your way.” His face twisted into a toothy and maniacal grin. He brought his hand up, morphed it into a claw, and ripped out Narine’s undead heart, and Celia’s beating heart. He crushed them both, killing the sisters. Rogvir just glared at Sol with hatred. “Oops, did you still need them? Sorry, I was having fun. How about this, you tell me where the ponies are, and I’ll kill you quickly.” “I will hang you from the rafters by your intestines.” Rogvir growled. Sol frowned deeply, but then he smiled widely. “I’m going to enjoy torturing you for a long time. Who knows, maybe I won’t kill you. It would be fun to watch you squirm in pain with no hope left in your heart.” Razor Wing could only watch through his master’s eyes as his family was tortured by the shape shifter. He stood upon a tower away from the town; it used to be a watch post in the older days, and now served as his roosting point. He let out a howl of pain as his last friend became a torture doll. As he looked away, he remembered what Rogvir told him. “You are the glue that will hold their power together. Now live and end this nightmare.” Rogvir told him. The man that hatched the last living Blood Dragon might as well be dead now, and it was Razor who was going to be the essence that held the elements together, once the ponies found them. He leapt from his perch and flew west, determined to reach his destination and meet with the ones that Rogvir sacrificed himself for. ============================================================= Sweet Merciful Mara, do you see what the difference is when i get an editor? i must thank Fluttershy_Is_Metal for editing this. i also must send my thanks to BIGBLACKINTOSH for helping me with the chapter title.
Ch9: Rise AgainCh9: Rise Again Vold sat on his throne, looking excruciatingly bored. He waved off what he hoped to be the final peasant for today. “Damn mortals.” He grumbled. “Master, do you want me to get you the punching bag?” his pale goblin servant asked. “No, I just want to make sure those six are dead!” he growled as he slammed his armored fist on his throne. “My lord.” Someone greeted. “Ah. Cain, were you successful in killing the purple one?” “Grim betrayed us, Eris found him.” he replied. Vold growled deeply, making both Cain and the goblin back away in fear. “Goblin!” he yelled, “Get over here!” the pale creature obliged, but as soon as he was within arm’s reach, he got his skull crushed by an angry king. “I’ll need more goblins…” “No need to get angry sir, I'm sure Sol was-” he was cut off as a green drake swooped in through a window and proceeded to knock him over. “Speak of the devil… so, were you successful? Sol gave a shrill screech, and then shook his head and face-clawed. He morphed back into his human form. “I took care of the siblings; the dragon was nowhere in sight, and the five ponies escaped.” Vold glared at Sol, and then sighed. “I expected you to be successful, now this means we need to step up our game. You two are aware of the standings I placed on my six deadliest warriors?” they both nodded. “List them for me…” Sol picked up first, “Me, Cain, Odik, Gr-” “Grim is a traitor.” Cain interrupted. “I will handle him, go on Sol…” Vold commanded. “Umm, Siid…. And… who is the last one?” Sol asked. “Lord Dred, show yourself.” And as commanded, a figure clad in Black robes and silver steel plates materialized in front of the throne. “Yessss massster.” He let out a hiss that one would expect to receive from a snake… if they could talk. “This is Lord Dred, master of shadows, and a Vampire behemoth.” Vold said. Lord Dred looked at the other two in the room. His skin is paler than the moon, his eyes redder than fire, and his fangs were exposed from the corners of his mouth. His skin was pulled tightly to his body, the signs of blood-starvation, which was the form that you would expect to see on the day of your death. “So, these are the ones you want me to work with?” Dred asked, putting emphasis on the S’s in his words. “No, just Sol, you two will be going to the Air Temple. I want you to await the arrival of the six there.” Vold explained. “What?! Him?! That runt looks like he couldn’t kill a fly.” Dred mocked. “I’ll flay your corpse for that!” Sol raged. “Care to try it out?” Dred replied, his tongue flicking out at the promise of blood. “Enough! You can kill each other after our business in this realm is taken care of.” Vold scolded. “What will the others be doing? Or are we the only ones who are capable of working?” Dred asked mockingly. “Cain and Odik will awaken the Leviathan and lead it into the earth temple and then wait by the element chamber for them.” “A leviathan! That’s suicide!” Cain yelled. “Do I look like I care?” “…no.” Cain conceded. “Very well, Grim will be in the fire temple and Siid will go to the water temple.” “Bug boy is going to the water temple?” Dred asked. “Yes, do you have a problem with that?” Vold glared at his least known knight, his eyes threatening to rip him apart. “No ssssssire.” “Very well. I have chosen you to go to those temples because your powers will enable you to combat them better. Fail there and we might have some fun little torture sessions in the future. Dismissed.” He ordered. The three of them left to complete their tasks, leaving the king to his thoughts. “Wrath!” he called. “Yes master?” A figure in spiked steel armor with a black ethereal hooded cloak appeared in a cloud of black smoke. “Retrieve Eris, I will shroud your actions from Grim until I get what I want.” Vold ordered. “As you wish.” The armored figure disappeared the way he came in. Vold turned towards the window in his throne room. “Either way, it will all be over soon.” “Twilight!” Applejack yelled as she tackled the purple unicorn to the ground in a bone shattering hug. “Applejack… can’t… breathe….” Twilight gasped. “What was that?” “I… need… air.” “Whoops! Sorry sugarcube.” Applejack lessened her embrace, only to have her and Twilight tackled by the other four mares in another bone crushing hug. “Twilight!” the rest of the mares screamed. “Alright ladies, let go of Twilight, we still need her.” Melborn said. The group hug abruptly ended on his word. “Uh, Twilight, who’s that?” Applejack asked. “Yeah, and what is this place?” Rainbow added. Twilight cleared her throat, “Girls, this is Melborn. Welcome to Pyrus, the capital city of the Fire Terra!” she said gesturing to the rock city around her. Miles under the sea, something stirred, several somethings. Lights started shining in the dark depths as a city became illuminated. The buildings were laced with coral and it started to rise to the surface. Its elegance would put even the greatest Elven architects to shame, as it blended the aspects of sea life with those of polished stone and gold. Among the glowing underwater metropolis, various sea creatures swam through the alleyways. The city was several miles in diameter and at the center rested a temple plated in gold. The creatures scattered as it broke surface, the sun glistened off its surface as the city seemed to come back to life. Specters walked its streets and odd draconic beasts were congregating around the peaks of the buildings. As life slowly returned, a pair of menacing eyes could be seen in the steeple of the temple; they pointed east and glared, challenging those from the mainland to claim its treasure. The hunt has begun. There is a volcano in the center of the Ethereal plane that is normally dormant, but as the sun radiated on it, it came back to life. Ash spewed into the air as the giant mountain raged and roared. Magma spewed from its mouth as a city rose from its fiery depths. It spanned wide, but stopped a mile from the edges of the volcano, which still had magma spilling from it. Shadows moved along the fiery streets and loud roars could be heard. The sky was soon filled with the largest dragons ever seen on Tyr, each seeking to take advantage of the rare opportunity to absorb power from the ancient city. The brimstone buildings sucked up the sunlight and the temple in the center was glowing a fierce red, sending a challenge to all who listen, daring them to try and take its treasure. The earth shook to the south of the volcano, causing the forest to shake violently. Trees fell and mountains toppled as the third great city rose. Peaks began to rise from cracks in the earth. A city made of smooth rock was glistening the sun’s light. Creatures of various types moved within its limits, unaware that the inviting aura was a lure to something much more sinister. The city of earth has returned. And with it, the ancient warriors that once walked its streets. The temple in the center glowed a welcoming gold, leading adventurers to their deaths as the promise of fame and fortune was made. A dark cloud rose as storms were ravaging the north. Weather of all types unleashed their fury on anything that happened to be under the path of the storm front. Inside the massive super storm rested a city made of clouds. Its buildings had the look of some sort of ancient architecture. Columns and domed buildings littered the streets and flyers of all types took refuge from destructive storm that it rested on. The silver temple in the center sent out bolts of lightning. It seemed to host content for those of the land beneath, who have hunted its children near extinction. The city would have revenge, and since it couldn’t leave the planes, then it would lure the land dwellers to their deaths as the spirits of the air terra walked its streets. The shriveled elder woke from his meditation. He rose from the floor of the Pyrus Temple, squinting in the darkness that encroached on him. The vision, the candles, it was all coming together. He walked to the balcony of the temple, and looked over his domain. “Raging Storm.” He yelled out. An air terra dropped on the balcony. His white shell glistened like a polished pearl, and his feathered wings looked like they were recently preened. “Yes Elder.” He said in a deep voice. “Tell them it’s time and have White Fang lead them to the fire temple.” He ordered. “As you wish.” The air terra flew out into the city to carry out the orders that had been given to him. “I can’t believe it’s almost over. To think that, after all these years, Tyr will belong to us again. The thought is tantalizing.” He said. “Yes, it will. It has been too long.” A gravelly voice agreed. The elder turned around to see a unique terra. His eyes widened as he recognized the variety. It was an astral; the race that was said to be responsible for the creation of their planet. It held the body of an earth terra, but was pitch black with stars covering its body. Its eyes glowed like miniature suns that stared into the elder’s soul. “To think, we had to listen to those fool gods for so many millenniums. Only Melborn and Eris had any real sense and with them gone, the gods won’t be able to do anything. Our races will finally be able to govern themselves without their interference.” It said in an echoed voice. “And it will be an age to last.” The elder agreed. “Let me go you bastard!” Eris yelled as she was manhandled into the throne room. “Shut it you runt, now watch as I predict the future. He should be here in three, two, one…” Grim howled in rage as he hurled himself at Vold, who trapped the banshee in a black cage. “Right on time Grim. Say, did you ever wonder what it looks like when you drain a god of their life essence?” Eris cringed and struggled even more. “Grim! Help me!” she screamed. Vold held a hand to Eris’s forehead and started to suck her immortality right out of her. She screamed in agony as her powers were ripped from her body. “Master!” Grim yelled. The draining stopped, and Eris looked at Vold fearfully. “WH-what did you just do?” “Made you mortal. Now you can feel pain. Good. This will be fun.” His face twisted into a maniacal grin. He then growled and stabbed a knife into her stomach. She screamed in pain as he twisted the knife, blood oozed from the wound and dripped onto the floor. Vold ripped the blade out and began to mock her. “What’s wrong? Can’t take a little pain? