The Spectre of Phalanxia

All of them tried to find a way to leave the spot they were, but from every corner they turned, the cold was getting worst.
‘I knew Tartarus was cold,’ said Twilight when she rubbed her wings as they were nearly stiff of the flying ‘But I never knew it was this cold.’

‘Tartarus is cursed with a cold like this,’ said Caldor when he tried to guide them ‘If death itself doesn’t kill you, this place will because of the cold.’

They suddenly heard a voice saying ‘It was the only way to save Equestria.’

They looked at Twilight surprised ‘Y’all say something Sugarcube?’ said Applejack when she looked at her.
‘I didn’t say anything.’ said Twilight.

‘Me neither.’ said human Twilight too.

‘Um, guys?’ said Spike as he pointed at what he saw was scary.

He pointed to what he saw, and to their shock, they saw smoke copies of both Twilight and Pinkie Pie. The smoke Pinkie Pie yelled at Twilight ‘You never wanted us to show her the best time ever. You just wanted us to distract her!!’

They were shocked to see what was going on. ‘What…’ said Twilight when she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

‘I never would’ve done it,’ said smoke like Twilight as she yelled at Pinkie Pie ‘But this isn’t Equestria!! We can’t just dance around con artists, make Rainbooms in the skies and expect everything to work out!! It’s not enough!! We are not enough!!

‘No Twilight!! We stuck together!! We were going to get the help we needed!! The only one that stopped us, was you.’

‘Well I’m doing the best I can! It’s all on me. I’m the one Tempest wants. I’m the last princess.’

‘You’re also, the only one who doesn’t trust her own friends!!’

‘Well maybe I would’ve been better off without friends like you!!!’

They were surprised to see the argument going down between them, which left the other one heartbroken, with the one was surprised by what she had said. Smoke Pinkie left with her head lowered as smoke Twilight said ‘Pinkie…I…’

‘I’m sorry Twilight.’ said smoke Pinkie ‘I just can’t talk to you right now.’

At an instant, the smoke Pinkie and Twilight disappeared. They were shocked by what they had just witnessed, with Twilight remembering that part of her past. She shed tears as she yelled ‘What is all this?!!’

‘That my friends,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘Is the power of Tartarus. If you wander here for too long, this place will torment you with a piece of your recent past, haunting you for all eternity until you kill yourself.’

‘How…how do you stop it.’ said Celestia when she looked at Caldor.

‘Escape as quick as you can.’

Sunset looked at Twilight ‘Twilight, what happened there?’

‘Well…uh…’ she replied, not knowing what to say.

I’ll tell them.’ said Caldor, seeing that he knows how it happened ‘When Equestria was last invaded by the Storm King, real piece of work, they set out to the kingdom of the Hippogriffs for help. But Twilight asked her friends to convince the queen to help, except she used them to distract her so that she could steal the pearl, outraging the queen and Twilight thinking that her friends’ attempts were brainless and stupid.’

Sunset and her friends were surprised by what Twilight had done, with human Rainbow Dash saying ‘Wow, that’s a new low, even for you.’

‘Seriously,’ said human Applejack next ‘What were y’all thinking?’

‘I was under pressure, okay?!!’ she yelled.

‘And still thought that friendship was a waste of time.’

Twilight looked at Caldor mad ‘I didn’t…’

‘But you did.’ said Merlin as he spoke on everyone’s behalf ‘Look, we get it, you were the only princess left. But as a Princess of Friendship, you were supposed to find a diplomatic solution. You can’t just go and barge in like that like a clueless filly and cause another war in an instant. And from the looks of it, you weren't that bright in that situation.’
They were surprised by what he said, with Twilight saying ‘Excuse me?’

‘You went to the Hippogriffs, why didn’t you just, I don’t know, go to the Yaks, or the Changelings, or even the Dragons, they could’ve helped you out.’
‘How would…’

‘Because Dragons are impervious/immune to magic, everypony knows that.’

She was surprised by the last part ‘They…are?’

