The Wiccan Demon

by Steven1992

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Thriller, Adventure, Main 6
Length: 18285

Experimenting with Potions and Magic is risky even for a powerful unicorn. Sarius' Mother learns that the hard way.

My mother and I have lived in Ponyville for a long time. My siblings and I made a name for ourselves as the Trusdale Triplets. Our mother also made a name for herself as the "Magical Witch".

Despite her title having witch in it, she's as kind as Fluttershy and loving and caring as Princess Celestia herself. Though unbeknownst to everypony, the title fits more than they think. Since she is a practiced Wicca witch.

One day though, she discovers an old book and gets involved in something a bit questionable.

Published 2019-11-26 03:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2019-12-24 22:55:58 UTC

Introduction

This Introduction is rather long so be forewarned.

This story starts with a family of four, a mother and her three triplets, a girl and two boys, that lived in peace. Rowyn was the name of the mother and the three kids; Circe, Tirean and Sarius, all with the last name of Trusdale. On the eve of their 12th birthday, the father of the three came back from being gone for a long time and gave them a choice. They could either accept the risk of an experiment that would make them dragon-human hybrids or refuse. The father being the smart scientist who created the DNA serum and a caring father was confident his kids would be alright but warned it was untested so something could go wrong. Rowyn was aware of the choice and was simply mentally preparing herself for the time, her children will accept the offer.

As Rowyn feared, the kids accepted the offer. Under the watchful eyes of their father and other scientists he trusted, the procedure began. First was Sarius, then Circe and finally Tirean. Thankfully, the procedure was a success with little to no negative effects on the trio. When the trio tried to use their newly-acquired powers, they almost destroyed the entire lab and nearly killed everyone present, including their mother. Fortunately, their father and another scientist were quick and prepared enough to stop them. Using cobalt they negated the power of the trio.

After everything settled, Rowyn gave the father a scolding. The trio was feeling guilty and afraid of themselves because of their lack of control. While Rowyn comforted them, the father explained the power they possess is incredibly powerful and hard to control as it comes from a god. The trio and the mother were shocked at this and Rowyn demanded to know how and why he would give them a god’s power. The father explained that he visited a dragon god and was gifted with a scale and from that scale they extracted DNA from it. He hoped he could give this power to his children and they would do good things with it. He also mentioned that’s the reason he was gone for so long, the process to extract the DNA and make a serum from it was a long and grueling task.

Sarius asked how can they do good if they can’t even control their power. To which the father suggested the three go visit the dragon god personally and see if he’s willing to train them to do so. After getting the location of Durlex, the dragon’s name, they headed off and didn’t return for a few months. The trio found the dragon and he was more than willing to train and teach them what he knew. They were quick to learn and progressively got better rather quickly surprising the god. After two months, Durlex announced he has nothing more to teach these three as they learned all the basics and the advanced necessities needed to use and control their power with no trouble. He sent them off with the parting words: “Know you may never be a master of Energtris. Since it’s the very source of All energy, there is so much you can do with it. You’ll constantly be learning new ways to use that energy. Instead of trying to master all you know, try to invent and find new ways to use it.” Almost a month later, the trio returned to their mother who was very happy to see them safe and sound and for a time they went back to as much of a normal life as possible.

However, without warning the family was unknowingly sucked into a portal that sent them to the land of Equestria. Upon entering, the trio were transformed into pony-dragon hybrids while the mother was transformed into a unicorn. The hybrids were pony for the most part, with the exception of a long furless tail with fur at the tips, alicorn-like wings larger than normal pegasi, and hooves that could separate into claws and an extra claw that could pop out of there front hooves for an opposable thumb. Circe was a bit smaller than Sarius while Tirean was a bit bigger than Sarius, whereas Sarius was half the size of Luna. Circe also had majestic antler-like horns, Tirean seemingly had wings that could be used as an extra set of arms, while Sarius just seemed like an average dragon.

The cutie mark of Sarius was a bright blue flame but on closer examination, it’s a perfect circle surrounded by a blue flame showing Sarius is an all-rounder type. Circe’s cutie mark was a health cross with a magic circle surrounded by a blue flame, indicating she was a healer and good with magic. Tirean had a shield and sword also surrounded by a blue flame showing he was strong and tough, like a tank. Rowyn’s cutie mark is an Alchemy circle with a potion and wand in the middle of it. Rowyn was also the same height as Tirean.

Sarius was bright red with silver going from the bottom of his jaw to the tip of his tail, covering his underbody, hazel green eyes, and a bright brown tail, and mane that went halfway down his neck with spikes of brown going down his back. His wings had a spot of sky blue on the inner section of his wings.

Circe was dark blue with stripes of gold, and a scarlet red long mane, and tail, as well as spikes of red down her back. Her eyes were bright blue. Tirean was copper color with specks of rust, a platinum blond medium-length mane, and tail. He has brown eyes. Rowyn was a pale brown unicorn with a rose-red mane and tail and purple eyes.

They were found by some random ponies who were confused by the appearance of the trio. Upon realizing they were in a different world, shock and surprise-filled the family. Rowyn was quick to recover and asked the ponies were the nearest town was, which was Ponyville just east a couple of miles. Eventually, the family found their way into Ponyville Town Hall where Rowyn was able to talk to Mayor Mare and ask about a house to buy. Unfortunately, they had no currency, bits, to buy a house. Mayor Mare suggested a temporary apartment where they can stay until they get enough bits to buy a home, first rent was on her and some job applications.

Rowyn was obviously shocked that Mayor Mare would pay the first rent for them. Rowyn gave many thanks, to which Mayor Mare waved her hoof saying it was fine. Mayor Mare said that Ponyville was a sort of central place where a lot of ponies from across Equestria past through to another designation, so as a result, Ponyville became a place where ponies would meet often. Plus the inhabitants of Ponyville were really friendly.

After that, the family started making their way to the apartment to set things up as well as giving Rowyn a chance to look at the applications. On the way, the group encountered an all pink pony who was full of energy and happiness. She introduced herself as Pinkie Pie and with great speed said how amazing it was that a whole family was moving into Ponyville. She then gave herself leave saying she now has work to do. After the arrangements were set on the apartment and Rowyn finding a job, as well as the trio finding jobs of their own to partake in as part-time to help their mother earn bits, the family started to make peace with their new lives.

Later that day, they were then asked by Pinkie Pie to come by the Town Hall for something, The family followed Pinkie to the building unaware what Pinkie wanted to show them. Turns out a big party was being thrown for them in the Town Hall, Pinkie called it the ‘Welcome to Ponyville Party’. The family was then introduced to Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, who along with Pinkie were close to the same age as the trio, with the expectation of Applejack being at least a year older than the rest. Tirean took an interest in Fluttershy who was being shy and slightly reluctant to interact with him but started getting used to him as the party went on.

Sarius took an interest in Pinkie, who simply smiled and enjoyed the family’s presence at the party. Rowyn met the parents of Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy as well as Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who were having Pinkie live with them, and got along with them especially the mares. Rowyn was asked by Mayor Mare about the job she chose if she did choose one. Rowyn said she took the job of being an organizer for the town hall’s archives and Library while she gets a handle on how to use her magic. She also mentioned her kids are also taking up part-time jobs to help her out. Circe is helping Rowyn with organizing, Tirean is gonna help the Apple family while Sarius is gonna help deliver things. The adults marveled at how Rowyn’s children were willing to go to such lengths to help their mother.

Once the party was over, the triplets were friends with Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow, and Rowyn was friends with the mothers. The family returned to their current homestead and decided to turn in early for the night since tomorrow and onwards was gonna keep them busy.

As a month went by, the family managed to accumulate enough bits to pay the rent but didn’t need to as Mayor Mare said she would take care of the first. So they took the required amount of bits for the payment and put it aside for next month and with the rest they had, went shopping for some furniture to liven up the place. The Apple family was willing to give away some food they made to Tirean for his family.

Within the month, the family had gotten accustomed to their new lives and abilities. Rowyn figured out how to use her magic and quickly became a natural along with Circe. The three also learned how to use their wings after a while. Since Circe and Rowyn were organizing stuff for Town Hall and the library, they came across books on magic they both read and studied, learning from them new things about magic. Tirean was a natural at apple-bucking being a pony-dragon hybrid with incredible strength comparable to Big Mac, Applejack’s brother, Bright Mac, the father, and even AJ herself. And Sarius met a lot of the citizens of Ponyville while making deliveries. While Sarius wasn’t very social, he was able to make small talk every now and then. He would even be making deliveries with Pinkie on occasion.

When the next month’s rent was due, the bits they put aside were used but they accumulated quite a large amount of bits. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to buy a house, not yet at least. Another month went by and Rowyn was looking into the pricing of the houses available. There was one that piqued her interest, a medium-sized house with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a basement. Rowyn was interested in pursuing apothecary and alchemy considering she found books on the subjects and this house would be large enough to pursue her interest. The triplets also agreed on the house, mostly because they’ll have a room to themselves. So the plan was set for next month’s payment as they’ll have enough bits to buy the house.

As Rowyn was finishing up the papers and forms, the trio presented the bag of bits they earned to the realtor. He put everything in place and the house was theirs. They departed, spoke to the apartment manager about moving and took their things from the apartment. Once they found the house and walked in, it was exactly what Rowyn wanted. Moving things in was easy here compared to their own world, using magic made it easier to lift heavy objects. Over the span of a week, the family got enough money to get the rest of the furniture into the house as well as the necessary things for Rowyn’s pursuit of apothecary and alchemy. Finally, the house was fully furnished and set. The family went to bed early in their new home, eager to live their new lives.

Five years later, the triplets have grown with Sarius being as tall as Luna. They’ve all gotten a lot of practice with their power, magic, and wings. Rowyn especially got better with her magic, much to the point she could be considered a very powerful and skilled unicorn. That fact was proven when Princess Celestia herself paid a visit to Rowyn and personally asked her if she would be willing to watch over her pupil, Twilight Sparkle and keep tabs on her studies. Celestia told Rowyn that she would be sending Twilight to Ponyville soon and really wanted somepony she could trust to watch her. Rowyn happily accepted the proposal.

The parents of Big Mac, Applebloom and Applejack were still alive thanks to Tirean and a fast-acting Sarius. Bright Mac and Pear Butter were harvesting apple trees that were a little too close to the Everfree Forest and got ambushed by Timberwolves. Tirean and Applejack were nearby when he heard the howling, he then sensed the parents were in danger. So he told Applejack to go get his brother Sarius and galloped as fast as he could to the couple.