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” He then shoved the knife into her thigh. She let out another bloodcurdling scream. “Stop! Please, I concede! Just, leave her alone.” Grim said from behind the bars of his prison. Vold looked at Eris, who was shaking from the pain, her head dripped as she jumped in and out of consciousness. “You have one more chance, kill them, or I kill the girl. Slowly.” He warned. “Grim… no…let me die.” Eris said shakily. “I promised your father Eris, I should have done as I was told before. You better live up to your word Vold.” “When do I not?” Vold said defensively. “I'm not going to answer; there are just too many instances.” Grim growled. His spectral form disappeared as Vold sent him to the fire temple. “Throw her in the dungeon.” Vold ordered. “She will die if she isn’t healed.” Wrath reminded him. “Not my problem.” He snarled as he sat back down on his throne, and idly played with his jet black sword. “No way! You can actually change the weather!” Rainbow yelled as the six mare swapped stories in a local tavern. “It’s one of the many spells I learned while here, what about you Rarity, learn anything new?” Twilight asked. Rarity just looked a bit, out of it. “What… oh, I'm sorry; I just got lost in thought there for a bit.” “What’s the matter Rare?” Applejack asked. “It’s nothing, just some side effects of some of the spells Narine taught me.” “Like what?” Pinkie asked, taking a swig of a large mug of Terra ale. She shivered as she finished the cup and hiccupped heavily. “She said that some schools required sacrifices, I just, need some time to think. And to answer your question Twilight, I learned many spells. I learned how to use runes, how to make my mana pool larger, and even some more things that even you would question.” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked, confusion masking her face. “For the protection of my friends, I learnt some things from Narine; you will all see when we get out there and fight.” She replied. ‘Rarity’s not acting like herself.’ Twilight observed. She looked at the alabaster mare closely, and saw a slight red glow emit from her eyes, and sharp fangs protrude slightly from her muzzle. “Rarity… did you…?” Twilight asked. Rarity just sighed, and moved her mane, revealing a set of bite marks. The others gasped, their friend, was bitten. “Who did this, ah’ll murder them!” Applejack roared. “You can’t, Narine is dead, and I volunteered for this. It makes me more powerful and ensures some of the spells I do won’t kill me. I'm a fashionista, not a fighter. She taught me spells to defend myself, and it was my decision to go further!” she yelled, shocking her friends. “Um… Rarity?” Fluttershy squeaked. “Oh, dear, I'm sorry Fluttershy, but it just… what she told me… the visions she shared… I felt like I had to do it. If you h-” “Don’t even finish that sentence Rarity. It’s getting too sappy in here as is, and you know we wouldn’t hate you for anything.” Rainbow reassured. The others nodded in agreement. Rarity wiped a tear from her eye, “Thank you girls.” They got into a heartfelt group hug and… They heard slow clapping. Melborn looked amused and the other patrons looked agitated. “So sappy, but I believe we have a problem.” He said. “Lay it on us.” Twilight said. “It’s time that I tell you about the weapons you will use to fight Vold and where they are located.” ============================================================= A/N: Baddass editing done by Fluttershy_is_Metal.
Ch10: History (optional)AN: this chapter is unedited, and optional. read if you want. Ch10: History. The six mares and the god Melborn each sat in a circle of a domed room. The walls were smoothed out, and a pedestal rested in the center, with an icy blue glowing stone, about the size of a pony’s head. Melborn slowly got up, his red and black robes swayed as he made his way to the stone. He placed a hand over it, and mumbled a few incoherent phrases, and the stone started to glow. What happened next was fascinating, the entire room disappeared. They could see the stone, Melborn, and each other, but nothing else. “Cool…” Rainbow muttered as she looked around her. “Very.” Melborn agreed as he swept his hand over the stone again. It changed from an icy blue, to a light brown as they were set in a new place. They appeared in a throne room made of sandstone, the pillars had intricate carvings depicting great battles on them, and ornate red and gold banners hung from the rafters. Several guards stood at attention at each pillar, eight in all, and two from each race. They wore armor on the part of their bodies unprotected by their shells, the metal shone in the light, and it was colored bright silver. The eight guards held vicious pikes and halberds, completing the steadfast royal guard look. Who were they guarding? Four regal Terra sitting at a table by the foot of the throne, one of each race. The Fire Terra was male, wearing nothing but a pair of red and gold strips of cloth draped over his shoulders, a gnarled oak staff leaned against his stone chair. The female Water Terra wore armor made of hardened coral, exotic in color even when out of the water, a steel trident lay in front of her on the table. The Earth Terra, also female, wore armor made of polished marble, and rested her claw on the ball of a large mace she had resting next to her chair. A vicious scar ran diagonally down both her right eyes, and her shell was chipped and scratched in many places. Finally, a male Air Terra, young and strong looking, he wore what appeared to be a white armor made from a foreign metal, and a great sword stuck up from the ground next to him, tip burrowing into the stone floor. His wings were neat, like the rest of him, a complete contrast to his earth sister. “See them girls?” Melborn asked, and they each nodded their heads. “The Earth Terra is named Crag, the most feral warrior ever to be seen on the field of battle. The Water Terra is Aqua, the oldest yet youngest looking Terra alive; her skill in magic is only rivaled by the Astral that created our world. The Fire Terra is known as Obsidian, he is strong in magic, but is limited to fire spells, but he has been known to melt the faces off the ones he touches. Finally, the air head is Storm, a cocky and stubborn bird if I ever saw one. Despite that, he is quicker than the crack of a whip, and his voice once crashed a mountain on an attacking army.” The girls looked upon the terra before mentioned beings with awe and respect, formidable foes if they were on the field together. “They were the first and only creatures on this world that were able to wield the elements. Powerful weapons that reared their true power in the first era, four seventy six, when Tyr was attacked.” “Attacked? By who?” Twilight asked. “There are beings higher than the gods on Tyr, Astral's, who have the power to create worlds of their own, growing in power as things under their control flourish. The more worlds one controls, the more powerful they get, and this was one such an instance, where one tried to increase his power. Watch.” Storm shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “We need to do something.” His voice echoed off the walls, even though this was a memory of the past, the girls snapped to attention. His voice demanded attention even greater than Celestia’s. “My people suffer at the blades of these… off-worlders…” “I feel your pain brother, their poison seeps into the waters, harming my people and the creatures we care for. But we cannot leave the plains, not until he breaks the bonds.” Aqua commented. “They cannot continue to march on our homes. I lose more sons and daughters to these fools than I do to time and disease!” Storm roared. “Calm yourself Storm, rage will only cloud your judgment, you remember last time you let your anger go unchecked.” Obsidian said sagely. Storm grumbled as he leaned back into his chair. “I for one think we should take the fight to them, we are obviously superior to them in might, why not take them out now?” the arrogant Crag said, balling up a claw into a fist. “We cannot leave the plain; the Astral’s power prevents us from leaving.” Aqua reminded her. “Can’t believe that thing created us, we’re no more than body guards.” Crag grumbled. “There could be a way.” Obsidian offered. “Spill it sand strider.” Storm demanded. “Years ago star fragments fell onto my Kingdome. They bore the seals of the creator, and upon my touch, glowed with power. After a few tests, I found that they have the potential to help us with the Astral. If it can regain its power, we may be free to move from the plain.” He explained. “If we can get our claws on them, than we could be done with this mess and move on.” Crag said, smiling widely and showing some sharp fangs. “The only problem is that they choose their bearers. If you are chosen to wield them, than I would gladly march into battle alongside you.” Obsidian said. “So sweet, I didn’t know you cared.” Crag mocked. “Seems that way from what I heard last night.” Storm muttered, cracking a smile on his beak. “This coming from the one who could be heard from across the city, or did you two forget.” Crag said, holding back a laugh. Storm glared at her, but soon the four of them shared a round of laughter. “Ah old friends, we should have moments like this more often.” Aqua said. “We should, but our people need us. So Obsidian, where