Merlin ended up slapping his forehead when he couldn’t believe what he had heard. But he breathed a bit and spoke to her normally ‘Look, you’re a fully grown mare, you can’t keep letting anxiety get the better of you. A true Princess is supposed to be calm and collected, is suppose to plan, is suppose to think of a diplomatic solution. They can’t just barge in and ended up nearly getting everypony killed. You are a princess, aren’t you?’

Twilight slowly answered ‘Well…of course I am.’

‘So, grow up and act like one.’ said Merlin when he wanted her to be better. ‘Not just for everypony else’s sake, but for your own too.’

As he walked by, she looked at him, and knew he was right, but the way he spoke to her as her voice of reason and calm, as well as trying to help her. She realized she also has feelings for him, whilst her heart had beaten for him six times that day.

But at the same time, as they tried to find a way out, everyone and everypony began to see themselves through the smoke as they haunted them as if they were ghosts, tormented by their past. Celestia and Luna were haunted by Nightmare Moon, Sunset Shimmer with her being evil, Twilight for being corrupted, all of Sunset’s friends when they were really guilt written for turning on her like that on both times before Christmas and also when their memories of her were erased. As for the ponies, Rarity was haunted by when she and Sweetie Belle were at odds with one another, as was Fluttershy for being abusive. Rarity and Rainbow Dash when they argued about not them liking the same things, Applejack when she yelled at Twilight for using magic, as well as her being in conflict with Rainbow Dash when they nearly endangered their students, as well as when Pinkie ended up taking things too far. The Pillars when they turned their backs on Stygian when they didn’t even give him a chance to explain, when Starlight enslaved a village, nearly robbing Twilight and the others of their freedom, whilst also nearly destroying the timeline in the process, whilst also showing Fizzlepop Berrytwist becoming evil and nearly taking over Equestria because of the Storm King.

‘I…’ said Pinkie when she was feeling discouraged ‘I really don’t like this place.’

‘Keep calm there,’ said Copper Plume when he held onto Pinkie whilst it surprised her ‘We’ll make it out, we have to.’
They heard strange voices, until they quickly took a peak, where they saw Eros, staring at his past, along with, to their surprise, Singe.

‘I don’t want this ability,’ said smoke Eros to smoke Singe ‘You have no right to give that to me.’

‘I have every right,’ said smoke Singe ‘I am your mother.’

They were shocked by what she had said, for the very god that had been trying to kill them for some time, was Singe’s son. ‘But the feasting, drinking, the pleasure, It’s all gone.’

‘But you’ll never feel pain again, are you saying that you want to die?’

‘Than to never feel again? Yes, I would.’

They saw that the two of them argued, it got heated, and smoke Eros ended up leaving with anger, until his actual self started to yell and swing his arms at the smoke image of her, saying that he hated her for what she did, that she made him immune to pain, even when he never asked for any of that. He then collapsed on his knees and ended up crying. Some couldn’t help but feel pity for him, until they were forced to leave in order to escape.

‘So let me get this straight,’ said human Rainbow Dash when she had a hard time comprehending what just happened ‘That guy, that’s been trying to kill us and kill both Twilights’ boyfriends…’

Both Princess Twilight and Science-Twilight were shocked by what she had just said ‘He’s not my…’ but were cut off when they realized that they really did have feelings for them and they couldn’t deny it, no matter what their hearts have told them.

‘Was Singe’s son?’ said human Rainbow Dash when she had just finished her conversation.

‘Aye, that he is.’ said Caldor when he corrected her.

‘Wait,’ said Starlight when she looked at Caldor ‘You knew about this?’

‘I do, but you lot didn’t ask. But if you really want to know. When Eros was a younger man, Singe placed a spell on him so that he couldn’t die, but he ended up being immune to a lot of things, pain, getting drunk, feeling, and so on. He didn’t like that and he ended up hating his mother. And because of that, she turned to her husband for comfort. Unfortunately she lost it when Galahad didn’t give her much attention, and you can guess what happened next.’

‘So,’ said Sunburst when he figured things out ‘She ended up nearly destroying ponies and humans because her own son resented her?’

‘Yes, mothers tend to make mistakes and not know it,’ said Caldor as he looked at Princess Twilight ‘Isn’t that right your highness?’

