'Come...on...Caden! Keep...moving,' The wounded bat pony thought as he slowly limped down the path that led down an abyss with only the moonlight illuminating his path. 'It won't be long...before they get to me...SO STOP DRAGGING YOUR HOOVES, KOLF!'
The common clothes he had on were severely damaged, a simple shirt covered in cuts, blood, and sweat. That damaged exposed the chainmail shirt he had hidden underneath it, that piece of armor had protected from many blows, but now it was beyond repair and could only protect a handful of places.
His pants were in the same condition as the common shirt. On his hip a sword long enough to keep others at bay, but not enough to be used with both hands. Not that he could use both arms anyway, his sword arm, the left one, was badly wounded. His eyes, like most bat ponies, were yellow. His coat was light grey, his mane was white, or at least that was their usual color. They were now tainted red by the numerous wounds in his body.
On his back, a pair of wings that used to keep him in the air and allow him to flee with ease given how fast he was. That was...until he got his right-wing wounded in his last fight, now it was hanging on his back as a deadweight. Using the cliff's wall as a clutch, Caden Kolf, a deserter from the Night Guard clutched the bag he had in his right hand with everything he had as he made his descent.
He had seen it all, he was there when the stallion in the moon broke free from his prison and he saw the six stallions that stopped him. Caden fought in the front lines when the prince of love was about to marry the captain of the royal guard during the invasion of the Changeling King. He did his best against the magic of chaos from Discord. Almost succumbing to the dark magic from King Sombra wasn't a pleasant experience.
He lost his talent to Tirek and was captured by the storm king's army when they invaded Canterlot. Yet he saw the six stallions rising time and time again to fight, leading their ranks as they donned the rings containing the magic of the elements of Harmony.
Caden had never lost his faith in those six ponies, it didn't matter how much pain they got through, how much suffering they endured, the injuries they sustained. Those six would always stand up and fight time and time again, and that faith...that belief that they were the unbeatable and incorruptible symbols of hope made what happened even more painful.
And he wasn't the only one who had trusted these six, the entire country of Equestria relied on them to keep them safe. To put their lives on the line to fight, Caden knew he was but an afterthought in the grand scheme, a simple pawn that couldn't do much. But even so, he kept going as a soldier in the front lines of each one of these conflicts, trying his best to reduce the threats the six elements had to face.
But now...the symbols were lost. They became twisted and dark versions of their former selves, nopony had seen it coming. It was sudden, the Academy of friendship had just opened and all species seemed to be coming together at long last. And then...then it happened. The six stallions used the power of the elements to prevent anypony from the outside the enter the place and did as they pleased with all the students inside.
The male students were tortured, the rare females that existed were...Caden couldn't believe it when he heard what had happened. So you can imagine what happened when he saw the two princes being taken down and locked away by the same six stallions. They became the rulers, they forced the army to take every mare they found and bring them as prisoners to these six stallions.
These mares were never seen again after they were handed to the Elements of Harmony. Then a war broke out, a rebellion led by the prince of love and the big sister of the leader of the elements. All of it was wrong, Dusk Shine, the leader of the elements, went far enough as to use the two princes he had captive as a way to prevent any advances from the rebellion.
And to make things worse, the remaining five went on to fight in the frontlines. They slaughtered every single being that they considered to be a challenge, be a civilian or an actual rebel. Children, women, small animals, if it did anything they considered an insult it was over for them.
At that point...at that point, Caden simply gave up on these stallions. Can you blame him? The symbols of hope for him turned into monsters that were causing the destruction of the world he called home. The day came when he could no longer do their bidding, and that was the day when he took up arms and went on to take away what gave those monster the power to cause all that.
Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty. Five virtues twisted into sins and corrupted to a point where its magic became unstable and practically uncontrollable. Caden had to face each and every one of them, he barely got out alive of each one of the encounters. As for his opponents...the vultures got something to eat in the end.
Caden wasn't sure if it was sheer luck or something else that allowed him to get out of these situations. However, when he finally had the fifth element, he prayed that whatever it was carrying him through would keep him safe. Fate, however, had other plans, Dusk Shine had been waiting for him.
The ambush nearly killed him, leaving a crippled combatant to face off against the leader of the elements. Caden must have used whatever luck he had left because Dusk Shine's element failed to activate when he was about to finish Caden off. That gave Caden an opening to rip the ring off Dusk Shine's hand along with the finger.