He made it in time to see the pair were trying to get away and before a wolf got them, Tirean charged and slammed into the side of the wolf. He then stood his ground until Sarius came, which was a good 5 to 6 minutes when Sarius dropped on a wolf, shattering it to pieces. Tirean then helped the pair to safety while Sarius handled the wolves. Once Tirean knew they were safe, he went back to help his brother and they fought back the wolves as Circe also arrived to assist just in case. The trio was forced to fight more as the wolves’ persistence proved to be far more than they thought. Eventually, the wolves gave up and retreated back into the forest. With the threat gone, the entire Apple family thanked Tirean, Sarius, and Circe for protecting Bright Mac and Pear Butter, Tirean got the most praise for saving them. The Apple family with Tirean on watch, sealed off the area to try and prevent ponies from being harmed by Timberwolves or anything from the Everfree Forest.

When Twilight and Spike arrived in Ponyville, a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party was being set up by Pinkie for her after Pinkie met her. Through her task of supervising the Summer Sun Celebration, Twilight met the siblings and the rest of the Mane Six and met their mother at the party. The family didn’t need to help against Nightmare Moon as she was soundly defeated by the Elements of Harmony.

For the next four years, Twilight learned about the Magic of Friendship along with the other Mane Six. Rowyn was doing exceptionally well with keeping tabs on Twilight. Rowyn even managed to make various concoctions of potions, remedies and alchemy based substances that either accelerated healing, minimize pain, or cure some rare illnesses. Rowyn worked rather closely with Zecora who helped with finding valuable ingredients from the Everfree Forest. Because of this achievement, Rowyn became known as “Magical Witch” and most ponies never realized she was a practiced Wicca Witch back where the family originated from.

The family helped alongside the Mane Six to defeat, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, and Starlight Glimmer. The Trusdale Siblings truly earned their place in history when Prince Charmless, aka Prince Blueblood, tried to take charge of Equestria. Through a combined effort of working together and pooling their power into Sarius, Sarius became strong enough to defeat Charmless. From that day on the trio was referred to as “The Trusdale Triplets”. The trio also discovered they could transform into dragons, which resulted in their size and appearance to change and their overall power increased almost two-fold. But the forms were hard to maintain control over, as their dragon forms proved to rely on their emotions more so than their control of Energtris. Hence why the forms were so powerful.

The Trusdales helped the Mane Six and others through tough times by being there and as a result, the family became highly regarded throughout Equestria.

Though there are problems, beings, and challenges that even the closest and arguably strongest family have trouble with. And now, they’re about to face, possibly their toughest foe yet.

Author's Note

I wanted this story to have a back story in case I either; had the urge to write shorts stories on the major events or I was requested to do so.

Chapter 1: The Book

Sounds of glass bottles rattling and wooden doors opening and closing can be heard as I frantically trotted around our home finding the last ingredient my mother needed for a remedy that cures scale rashes Spike was currently having. Though despite her clear instructions and the name of said ingredient, I couldn’t find it.

“Are you sure we have some, Mother?” I asked now unsure if she was telling the truth. “Cause I’ve looked everywhere.”

My mother, Rowyn, was too busy focusing on the small brewing stand making absolute certainty she does the mixing and measuring correctly. She has had her fair share of mishaps and screw-ups, some of which had resulted in at worse, an explosion.

“Yes, I’m sure. Have you checked the cabinets in the dining room?” She asked not looking at me, in her motherly tone I’ve grown to love and appreciate hearing.

“Yeah. I even checked the kitchen cabinets, living room cabinets and also your room, just in case.” I pointed out knowing full well she was gonna ask about the other rooms.

She didn’t reply as she stopped what she was doing to think. “That’s odd. I know a bought a fresh batch.” She said to herself. “Hmm. Did you check the refrigerator by any chance?”

I raised an eyebrow, slightly confused at her suggestion. “Nooo, Why?” Then it dawned on me. “Oh.” I trotted into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

As I thought, a bag of fresh mushroom stems from the Macintosh Hills was sitting in the door frame. I opened the bag, took one stem out, closed the bag and put it back, closed the door and walked back to my mother.

“Why were the mushroom stems in the fridge? As far as I know none of us like mushrooms.” I asked while handing the stem to my mother who used her magic to grab it while resuming her concoction mixing.

“I don’t know to be honest. I guess I just put them in there on instinct. Considering mushrooms need to be refrigerated.” She used her magic to pick up a knife and carefully cut a small piece of the stem.

She then added the stem into the mix, handed me the stem and started stirring the potion. I walked into the kitchen to put the stem back in the bag and came back. My mother was looking from her notes to the potion and nodded when she was certain it was right.

“Alright. One potion for scale rashes, all done. Here,” She handed me the potion which was a small glass bottle. “Remember to tell Twilight; only one drop per rash or three if it’s a big rash.”

“And how big would the rash need to be?” I asked knowing Twilight would ask me.

“About 4 inches in diameter.” She answered.

“Got it. So when I make the delivery, will I need to return?” I asked, curious to know.

“Nope. Unless you want to, of course.” She giggled. “Why do you- Oh.” She started asking before stopping and giving me a snarky smile. “You’re going on a date with Pinkie Pie today, aren’t you?”

I blushed a bit, which was hard to see but my mother knew me well enough to know I was. “Y-Yes. Is that a problem?” I asked already knowing the answer.

“Of course not, my son. Why would that ever be a problem? Now go and make your delivery quickly. So you can spend extra time with that energic sweetie.” My mother smiled.

She liked Pinkie since Pinkie reminded her of me when I was little. Pinkie and I have been dating for nearly a year now. My mother sees Pinkie as a real sweetheart. Very hyperactive, intrusive sometimes, but certainly a real sweetheart since she always has good intentions.

“And what will you do for the rest of the day?” I asked with general curiosity.

“Hmm.” She took a glance around the house. “Maybe I’ll clean up a bit. I believe I can find things that need to be organized.” She then looked at me. “So you have no excuse to stay here any longer or come back till tonight. Now go.” She waved her hoof to the door in a playful manner.

“Alright.” I walked to the door and opened it before turning back to my mother. “I love you, Mom,” I said sticking to my motto.

She smiled warmly. “I love you too, my son.”

With that, I closed the door behind me and left.

Rowyn took several minutes to look around and figure out what she could organize or clean. Aside from the items and ingredients, Sarius pushed around by accident, there was really nothing. That is until her hoof bumped into what felt like metal in the north-western corner of the living room. She looked down to see a trap door hatch. She forgot the house has a basement.

Curious she used her magic to try and open the hatch with little result. She tried pulling harder, even adding more magic power to it, still, it didn’t budge. She then decided to check the trap door with a spell and see if it was locked magically. There was a spell of sealing, albeit a minor one. She assumed Circe made the magical lock before she left for the crystal empire. Rowyn easily dispelled the seal and was able to easily open the door now. Being a mother, she was instinctively curious about what her daughter was trying to hide down here and so she descended the stairs.

The basement was obviously dark, thankfully it wasn’t large. With a simple light spell, the entire basement was illuminated and the sight wasn’t what she expected from her daughter who was the last one in here supposedly. Dozens of scrap notes littered the floor and the nearby table, with what looked like a really old book on it. The first thing Rowyn did was use her magic to pick up and stack the notes together then putting them on the table.

Her attention was then turned to the book. It seemed like a typical tome, mind you it was rather large for a tome. The front cover reads “Tome of Ancient Equestrian Magic with Apothecary and Alchemy”.

“That’s interesting,” Rowyn said to herself. “I never thought Circe would indulge in Ancient magic. But then again she does take after me.” She giggled.

When Rowyn said that, she couldn’t help but get curious about the contents of the book. But she looked at the thick stack of notes next to her, most likely written by her daughter. The notes certainly seemed they were important enough for Circe to write. Rowyn stood there for a couple of minutes thinking to herself. She could read the notes and possibly be warned not to read the book, but her curiosity was reaching its peak. If there’s one thing Rowyn hated most about herself it’s her uncontrollable curiosity. Since as the saying goes ‘Curiosity kills the cat’.

Not able to ignore her curiosity anymore she picked the book up with her magic. “Well, I don’t think there’s any harm in just reading the first page.”

Chapter 2: Foreboding

As I was making my way to Twilight’s castle with the bottle in my saddlebag, I couldn’t help but feel a slight chill on my body. I stopped for a minute wondering why only to chalk it up to the wind today. It was a bit colder today than usual, perhaps it was because it was the beginning of winter and there was a bit of wind blowing. I shrugged not dwelling on the feeling I had. I felt I will regret not taking the feeling seriously later.

In a couple of minutes, I reached the castle doors and without skipping a beat, I knocked loudly. It was a rather large castle so it was likely Twilight was on the far end of the castle or on the second floor and up. I among others in the circle of friends of Twilight have suggested she invest in a loud doorbell. So far, it seems Twilight hasn’t despite saying she’ll consider it.

After a minute of no one answering, I knocked again harder this time but not too hard since I could break the door with my strength. I then heard a muffled female voice yell out.

“Hold on, I’m coming now.” I started hearing a muffled sound of hooves coming to the door. The large doors were then opened by Starlight Glimmer.

“I apologize. I was reading a book Twilight gave me and couldn’t hear the knocking. So what can I-” She stopped when she looked up and saw me standing outside the door.

Her eyes widen in surprise and she was obviously nervous. I didn’t blame her since our last encounter resulted in me stopping her escape from her village with the cutie marks of the Mane Six. She tried to fight back, but I overpowered her easily. I let her go of course but I expected her to get payback on me. When I was told by Twilight that Starlight nearly changed the entire course of history as we all knew it, I was sure Starlight was not only trying to get revenge on Twilight but me as well.

Now Starlight has been taken under Twilight’s wing as a student. Twilight truly takes after Celestia. “Oh, hey Starlight. I honestly forgot your being forced to live here now and learn about Friendship.” I said not even trying to retract the brutal honesty since the entire Mane Six, my family, as well as Starlight, would agree.

Starlight sighed. “Yeah. It’s my punishment for nearly changing Equestria’s history. I will admit, I wasn’t in the right mind. I was just angry at the world I guess. Anyway, whatcha here for?” She said, trying to sound friendly. Her voice certainly made her sound friendly enough, though that goes away once you find out what she’s done.

I answered by showing her the remedy bottle I was carrying in my bag. She instantly understood. “You happen to know where Twilight is at this moment?” I asked.

“Yes. Last I saw her she was in the Map room.”

“Thanks.” I put the bottle back and walked past her, heading for the map room.

“Sarius!” Starlight called out. I stopped and turned to her, eyebrows raised. “For what it’s worth…. I’m really sorry. For what I’ve done and almost did.” She apologized.