are these fragments?” Storm asked. Obsidian pulled four fragments from his shell and placed them on the table. The others looked at them unamused; they looked like they were recently mined diamond spikes. “Is this a joke? I thought that was Aqua’s thing.” Crag asked. Obsidian merely picked up one of them, and in a bright flash, it transformed into a golden staff with a dragons claw holding a flawlessly cut spherical ruby at the head. The staff had red glowing runes down the sides, and radiated power. The other three just looked at the remaining fragments. Crag picked one up, and it turned into a fierce golden battle axe: the blades span out like the wings of an eagle and a sharp spearhead donned the tip. At the bottom of the rod, was another spearhead, making this axe deadly at both ends. Between the blades of her axe, was a red imprint of a dragon. Crag swung her new weapon a few times, “Incredible, it’s like it weighs nothing at all…” she mumbled. Storm was next: his piece glowed brightly and a great sword fit into his hands. The pommel had a ruby set on it, and the guard above the handle was in the shape of a star. The blade itself was heavy, or should have been it looked like only an ogre could wield it; bit Storm swung it with ease. As the blade neared the tip, it became serrated, like a set of teeth. “By the creator…” he said as he rested the blade tip in the sandstone, putting a hand to his chin in thought. Aqua took hers, and it morphed into a pair of whips, or whip handles with dragon heads at the top. She looked at them quizzically, and gave a test swing to them. Water whips formed out of the handles, she swung them in intricate patterns, and then kicked her trident into the air, and with one swing, cleaved it in half vertically. “Most amusing, can’t wait to see what it does to those pig humans.” She said in awe. “Melborn, are those the weapons?” Twilight asked, watching the Terra marvel at their new toys. “Yes and no, they won’t be in that shape when we go for them, but they will morph into a weapon the user will be most comfortable with.” Melborn answered. “I call bullshit, how can a creature that large move like that?” Rainbow asked, gesturing to Aqua. “Looks can be deceiving.” Melborn retorts. “Why show us this?” Rarity asks. “This is before it all went to hell.” Melborn answered. The room went black again; the sounds of fighting and the screams of death could be heard. The stone lights up blood red, and the land shows itself again. The girls see a gruesome sight, bodies littered the sands of the Ethereal Plain, human, and Terra, but the most heart wrenching sight, is that of Storm looking over the battlefield, expression hurt and eyes glazed. “We won Storm; we should get to burying our dead.” Obsidian said, putting a hand on Storms shoulder. Storm remained silent; he looked over the carnage, what had bothered this terra so much? “They’re all dead…” he muttered. A closer look reveals the broken corpses of Air Terra making up more than ninety percent of the dead on the Terra side. “We will have time to mourn, but for now we have other duties.” Storm turned to his Fire brother, anger growing in his features. “Don’t you see? Do you ever see?” he shouted. “Do you not feel the pain they did before they died? Of course not, you have not the ties to your race like I do. Every soul that was slain, I can feel them, I still can, the spirits are in agony!” “Calm down, I may not feel your pain, but we have a job to do, they knew the risks.” Obsidian countered. Storm grabbed the Terra by the front of his shell and lifted him into the air. “You said this wouldn’t happen; now my people are down to a handful! We cannot keep fighting do you understand!?” “Storm, put him down.” Aqua ordered. “He should not be the one to take your anger, it is not his fault. We all lost children today, and it pains me to see any amount of death on our side, but you must know that this is war, they will not hold back.” Storm dropped Obsidian on his back and turned away. “Where are you going? There is still some cleaning up to do, and not to mention the feast at Země!” Crag called. “Home, where we will stay.” Storm replied. The others looked at him confused. “Those who wish to stay shall, but my army is going back to Vítr.” “If you are attacked we can’t help you.” Obsidian warned. “We have been working on a defensive tactic, we will survive.” With that, he flew off, and most of his army went with him. “How many stayed?” Obsidian asked. “Fifty, not enough.” Crag answered. “They’ll be extinct by the time this war ends.” “Not if we use their troops wisely. Get them back to Pyrus, we will continue planning there.” “The colony? Are sure it’s wise to keep them there?” “It’s underground and on the outskirts of our territory, they will be safe there.” Obsidian answered as he made his way to check on the wounded. “I have a bad feeling about this.” Aqua said. “You and me both, we will go check on storm tomorrow, today we must recover.” Crag agreed. “So Storm went off, big whoop.” Rainbow mumbled. “There is more to our world’s elements than just being weapons. Only together will they grant true power. Only in… blech… harmony can they banish the terrors of the world.” Melborn gagged at the word harmony. Twilight pondered his words for a second. “Bit fer yer thoughts Twi?” Applejack asked. “I'm not certain, let’s wait to see what happens next.” Twilight replied. “Good choice lass. On to the next scene!” Melborn clapped his hands and a new scene showed itself. They were sitting on clouds, looking over a city in chaos. Soldiers were killing Terra left and right, and they could see Storm at the top of the center Temple. Their focus made the gem glow and take them there. On top of the temple, was a shrine, with what appeared to be a lightning bolt stylized on the altar. Storm looked out upon his city with Aqua and Crag. Storm looked detached, and his eyes had a dead look to them. “You don’t have to do this, we can get everyone out.” Aqua said, putting a hand on his shoulder, which he shrugged off. “Leave; there is nothing else to be done.” He said as he carved a rune into the altar. “You’re not going to…” Crag started. “They want the blood of my people, then they must work for It.” he took his great sword and cut his hand, letting blood drop onto the rune. The city shook and trembled, knocking the human soldiers and the other two terra off balance. “Storm, what did you do?” Aqua asked. Storm didn’t answer, he just pointed off to the left, and the others were met with the sight of the city lifting off the ground. The humans and non-winged Terra started sinking on the cloud streets of the city. “Leave.” Storm ordered, and his friends did just that. “He made the city fly?!?” Twilight yelled. “Yes he did, but the very defense mechanism he created would become a nightmare for all..” Melborn explained. “What do you man?” Twilight asked. “Just watch.” The gem focused on a grizzled human commander: he wore reinforced leather armor with a heavy steel Two-handed sword. His face was pale and had an unkempt grey beard and a scar over his left eye, which was milky white while his other one was brown. He growled at Storm menacingly from the street he was in. “fall back, get to the siege weapons!” he shouted, voice thundering across the city. He stabbed his sword through the shell of a small Terra, and made his way back to the human lines. As he marched along, he cut down any Terra in the way. Males, females, children, he cut them all down. As he neared the edge of the city, the clouds turned dark grey. The city flashed yellow once, and a bolt of lightning struck one of the soldiers next to him, frying the poor sod. “Hurry up if you want to live!” he shouted. The men practically dropped their weapons and ran for the edge of the city. He blocked bolt after bolt with his sword as he made his way towards the edge, the clouds were up to his chest now, and he dove to the ground as another bolt sailed over his head and struck another soldier in the back. He approached the Trebuchet line with a scowl on his face. “Did the mages finish the weapon?” he asked. “Yes, the new ammo is ready.” A thin looking scout replied. “Good. Alright men, get ready!” the soldiers around the trebuchet got into position. The city started getting higher in the air, sending bolts closer t their lines. “Aim!” the men tensed as they readied their weapons. The bolts got closer, and even singed one of the trebuchet’s bases. “Fire!” The new ammo sailed into the city, exploding into white balls of fire. The screams of pain and agony roared across the battlefield as the denizens burned alive. The commander smiled at this. “Fire again, doesn’t stop till that city is nothing but ash!” he yelled. The Trebuchet kept firing, hitting their mark every time, sending a new wave of screaming across the battlefield. After the fourth wave, the screaming stopped, a roar of rage could be heard as the bolt output nearly tripled, striking and destroying the trebuchet and torching the soldiers. As the commander looked upon the city, he saw a raging lightning storm, with a glowing silver city resting on it. White fires still raged in the streets, which fueled the lightning strikes, still hitting the human lines. “Fall back, their done!” he yelled as he walked away from the flying city. The ponies looked at the battle with shock and disgust painted on their faces. “How can anypony do something like that?” Fluttershy squeaked. “Humans weren’t natives to this world, they belonged to another one. But their orders were to kill off this world’s first borne so their Astral can take over.” The world around them darkened and went black once more. “I don’t know what happened to storm, but his weapon floated around the northern part of the plains until the war ended, where it disappeared.” “What about the others?” Applejack asked. “Aqua was devastated, Crag was pissed, and Obsidian basically said told you so. Not the best of friends after this incident. Aqua went back to her home while Crag and Obsidian talked strategy in Oheň, the volcano in the center of the plains.” Melborn explained. The six ponies gave the fallen a moment of silence while the world started to change. On a beach, three armies squared off, the prize: Polít, the floating home of the Water Terra. Aqua’s lines consisted of spear troops in front, ballistae and catapult in the city, and archers and mages firing from the walls. “Fight your way to Aqua’s lines, we mustn’t them fall!” Obsidian yelled. He let loose a group of fireballs from his staff as he and his troops charged into the human lines. The mares watched the carnage unfold before them as Obsidian and Crags forces flanked the humans. The cries of pain and death filled the air as