With the wounded alicorn cursing and screaming in pain, Caden jumped out a window from the castle and tried to fly away. Only to be shot down by an endless wave of spells and arrows from his former companions, causing him to crash into the Everfree. That was when he broke his wing, after a long walk he reached the old castle where supposedly the prince of the sun and his brother found the elements attached to a tree.
That is how he had gotten into such a bad condition. As he finally reached the bottom of the chasm, Caden heard marching hooves and the sound of multiple wings flapping.
'They're on to me! I need to find that tree!' He thought right before noticing a cave that could not be seen from the top of the chasm. 'I might be able to hide there!
Moving as fast as he could, Caden entered the cavern. That was when he saw a huge tree made out of crystal, each one of its branches was dried out and black. The roots had shriveled and were also turning black, at the center an empty slot shaped like the small gem attached to Dusk's ring. Black vines covered in white thorns were spread out the black areas.
"I-Is it...dead?" Caden muttered as his legs gave in and he landed sideways. "No. It can't! Maybe...if I can place them back!"
Caden tried to get back on his hooves, but his legs weren't responding. He had been walking for too long while injured, so it was no surprise. Seeing that his legs had turned their back on him, Caden dragged himself to the tree with his good arm while holding the bag with his teeth.
'Come on!' He screamed in his head as the vibrations on the ground got louder and louder.
When he finally reached the tree, Caden realized that he couldn't reach the spot where the slot was. Caden then reached out for the vines and gripped it, forcing the thorns to sink in his skin as he pulled himself up. Once he was close enough, Caden moved his body just so he would be stuck to the vines and freed his hand.
Then he picked up his bag and searched around until he found the ring with the right jewel. However, when he managed to get it Caden heard the sound of numerous hooves behind him.
"SEIZE THE TRAITOR!" Dusk Shine's voice echoed behind Caden.
"Please! Just make everything peaceful again!" Caden screamed as he slammed the ring into the slot.
A bright white light blinded him and suddenly Caden found himself in the middle of a big empty white area. There weren't any signs of walls or an exit. Just a white empty void.
"D-did I die?" Caden muttered as he tried to move again, which ended up causing him a lot of pain. "N-NO! I'm alive!"
"Of course you are," A voice extremely familiar came from every direction.
"Huh?"
"I thank you for coming to my aid," That was Caden's own voice. "You asked to make things peaceful? Sorry, but this isn't the world one where you can get a peaceful life. Or a regular one."
"Cut the crap!" Caden shot back. "You are the tree of harmony! The books say you're the only reason our world even exists! You're practically a god, so cut the crap and change things back to the way they were before. Restore the bearers of the elements of harmony!"
"Why would I do that? They corrupted them. They nearly killed me!"
"Because they are the only ones that can keep the world safe! I saw it all, without them...we would have been taken down long ago."
"They only prolonged the inevitable. Equestria always falls. It's just a matter of who will take it down. This world's demise was them, in another one is Tirek. In another one is a unicorn called Trixie. You can't expect that fate will change."
"SHUT UP!" Caden cried out at the top of his lungs. "You don't get to decide that! Who is to say that Equestria won't fall? Just turn back time. Send me back and I'll make sure they won't be corrupted this time! I know everything that happened. I will help them."
"Do you even know why they fell in the first place?"
"I..." Caden tried his best to reply, but he didn't have anything. He had never met them personally, so he knew nothing about them other than their feats and all the battles they endured. "That's it!"
"What are you babbling on about?"
"It was all the fights they had to do on their own, isn't it? How everypony relied on them and they didn't have anypony to turn to when they needed. They broke under the pressure."
"That's ridiculous," The voice said before it started to laugh very loudly. "Are you confident in that answer?"
"Just send me back! If I'm wrong, then you can go on ahead and erase me for all I care."
"Well, I was planning on giving you something because you saved me. If that is what you wish, so be it."
"Thanks!"
The white void he was in started to crack, and then he fell through the floor.
'Like I can actually send a being back in time. He doesn't even realize that when he woke me up that world ended. And I was about to create a new one. But he couldn't be part of this one anymore. Well, I hope he enjoys the version I sent him to. Good thing that the tree there was ok with it.'
A stinging sensation took over Caden's body, he felt the weight of his body. He was laying somewhere soft, slowly opening his eyes, Caden saw something familiar. Above him columns and a ceiling made out of white stone, he could see the crystals that were keeping the room illuminated.
Turning his head to the side, Caden saw a big open window. "Canterlot..." He muttered before trying to sit up straight.