I simply smiled at her. “Accepted. But know, just understanding you did something bad and your willing to redeem yourself is enough of an apology.” I reassured her.

“Glad to see you have no hard feelings towards me.” Starlight sighed with relief.

I shook my head. “So your reason and motive for what you did was childish, it was certainly enough for you. In the end, all you wanted was a friend. Like I said since your willing to redeem yourself is enough for me. Now I need to finish my delivery.” I turned back to the door and opened it.

Inside the room, Spike was sitting on his chair scratching the rashes he had. Twilight was fussing at him to stop it as it would make it worse. Neither of them heard the door open somehow.

“Did somepony request a rash remedy?” I asked jokingly trying to get their attention.

Twilight turned her head while Spike kept scratching harder with every second. “Oh thank Celestia.” She trotted to me and took the bottle in her magic. “Spike was driving me crazy with his scratching, despite me telling him it’s only making it worse.”

“My mother instructed only one drop per rash and three if the rash is more than 4 inches in diameter, every day until it clears up obviously. With that, my business here is done.” I turned and proceeded to walk out of the castle.

“Give my regards to your mother, Sarius,” Twilight called out to which I replied with a wave of my hoof.

When I stepped outside again, that chill I was feeling earlier returned, this time with more intensity. I knew for a fact it couldn’t have been the cold air or wind, being half-dragon my body had an internal furnace that helped keep me warm in the cold. So it had to be something else, though this time I felt a bit of unease as well. Like something wasn’t right.

I suddenly had the urge to head back home to check on my mother when I nearly bumped into Pinkie Pie. She smiled widely when she saw me.

“Sarius! How convenient is it that you and I almost bump into each other, in front of Twilight’s Castle on the day we’re having our date?” Pinkie asked not expecting an answer or maybe she was. It’s hard to tell with her sometimes.

“Hey, Pinks. It is convenient.” Despite being face to face with my marefriend, I couldn’t shake that feeling.

I looked at her, her puffy mane and tail looking like pink clouds. Her bright wide smile, crystal blue eyes, and is an absolute joy and fun to be around. Around her neck was a pendant my mother gave me a couple years ago that was passed down in our family. The pendant was created by my ancestor who befriended a female silver elder dragon and was gifted four scales. It was a silver dragon with a sapphire where its heart is, the wings were curved around the sapphire in a protective manner and it’s tail curled at the base. I gave Pinkie that pendant a month ago as a way of saying I pledge my undying love for her, now and forever. She’s been ecstatic about us as a result.

Yet that darn feeling was still there. But I already told my mother I would spend the rest of the day with Pinkie. “Sarius?”

I snapped out of my thoughts not realizing I was daydreaming. “Yeah, that’s me,” I answered sheepishly.

“Well, of course, that’s you. Who else would you be?” Pinkie giggled. “Are you feeling alright though? You seem… distracted.” She asked concerned.

I look down the road that my family’s house was on. Well, it’s obvious I’m distracted. But do I tell her I have a chilly feeling about something and cancel the date, just to check on my mother? Or do I keep trying to convince myself it’s just the cold today?

“Sarius, you’re doing it again.” Pinkie said matter-of-factly.

I looked into those perfect blue eyes again…. And smiled. “Sorry, Pinkie. I’m just enjoying the cold. Let’s go on our date.” I said, trying my absolute best to ignore this feeling that was now steadily getting stronger by the minute. I only hoped nothing was wrong and I was just getting worked up over nothing.

Pinkie and I walked into Ponyville looking forward to our time together for the most part.

Chapter 3: Reading Signs

After spending the entire day with Pinkie, we decided to call it a day. With a kiss, I bid her farewell and good night. As I figured, that feeling never left me, in fact, it was almost bone-chilling now. As I stood outside my home with Luna’s moon and stars hanging high, that feeling of foreboding was at it’s strongest. I took a deep breath and braced myself for what was to come next and opened the door.

When I walked into the main room, everything was thankfully the same way it was this morning when I left. The only difference, my mother was nowhere to be seen, at least in plain sight. The air did feel and smell different and there was a magic circle drawn out in chalk in the middle of the room.

“Mother, I’m home,” I announced hoping I would get a reply. But none came. “Mother? Are you here?” I asked again hoping for a reply and once again none came.

I shivered, not from being cold but from a natural instinct one gets when something isn’t right. I looked at the circle and examined it closely. I raised a hoof and was slowly lowering it onto one of the lines.

D̴̢̼͔̪̈̓̈́̍̂͗̔̚͜Õ̙͎͚̬̯̱̻̫͚͒͆̒͒̿̕͜ Ñ̷̨̯̞͖̱̻̪͉͆͗͐̀̔͐̾̕͟͝Ơ̢̢͍̯͍͕̮̩̈͌͗̒̓̚͘͝͡T̵̡͚̙͙͓̤͍̆̊̍̀̌͋͛́́ͅ B̸͇͇̠͙̉͒̓͛͌̆̾͘ͅR̡̢̫̦͍͇̣̝͚͊͑̀́́͂Ę͉̻̟̙͂̂̇̔̒͟͠͝A̜̲̠͎͎̘̟̤̘̋̾̿̀͛̀̔͊̾̍͜K̵̨̫̲̯̲̟͂́̽͗͠ T̝͖̥̞̖͓̣͒̔̒̏̂̆͌͟͝H͔̟̦̟̺͖͕͇̼̮̽̈͂̍̌̌̋̀̚Ẹ̴̮̰̘̓̏̈̌̐̈̋̂̓͜͜͡ C̸͎͓͙̖̖̏̎͐͐͒͒̕͜͝I͚̟͉͔͗̏̈́̈̎͌͟R̢̪̗̘̗̉̑͒̉̓̾̕͞C̷̨̬̙͉̟͖͖̦̒͛̿̊̔̊͒͞͡ͅͅL̸̡͕̥̦̩͙̼͑͛̋́͊͂̚͞͝E̋̓̓̕

An altered voice boomed to my right when my hoof was mere inches from the chalked line. The voice sounded like my mother’s. I looked in the direction of the voice and saw my mother standing there.

My eyes must have shown some ounce of terror in them since my mother spoke in her normal voice. “Please, it took me quite a while to draw it out. I apologize if I scared you.” She then walked to a podium book stand with a large book on it.

I was surprised I didn’t see the book sooner. I moved my hoof away from the markings as my mother was still watching me. “If anything you startled me. Why didn’t you answer me when I called you?” I asked my heart still beating from the startle.

“I was… occupied with something that needed my attention.” She hesitated with a small barely noticeable twitch of her left eye. “So tell me how your day with Pinkie went.” She asked seemingly trying to change the subject.

I raised an eyebrow in curiosity and concern. “Well, we hang out at the arcade and played games for an hour-” As I was talking, I was testing a thought I had. I was pretending to step on the chalk line with my hoof while watching my mother for her reaction. Mere inches away from the line, she turned her eyes to me and narrowed them. I retracted my hoof and she turned her eyes back to the book. “-then we played some party games. Turns out there was a party today. Then we had lunch.” I tried again and this time my mother turned her whole head towards me. Once again I retracted my hoof. “Then I had us walk around for a while to try and have Pinkie use some of that excesses energy she’s famous for, before relaxing on the hill overlooking Ponyville.” I finished.

“That sounds lovely.” She was not keeping her attention on the book. “Though if you don’t mind me asking… Why didn’t you want to spend the night with her?” She looked at me to wink at me, trying to imply something. Which I knew what it was.

“Mother!” I blushed from slight embarrassment but she giggled. She’s acting normal at least. “Besides, I told you I would spend the entire day with her and be back before midnight.” Though a small part of me wants to spend the night with Pinkie but not for the reason my mother was getting at.

“Oh, well that’s okay, I guess.” She sounded almost… concerned. “Just try not to mess up the circle okay.” Like that her attention was on the book again.

I took a minute to understand what has happened so far today. My mother was herself but not herself at the same time. I looked around the house to see if anything else was changed and noticed something out the corner of my eye. In the far left corner of the dining room, a trap door was wide open. I walked closer to it and realized it was the trap door to the cellar.

“Mother, why’s the trap door to the cellar open?” I asked.

She looked up at me. “Because I opened it, duh.” She said plainly.

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “Wasn’t it sealed?”

“It was. I broke the seal.” She said plainly again.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You do realize, it was Circe would put the seal on it right?”

“I do. What’s the point you’re getting at?” She asked sounding annoyed.

“The point is that she sealed it for a reason. She told me before she left for the Crystal Empire. She also asked me to make sure it was never opened. So why did you break the seal and enter the cellar?” I asked.

“Curiosity got the better of me.” She answered without even needing to think about it.

That was the answer I was expecting. “Well, I’ll check the cellar and make sure nothing else is in there.” I started walking to the opening.

N̛̲̰̫̦͖̠̅̑̑͛̓̐́̚͟͜͠O̰̰̼̪͈̐͋̾̊͋̆̀̽

I stopped in my tracks and looked at my mother. There was no mistaking it, it was her voice but something was different about it. She shook her head slightly. “No, please. There’s no need to. Nothing else is down there.” She said returning to her original tone.

It took a minute to fully compose myself just to understand what I heard. It was clear now, something definitely wasn’t right. Getting over the shock, I calmed myself. “Nothing else? That implies there was something down there, to begin with. What was down there?” I asked.

My mother eyed me for a good minute, possibly trying to come up with an answer. “Just this book.” She finally replied lifting the book on the podium up with her magic.

‘Tome of Ancient Equestrian Magic with Apothecary and Alchemy’ was shown on the front cover. I was familiar with ancient things, some were fascinating things but most had a secret or reason for being lost to history. I was now getting very suspicious of the current situation.

“Andddd that’s it?” I asked relucent to take her reply as a definite answer. I noticed her eyes twitch just slightly from annoyance or slight agitation. I was wondering if I was pushing too far with her, but I pushed that thought aside very easily. I knew my own mother like the back of my hoof. She would never get annoyed by my pestering unless it was getting repetitive or asking for something that wasn’t able to be acquired.

“Yes. That’s it. I assure you, my son. There is nothing else down there worth of value.” She answered with hesitation like she was disliking the idea of lying. I narrowed my eyes at her. She cleared her throat trying to ignore my staring. “Now I must get back to this.” She said again returning to the book.

I wasn’t going to get anywhere it seems. I turned back to the cellar and just stared at it so intensely I got lost in thought. If had kept paying attention to my mother, I would have noticed a face of annoyance and anger, but not for me.