the surprise attack took an intense chunk out of the human offensive front. Slowly, the invading force was pushed back from the Floating city, giving Aqua a moment to breath as she regrouped with Crag and Obsidian. “These humans are bold, think you can hold them off while I awake Scylitha?” Aqua asked. “The serpent?” Obsidian questioned. “Yes, she was bred to defend the city, but she must be awakened, though I am unsure of how she will react to being forcibly shoved from her bed.” Aqua replied. “Forcibly… has the damn snake gone through mating season already?” Crag asked, albeit a bit too loud. “Yes, she is irritable, but what a better time than now to sick her on the humans?” Aqua shrugged before turning down one of the coral streets. “Hold the humans off; get the civilians out of here. Scylitha won’t be happy.” And with those words, she sprinted to the temple. “She’s going to get herself killed messing with that serpent.” Obsidian sighed. “Yes, but this should make for quite the show.” Crag countered. “Grrr, damn turtles. Magnus!” the human commander yelled. “Yes?” the mage answered. “Poison the sea. If they draw power from water, then we will take the power from them.” he said with an evil grin. “Gladly.” The mage matched it with a smile of his own. “What are they doing!?!?” one of the archers yelled over the wall. Crag and Obsidian rushed up to the battlements to see a mage place a green mist on the water, and it slowly changed the waters color from its vibrant blue, to a sickly green. “Their poisoning the sea…” Crag surmised. “The children of water draw their power from the sea…” Obsidian added. As the sickly green spread across the ocean, it started showing on the water Terra. Some of them dropped to their hands and knees from exhaustion, and others were sent into coughing fits. The earth and fire terra tried to help, but since the water was poisoned, the only hope for them was if Scylitha could fix what those humans did. “Heads up!” someone yelled as a giant boulder sailed over the battlements and smashed into a building, creating a hole in the stonework. “Troops get your wounded brothers and sisters to safety!” Obsidian ordered. The humans pushed forward again, but the Terra mages kept them at bay with fire spells that set the beach on the front lines ablaze. The terra who weren’t fighting helped drag the incapacitated water terra out of the city and towards the nearest safe haven, Země. Other terra from the walls followed them to provide cover, but once half of them left the city… A loud roar pierced the air, as well as a shrill cry of terror. “Stars above…” Crag cursed. The city shook, soldiers from both lines halted their marches as they looked towards the temple in the center of the city. Large yellow eyes opened within the dark spire, and a set of white teeth showed themselves as if smiling. A large blue head emerged from the spire and the rest of the creature snaked its way to the infected water, but instead of being harmed, it healed the sea. Where it swam, the water went back to its clear blue color. The serpent slithered on the shore and the humans and terra alike backed away. “Is that…” crag started. “Scylitha.” Obsidian took in the size of the serpent, it was as big as a juvenile leviathan, which on average were half the size of mountains, and had a hunger in its eyes to match. A near translucent sail went down its back, and small arms stuck out from its sides. It licked its lips and lunged towards the humans, scooping many of them up in her maw. “Quickly, we need to leave this place!” Obsidian yelled. The others were happy to oblige. “What about Aqua?” Crag asked, seizing a hold of obsidians arm. “She is lost, that scream was hers.” He said. “We need to leave, save as many as we can.” He shrugged off her claw and followed the others. Crag stood back and took one last look,saying a silent prayer for her sister. Fluttershy passed out in fright from the sight of the serpent, and the others just said their own prayers for the humans who stood no chance against Scylitha. “Why would they do this?” Twilight asked. “The humans were following the will of their creator… the Terra were helpless as their Astral grew weak throughout the war, drawing power to keep itself alive from its very creations. There were some who were not in the plains at the time, but they stayed isolated where no other creature would dare go.” Melborn explained. “Both races are like cockroaches, they will survive no matter what, but the city on the other hand, seeing nothing left, Scylitha sank it to the bottom of the sea, where she would live out her hibernation” “What about the elves?” Rarity asked. “They stayed in their territory, they had free roam, but they were still new to life, and were weak because of it. The Astral kept them hidden, a failsafe if its first fell. Scylitha sunk the city the day after the human army retreated; they were hurt and scared of the Terra’s power. half the force they came with deserted and hid wherever they could, but there were still enough humans left to fight against this world’s first.” He explained. “Ah don’t think ah want to see more.” Applejack said, her eyes downcast and mood soured. “I agree with Applejack, we don’t need to see more, we just need to teach those guys a lesson!” Rainbow yelled. “No, you need to see what you’re up against in Země and Oheň.” He answered. “Why not just tell us?” Twilight asked. “Some things, are best left shown.” Was all they got when the world went black and shimmered to life again. The world opened up to a tropical forest, a stone city jutted from between the trees. The Temple rose high, the largest of the four cities. All the buildings were made from smooth granite and marble, all had the same shape but different feels, the homes had a different aura than the shops, it also helped that the homes had runic symbols carved into them to differentiate them from the shops. A large crowd formed around two Terra near the temple in the center. “Graah!” Crag yelled as she swiped Obsidian with a claw. “What’s gotten into you!?” he yelled. His sister had tears streaming from her eyes. “How could you be so cold as to ignore everything around you? Your brothers and sisters lie dead and you do nothing!” “We must not let the humans take the last two cities! If-” “What is a stone structure compared to the life of our kin?” she said, cutting Obsidian off. “They knew the risks, when they joined, they became expendable.” He answered. She shook her head and swiped at him again, cutting his shell. Three claw marks were emblazoned on his chest now, a sign from her that they were no longer kin. “Leave Obsidian; There is nothing for you here now!” He stared at her in shock. He put a hand to the fresh cut, it went deep enough to start bleeding, it burned, but his physical wound did not hurt the most. “I said leave Obsidian, take your Sand Striders and go home.” She snarled, using the old insult to salt his wounds. “Fine… I will go… goodbye Crag.” He said as he signaled his troops to leave for Oheň. Storm fell to her knees and sobbed. Over the past month more and more cities fell and her brother merely watched as their kin were slaughtered. He refused to send troops to help the others, and in doing so, left them for dead. Now she felt dead, with what she did, she separated her people from his. “Are you alright elder?” a terra from her right asked. She looked over to see her high general looking at her with concern. “No Shale, I'm not okay.” She replied. “I hate to add more bad news, but the humans have been sighted at the edge of the forest, they are prepared for a large battle, and with Obsidian gone…” the high general started. “Get me Seraph and Mace; we are going to use the Miasma.” Crag said. “Are you sure? It hasn’t been perfected; test subjects turn into mindless zombies instead of going to sleep.” Shale warned. “With the element’s power… it will be enough.” She said while drying her tears and standing up. She walked to the temple and shut the large wooden doors with a loud slam. “Clear the area, there is nothing else to see here…” the high general ordered. “What just happened?” Twilight asked. “Crag and Obsidian used to be mates, then she learned how cold hearted he was. The irony of this is that he only knew loss when he lost the one closest to him. That’s when the scale of this war finally took its toll on him.” Melborn explained. “So they were really close, then she dumped him?” Rainbow asked. “Bingo.” He replied. “What happens next?” “Watch…” “Are you sure this will work Crag?” a grey terra asked. His entire body was a dull color, but his claws were bright silver and a ruby amulet hung from his neck. Crag thought for a moment. “No mace, I'm not.” “Alright then, let’s get this over with. Shale, tell us when they get within our borders.” Mace ordered. “This may go horribly wrong.” A clay colored terra warned. His body resembled a walking bundle of molded clay, even his claws took on a dirty appearance. “I know, but this may help.” Crag said, taking out her axe, she then morphed it back into its crystalline appearance, and waited. The three heard boulders crash against the walls of the temple, but no screams, either the humans had terrible aim, or the bulky earth terra got better at dodging. Their spines chilled as they waited, getting more apprehensive about what they were going to do. The door slammed open, and the high general stumbled in, a gaping hole in her shell bled profusely. “They… have breached the lines…” she gasped before dropping to the floor. The life left her eyes as Crag started the spell. Crag gathered energy within her claws and used it to float the crystal between her and the two other Terra. They did the same and let their power flow into the crystal. The element glowed a bright orange as the power in it reached its peak, and then it went purple and emitted a strange mist. “The spell is going smoothly thus far, do not lose concentration.” Seraph ordered. The mist covered the crystal and thickened. It soon became a solid purple ball with stray wisps of smoke leaving its surface. The sounds of conflict grew outside as the ball slowly became bigger and bigger, it eventually took up the space between the three terra as the first human entered the temple. “Stars above what is that?” he said to himself. The general and several men joined him after, staring at the ball of purple mist. “What is that?” the general asked his mage. He gasped in fear and surprise. “They have created the miasma?!?! We must retreat!” he yelled, scrambling from the room as fast as he could, the men and general following soon after. Once the last foot exited the room, the ball exploded outwards. A translucent purple dome covered the city, humans on both sides of