Caden felt something wrapped up tightly to his torso. Looking at it, he saw bandages wrapped up around it, there were some around his arms as well. They seemed to have been swapped recently, there was extra weight on his back, on the same side as his broken wing.
Caden looked back and saw that his wing was immobilized. 'Did I go back? Or...did the tree revert Dusk Shine back?' Suddenly, Caden heard the sound of a door opening.
"Did you hear that this year's Summer Sunset Celebration will happen in PonyVille?" That sounded familiar to Caden.
"Yeah! That's near where the-?" The two mares that had just walked in stopped immediately after they saw him sitting up straight. "Oh! Are you okay, dear? Meri, go tell the captain that he's woken up," One of them said before the other left in a hurry.
"Am I in Canterlot?"
"Indeed you are," The mare dressed up like a nurse said before picking up a thermometer near his bed and placing it in his mouth. "You should consider yourself lucky. After all, you got here at death's door. You stallions can't be so reckless with so few of you around."
"What?" Caden said with the thermometer in his mouth while he raised an eyebrow.
"Shhhh. You're in good hands. We will take care of you. There is no need to worry," She said in a soft tone before she began to check his bandages. "The name is Patches by the way...you stallions are usually so feeble. But you seem more resilient. You must have a lot of mares in your herd."
Before Caden could begin to make sense of what she had just said, the door opened again. This time, however, there was the sound of metal hitting against metal. When Caden looked at the source, he saw somepony familiar.
"Captain," The nurse said making a slight bow. "I'll just be a minute. Let's see...his temperature seems to be way lower than when he got here," Patches said before removing the thermometer. "His body on the other hand..." She muttered those words before winking at Caden and walking away.
'What the fuck was that about?' Caden thought before shaking his head violently and looking at the captain.
"Captain Gleaming Shield! Did you and your husband take back the castle? Has Dusk Shine been defeated? Is Prince Solaire safe? What about Prince Artemis? And how is prince Bolero? I hope you two haven't been injured in the fight."
"What are you talking about?" The mare said looking at him with a deep frown. "Listen, I do not know what you've been through. Considering the state you arrived, it must have been terrible. But you can be sure that you are safe. Our doctors are the best around. However, I have to ask. Where did you get this?" She asked holding out his ID tag, the only thing he had kept from his time as a soldier. "The symbol and materials for it are right. But the numbers here were scratched off."
"Oh...I...I took it from a deserter," Caden said scratching the back of his neck.
"I see. Well, a doctor will come by later to check on you. Rest assured, you will be out there long before the Summer Sunset Celebration in a few months. You probably won't want to lose this one. It is the thousandth year of this celebration," Gleaming Shield said with a smile, that piece of information made Caden's ears perk up.
'I-I'm back! I'm back in the past! The tree did it. I can change it all!'
"Here is your current situation," The doctor started after bringing in some images of Caden's wounds. "You arrived about two weeks ago. You had several broken ribs. There were also multiple cuts and lacerations covering most of your body. Your left arm had been broken. And some of its nerves were damaged by a very deep cut."
"We managed to heal your wounds. But the pain will be there for a while. The skin covering your wounds is still sensitive and thin. So we placed those bandages to restrict your movement and prevent your wounds from re-opening. Your legs, on the other hand, were the least damaged part of your body. Which means that you should be able to walk already."
There was a brief pause after that. The doctor looked at Caden for a few seconds before he looking up at the nurse accompanying him. He then nodded at her. The nurse, who was Patches, picked up a file and hand it over to the doctor.
"Okay. You must be aware that bat ponies have some pretty unique bone structure in their wings," Caden nodded positively. "Your right-wing was in pretty bad shape. We managed to heal it, however, based on what we saw...you won't have a complete recovery," The doctor said showing the x-rays of Caden's right-wing. "You'll probably only be able to fly for only a few minutes before having to take a rest. And...your flight speed...we expect that you'll only be able to reach between 30-50% of your original speed."
"I...I kinda expected as much," Caden said with his ears dropped to the sides. "How long until I can move it freely again?"
"We will remove them right now actually," The doctor replied gesturing to the nurse. "We applied some healing agents while you were asleep. They accelerated the process. And besides, you can't go out for an audience covered in bandages."
"Audience?"
"The situation in which you appeared caused a lot of stir. You can't expect to not be inquired about it."
"Uuuuh..." Caden said tilting his head.
"Here," Patches said handing over a set of finely crafted clothes. A fine white shirt with a pair of black trousers, strangely enough, they had the right size. "Put these on. Some guards are going to come by to escort you to the throne room."