”Okay. There has to be something I can do to get her to talk. Think Sarius, think.” I thought to myself, trying to prob really hard into my brain in an attempt to access nearly long-forgotten memories. My mind wandered from memory to memory, until I remembered a time, long ago where I couldn’t speak cause of my mental problem. And instead, I used sign language which forced my mother and siblings to learn to talk to me.

Because of my hybrid DNA, relearning sign language wasn’t hard. But would my mother remember any of it? I had to try, I needed to know what’s going on with her. I needed to help her and possibly save her. I walked over to her and sat next to her.

“Mom?” I asked, going back to my roots of being a child.

She didn’t lookup. “Hmm?” was her only reply.

“Are you alright?”

She sighed. “Physically I am alright, but mentally I-” She cut herself off. Her eyes, that were half-lidded, shot open.

I waited for half a minute. “Mentally I…”

She looked at me and smiled. “Exhausted. Mentally I’m exhausted, that’s all. But I still need to finish this.” Her smiled reversed when she finished.

I just stared at her. Taking a deep breath, I reached into the knowledge I had in sign language. My front hooves separated into claws with the thumb claws popping out and I began gesturing to my mother.

She tilted her head at me in slight confusion. I was worried this wouldn’t work because she has forgotten. But her eyes lit up from the realization and understanding of my claw movements. I decided to test her.

Do you understand me? Blink once for no, twice for yes.

I gestured.

She blinked twice. I smiled feeling at ease this will work. I continued.

I’m gonna ask you questions with blinks for answers, okay?

She nodded confirming she understood.

Are you really alright? Once for no, twice for yes.

She blinked a single time. My eyebrows raised in concern but I continued.

Does it have something to do with the book? Twice yes, once no.

She blinked twice. I looked at the book and back at her.

Is it cursed? Once for yes, twice for no.

A single blink. I feared as much.

Is there a voice forcing you to do something? Once for no, twice for yes.

I was trying to make her blink a different amount of times for fear whatever was compelling my mother would catch on.

Twice. I sat there thinking for a minute.

Is it speaking to you right now? Once for-

She nodded not letting me finish. I was taken aback by this, not only by her interrupting but by the fact whatever this voice was, is speaking to her right now.

I looked her deep into the eyes and saw she was pleading for my help. She even looked like she was on the verge of crying. It was clear to me now, she wanted me to save her.

Then an unnerving thought popped into my head.

Can it understand me?

The unmoving of her eyes and head made me nervous. After a minute of waiting, I feared the worst when my mother finally shook her head. I breathed a sigh of relief. I gestured to her one more time.

I’ve run out of questions. But be patient. I’ll get us out of this. I Pinkie promise.

I gave the famous Pinkie promise gesture. She smiled at me.

I’ll always protect and save the ones close to me.

I hugged her tightly and she returned it in kind. I broke the embrace and walked to the door. “I just remembered I forgot something, so I’ll be back okay?”

I then gestured a final time.

I’ll send a letter to my sibs to come home. We’ll figure this out together. I love you, Mom.

“I know. You always do, my son.” She smiled very warmly at me and gestured back, as best as she could with hooves.

I love you too, Sarius

I smiled, left the house and galloped to Twilight’s Castle.

Author's Note

Fun fact about me. The part about sign language is something from my personal life.

Between the ages of 3 and 4, I stopped learning new words for a while and used sign language to communicate with my family, mostly my mother. I started learning again at 7.

Chapter 4: Sibling Reunion

As I stopped at the castle doors and knocked on them loudly, my thoughts went back to my mother. I didn’t want to leave her by herself with whatever the voice belonged to. But I couldn’t go back, not before contacting my siblings. Besides, I have no idea what I’m up against here but I’m hoping Circe does to an extent. I was so lost in thought I didn’t realize Starlight opened the door and was trying to get my attention.

“Sarius?! Can you hear me?” She asked concerned.

“Y-yeah. I can now. Sorry. Got lost in my thoughts.” I replied.

“Is something wrong? Maybe I can help?” She asked somewhat hopeful.

“Yes, something is wrong and we’ll see. I may need all the help I can get. Is Twilight still up?” I asked before realizing a few seconds later, that I already knew the answer.

“Yeah. She’s in the library. I’ll join you, I’m curious about the problem your having.” She said with a slight twinkle in her eyes.

“Knock yourself off,” I replied smiling.

She tilted her head at me in confusion. “Why?” She asked dumbfounded.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. “I don’t mean it literally. I mean you’re free to do what you want.”

“Oh.”

I walked past here and into the library knowing she was right behind me. As I thought, Twilight was sitting in her spot at the Cutie Map with a book in front of her. I walked around to her and tried tapping her.

“Whatever it is you want, go get it. I’m trying to read something really important, Spike.” She said without even looking away from the book.

I looked at my hoof and it was still a claw. That’s why she mistook me for Spike. “Twilight Sparkle. I’m not Spike.” I said flatly.

“Hmm hm.” I placed my hoof on the book causing her to get annoyed. “Please don’t touch my... “ She stopped when she finally looked at me. “Oh. Evening Sarius. I uh… wasn’t expecting you this late. I apologize for my rudeness.” She said with a sheepish smile.

“Don’t worry about it. I need to know if you can send a letter to Celestia yourself.” I asked.

Twilight was taken aback by that. “I…. I believe I can. I mean it’s not like the way Spike delivers messages, I can just simply teleport the letters to Celestia. Why do you ask?”

I look at Starlight. “Can you fetch me two pieces of parchment, ink, and quill?”

“Uh, Sure.” She used her magic to grab the items from a nearby table and placed then in front of me.

Twilight looked at Starlight. “Did you have to use magic to get them, Starlight?”

Starlight shrugged. “It saves time and I didn’t really want to walk over and back again. Besides I was gonna carry them with magic anyway.” Twilight groaned.

I ignored them and began writing my letters to my respective siblings.

Dear Circe and Tirean,

I hope neither of you are really busy right now, cause I have a situation here in Ponyville. It’s our mother and somethings wrong. I was able to get little information from her. But I know she found a book in the cellar and is now being compelled by a voice to do something that involves a magic circle.

Please return as quickly as possible. Especially you Circe. Seeing as how you were the last one to use the cellar, you might know more than me or Tirean.

Love your Precious Brother,
Sarius Trusdale

I read it twice to make sure it was good enough. I then wrote on the other parchment.

Dear Celestia or Luna (depending on who gets this),

I apologize for this late-night letter, but I humbly request you to duplicate the other letter that comes next and send both to my siblings, wherever they are, please. I promise I’ll make it up to you if I need to.

Your Good Friend,
Sarius Trusdale

I checked the second letter and nodded in approval. I rolled them both up, tied them, and gave them to Twilight.

“One’s for Celestia, the other is for my sibs. Make sure Celestia gets this one first, so she can read it.” I instructed Twilight, handing her the one I knew was for Celestia.

She took it with her magic and teleported it, waited half a minute before doing the same with the other letter.

As I was about to head out after waiting for a few minutes for a possible reply, a dark blue light shone in the room as a letter appeared and fell onto the table. Twilight picked up the letter and handed it to me. “I believe it’s for you.” She said.

I opened the letter and read it.

To Sarius Trusdale,

~~We~~ I have read your letter and done the deed. Your sister is currently in the Crystal Empire while your brother is here in the Canterlot Royal Library. I am unsure what your brother is trying to find in there, but I suspect you may have an idea. I have personally given him the letter and he said he would be leaving shortly.

I do not know what the problem is, but whatever it is, know you need only send a letter to either me or my sister and we will be there to assist if you need it. Whatever the case is, I hope you and your siblings are able to work it out. I also wish you three good luck.

As for the favor, send me a letter once everything is settled. We will talk more then.

From your Princess of the Night,
Princess Luna

“So Luna got the letter huh,” I said matter-of-factly. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Celestia to be awake at this hour. But I needed one of them to help me out.”

“Why the sudden letter delivery, Sarius?” Twilight asked concerned.

I looked at Twilight and Starlight for a minute deciding whether or not I should tell them. “I need my siblings for something important,” I answered trying to convince them without arousing suspicion. “As of right now, I’m not sure if I require the aid of you or the Mane Six yet,” I added looking at Starlight.

“What’s the issue that you need your siblings for?” Starlight asked.

“I don’t want to say just yet. Mostly cause I have no knowledge of what it is myself and I don’t want to cause panic. But don’t worry, if your assistance is required I will let you all know.” I said trying to reassure the two mares. “Now how long does it take for a train to arrive at Ponyville from Canterlot and the Crystal Empire?”

"Four hours from Canterlot, a couple days from the Crystal Empire, if the tracks aren’t blocked or damaged,” Twilight answered.

“So Tirean might be coming by train while Circe is gonna fly here. I did tell them to return as quickly as possible. I’ll wait for Circe here, then we’ll go meet Tirean at the station.” I said aloud to myself. I then looked at the two mares. “So you two got any ideas to pass the time?”

After playing charades and several card games, I sensed Circe’s presence. I excused myself to go outside and direct her to the castle. I flew into the air and saw her in the distance and waved to her. Once she reached me, we slowly dropped to the ground. She was quite out of breath. Flying really fast from the Crystal Empire would do it, even for us hybrids. Though she recovered rather quickly.

“So, tell me what’s going on. Is mom alright at least?” She asked somewhat frantic.

“She’s fine for now, but I’m not sure for how long. You need to tell me what was in the cellar. Our mother said she only found the book in the cellar. Is that all you left?”

Circe shook her head. “No, the book is certainly not all I left in there. I-” She hesitated. “I left a mess in the cellar, to be honest. A mess of notes I made on the book and everything I could learn. I left in a rush. So I didn’t have time to lock the cellar properly or even clean the mess.” She said somewhat embarrassed.

Circe was always known to keep things clean, tidy and organized. She had that in common with Twilight. So hearing she left a mess behind was truly embarrassing, but I knew there had to be a good reason.

“So why did you leave in such a hurry?” I asked very curiously.

“Well, I found something that I needed to check upon. So I went to the Crystal Empire to read the books they had on it. I also asked Tirean to go to Canterlot to do some research there.” She answered.

“That explains why you both left so suddenly. Have you two really been doing research for a whole week?” I asked.

She nods. “After several days of searching, I couldn’t find anything. But I did find a single book that gives a lot of information. I’ll share when our brother’s back.” She then looked around like she was looking for something. “Where is he, by the way?”

“On a train ride back. He should be here soon.” I said listening closely for a sign of the train coming. On cue, the train whistle blew. “Right on time. Let’s go.” I said as we both galloped to the train station.