it banged their fists on the energy barrier in an attempt to open it, but it grew futile as the mist covered the city and then blocked the view from the outside, hands that were previously gripping the shield slid downwards, and the mist slowly dissipated. The fog was still thick, but now it allowed some form of sight. The humans on the outside stared in, hearts pounding as they waited for the first sign of life… then it hit them. The shield shattered as a wave of animated dead flowed into the remaining human lines. Soulless black marbles staring out of once living bodies charged at the remaining humans. “Retreat! Retreat!” the general yelled, the mage hadn’t made it out like he had, he would have stayed and fought, but he wasn’t going to be zombie bait. The humans fled, but those who weren’t fast enough were dragged back into the city, kicking and screaming for their lives, not knowing the fate that was to befall them. “How in Equestria did they do that?” Rarity asked; the only pony not disgusted with what Crag did. “The spell was designed to put the target to sleep, but they haven’t perfected it. Instead, it killed the target and raised the body from the dead.” Melborn explained. “Remind me not to mess with magic like that.” Twilight said; a look of shear revolt on her face. “Don’t mess with magic like that.” Rainbow joked. “Don't get smart with me Dash, you don’t have the brainpower.” Twilight retorted. Just as Rainbow was about to reply, Melborn cut her off. “Time to see the last of the elements fall, and the first place you will be going to.” The world shimmered again, the view of a raging volcano was the first sight for the viewers, and a city of dull brimstone dominated the center of the raging giant. Roars of rage could be heard from the city and angry cries of blood from the sides of the volcano could be heard. As tensions boiled, so did the magma in the mountain. At the entrance, the two leaders of the respective clans squared off, eyes both filled with enough rage to force a dragon into submission. “I will give you one more chance, leave now or I will be forced to end your meaningless existence!” he bellowed, staff clutched firmly in his claw. “We will leave only when the rest of you degenerates are dead!” the general growled back. “Then so be it…” Obsidian’s eyes glowed brightly as he unleashed a torrent of flames upon the general. The general raised his shield in time, but his troops were not so lucky. Those who weren’t ready got torched, and their charred bodies rolled down the volcano. He pushed forward, shoving the Terra backwards with a shield bash. Obsidian responded by unleashing blow after blow with his staff. As they focused on goring each other, the rest of the battle started. Humans flowed into the city, weapons bared as they charged full of zeal. The Terra practically let them in, only to just unleash their own powers of fire to burn their foes. The smell of charred flesh permeated the air alongside the smell of sulfur. Weapons locked, spells were tossed, and the screams of the dying pierced the heavens. “Give up human!” Obsidian ordered as he smashed his staff over the general’s head. Shaking away the pain, he sent a glare to his opponent. “Not until one of us is dead!” he yelled back. The two locked weapons and started shoving against each other. This was a fight of pure power, no tricks. The human kicked the elder backwards and unleashed a flurry of swings with his sword, all of which the Terra blocked with unnatural ease. He shoved his attacker back and swung for his head, the gold staff connected with a sickening crack against the general’s skull. Blood started flowing from where he got hit, he dropped his shield and held the spot, tightly gripping the sword in his other hand and sent a death glare towards his enemy. “You won’t leave this fight alive!” He yelled and lunged at the towering turtle. Obsidian knocked the sword from his grip and hefted the man up by his neck. He sent a glare right into his eyes and began to tighten his hold. Dropping his staff, he balled up a fist, and brought it back, “this,” he sent a bone shattering punch into the man’s ribs, “is for Storm.” he brought it back, “this,” another punch, “is for Aqua.” he brought it back again, “this,” the sound of bone snapping and a deep gurgle sounded from the trapped general, “is for my mate!” he dropped the man to the floor. The general curled up into a ball, the pain stopping him from keeping his strong demeanor. “And this…” he brought his hoot over the fallen general’s head, “is for every other Terra you killed!” he brought his foot down, the ground cracked under the force he applied. The sounds of fighting stopped. Every eye was on him; Obsidian hefted up the dead general like a prized kill and let loose a primal roar. The humans were sent running for their lives, the mountain started erupting and magma flowed through the streets. Obsidian just stood, seething with anger. He felt rage towards the humans, but even more to himself. The magma flowed past his legs, but didn’t burn him; it never burned him, or any of the other Fire Terra. “Obsidian…” someone started from behind him. “What is it Brimstone?” he asked, dropping the dead body into the burning red liquid, he turned around to find his brother staring at him, several others bowed at his gaze. “The others lost hope, saw rage overtake you, but they are wrong to fear you. A true Terra must not adhere to the commands of underlings like that blasted Astral. You, were, and still are, the true leader of our race.” He took a knee in the flooded streets. It started to recede as crag looked at the approving faces of the remainder of his people, in his eyes, the other didn’t exist anymore. He looked over the two hundred Terra, the last of the eight hundred who lived in the city, “my friends, brothers, sisters, today will be marked down in the stone of history. No longer will we allow our betters to hold us behind; no longer will we tolerate the scourge that has tainted our lands. We are the last true sons of the sand, and as long as the humans still live, we will fight!” a cheer rose from the crowd. A bright light enveloped the element, and dissipated. The jewel from before shone in place of the weapon, its power drained, its purpose fulfilled. “Whoa, didn’t see that coming.” Rainbow said, marveling at the violence displayed by the once peaceful mage. “Obsidian broke when his mate slashed him, to a Terra; there is no equivalent, only pain and loss.” Melborn sighed. The world fizzled out, and the seven of them stood before a map, it was divided into three sectors, the ethereal plains, the human lands, and the elven country. The plains were highlighted red, and so was a spot in the Frostbite Mountains on the border of two human countries. “What’s the significance of this?” Twilight asked. “After he left the city, he led his followers to a new home in the Frostbite Mountains. After a few years the ones who followed Obsidian’s son moved back in. but without the still very much alive elder living there, it started to sink. The living left, and left their mummified dead in the tombs of the temple. Years of aimless walking for both Obsidian’s disciples and the dead in Země, a new home was found in both. The marble city sank beneath the earth, and the Terra started a new clan that would only accept “true Terra.”” He explained. “So the Terra we’ve seen are the descendants of the ones from the war?” Rarity asked. “No.” the mares all gasped when he said this. “The ones you’ve seen have all been there when Obsidian snapped. His son, the current elder, rounded up the drifters from the battle and retook old minor cities for the once proud race to live. Yes, there have been new ones born, but they are too few, not many live to see their adult days. Parents have buried their children more times than they care to admit. It’s a miracle some of them survived until now…” his voice held pity to the one proud race; even the gods mourned the declining species. “What do we do?” Pinkie asked all seriousness in her voice. The other mares stared at her, mane straight, eyes hard, and muscles tense. “You go to the temples, find the elements, rally troops, and kill that blasted king.” He explained. “What about the Astral?” Fluttershy asked. “What about him?” Melborn questioned. “The Terra have been through a lot, and it seems that if all this was done for that big meanie, then why not get him to leave the poor dears alone?” she explained. Melborn thought for a moment. “That might work, it would be difficult, but they deserve peace.” “Then it’s settled, after Vold is taken care of, we will help give the Terra freedom from their oppressor.” Twilight said; she then held her hoof out between the other mares. “Who’s with me?” “If it mean we can go home and help these poor creatures at the same time, then yes.” Fluttershy said without hesitation, it seemed all shyness almost disappeared after they saw the battles. “These here critters deserve better, ahm in.” Applejack agreed. “Let’s go kick some flank girls!” Rainbow yelled. “Vold and that Astral won’t know what hit them.” Pinkie snarled. “I was never much of a fighter, but if you are all Tartarus bent on getting hurt, then I’ll be there to patch you up.” Rarity sighed. “When do we leave?” Twilight asked. “Tomorrow, we need to set up some supplies; White Fang will be your guide through the Ethereal Plains to the four main cities.”