Twilight blushed when she didn’t like to think about that day when Sombra nearly came back and nearly lost Spike in the process. ‘Uh, what’s going on?’ said human Twilight when she was confused.

Spike walked up and confessed to them when he told them the truth of his birth as well as the a few uncomfortable details ‘See, when Twilight was a filly, she was trying to get accepted into Princess Celestia’s school, and because of her magic, she ended up hatching me, as was her test and all. And most dragon parents tend to mark their children with special magic. Twilight’s magic ended up coursing through me and…well…whilst she was studying….she, well…’ he ended up looking at them as he slowly smiled ‘She raised me.’

They were surprised by what Spike had said. ‘So,’ said human Fluttershy in the process ‘She became your mother and you became her son.’

‘Yeah…and you know what…’ said Spike whilst he looked at Twilight, then back to Sunset and her friends ‘I wouldn’t trade that for any gem or anything in the world.’

The girls were touched by what he said, as did Twilight whilst she shed a tear. Merlin stood next to her as he smiled ‘You should be proud, as any parent should be; mommy.’

Twilight ended up scoffing with a smile as she nudged him with her elbow. She ended up blushing and whispered to him ‘And pretty soon, one day, he’s gonna have a daddy.’

Merlin ended up blushing as he didn’t know what to say, with Twilight ended up kissing him as the two of them walked together. ‘So, how do we defeat Eros?’ said Starswirl when he spoke to Caldor.

‘That I’m afraid I don’t know,’ said Caldor when he told them ‘See, I learnt that there was a powerful magic that could be used to dispel the magic that’s protecting Eros, even making him mortal and removing his immortality except for his powers, but I’m afraid I don’t know what it is. I’ve been studying for years and I still couldn’t figure out how to kill him.’

‘If there is a way to kill him,’ said Stygian when he stood close to Caldor ‘Then we must find a way to vanquish him.’
‘Look, up ahead.’ said Invictus when he spotted something.

To their surprise, it looked like an old sailing ship, which would be the perfect way for them to escape. ‘Ah, perfect.’ said Yin Sid when he looked at it ‘This’ll do nicely.’

‘Uh, how is that any good news?’ said human Rainbow Dash when she wondered how the ship will help them.

‘Leave that to us,’ said Atreus when he stood next to her with his arm wrapped around her, which made her blush instantly ‘We’ll improvise whilst we’re at it.

All of them headed straight for the ship as they climbed down the stone stairs, then headed straight for the ship. However, just when they were about to board the ship, a terrifying voice echoed loudly, as it made them nearly jump of fright. ‘So much destruction,’ said a voice as all of them had heard it, but from the sound of this voice, it sounded like an important being with the highest authority ‘I will have much to do after I kill you.’

‘No.’ said Invictus to himself when he recognized it, whilst Twilight and the others were curious of what it was.

‘What was that?’ said Fluttershy scared when she heard it too.

‘Let’s just keep moving.’ said Invictus when they moved on.

All of them were able to board the ship, whilst all the stallion unicorns, as well as Starlight and Twilight, all of them were able to get the ship moving as they were able to cut the lines tying up the ship, whilst Celestia and Luna were able to lift the sails and allowed it to move. ‘Cast off!!’ shouted Pinkie, her human counterpart, Copper and Barry, acting as sailors of the ship.

As the ship had sailed towards its destination, Caldor leaned against the side of the ship, staring out of the open, but also saw Tirek’s prison very far off from their position. ‘Is something wrong Caldor?’ said Celestia when she and Luna stood next to him.

‘You know, after all this time, I don’t know why Tirek was kept alive and all.’ said Caldor when he remembered Tirek’s history ‘Oh sure, he was able to see the light, aye, but why did he end up seeking power in the first place? Scorpan had learnt to appreciate life, why didn’t he?’

‘Most are too consumed with lust for power to see the error of their ways.’ said Luna when she remembered Scorpan and Tirek.

‘You two can relate?’ said Caldor when he remembered ‘Your need for those to love your night ended up going too far.’
Luna felt ashamed of her past ‘A time I wished it didn’t happen.’

‘But tell me something,’ said Caldor as he looked at Luna ‘Why were you obsessed of others wanting to like the night. It’s your duty to raise and set the moon, aye, but I don’t think it’s about wanting to like the moon, I think it’s more about them wanting to love you too.’