The train arrived at the station as we were going up the platform. The usual announcement was playing over the intercom; the train from Canterlot is now arriving, please keep away from the tracks, the next destination is Appleloosa. As the train slowed to a stop and the steam blew from the engine, the doors opened and various ponies walked out. The last one off was Tirean and he was happy to see us waiting for him.

He trotted to us and the three of us embraced each other in a small group hug. “Oh, it’s good to be back.” He then looks at me. “Is mother alright?”

I nodded. “Yeah. But we may need to hurry. She’s already spent all day drawing a magic circle, which I doubt took more than thirty minutes. Who knows how much longer till whatever it is she’s working on is finished.”

Circe’s face then turned grim. Tirean and I both noticed and got nervous. “Circe, is there something we should know about this?” Tirean asked. We both knew the answer.

“If she’s been at this all day… Then I’m afraid we don’t have much time left.” She then made a face I’ve never seen on her in all my life. A face of urgency and seriousness. “We need to gather the Elements of Harmony now.” She ordered nearly on the verge of shouting.

Chapter 5: Confrontation

“All right, everypony’s gathered. Now mind telling us what’s up, Circe?” I asked still frantic because of Circe’s recent behavior.

It took half an hour to gather the Mane Six, some were asleep and were not happy from being woken up. Circe was pacing back and forth behind on one side of the table, while the Mane Six sat on the other side. Tirean and I were standing to the right of the table.

“What’s up, is we have a massive problem.” Circe finally said stopping her pacing her face still grim.

“Well, can you please drop the grim look? It’s honestly freaking me out.” I shuddered a bit trying to keep it contained. “It’s a look Tirean and I have never seen before.”

“I agree with Sarius, sis. It’s certainly a… freighting sight, to be honest.” Tirean added.

I shuddered more hearing Tirean acknowledge such a thing. “If Tirean is frightened by you right now, you know you got to be scary.”

Circe finally dropped the grim look and replaced it with an apologetic look. “S-sorry. Once I heard you mention mother has been working on that circle all day, I got scared myself.”

Me and Tirean’s eyes widen. “If she got that look from being scared, imagine what it would be if we pissed her off,” I whispered to Tirean. He nodded shakingly.

“Just don’t anger me then and you may never find out,” Circe said, rolling her eyes. “Enhanced hearing remember?”

“Right.” I swallowed the lump that was currently in my throat and cleared it. “Anyway, what kind of massive problem do we have right now?” I asked already regretting asking.

“At best, a mass genocide, at worst, extinction. Depending on how quickly we handle this.”

Every pair of eyes aside from me and Circe went wide-eyed. “Well... That is pretty massive.” I said matter-of-factly.

Circe looked at me and raised an eyebrow sarcastically. “You don’t say?” She remarked sarcastically.

I narrow my eyes at her. “First the face, now sarcasm? Did I do something wrong to deserve this treatment from my own sister?” I asked not expecting an answer.

Circle merely rolled her eyes. Her horns lit up as she took out a book in her saddlebag, placed it on the table and her horns lit up more as she used a strong spell on the book. The book flew open and pages were turning quickly before a flash of blue light created a projection. The projection showed a 3D pony figure with text and numbers.

Starlight’s face lit up. “Neat. What kind of spell is that?” She asked really curious.

“It’s a medium level spell I learned while looking through other books, before finding this book on the table. This book is why it took me nearly a week to find. It was actually in the restricted section, that required the magic of the current Empress to open. I’m glad Cadence was so willing to help me with not just that but with finding the book too.”

Twilight’s eyes widen. “T-there’s a restricted section in the Crystal Empire Library?!” She asked getting overexcited to the point of breathing really hard.

“Eeyup. You got a reason to visit Cadence and Shining Armor now. Though I think Cadence might be due soon.” Circe said. “Anyway, this pony here is Koreath. I strongly believe he’s the demon that was sealed in the book.”

“Wait, a demon was sealed in a book? That’s a first.” I said sounding surprised for once.

“Indeed.” Tirean agreed. “So what’s the details about him, Circe?”

“He is responsible for the near extinction of a species. The Draconequui.” Circe answered, her grim expression returned slightly.

Fluttershy gasped at this. “H-he’s the r-reason, Discord is alone?” She asked nearly on the verge of tears.

Circe nodded sadly. “And from what I read, he came close to killing him too. But the details of the last part are vague. All it says is that he nearly wiped out the Draconequui and was then sealed away into the book.” She then turned to Tirean. “Did you learn anything from the Canterlot Library?”

Tirean shook his head. “Not much, I’m afraid. Though I will say I may have the vague details your missing. It turns out, the parents of Celestia and Luna with the Elements of Harmony sealed him into the book and Celestia and Luna protected Discord during the whole thing. Unfortunately, despite being incredibly weakened from nearly wiping out a species, sealing him was the best that could be managed.”

I rubbed my chin in thought. “That would explain how those three know each other so well.” I then looked at Fluttershy. “But that makes me wonder why he isn’t just a bit nicer to them. They helped save and protect him.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll ask him when I get the chance.”

I turned my attention back to Circe. “So we just need to best a severely weakened demon? Sounds easy enough.” I said before narrowing my eyes. “What’s the catch here, sis?”

“The catch is that he has his own realm he draws power from and the only way to open a portal to his realm is through the ritual our mother is performing. If he manages to have mother complete the ritual and escape back to his realm it’s over.”

“There it is.” I acknowledged. “So we basically have to stop the ritual so dealing with Koreath will be easier?” Circe nodded. “If he’s aware of this, he’ll have our mother create one hell of a defense to ensure the ritual isn’t interrupted. Which will mostly be magic defenses.”

“Do you have a plan, Sister?” Tirean asked.

“I do. It’s not the best but with improvisation, it’ll work. Starlight, Twilight, and Rarity.” The mentioned three mares looked at Circe. “The four of us are gonna focus our efforts on breaking the magical defenses together. If it goes well, it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. After that, it’s just a matter of stopping the ritual. Koreath himself may interfere so we need to be ready for that and he will not be easy to take down.”

“And how can we do that?” Twilight asked.

“The Elements of Harmony and the Trusdale Triplets together,” I stated.

“But that’s impossible. The Elements were returned to the Tree of Harmony to help keep the Everfree Forest in check. We can’t use them. And the ‘Rainbow Power’ we used to defeat Tirek, I’m not entirely sure how we can access it again. So again, how?” Twilight asked frantic and unsure about this plan.

I simply shook my head in disappointment. “You still don’t get it? Twilight, the Elements you’re talking about are just physical conductors for you all. They only help channel and focus your power of Harmony. The real power is inside each of you.” I started walking past each of the Mane Six. “Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic, and Kindness. The six Elements of Harmony. You six represent those Elements and therefore are the Elements themselves. You don’t need the conductors to use that power and the Rainbow Power is just your full Harmonic power released when you become one with the elements you represent.”

I stopped next to Circe. “You girls don’t need the gems that you claim are the Elements of Harmony. You just need to remember the Elements are the aspects you represent. Become one with those aspects and you’ll be able to use the full power of Harmony. Nothing else to it.”

“But will it be enough? This Koreath fellow sounds like he’s on a different level than Tirek was.” Rarity asked.

“No, unfortunately. It won’t be.” Tirean stated. “But using the three of us as amplifiers should be enough. Remember, when Tirek got the magic from the three of us, he became strong enough to oppose the Rainbow Power. So when it seemed like it wasn’t enough, the Tree of Harmony made the three of us act as amplifiers for you.”

“So together, we can defeat this demon or at the very least seal him away again,” I concluded.

“That’s the plan. Now is everypony ready? We don’t have much time to think about this. So if we want to stop his resurrection, we need to act now.” Circe declared.

Twilight looked to her friends, who all had mixed expressions among them. But they all nodded in agreement. “We’re ready.”

“Good, then it’s time to exorcise this demon.”

After a couple of minutes of galloping to my home, we arrived. Luna’s moon was slowly reaching the horizon. Circe stepped forward, charged up her horn and fired a magic bolt. It hit a large magic barrier that was formed around the house.

“As I thought. Ready, girls?” Circe asked not expecting an answer.

Rarity, Starlight, and Twilight stepped forward and nodded. All four mares charged up their horns creating a mixture glow of purple and blue. They fired their magic at the barrier, aiming for one point as the beams impacted together against the barrier creating a bright white light. Rarity was struggling a bit to match the magic output of the other three.

After a while, the barrier began cracking and breaking from the combined magic of the four unicorns. It was obvious to tell that they were nearing their limits, as they started sweating and panting hard. Thankfully it didn’t take much longer for the barrier to the house to be destroyed as it shattered into pieces of magical residue. The magic of the unicorns faded as they catch their breath.

“Alright. Be on guard everypony. We don’t know what to expect once we enter. So stay close to me and my siblings.” I warned.

All of us then entered the home together, ready for anything. Once we got inside, Rowyn was chanting in a foreign language. The circle was now littered with various items that were being used in the ritual.

“So I’m going to assume this ritual is hard to do. Seeing as you need to learn the chant and find the required items to do it.” I said asking Circe.

“Yup. It helps explain why mother has been at this all day. That chant is not easy to memorize and items are rare themselves.” She answered. “We just need to either remove one of the items or break the circle.”

All of us were about to do that until a dark heavy pressure made us stop that was followed shortly after by a deep otherworldly voice.

”I will not allow that!”

A cloud of black smoke appeared over Rowyn and started glowing dangerously red. Circe, Tirean and I had little time to jump in front of the Mane Six and Starlight and combine our energies to create the most powerful Energtris Shield we could create, as a wave of dark powerful magic engulfed us.

The entire front side of the house was destroyed in an instant as we were pushed back outside several yards away. The grass and trees in a wide cone from the house were withered to nothing, leaving what looked like a black stain on the earth. Sounds of cracking filled me with a small amount of fear, as what was creating the sound was the shield my siblings and I created.

The blast was so powerful it severely cracked and damaged the shield, nearly breaking it entirely. Half of my energy supply was also drained due to using my energy to empower the shield. The same could be said for my siblings.

“Hey Circe, you said this guy was severely weakened before he got sealed, right?” I asked still bewildered.

She nodded. “Unless he was able to regain some of his power while sealed, he should be as strong as he was when he was sealed.” She stated, filling me with dread.

“Heh heh heh. We are way out of our leagues right now.” I laughed nervously to myself.