Ch11: Leaving Pyrusch11: Leaving Pyrus The six ponies decided to split up to try and explore the many markets in the city, to retrieve any supplies that they might need to travel to the different temples. Like in Equestria, nothing was free, but the Terra didn’t use any discernible form of currency. Twilight noticed some Fire Terra using tokens made from glass, some Air Terra using some kind of gas trapped in bottles, Water Terra using potions, and Earth Terra using parts of their shells. The last one puzzled her, and when she passed White Fang, she decided to inquire. “Hey.” She started. He walked as if he hadn’t heard her. “Hey, Fang!” “What is it, worm?” he replied with a scowl. “What is the deal with some Earth Terra using their shells as currency?” “Currency? Money has no place in our tribes. That’s something both the Frostborn clan and these fools can agree on. Instead of something as useless as coins, we use our powers as a form of payment. The shell of an Earth Terra is strong, and is the only one that can grow back, making it a suitable material to replace shells of the other Terra. Water Terra can create healing water and Air Terra can create different types of gasses used in various elixirs and other tasks.” He explained. “And the Fire Terra? They look like they use glass tokens.” “Those are spell orbs; each is created to hold a spell that has a single use.” “That is pretty cool.” Twilight mused. “Why did you want to know?” “Well, my friends and I are looking to get some supplies and—” “Supplies? What can you offer to trade the Terra for these... supplies?” he interrupted. “Well, I don’t know. In Equestria, we trade gold bits and—” “Useless coins? Well, what can you do that would be worth something to us?” he interrupted again. “Well, earth ponies are generally strong and great with farming, pegasi can control the weather, and unicorns can do magic.” Twilight explained. “Doesn’t say much, but it sounds like you can make your own food, even if you have to wait. But maybe you can find something unique to do with magic.” He offered. “Potion versions of spells?” she asked. “Might be interesting to see, but that’ll take a while to make, plus that would be a rip off of the sand striders. Tell you what, get someone to give two shakes of their own tail to give you charity, these idiots are suckers for poor dustlings.” He let out a deep chuckle. “Why are you so rude?” Twilight growled. “Rude? Really now, you sound like Trench Digger, the Earth Emissary staying with my tribe.” He scoffed. “’Get back in touch with your roots,’ ‘don’t forsake your origins.’ Bah, I’d sooner eat my own shell. If you don’t have anything, ask your human, he’s a god, he can do whatever he wants.” He said with a nonchalant wave of his claw before walking off. “Wait!” Twilight yelled. White Fang growled but kept walking. “Wait up!” she yelled, running after him. “Fang.” A terra called from above. Both Fang and Twilight looked up to see Storm descending to meet them. “What is it, airhead?” Fang growled. “Remember when you said you’d do anything to get out of here? Here’s your chance. The elder is offering supplies to get you to lead the ponies to the temples.” He explained. Fang growled and then turned to the pony. “Get your friends ready, I want to be away from here as soon as possible.” With a glare at Twilight and Storm, he trudged off. “What’s his problem?” Twilight asked. “He was never fond of anyone here, or anyone from outside his tribe. Being an emissary has really dampened his mood.” Storm replied. Twilight gave the area a final look before going to find her friends. Razor Wing flew over the desert, waiting for the seven beings to exit the city so that he could see if they were as good as was predicted. He saw the human army retreat, but that was expected when you try to fight against the Terra, those things can be relentless in fights. A chilling wind blew past him and he looked around for the source, and in the distance, a large shadow trudged towards the ethereal forest. He recognized the shape, even at this distance; the Leviathan was out and about. If the ponies encountered it... Well, he hoped they had big enough swords. He shook the thought out of his head, now wasn’t the time. Instead, he would wait for them at the fire temple, their inevitable first stop on this new journey. As Twilight and company waited in the viewing room, they couldn’t help but feel as if they were being watched. Even Melborn couldn’t shake the feeling that something was interested in them. “I think it might be a good time for me to leave.” He said. “Why’s that?” Pinkie asked. “Something feels wrong, and not just here. I haven’t heard from my brothers and sisters in a while, and even Eris disappeared. Sorry, but I have to make sure everything is okay up in paradise.” He replied with a sigh. With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared. “Anypony else get the feeling things are going to get really bad?” Rainbow asked, adjusting her sword and leather vest. “Ah don’t like this either Dash, feels like the walls got eyes.” Applejack replied, fidgeting with her hammer. “I think we may be in some trouble.” Pinkie pointed out. “Why do you say that?” Rainbow asked. “I have this really weird feeling in my stomach that I can’t really place a hoof on. I think it has to do with the feeling that we’re being watched, and maybe that whatever’s watching us might be plotting something.” After about a minute of silence, the door opened to reveal White Fang. He wore a leather strap on his shell and had a large axe attached to it. He looked less than pleased to see the mares, but sighed and continued with his new mission. “Get moving, I want to be out of here before sunset.” He barked. “No please?” Pinkie asked. “No.” he deadpanned. “I want to get this over with as soon as possible.” He explained. The mares then packed their equipment; Pinkie and Fluttershy strapped their daggers and throwing knives in place on their leather vests, Rarity adjusted her violet cloak, the deep blue trimmings taking notice away from her face, and Twilight just tightened a strap with a small pouch and lined up with the others to leave. They meandered through the packed market district, avoided a dispute between two Earth Terra in the residential area, and then finally made it to the exit to the city where two odd-looking creatures were waiting for them. “What are they?” Fluttershy asked, looking the creatures over. The two had large reptilian bodies that had a shape similar to buffalos. Their heads were surprisingly bland though, with the exception that the entire head opened into four large jaws that hinged in an X formation when closed. One turned its head towards her and let out a forked tongue, much like a snake would do to test the air for prey. “These are Ferosk, used for their hide and meat, while also making great pack animals.” White Fang responded. “Cool.” Rainbow muttered while poking one in the side of the head. The beast responded to her prodding by snapping at her hoof. “Um... Fang, how are we supposed to get the supplies out of here if they are attached to a cart?” Rarity asked. “Let them work it out.” he answered with a dismissive wave of his claw. The girls took one last look at the beasts of burden before following Fang up the staircase to the exit of the city. The astral followed their movements and thoughts as they made their way out of the city. It wasn’t until he heard a bit of the plan from the blue one did he get suspicious of their intents on his world. ‘It would be best to keep an eye on them.’ he thought to himself. He then flew back to the temple and rested in the darkness of an unlit spire. He got a bowl and water and cast a spell. The water rippled and an image shone on its surface, the six mares and the Frostborn emissary. It is time to see if they are going to continue being assets or not. Author's Note edited by FluttershyisMetal
Ch12: WildlifeCh12: Wildlife The six ponies and the Terra waited in the desert heat for their pack animals and cart to emerge from the city. The ponies doubted that the odd animals were going to be of any use, but their guide knew better. “Just be patient,” Fang snarled as Dash tried for the tenth time to try to get moving. “I’ve been patient, but I'm tired of waiting. The sooner we get this done the sooner we can all go home,” she whined. Fang was about to berate her, but the sand in front of them shifted, catching the groups complete attention. One of the Ferosk’s heads poked out of the sand, followed by the rest of it and its partner as they climbed out of the hole they dug. The cart came out soon after. The girls stared in shock at the two beasts, which in turn merely shook the remaining sand from their bodies and hissed in recognition of their guides. Fang gave a low hiss and one the pack reptiles gave a roar and started walking forward, dragging the other along with the cart. He turned to the ponies with his usual frown, “Now we can move.” “Did those things just…” Applejack started. “Ferosk are native to the desert area of the plains. These are domesticated, therefore smaller than their wild brethren who dwell deeper in the sands,” Fang explained. “What are the wild ones like?” Fluttershy asked, hovering close to one of the reptiles. It gave a hiss of annoyance, but otherwise did nothing. “They’ll tear you limb from limb if you’re not careful. The Alpha is the real trouble you need to watch out for..” Fang let the implications sink in, and the ponies looked at the domesticated pack reptiles with a bit of trepidation. “Don’t worry, the most these two will do is snap at you if you try to pet them.” “At least you know where they nest, so this way we’ll avoid them… right?” Twilight asked. “Nobody was ever able to figure out a definite area that the Ferosk live; they migrate and expand territory all the time. We just need to hope we don’t run into them… or they into us,” he stated grimly. The girls gulped at this revelation, but moved forward. They had to, if they ever wanted to return to Equestria. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The group had been marching for two days now and had yet to even reach the halfway point to their destination. The ponies were tired and sweating from having to march in the endless desert; not even Twilight’s cold spell could cool down the group. Even White Fang started to feel the heat of the sun. The only ones who didn’t seem to be fazed were the Ferosk, which shrugged off the heat and nearly trudged too far ahead of the group. “Oh goddess, when are we going to get there?” Dash groaned as they passed another cactus. “The ruins of Diact should be nearby, look for a sun shaped tower,” Fang ordered. “I see it!” Rarity exclaimed, pointing to their right. They made a sharp turn and headed for the city. As they got closer, it started looking less like a place where they would want to rest. The sandstone buildings were crumbling in the sunlight, wisps of sand flowed down the street, skeletons of both humans and terra littered the streets. Each corpse sported armor or weapons lodged in their bodies at various angles, and some looked as if they had been chewed on recently. The gang of adventurers trudged tiredly through the scorched dead streets, nervously glancing down alleyways and through windows of the dilapidated houses. As they neared the center, the caravan stopped by a building topped with a broken crescent sun statue. Whether broken by nature or by design, they didn’t know. “Get the cart in the tomb, we camp there tonight,” Fang ordered. “T-t-the tomb?” Fluttershy stammered. “Yeah. Do you have a problem?” Fang asked. “Yeah! Common sense! You never intentionally spend the night in the cemetery of a haunted area!” Dash yelled. “Haunted? Here? The dead don’t rise here; the right of ascension ensures we go where we are meant to,” Fang explained. The group started as a loud roar shook the city. Looking around, they could not see their pack lizards or the cart. The roar came again as the ground shook beneath them, causing buildings to