"Oook," Caden said looking at the garments.
Then without much regard to the presence of the doctor or Patches, Caden got up and started to put on the clothes. He heard somepony gasp before the sound of a door slamming behind him happened. Caden looked over his shoulder and saw that both of them were gone.
'Huh...That's weird. I never got that reaction before...'
Caden finished buttoning his shirt and securing his pants in place. He then walked up to the door and opened it. Which caused a mare to fall flat on her muzzle. Caden looked down and saw that the one who fell was actually Patches. She looked up to him and then giggled before getting up really fast.
"Ha-ha...well...You better get going. The guards will escort you to the throne room."
"Were you...peeking through the keyhole?"
"..."
"Are you Caden?" Another voice took Caden's attention away from Patches.
Two mares had walked up to them. Both of them were wearing armor, the number of mares Caden had met in the short amount of time he had been awake was starting to concern him. It took at least two or three months in the army to meet two mares back then. Now he had met three?
"Mr. Caden?"
"Y-yes," He replied shaking his head.
"There is no need to fear. We are here to protect you."
'What is up with the 'protecting' me? I just got out of the hospital. I'm not helpless though.'
Caden raised an eyebrow and walked up to them. "Lead the way."
The mares nodded and then started to walk down the hallways. It had been a while since Caden had seen the halls of the castle in their former glory. Dusk Shine had done some renovations after taking over the capital. The white stones that were used in the original castle had their color changed from white to a mix of black and lavender.
The banners containing the sun emblem and the moon emblem were replaced by Dusk's mark. The paintings were replaced with scenes of Dusk Shine and his companions fighting in heroic battles. Caden felt a bit more at ease as he saw the capital back in shape through the windows.
'If I play my cards right. This world won't ever fall. I won't let it fall.'
"Is this the bat pony that was found a few days ago?" As they walked through the hallways, Caden saw somepony familiar join the group.
A lavender unicorn with a purple mane. It had to be Dusk Shine. Caden didn't manage to see the unicorn's face, but something about his voice was wrong. Caden still had the image of that stallion etched into his memory after the hell Caden was forced through. Dusk Shine had a thin body with a decent build, probably due to all the fights he had been involved in.
The pony in front of Caden, however, wasn't as thin as Caden remembered. There seemed to be a small difference between them. Something Caden could only find out by looking very hard at the pony. Luckily for him, neither the guards nor Dusk Shine seemed to notice him staring. Something else Caden noticed was that Dusk Shine seemed to have a more feminine body, his mane seemed to be more well kept too.
"Correct. Twilight Sparkle."
"Wait, what?" Caden blurted out without even realizing.
"What is it?" One of the guards asked.
"What did you call him?"
"Him? The only stallion in this hall is you," The other guard asked as she turned around.
Caden just stared blankly at the two mares, then he looked at the fourth party. That wasn't the face Caden knew, the one in front of him was a mare. A beautiful lavender mare with purple eyes. That was definitely not Dusk Shine.
"Er...you are, Twilight Sparkle?"
"That is right. Can I help you with something?"
"Do you have a brother called Dusk Shine or something?"
"Sorry, but the only sibling I have is my sister. Gleaming Shield."
Caden simply stared at Twilight for a few seconds. That was when he remembered that Dusk Shine was exceptional with illusion spells. Caden took a step forward to inspect more closely the mare's face.
"W-what are you doing?" Twilight asked as she slowly turned red since Caden was very close to her now.
"You're not using any spells now. Are you?"
"W-what kind of spells?"
"Illusion spells."
"Why would I be using illusion spells?"
"To change your looks," When Caden said that, Twilight's flustered expression turned into a frown.
"Are you calling me ugly?"
"No, it's just that you're looking a bit different from what I expected. So I think there is an illusion around your body."
"And what were you expecting?"
Caden scratched the back of his head. He had to go and spill that much info. If that was Dusk Shine, he would be more cautious now.
"Well, a beautiful mare isn't exactly what I had in mind," Caden replied as he pressed his forehead with his index finger.
Caden looked up to Twilight. She was red as a tomato. Her ears were perked up, the fur around her neck was standing up, and she kept moving her mouth as if she wanted to say something.
'Uh...did I do something wrong? Back then they would simply dismiss any compliments. Flattery didn't work on any mare I ever saw.'
"Are you okay?" Caden asked backing away from Twilight.
"FINE! A-actually, I just remembered I needed to get the throne room before you three. See ya!"