The shield was dropped, as I looked behind me to check if the others were alive at least. Thankfully they were, but they were very rattled from fear. I turned my attention back to the house, debris and a cloud of dust covered the now open entrance. A black smog then stepped forward through it, but on closer examination, it was a stallion that had black smog being emitted from the hooves and replacing the mane and tail. His eyes were blood red, his body was dark gray with a black magic circle surrounded by a red sun-like object for a cutie mark. He also had wings and a horn.

The way his mane and tail flowed, it reminded me of Nightmare Moon. I could feel his power and it was massive. So much so I was feeling intimidated but the years of training my siblings and I went through helped us keep our cool, stay calm in the midst of battle, and be in full control of our emotions. I was scared and so were my siblings, but we weren’t about to let him figure it out.

”Lesser beings should know their place.” He spoke in the same otherworldly tone from earlier. ”None of you can hold a candle to the amount of power I possess as of right now.”

I stamped my hoof in the ground hard to help the Mane Six and Starlight get over their fear and to also tell Koreath I wasn’t backing down, which worked for the mares behind me. “You used my mother like a puppet to bring yourself back and you’re threatening the existence of not only my home but the ponies and beings who are my friends and family. My siblings and I are no mere lesser beings and neither are the mares behind me.”

Circe and Tirean also stepped forward. “Don’t get too comfortable being free, Koreath. Cause we’re about to send you back to your imprisonment or better yet to Tartarus!” Circe declared.

”Death it is then. For all of you!” His horn began charging up emitting a red aura as well as a black smoke surrounding it.

A black beam was then fired at us, which my siblings and I blocked with another shield. Thankfully the beam wasn’t as powerful as the blast, but with our energy supplies diminished heavily we couldn’t keep blocking it.

“Girls, we need you! Remember; you are the Elements themselves! Become one with the aspects and never forget we’re all in this together!” I shouted trying to snap the Mane Six out of the grip of fear they felt.

Twilight managed to get a hold of herself. “He’s right. We need to believe in ourselves. We were able to defeat foes before cause we worked together. This shouldn’t be any different.” She said trying to sound inspiring. Unbeknownst to everypony present, Twilight’s cutie mark began glowing.

The rest of the Mane Six were starting to get over their fear and they all acknowledged Twilight’s words. “Yeah, there’s nothing we can’t do if we team up and stick together!” Rainbow shouted, full of courage. Her cutie mark was glowing now.

“Right. All we’ll need is each other and the friends we all made.” Fluttershy spoke feeling fully confident for the first time in her life. Another cutie mark was glowing.

“I won’t lie ya’ll. I am scared right now, but as long as we’re all together I have nothing to fear.” Applejack spoke saying the honest truth. Four cutie marks.

“We’re all scared, darling and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m willing to lead my power and aid to my friends no matter what.” Rarity said with a flick of her mane, acting like herself. Just one more.

“Let’s do it then. Let’s beat this badie so we can have another day to party, laugh, cry, and be happy to have.” Pinkie said bouncing with the most beautiful smile while also giggling. The cutie marks of the Mane Six were now glowing.

The glow of their cutie marks then covered their bodies until they were engulfed in spheres, each being the same color of the ponies inside. One by one, the Mane Six emerged from them in their Rainbow Power form. The release of Harmonic energy created a pulse that dispersed the black beam Koreath fired and causing him to stumble back a step. He didn’t seem fazed by this, unfortunately.

”Do you honestly expect you can defeat me with the Elements of Harmony?” He then made a deep bellowed laugh. ”They are too weak to defeat me.”

“Maybe, but you’re not just dealing with the Elements of Harmony.” My siblings and I started flying up into the air and positioned ourselves in a triangle pattern while the Mane Six floated up to our level and formed a circle. “You’re also dealing with the Trusdale Triplets.” I declared with pride.

“We know for a fact, neither us or the Mane Six alone could defeat you,” Circe added.

“But altogether, we have a chance.” Tirean finished.

The harmonic energy and power of the Mane Six created an orb from which six beams of magic were attached to me and my siblings. Fluttershy and Twilight created a beam to Circe, Rarity, and Applejack to Tirean, while Rainbow and Pinkie were attached to me. The three of us started glowing with magic and energy. Koreath was now getting nervous.

My siblings and I then focused all that power and magic as well as a bit of our own power into one hoof and shot a beam at a single point where they collided with each other, forming another orb of magic that shot a large white beam with rainbow streaks at Koreath. He responded with a shield of his own blocking the attack. But like with us, his shield was cracking from the sheer raw harmonic power.

I noticed he was stuck in place. “Starlight! Get in the house and break the circle! We got this!” I shouted over the hum and sound of the power struggle. She nodded barely hearing me and running into the house.

Starlight walked in the room and heard Rowyn still chanting. She was a bit happy they still have time but knew breaking the circle couldn’t have been this easy. She aimed for the closest object and shot a bolt of magic at it, only to hit another magic barrier.

“I thought as much.” She said to herself.

The barrier seemed basic, only to be enough to buy a small amount of time. Starlight gathered magic in her horn and shot the barrier. After a couple of seconds, she shattered it. She then acted quickly to break the circle but stopped when something didn’t feel right or more precisely, sound right.

Silence.

She looked at Rowyn, who was not chanting anymore. Starlight’s eyes widen. She quickly tried to break the circle or destroy one of the objects. But it was too late.

A loud unnerving crack was heard that Starlight swore could be heard from Canterlot. She looked really close to the middle of the circle. Up a couple feet in the air, was a large crack.

Another crack was heard as it expanded further apart. And another causing the crack to be as long as the circle which took up half the room. And with an ear bursting shatter that definitely could be heard in Canterlot, the crack opened wide revealing a portal.

Upon opening, the portal released a large pulse of power and energy which disintegrated all the harmonic magic and energy outside. Starlight looked out the opening in the house to see that all the power and magic from the Elements and Triplets were just gone.

Koreath dropped his heavily damaged shield, turned around and smiled widely upon seeing the portal to his realm.

Chapter 6: Making the Impossible Possible

Silence filled the town and scene when the portal opened. I looked at Starlight who looked down in shame like she failed. Me, my siblings and the Mane Six lowered to the ground as Koreath turned to the portal.

”It’s time.” He started walking to the portal.

I charged forward on instinct, hearing everypony tell me to stop. But I didn’t listen, I only listened to the voice inside that said ‘I needed to stop him no matter what’. I jumped and dropped on him trying to punch him.

He chuckled and moved his head to the side, causing my hoof to impact the ground creating a small hole. He eyed me as I turned 90 degrees right to buck him square in the jaw. He ducked his head and turned his horn to me to stab me in my lower body. I twisted my body so his horn barely passes my body as I delivered a kick to his head with my left back leg. I felt the impact hit him as he grunted a bit. I quickly dropped my leg so I can turn and punch him in the chest with my front right hoof. Another hit as I supposedly knocked the wind out of him. I didn’t hesitate as I began a combo of punches and kicks. Most of which hit him but the last few blows missed him as he got his senses back.

Before he could counter, he was forced to dodge a bolt of magic from Starlight. He turned to her but was again forced to dodge incoming blows and magic blasts from my siblings and the Mane Six. It wasn’t long before we were all on him trying to pin him down and land as many blows as possible.

“That’s it! Don’t give him a second to himself! Keep him on the defensive!” I ordered. Everypony nodded.

The bout went on for a couple of minutes, everypony was able to get at least one hit on him. I noticed that the damages he sustained quickly vanished. He was visibly getting angry with each passing second, as we kept on him like flies to a carcass and he was barely able to counter any of us. Despite feeling otherwise, I knew deep down this wasn’t gonna work for long and unfortunately, I was proven right as Koreath’s anger reached its limit.

”E̷̛̜͔̯͕͎̭̯͚̯̎̀͗̀͛̓͑̾́͊̍̈Ǹ̷̛͎̮͔̞̯͈̋̈́͌̒̂͛͠Ơ̸̠͙̠̦͈̪̲͗Ų̶̢̗̠͓͚͔͆̐̃̃̇̓̑̄͘͘̕͠Ģ̷̡̭͙̺͈̙͇̫̀͜H̶͎̯̯̳̎͗̊͒̉̚͝!!” He shouted in an ungodly tone that was all too familiar.

He then let loose a pulse of magic that pushed us all away. It was even powerful enough to knock the Rainbow Power out of the Mane Six. To say the least, the pain almost overwhelmed me. The same was said for everypony else as we were all on the ground, grunting and groaning. Koreath then took his sweet time walking to the portal.

I looked in the house and saw my mother cowering a bit, but mostly concerned for her children. Koreath walked past her and just looked at the portal.

”Ah. How long has it been since I’ve been in my realm?” He sighed with a hint of sadness. ”Too long.” He then looked to my mother and smiled darkly.

I didn’t like his smile as I tried my hardest to get up, but the near overwhelming pain was preventing me. ”Damnit body. My mother is in danger and could die! Get up!” My legs struggled to pick me up off the ground. I gritted my teeth in anger as they were slowly turning sharp. ”GET UP, TRUSDALE!!!” With every ounce of energy, courage, power, and willpower I could muster, I finally stood up.

”You were quite helpful, Rowyn. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to look forward to coming back with all my power returned to me. But you no longer are of use.” His horn began glowing red.

Fighting through the pain, my eye pupils slit and I moved faster than I ever have before. I barely got in between Koreath and my mother before his horn was firing off a beam that I redirected by grabbing his head and forcing him to look up. The beam shot through the roof and was cut off not two seconds later.

Koreath jumped back a couple of feet, surprised at my display. He noticed my pony features becoming more draconic. ”That proves it. You’re no normal pony. But don’t think that-”

He was cut off by a purple beam of magic piercing his chest and causing him pain. I looked over my left shoulder to see my mother’s horn glowing and smiling. I looked back at Koreath to notice the wound she created wasn’t healing. He was shocked at this then he became angrier than I thought possible as he stared at me and my mother with a glare that could melt steel.

”You will pay for this!” Without another word he galloped into the portal quickly.

Circe and Tirean came into the house just in time to see Koreath leave. “We’re too late. There’s no stopping him now that he’s in his realm.” Circe said sounding defeated.

“Don’t be silly, honey.” The three of us looked at our mother. “That spell I hit him with, was a Mortalizing spell that was in that book. He’s normally immortal and can’t be harmed, but now you all have a chance to finish him.” She then nodded to the portal. “Go do your thing, my lovable children. You only got an hour before the spell wears off.”

The three of us looked at each other and nodded as we all jumped into the portal after Koreath.

We landed on a solid surface from what it seemed. The realm was almost completely dark with only a few light sources. One of which was the portal behind us. We trotted forward through the shadows not wanting to waste any time.