collapse. “Fang… what’s going on?!” Twilight shouted. “So many heat signatures…” Rarity mumbled as her now glowing red eyes scanned the ground below them. “Ferosk,” Fang whispered. Several heads broke through the sand, each one easily twice the size of the domesticated versions. Their forked tongues whipped through the air, sending an unconscious shiver of fear through the ponies before them. The group huddled together as they readied their weapons. Twilight and Rarity focused their magic, Fluttershy and Pinkie took out daggers, Applejack hefted her hammer and Dash readied her broadsword. Fang himself took out his large hand axe and extended a claw. All hell broke loose when the first body broke through the sand. Each Ferosk took its turn to charge and snap at the group of defenders. It started with small skirmishes, one going on and thrashing at the pony’s and Terra’s defenses. Then two charged in, then three, then four. The line broke. Dust permeated the air like a thick fog as Dash and Fluttershy attacked by swooping in from the sky. Twilight and Rarity sent point blank shots of magic at fast moving freight trains, missing most shots in the confusion. Applejack was using the head of her hammer to try and daze the beasts as they charged, but wound up getting tossed around as the hammer glanced off their hides. Fang fared far better than the group, having been surrounded. He used the charging beasts’ weight against them to launch the creatures into each other, occasionally scraping his axe along their stony scales to try to keep them at bay. “This isn’t working; we need to find their weak spot!” Fang yelled over the sound of the thundering lizards. That’s when Twilight had an epiphany. If she couldn’t scratch their hides, then she would need to do something to their insides. Letting one get close, she hurled a magic spear into its open mouth. The spear pierced its soft inner flesh, making the beast howl in pain. The battle stopped as the herd changed tactics and corralled the gang back into the center of a stampeding circle. “What did you do?” Rainbow said. “Their maw! The inside is their weak spot!” Twilight yelled. “Ohh, their breath is going to mess up my mane…” Rarity whined. “Just get to killing!” Fang snarled, making the first move. The Terra jumped into the rampaging Ferosk, grabbing one by the head and shoving his axe down its throat before ripping it back out, blood coating his previously white shell. Before he could attack again, he was tackled by another beast, signaling the girls to move in. Now knowing their enemy’s weakness, they used it to their advantage. Twilight and Rarity fired bolts of fire into the gaping maws of several charging Ferosk, incinerating their heads. Pinkie and Fluttershy sheathed their daggers, and took out a pair of cross bows. Apologizing profusely, they loaded them with red banded bolts and fired them down the large creatures throats. They stumbled, coughed up blood, and died. Rainbow and Applejack saved Fang after having been tackled by spearing the beast with sharp points on their weapons. The wounded beast roared before retreating back to the herd. After getting up, Fang shrugged the two ponies off before running up to another Ferosk, shoving his claw down its throat, and ripping out its heart. “A thank you would have been nice,” Rainbow grumbled. “Bloody varmin's goin to git ‘imself killed,” Applejack murmured. As soon as it looked like the battle was going well, the tides turned. The Ferosk got more aggressive, and the group was running low on energy. As Twilight fired her last bolt of magic, her horn sparked and she gasped as fatigue washed over her. “Twilight, are you alright?!” Rarity screamed, erecting a shield as she checked on her friend. “My magic is running low…” she gasped. “GRAAHH!” Fang yelled as he was hurled against Rarity’s shield, “Mind doing me a favor and kill the damned Ferosk!” The Ferosk quickly grabbed his leg and hurled him from the shield. The creatures closed in as the group was losing energy. Their defenses slowly started to whittle down until… “AAHH!” Dash yelled as one of the beasts grabbed a hold of one of her wings. It slammed her into the ground and started tearing at her flesh. “Get it off!” she yelled as pain permeated her body. Fang and Applejack were about to rush in when two more showed up and tackled them to the ground, pinning them as they tried to fend off the hungry monsters. “A little help here!” Applejack yelled as the beast snapped at her head. Fluttershy and Pinkie were pinned simultaneously as one jumped them from behind. A large foot on their backs started to crush them. “Get off please, if that’s okay with you…” Fluttershy squeaked. Rarity’s shield flickered as more Ferosk slammed against it, making Rarity flinch in pain each time. “I can’t keep this up much longer,” she gasped as another slammed into her fortifications, forming a crack. Twilight just watched as doom unfolded. “No, it can’t end like this…” Tears formed in her eyes as she thought of all that would be left behind - their friends, their family, their country… Worst yet, Equestria would be open to Vold’s advances. “NO!” she yelled as a burst of magic flared from her horn, knocking the offending Ferosk back and off her friends. The others stared at her in shock, her eyes glowed red as her coat turned bleach white and her mane and tail caught fire. The Ferosk backed away from the angry mare as she fired a wave of magic in front of her, incinerating several of the beasts. They each howled in pain as their bodies were fried to a crisp. The girls looked at their friend in fear, and Fang looked at her with respect as the Ferosk backed way. The ground rumbled as the creatures made space, the sand shifted as a beast twice the size of the others poked its head above the ground. Everyone except Twilight looked at the large predator in fear, while she just glared as it surfaced from the sand. “The Alpha…” Fang muttered. It gave a roar of anger and snarled at the group, its rotted breath wafting from its mouth like gale force winds, making the ponies manes flutter behind them, forcing them to back away. “Ever heard of a breath mint pal?” Rainbow asked sarcastically. The beast just snarled and gave off another roar before taking a lumbering step forward. Twilight responded with a roar of her own, forcing the beast to stop. “What! Are you surprised? Did you expect us not to fight back!?” she yelled at the top of her lungs, the flames that were her mane and tail growing brighter with each word. The Ferosk backed away as they watched their Alpha confront the new creature. “Did you think you could hurt my friends and expect to get away with it!?” The Alpha started to back away, lowering its head and sizing the unicorn up. “Well let me tell you something, sand for brains! As long as I live, you will not touch a hair on their heads!” The Alpha roared and charged at the pony, its footsteps thundered as it made its path to the unicorn. Twilight stood resolute, snarling and flaring her horn. The lumbering beast soon found itself air-born as it was hit with a blast of magic. As it came back down, Twilight lit up her horn again, and a large spike tore through the earth where the Alpha would land. The spike ripped through its torso with a loud ripping noise. It gurgled and thrashed about, trying to get free from Twilight’s conjuration. She walked up to the beast and looked it in the eyes. Her cold stare met its dying gaze. She fired an electric jolt, making the beast spasm and fall still, blood oozing from its maw and the spire upon which it was impaled. She glared around at the other Ferosk. Each one lowered its head from her gaze, and one by one, they burrowed back beneath the sand. Twilight slowly reverted back to her original color. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she passed out. “Twilight!” Pinkie yelled. “Get her into the tomb and see what’s wrong, I’ll find the cart!” Fang ordered. Author's Note Edited by ClosetBrony87 this time. A big round of applause to him
Ch5: going into town: a time for restCh5: going into town: a time for rest To say that walking through the town was an interesting experience would be putting it lightly for the ponies. As to not be harassed by the towns inhabitants, they walked the divide, which was a district separating the one that the Lycans resided in, and the one that the Vampires call home. Even though it divided the districts, it was still used: merchants from both casts set up stalls and opened shops all throughout the straight that made up the divide. The buildings were made from the light wood that made up the trees in the swamps, and the wares ranged from bones to gold jewelry. Food was also sold, but on both sides it involved meat that they would rather not even look at, much less eat. Several Lycans looked at them like they were dinner, but the red robed Vampires stopped them once they pointed out the three head leaders of the town walking with them, plus the dragon, who might have claimed them already. Not much is known about the race called the Blood Dragons, but it is widely known that if you mess with their stuff, you will be torn apart. The eight of them made it to the center of the town, which had a castle in it. Rogvir looked upon the massive structure of grey stone, which resembled a restored version of the one in the Everfree, with a slightly reminiscent look. “Home sweet home.” He said. “So, how is everything inside, you didn’t let the mongrels in did you?” Narine looked shocked, “heavens no! Those things are the most barbaric of the vampire race; I would rather stand in direct sunlight while being poked by an enchanted sword up the ass for three hours!” “Well, a few of the pups don’t know their boundaries; I have to teach at least six a week what it feels like to disobey the pack leader’s orders.” Celia put in, smiling from the memories of disciplining countless pups in her time at the family castle. “As long as nothing stinks in there if that’s the case.” Celia gave a nervous laugh. “What did you do?” He asked in a stern voice. “I might have marked my territory to make sure the others know their boundary.” “What the fuck Celia!” Rogvir yelled “I was in wolf form!” she retorted. “What’s the difference!?! You pissed in the castle! Not even dad would do that, and he was even worse than you!” “Ugh… alright, I’ll find another way to make the boundaries…” she walked towards the castle with a hand to her chin in thought. “Don’t worry Rogvir, it doesn’t smell too bad in the western wing.” Narine comforted. “Why is that?” he asked. “Do you think I would be dumb enough to let her pee near my room?” “Smart girl, but what does it leave me with?” he rose an eyebrow. “A big mess.” She replied with a laugh as she trailed after her sister. “This is going to be a long day.” He muttered. “And it already isn’t? Not to offend you, but is there somewhere else we can stay, I already smell like swamp water, I won’t want to step or fall into any puddles.” Rarity shivered at the thought. “We got an inn open both sides, your choice really.” He answered. “Ooh, we should go say hi to the puppies!” Pinkie exclaimed, waving a red ball, which several Lycans were following with their eyes. “Why are they acting like dogs?