With that, Twilight disappeared in a flash of light. Caden just stared at the empty spot.
'Ok. I need to confirm if that's the same pony. The mark! If she has the same mark...then this is probably Dusk Shine in disguise. Why would he hide though? Oh...that's bad. That's really bad. What if he got back with me? I have to get to the throne room now!'
"Which way to the throne room?" Caden inquired grabbing one of the mares' shoulders.
"We will make a turn in the next corridor. Then its a straight walk to the throne room."
Caden didn't even blink. His legs were fine, Caden just put them to their maximum use. Making a turn exactly at the corridor pointed by the mare, Caden saw a big golden door. Caden bashed the doors open and saw something he didn't expect.
Sitting on a throne, there was a mare with a colorful mane. The mane seemed to be moved by an absent wind. Her coat was pure white, a golden tiara, golden bracelets, her dress was shifting between cyan and white. Caden stared at her for a few seconds, just like she was doing. He counld not believe how beautiful she was, but he had other worries.
"Er...is this the throne room?" Caden asked trying to keep his cool.
"Yes. I am the Princess. Princess Celestia. Ruler of this country."
Caden looked at the princess' neck. The sun mark was there, complete golden sun.
"Uh...where is Prince Solaire?" The Princess tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Prince Artemis?"
"I was never aware of these. Who are they?"
"The Prince of the sun? And...the prince of the moon?" Caden asked with his ears dropping slowly to the side of his head.
"The only ruler of the Sun and Moon is me. Ever since the rise of Nightmare Moon that is."
Caden fell to his knees. "What is the name of your brother?"
When he made that question, Caden saw the Princess' expression turn into a scowl. With a simple gesture of her hand, Caden saw all the guards leave the room. At this point, Caden realized that Twilight wasn't anywhere in sight.
"I do not have a brother. I do have a sister. A sister that everypony thinks its dead. And they simply don't mention her anymore. So, do tell why you brought my family up?"
"You have a sister...you banished her to the moon with the elements of harmony. And she will be coming back, won't she?"
The princess stood up, the anger was burning in her eyes. She walked up to him, forced Caden, and then she forced Caden to look at her.
"How do you know that?"
Caden backed away from Celestia. He could not believe what he just heard.
'This isn't my world! That blasted tree! I wanted to go back in time, not to jump into another reality.'
"Take me to the tree of harmony," Caden said with a serious tone.
"How do you know about that as well? The only ones that know about the tree are me and my sister. What are you?"
"Take me to the blasted tree. Then you'll see it."
The princess didn't look pleased with Caden's response. But her horn fired up and after a bright flash, Caden found himself in the familiar cave where he had found the tree. This one was still shining brilliantly, the spots were still open to receive their crystals.
Caden walked up to the tree and started to knock on it.
"Okay, you stupid tree. I know you're alive so start explaining this shit."
"You are talking to a tree. Alright, I rescued a crazy stallion."
"Ah, just shut it," Caden said looking over his shoulder. "Wake up before I find myself a hammer and start beating you until you come out!"
The tree began to shine, Caden backed away and waited. Another copy of him appeared. This one was less visible. Probably due to the lack of elements of harmony.
"You are the visitor the other tree sent. What is it that you wish?"
"I want to know why I was sent into another world instead of back in time! That was not my wish. I wanted to go back to fix my world! What I know can't be applied here!"
"What do you mean? And what is this?" Celestia asked from behind him.
"Ah, one of the first bearers. Where is your sister?"
"Never mind her!" Caden ordered. "Tell me what the heck is going on!"
"When you saved your tree. Your world ended along with your existence there. Your tree, however, was kind enough to pick you up before you completely disappeared. And since the world you belonged to was being reset, you could no longer live there without losing all the knowledge you had. But you could be sent to another world. Therefore, here you are."
"You are kidding, right?"
"No. I am also running out of time. I need to go back to rest."
"How am I supposed to prevent the end of the world in a world I know nothing about?!"
"I'll leave that up to you. I was curious about how something that repeats itself in each world flawlessly could be prevented. But if you're already this angry because you're not sure you can do it. I think everypony will simply die. Well, goodbye."
"WAIT!"
With that, the tree's light faded. Caden was left alone with the Princess. Caden was at a loss, he went so far. Deserted his nation, fought the destroyers of his home, got severely injured, managed to revive the tree, and managed to back in time. But not the way he wanted to. And now he was supposed to help save a world he knew nothing about?
'What am I supposed to do?'