After a minute of trotting, we found Koreath just standing there not having a care in the world knowing his power was being restored. I could tell there was a big difference from earlier already and it was steadily rising with each second.

Koreath had his eyes closed but could still sense us. ”So, you three followed me in here. Quite foolish of you.”. When he spoke this time his voice sounded like it came from everywhere. As if the entire realm was speaking with him. ”Despite the spell your mother cast on me, you still don’t have a chance. So why come anyway?”

“Simple, we don’t like it when ponies like you try to kill our mother and friends.” I retorted.

“We also can’t just let you get away with bringing a species to near extinction,” Tirean added.

“And you present a huge problem for every living thing. Not just in Equestria.” Circe finished before taking a look around. “I take it with this realm you’re able to enter other universes outside of our own, correct?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow.

”Well now. You’re quite smart and perspective for a mortal. Yes, you are correct.” He slowly opened his eyes and the realm itself seemed to light up open more with his eyes opening. The ground we were standing on seemed like a mountain floating over a bottomless abyss. A red light could be seen behind Koreath far in the distance.

”Nothing is out of my reach. Once my power returns to its full capacity, I will finish what I started with the Draconequui, then move on to other realms and universes and wipe life out from them as well.” He started stepping forward very slowly.

”But first, I will deal with you three. The only beings aside from the alicorn parents to stand in my way. I’ll make an example of you three to show what happens when you stand in my way.” The red light behind Koreath was growing larger as the entire realm was being covered with a red hue. My siblings and I took defensive postures.

”Now, it’s time I prepare a section of my realm to be your Eternal tombs! Make this enjoyable for me as you struggle, and come to your deaths!” His eyes glowed red as his shadowy body grew larger and the shadow parts extended.

I let out a loud dragon roar as I charged forward, followed closely by my siblings. I move so fast Koreath barely has time to register me before I uppercut him, lifting him into the air. Tirean hopped over me to punch him two times and delivered an uppercut kick him higher into the air. Circe was already in mid-flight when she landed a six-hit combo on Koreath and finishing it with a powerful kick to his gut. The kick sent him back to the ground, trying to catch his breath. I got in his face and didn’t give him a second to react as I landed my own combo that was eight hits. I ended the combo with a strong buck to his face setting him up for Tirean, who was finished pulling pieces of the mountain out to coat his hooves in stone. He charged in and landed another eight-hit combo, two from each hoove, causing the stone shells to shatter from the force and strength of his attacks.

Circe was flying back a couple of feet during this and charged forward, using her control over the wind to increase her speed and the force of the impact. She rammed Koreath with her antler horns as they started to glow, some of the sharper points pierced his shadowy hide causing him to bleed which was black. Circe landed on the ground as Tirean and I stood next to her, our maws were lit by the blue embers growing in our throats. At the same time, we let loose a blue flame that combined into one as it engulfed Koreath. His roar of agony was a clear sign he was being injured.

The flames died down, but Koreath was nowhere to be seen. Out of nowhere, Circe was hit then Tirean and finally me, all within a couple of seconds. We were quickly hit with a barrage of attacks from the shadows themselves. Before we even realized it we were surrounded by a sphere of shadow as Koreath then came at us with fangs bared, eyes glowing and screaming with the sound of a thousand tortured souls. We were then assaulted by multiple bites and scratches as our coats showed the damages, blood slowly being drawn.

He tried for another charge but I jumped at him with my hoof claws extended, grabbing him by the face and rushing forward. With all my speed and strength I slammed his head against a stone wall, demolishing the entire wall to rumble. Still holding onto him by his head, I transferred the momentum that was still there by leaping into the air, spinning around 180 degrees and slamming him into the ground, creating a small crater.

He turned into a shadow, got out of my grip and appeared behind me ready to strike. Before he could Tirean swung down a large stone pillar at Koreath and connected. I jumped out of the way quickly as Koreath was hit into the ground again by the pillar. The pillar was destroyed as Koreth rose more furious than ever. He didn’t have much time to retaliate as Circe came flying straight down on Koreath feet first. The two went straight through the mountain creating a giant hole.

Tirean and I took flight and quickly followed. Circe was quick to fly away from Koreath as he tried shooting her with magic. I came flying in quickly punching him across the face, Tirean followed suit as well as Circe. We kept this tempo of flying in, attacking, and retreating fast for a good minute. The three of us then flew in together as we each delivered a strike to Koreath sending him flying backward.

I could tell while we were doing damage and getting somewhere, but Koreath would just easily overpower us eventually. I knew we had to step up our game if we wanted to end him and having only an hour means we can’t afford to hold anything back. I looked to my siblings who nodded at me like they knew what I was thinking. I smiled and along with them, transformed into our dragon forms.

I stayed the same only having larger wings and scales replace the fur and a leathery membrane replace feathers. Circe lost her wings and her entire body grew slightly longer and slimmer as well as having her hair grow out more. She resembled an eastern-style dragon. Tirean’s wings grew claws on the joints, his body became bulkier and more muscular. He and I resembled western-style dragons.

Once the transformation was complete, we each roared creating an echo in the realm. Circe quickly dashed away becoming virtually unseeable, as Tirean and I charged straight at Koreath who was floating several yards away from us. His horn lit up as he fired not only bolts and blasts of magic but the shadows of the realm lunged forward to attack us.

Tirean powered through them all while I majestically dodged and avoided each projectile. Tirean and I created a small orb of energy in our palms, combined them and fired it at Koreath. The orb quickly became larger than the two of us. Koreath retaliated with a powerful magic blast that collided with the energy orb and causing both to explode after a couple of seconds.

The ensuing smoke from the explosion was enough for me and Tirean to fly to the opposite sides of Koreath at blinding speed without being noticed. He barely registered us as we came at him from both sides. He didn’t have time to do anything either as Circe, almost appearing out of thin air, kicked Koreath on the back of the head. Tirean and I met his stomach and chest with a strong and fast uppercut causing a lot of blood to sprout out of his mouth.

Tirean and I then kicked him in the face at the same time. Circe’s body began glowing blue with energy as she charged forward and slammed into Koreath. She then spun around horizontally and vertically quickly and released the energy she gathered from her tail into an energy cross that continued to push and damage Koreath. Tirean meanwhile was gathering energy in his claws as he charged forward and he began punching and kicking Koreath with his energy-infused limbs. He then transferred all that energy into his wing claws and with two final punches, cracked Koreath’s skull and chest.

While Koreath was reeling in pain, I gathered my energy and focused it around my body. I flew back a couple of yards back to pick up speed as the energy around me created a barrier. As I got closer to Koreath, I began spinning my body rapidly causing the energy around me to turn into a drill. When I made contact with Koreath, my body pushed against his as the energy drill bore and tore into him. After half a minute of this, I stopped and released all that energy in a pulse, pushing away Koreath.

Koreath recovered and was angrier than ever. He made an ungodly roar that shook the entire realm and caused my blood to nearly freeze over. He released a really strong wave of power that pushed us back to the portal and forcing us to grab onto the mountain to prevent ourselves from flying through the portal. Koreath wasn’t letting up on the assault though, it was clear he wanted to get us out.

We were barely hanging on as the sheer force of his power was enough to push us back despite clutching onto the solid rock. Six claw trails were proof that we were holding on but still being pushed back and Koreath showed no signs of stopping this. I looked at my siblings, trying to think of a solution out of this. Circe then looked me unblinkingly in the eyes for a couple of seconds and smiled.

She then turned to Tirean as they looked at each other and nodded. They were agreeing to something. Circe then turned back to me. “I’m sorry bro. But if we are to have any chance of defeating him once and for all, Tirean and I have to give our energy to you and trust you can end this yourself.”

She and Tirean then started climbing to me since they were being pressed against the mountain. They both reached a claw out to my forearms and with a tingling sensation, they poured their remaining energy and power into me. As they retracted their claws, Tirean slammed his tail down and created a dome of earth around me to keep me from being pushed out of the portal.

“Win this for everypony Bro. We’re putting our trust in you.” Tirean managed to say before I heard their claws losing grip on the stone. The howl of the unnatural wind was all I heard before it slowly died down and the dome encasing me crumbled away.

I looked around and my suspicions were confirmed when I couldn’t find my siblings. They were thrown back into the portal. To my shock, the portal was also gone now. I was trapped in here with Koreath.

”So you’re still here it seems.” His words bounced and sounded across the void. ”It doesn’t matter. I’ll just take my sweet time killing you before throwing your corpse to your family.”

Koreath’s power was rising to dangerous levels. I was doubting the power and energy my siblings gave me was enough to at least even things out.

I felt weak compared to Koreath and the faith and trust my siblings and the others put on me felt wasted. In my mind, a voice was saying I had no chance to destroy Koreath much least beat him and I was beginning to believe it.

Don’t give up yet

Something spoke in my mind. No, it sounded like it was coming from my soul.

It’s not like a Trusdale to just give up

“But what chance do I have? As I am now, I can’t beat him.” I asked starting to feel a little crazy talking to a voice inside me.

Don’t be silly. You have all the power you’ll need. You just gotta ask for it from the bottom of your heart

“Ask for power from my heart?” I placed a claw on my chest. “I can’t be that simple…. Can it?”

It is. I know you Sarius Trusdale. You prefer to do things alone which makes it hard for you to ask for help when you need it. So it’s as simple as asking for help

“How do you know me?”

Simple, while you’re not a Keeper of Balance in this reality. You still have the potential to be one. The Balance will aid you if you just ask

I was hesitating about this. Part of me was saying it isn’t possible, but the other was telling me if a voice from in my soul, which is hard to believe in itself, that it’s possible then it should be. I had no options or means of winning this battle alone anyway. Might as well go for broke.

“Balance, please grant me the power I need to destroy Koreath and protect not only my friends and family but all of life. If I don’t stop him here, he’ll wipe out all life. Please, I beg of you, help me protect everyone.” I pleaded.

After a minute of waiting, I felt like it wasn’t working and begun fearing the worst.

Suddenly I felt a huge surge of power flood through my entire body as I was engulfed in pure light. The amount of power and energy I felt seemed like there was a blockade that just got broken down with an entire ocean waiting to flow freely. I wasn’t even paying attention to my body as it transformed. The light that engulfed me shone through the entire realm as it in its entirety was blinded by it. The light slowly died down to reveal me in an almost indescribable form.