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, I don’t mind too much, they seem harmless when they act like that… if you don’t mind me saying.” Fluttershy put in. “Those are the ones who just said ‘Fuck it,’ and embraced their inner canine, well, the good side anyway.” He said as he watched pinkie play fetch with several of the pups. “Ah don’t think Winona would appreciate it if ah came back smellin like ah was just in a dog park.” Applejack said. “So, two for the lycan side, and two for the Vampire side.” Rogvir announced. “Why do you assume I want to stay on the vampire side?” Rarity asked. “Do you honestly want to know?” he asked. “Since it’s you asking, then no.” She shivered at some of the things he might say, 99.99% of the scenarios involve her getting dirtier than she is now. “That just leaves you Rainbow.” He pointed out. “Well… um… I guess I could just sleep on one of those clouds up there…” she flew up and tried to plop down on the cloud, only to fall through it. “Sweet Celestia! What the hay!” she flew back down. “Clouds here aint magic ah guess.” Applejack gave a light laugh at her friend’s misfortune. “Well Dash, choose. You are the deciding factor that will decide where we spend the night.” Rogvir said with a grin, the Brave Pegasus from before was now hovering with a slightly concerned look on her face. “What’s the matter, scared of a couple of hounds, or maybe it’s the bat brains?” “Hey! I heard that!” a vampire yelled. “Shut up Volkar!” Rogvir yelled back. All eyes were on Rainbow… “Ugh, alright. I guess we could go with the… um… vampires?” The Blackwater Inn, the oldest inn in the Vampire district, nearly as old as the castle itself. The wood was dark in color, and the sign hung out on a limb, depicting the inn’s logo of a swamp pond with rotted trees around it. It used to serve as a rest stop for those who didn’t want to bother with the castles old masters, Rogvir’s great grandparents. Since the old days, the place became slightly bigger to accommodate any new patrons, and also got itself a washing area out back, covered of course, not all vampires are the picture of maturity. It was here they stayed, unfortunately, thanks to King Vold, or the dark king as many called him, many vampires and lycans that didn’t join his cause ended up in this city. The lycan district was downright packed, and the vampire district only had one room left between its three inns. The last room in this inn was of modest size, and can easily accommodate three patrons, but was cramped when you shoved five ponies and a muscular soldier in it. The girls went to get washed up while Rogvir lay on a cot, thinking to himself. A knock was heard on the door, and he walked over to answer it. A blue robed vampire was behind it, one of Narine's special guards. “Message from the master.” A gravelly voice emanated from his masked face. “What she want?” Rogvir asked. “Your presence, immediately.” The robed figure walked off. “Well hello to you too.” Rogvir mumbled. He grabbed his pack and left a note, saying he was going to be away for a bit, and left for the castle. Rogvir stepped up to the castle, which seemed more intimidating at night with the full moon hovering behind it. He had to admit that the whole damn city would make a royal guard shit his metal pants if he was an enemy of his family. He stepped up to the front gate, a massive set of mahogany doors, with a transformed lycan and a blue robed vampire standing on each side. The vampire unlocked the door for him and let him inside, to which an unrobed vampire was waiting for him. This vampire was about his height, with wrinkled skin, pointed ears, and deep red eyes. “Greetings my lord.” He said with a bow, showing off his red royal robes. “I shall be taking care of you while you stay within the castle, my name is Cairn.” “Great, now I got a summons from my sister before…” “Ah yes, the greater of the siblings.” He said, even with Rogvir in front of him. “She has requested you in the hall of the ancients, right this way.” They walked through the dark halls down to the library. So many fond memories of learning magic from his mother here, but the signs of use here were non-existent, such a pity, tomes of spells and knowledge lay unused among the various shelves of the library. The vampire led him to the far back, with more dust settled on the shelves than in the front, and pulled a red book from the shelf. A section of the bookcase swung outwards slowly, ancient hinges groaning with effort. They entered the dark staircase, and the wall shut behind them with a loud slam. Rogvir’s steel boots clunked loudly on the stone stairs, while Cairns were seemingly silent. They made it down the stairs and yet another hall, and finally to an old door. They opened it and found themselves in a large chamber, with a glowing red circle painted on the floor. Every layer of the circle was lined with old runes, and flowed like blood, it was recently used. “Greetings brother.” Narine said from the middle of the runic circle, sitting in a meditative state. “Yeah I'm here, what did you want?” “Cairn, leave us, this is family business.” She commanded. Cairn did what he was told, and left the two of them to their own devices. “Have you heard the news?” “I’ve heard a lot, assaults on the Eternal Plain, rising number of hostile lycans and vampires to the castle, and even an army invading the elven lands.” He replied. “No, it’s something else, something warping this dimension.” A pained look spread across her face for a brief moment, before returning to its passive state. “Like what happened before?” “Yes, it will happen here too soon.” “So what? We pack up and leave again? I'm not running anymore, I'm going to kill his ass.” “I was going to get to that brother, control yourself. Moving will be our last resort if need be.” She took a deep breath, and sighed. “The blood tells of the elements of this world, the ones protecting it from evil.” “Hell of a job their doing.” “They are active now; their chosen are in this realm.” “Who are they?” “Your friends.” Rogvir stared at her I shock, “The ponies? How could that be? They aren’t the types.” He retorted. “You have not seen their accomplishments in their world; this must be why they have been chosen.” “How do we get them then?” “From their Terra guardians in the Eternal Plain, but all six must be present to receive their gifts.” “Why all six, don’t they choose one?” “Foolish brother, magical artifacts have mind of their own, and will choose their own destiny, and the destiny of others, at their convenience.” She waved a hand over a pool of blood that formed in front of her, and an image showing the six mares he met, each wearing a set of bright gold armor, bearing the symbol of the Blood Dragons, standing triumphant over the evil that plagued the universe for millennia. “As much as I hate to admit it, you are right.” He said with a sigh. “When am I ever wrong… don’t answer that.” She chuckled. “You know what this means right?” He asked. “They must train.” She replied. “I have seen their souls, I shall take on Rarity as my apprentice, Fluttershy and Pinkie will train with our sister, and you will get the other two.” “What about Twilight?” “She will not need our help. A spirit of light forced into darkness will awaken her true potential.” “Damn you and your riddles.” He cursed. “A girl has to keep secrets somehow, besides, you and he have already met. Now, be gone, I must prepare.” She waved him off. Rogvir retraced his steps out of the castle and back to the inn, the girls were all asleep. H looked upon them, and with his inner magic, sensed a power he hasn’t seen since his first home. ‘Maybe here it will end.’ He thought as he remembered other homes, other friends, and other deaths at the hands of Vold. Twilight stood in front of the Dark Paladin, now beaten and bloody thanks to her new friend. The dream world final shattered, and they stood in nothing but complete darkness. “Damn you all, Vold will have your head.” He cursed through weak breaths, his magic quickly draining. “You should have thought this through, ah would have. Maybe you should have seen the clues, and shown up with something better than before.” Melborn said. “Anywho, its time you died, and this young lass to get out of this tower. Twilight, if you would…” “Oh, my pleasure.” Twilight replied as a bright light emanated from her horn and engulfed the paladin. He screamed as flames arced over his body and he was torn from the dream world. “well, time to wake up.” he stomped a hoof and the darkness shattered, revealing a dark tower room with a kneeling paladin before her, and a tall man wearing black and red spike armor standing beside her. He wore no helmet, and she could see long brown hair covering his head, dark red eyes staring from their sockets, and sharp teeth peeking out of a sinister smile. “Now that’s much better.” He said as he rolled his shoulders, stretched, and cracked several of his bones. “How about we get you out of those restraints.” He snapped Twilights bonds with a swift wave of his hand. She just stared at him in shock. “Don’t keep me waiten, fry the bastard already, it’s the only way to break the wards and escape this tower.” Twilight hesitantly lowered her horn to the paladins form, and readied a spell. “I'm going to suck the marrow from your bones mortal!” he wailed and lunged at the unicorn. Twilight unleashed a ball of energy with enough heat to make the sun seem cold, well, to the undead anyway. The dark being burned, the odor of burning flesh could be smelt, and the wails of pain from the paladin deafened her ears. As quick as it started, it stopped, nowhere was there a piece of evidence he existed. Melborn turned to Twilight. “Ah must say lass, that is some pretty impressive magic.” “I didn’t know I could do that…” she said as she sat on her haunches and stared at the spot her adversary once stood. “The magic of this land opened some new magical doors for you, take advantage of that new power, and use it to protect yourself. You will need it.” he put in. “How do I get to my friends now?” she asked. “Ah got an idea.” He said slowly. He turned to her, and touched her forehead with his pointer and middle finger, and then the world went black.