My usual red and silver underbelly was replaced by thick black and silver scales that seemed like literal armor. I was standing on my hind legs with no problems at all. My claws and teeth were longer and sharper than ever. I felt my head and realized I grew three horns, one jolted off my forehead several inches and the other two sprouted from behind my ears and the tips were angled 90 degrees towards the back. I felt my back and noticed the back spikes grew out a bit and there was a small set of wings attached to my hips. The hard part to describe were my wings. The wing membrane was gone and just attached spike spires remained. When I opened them, blue energy streams flowed from between the spires. A wheel of black and gold spikes circled just above my back. My tail remained the same.

My body was shining brightly as the shadows and darkness of the realm were forced to retreat to the dark corners they originated from. I looked over my body completely astonished by my new look. I could feel an immense power flowing in me and somehow I felt my friends, family, and people I never met cheering and encouraging me to fight to the end. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath to gather my thoughts and calm my emotions. I opened my eyes as the pupils slit and glowed blue.

“Let’s finish this, Koreath!” I shouted at a volume that would make the Royal Canterlot voice sound normal by comparison.

I pressed my hind legs against the stone floor and with a strong push, took off into the air at blinding speeds. My speed caught me by surprise as I was much faster than before, but I was quick to adjust to it. Koreath roared as his horn lit up and he completely transformed into a shadow as he launched a massive amount of spells, attacks, and projectiles at me. There were so many it was hard to dodge them all, but the floating back spikes moved on their own and neutralized anything that got close to me using energy or just slashing them.

I had no idea how those spikes were moving on their own, maybe they acted on my will or instinct. Regardless, I pushed on determined to defeat Koreath. When I reached him, the intense light my body was emitting forced Koreath back to his physical form as well as blinding him, I punched him noticing how much harder I was hitting him. I quickly followed up with a 7-hit combo and doing an additional 5 hits from the spikes swinging at him and piercing his shadowy form.

On instinct, my limbs, the spikes, and my tail started glowing with light as I jumped back in Koreath’s face landing a long 20-hit combo and finishing the combo with a blast of light from the spikes, which rotated together to shoot the blast from the middle. His body showed clear signs of damage as multiple wounds and openings were gushing with his black blood.

“This is….. Impossible. How could a mortal like you possess such power?” His otherworldly demon tone was lost as he seemed to shake with fear for possibly the first time.

“I’m not a mortal, I happen to have DNA of a dragon god in my veins. I was surprised by this power myself. I won’t lie when I say it’s not entirely mine to call.” I took a few seconds to take in my new form and power again. It wasn’t mine but it somehow felt like it belonged to me. “Perhaps this power belongs to a me that exists in another reality. Whatever the case, I’m gonna make good use of this power and send you to Tartarus where you truly belong.”

My body began to glow blue and white as I felt the light and energy of my newfound power combine. Koreath’s face showed pure anger and hate, but the feeling of fear was still present.

”Not if I send you to Heaven first!”

He roared as his body glowed red and black, almost like the opposite of me. He then let loose a powerful wave blast filled with demon magic and darkness at me at point-blank range. I, however, didn’t make any attempt to get out of the way as a shield of light appeared out of thin air. I never felt my life was in danger and somehow knew whatever power I have would protect and aid me regardless of my commands.

I charged forward, forcing my way through the wave of magic and darkness to its source and with all my strength I punched Koreath square in the chest. Black blood gushed out of his mouth as the wind was knocked out of him. This caused the wave he was firing to dissipate. I only realized now that the circle of spikes was creating an energy orb at the tips of the spikes. I moved back a foot and began charging my energy in my body as I instinctively said a line.

”Limit Breaker!”

The spikes floated in front of me as if I was to aim for the orb they were creating. The energy in my body welled up to the surface as a blue light was shining from my throat. A loud hum and sounds of crackling energy was heard.

”ENERGTRIS OMNI-FLARE!!!!”

I shot a beam of pure energy straight at the orb and the combined energies created a massive beam of energy that completely engulfed Koreath. A scream of pure pain, agony and fear were heard from Koreath as for the first time in his entire life, he felt himself dying. The light surrounding my body started growing larger until the entire realm was brightened by the light. Koreath’s presence was slowly disappearing as his very being was being disintegrated until there was nothing left of him.

A blinding flash of light shone through the entire realm until all that was seen was pure light.

That’s more like it, Sarius. You would make a fine Keeper. I would know. After all, I am you in another reality. One who is the Keeper.

Never forget Trusdales have the power to make the impossible possible

Epilogue

I had no idea how long I was out for, but when I opened my eyes I was in a hospital bed My siblings were sitting in the chairs in the room. Circe noticed me waking up and trotted right to my side.

“Sarius. How are you feeling?”

I rubbed my head with my hoof. Somehow I wasn’t shocked me and my siblings returned to our pony forms. My head was slightly spinning, possibly from exhaustion.

“I’m fine for the most part. Though I feel a little light-headed.”

“That’s good to hear, Brother. When you came out of the portal, you were passed out. I’m honestly surprised you managed to make it out despite being unconscious.”

I could barely recall what happened at first but after a couple of minutes, it was all coming back to me. I used every bit of my energy and power to destroy Koreath and his realm. As for how I made it out of the realm through the portal, I must have been lucky. Or maybe the voice I heard helped me escape.

“At least you’re okay.” Circe smiled as the concern and worry drained from her. “So is Koreath gone for good?”

I smiled back. “Nothing left of him. Not even his own realm survived.”

Circe and Tirean eyes widen in shock as if they didn’t expect me to pull it off. I don’t blame them, I can hardly believe it myself and I was the one who did it. Though destroying his realm was a definite surprise since I knew I was strong enough to destroy Koreath.

“You got that much power from us?” Circe asked bewildered.

“Not really. I was somehow able to call upon more power from something called the Balance, thanks to a Keeper telling me I could.” I looked at Circe and Tirean and they gave me slightly confused, suspicious looks. “Trust me, I know how far-fetched it sounds. But it’s true. Even with the boost you two gave me, it wasn’t close to enough. It was a crazy experience for me.”

A gentle knock was heard on the door. “Come in,” Tirean announced.

The door opened and a white mare with a pink mane bun and tail with a red cross cutie on her flank walked in. Nurse Redheart.

“Oh, Sarius. You’re awake I see.” I nodded. “That’s good.”

She walked over to me and started checking my vitals, nodding every few seconds. “Everything checks out. You’re good as new again.” She unhooked the IV drip.

“How long was I out this time, doc?” I asked slightly curious.

“Only a few hours. Surprisingly, you weren’t half as injured as your siblings said you were though. Anyway, you’re free to go, Mr. Trusdale.” Redheart said as she began leaving.

I got off the bed and my siblings and I walked out of the hospital to find the entire Mane Six, Starlight, Spike, and our mother waiting in the lobby. Pinkie instantly jumped out of her chair, bounced over to me and embraced me in a tight hug.

“I’m so happy you’re alright my sugar-covered drake.” She then kissed me on the cheek.

“I was until you crushed me with your hug.” I teased. She giggled. I looked over at my mother. “So any side effects from being possessed?”

She shook her head. “Not from what Twilight or Starlight could tell. A little therapy is all I’ll need.”

She stepped forward and hugged me closely. “I’m sorry I worried you, my little brat. Curiosity got the best of this cat.” She smiled and laughed.

“I know. All that matters is that you are still breathing.” The hug was broken. “And thanks, Mother. Without your spell, I wouldn’t have been able to vanquish him.”

“It’s the least I could do for bringing him back.”

I looked around at the Mane Six and Starlight. It then suddenly hit me as I recalled the finishing blow. During the finisher, it was subtle and hard to notice, a trace of Harmonic energy and Starlight’s magic was there. Not only did my family and the Keeper help me, but the Mane Six and Starlight did as well.

I smiled. “I just remembered, I have you seven to thank as well. We all pitched in and defeated him, together.”

Everypony smiled at me. We then left the Hosptial as a group.

A few days passed, as our house that was heavily damaged was repaired. Once the townsfolks came out and saw our house, they would ask what happened. We would tell them one of my mother’s rituals went badly, which wasn’t a total lie. We all agreed that nopony but the princesses would hear about the struggle against Koreath. It was best if the inhabitants of Equestria didn’t learn they came close to being wiped out and only an unimaginable miracle saved them.

Said miracle was still quite a mystery for me. The power felt so familiar like it was my own, but it wasn’t and when I was thinking about it, the voice sounded familiar as well. I wondered if I would get that power again, but I doubted it. It felt like a one-time thing, but the voice said if I needed help all I had to do was ask for it. So maybe one day it’ll happen again.

My family, the Mane Six, Starlight, and Spike along with some helpful townsfolk repaired the damage and was finished before any of us knew it. All in two days so we decided to rest and reflect on the events for a while. A couple of days later, I received a letter from the princesses.

Dear Sarius Trusdale,

We have decided it is time to have you repay the favor you owe us. Come to Canterlot Castle as soon as you can. We will discuss more then.

From the Princesses of the Sun and Moon,
Luna and Celestia

With that, I departed for Canterlot.

I arrived at the main hall as the two sisters were waiting for me. The entire hall was clear of guards. I stopped at the stairs.

“Alright, I’m here. Tell me what I need to do.” I said a little unintentionally demanding.

Celestia giggled while Luna shook her head. “My, he sure likes to get to the point, doesn’t he, Luna?”

“Indeed.” They both walked towards me, making me quite nervous. “What we want you to do, Mr. Trusdale-” Luna paused.

I gulped down a lump forming in my throat.

“-is to breed us.” She finished with a freighting straight face.

My usual red face became even redder. “B-b-b-b-breed you!” I shouted a little too loud.

Just then both Celestia and Luna burst into a massive laughing fit. My nerves were calmed when I realized they were messing with me, but it didn’t tone down the blush. I gave them a deadpan pouty face, showing I wasn’t amused.

Their laughter slowly died down after a minute. “Oh, apologies dear Sarius. We couldn’t resist. Though I would advise you to keep an open mind about that. We may ask you for that favor one day. But for now-” Luna paused.

“-We have a mission we would like for you to undertake for us.” Celestia finished. “My sister and I have heard rumors of a powerful unicorn traveling around and eliminating creatures that are deemed dangerous. We want you to seek out this unicorn and find out what their motive is.”

Luna nodded. “Yes, this unicorn from the rumors appears to possess either a unique magic or ability that makes them stand out from others. So do be cautious. The rumors came from ponies who only saw the outcome.”

I turned to the window and took in the view of the entirety of Canterlot and Ponyville in the distance. “You want me to just get intel or do you want me to deal with them if push comes to shove?” I asked.

“Just get intel and if it’s required; defend yourself to your best ability. But at least make sure they’re alive so you can bring them in.” Celestia answered.

I remained silent for half a minute. I turned to the sisters and smiled. “Alright, tell me where to go.”