Luna looked at him surprised, as did Celestia ‘Uh, what?’

Caldor stood up straight, walked a bit to the left as he was able to look at the two of them ‘I know that since the two of you were young, you had family and friends that you loved. But ever since you two became Alicorns, and ended up outliving them, you wanted to try and fill the void, even though you know you’ll never replace that, for what you had was special.’

The two of them never realized it, with Celestia being the first to admit it ‘Well…maybe we did.’

‘Do you also know that feeling?’ said Luna when she and Celestia looked at him.

‘Aye, I did.’ said Caldor when he thought about their mother ‘Your mother and others I knew were the only friends I ever had, but since all of them passed, I’ve never known what it was like to love again. But if I could have a choice to do it all over again, I would’ve rather to remove my immortality than outlive everything for the rest of my life.’. He walked back to the side of the ship and watched the view whilst he was next to Celestia and Luna. ‘You two could also step down from being immortal if you wanted to, find a pony to wed and have children of your own.’

The two of them were surprised of what he asked, but then again he did have a good point about what he said. ‘I’ve…never thought about it that way.’ said Celestia when she realized that Caldor had a good point.

‘Neither have I sister.’ said Luna when she agreed.

They looked out of the horizon and thought about what he had said. ‘Well…’ said Celestia when she thought about it ‘Maybe…when all of this is over. Maybe I could honor that request.’

Both Copper and Barry shouted from above the mast ‘Waterfall up ahead!!’

They looked ahead and realized that they were cornered, seeing that there is now an obstacle in their way. ‘Great,’ said Rainbow Dash whilst he didn’t like being stuck in a rut ‘Now how are we supposed to get up there?’

Knight looked around and saw that there were a few positions on the ship that could be used to create a type of bonfire, as well as looking at the sails. He had an idea as he let loose a few robes of the sail, whilst he looked at his father and said ‘Dad, try to use your swords to create a bonfire there.’

Invictus pulled out both of his swords and swung them, allowing them to be set ablaze. As the bonfires were lit, the fires ended up lifted the sails in an upward direction, creating their own zeppelin. ‘Turning a ship into a homemade zeppelin?’ said Twilight when she was surprised ‘That’s ingenious.’

‘Didn’t think it was gonna work at first.’ said Knight when he landed.

‘Then…how do did you know that it will?’ said Rainbow Dash when she stood near him.
‘Sometimes you just gotta have a little faith Dashie.’

As he walked away, Rainbow ended up blushing, for he had just given her a pet name. And she didn’t mind, for she liked it.
They continued to fly up the waterfall, hoping that they could reach the top safely. ‘If we can follow our present course,’ said Lyon whilst he looked ahead ‘We should be able to see the temple up ahead.’

‘Can’t we just use wind magic?’ said Sunset whilst trying to focus ahead.

‘No can do,’ said Don when he stood next to her ‘No magic can work down here, why do you think so many sorcerers were banished here, because their magic is useless here.’

‘Plus they can’t fly either,’ said Atreus when he stood next to human Rainbow Dash ‘You’ll end up freezing to death the moment you try.’

‘Hard to starboard!!!’ shouted Barry and Copper Plume, for they were heading straight for a stoned bridge, causing them to be stuck against it the moment they collided, causing them to be stuck against it like fly on flypaper.
‘Oh, curse it all!!’ shouted Rockhoof when he looked at it ‘Now we’re stuck!!’

‘There must be a way to remove that obstacle out of the way.’ said Somnambula when she also took a good look at it.
‘I have a way.’ said Invictus as he walked straight towards the stone bridge that was holding their ship down. ‘I require the strongest to come help me.’

One by one, Applejack, Applebuck, Rockhoof, human Applejack and human Bucky joined together as all of them stood next to one another. All of them bent over and got their hands in place, whilst the ponies got their hind legs ready for also even greater force. ‘One,’ said Bucky when he first started.

‘Two.’ said human Applejack next when she was also ready.

‘Three!!’ said the strongest group as all of them used all of their super strength to lift up the stone bridge that was blocking them. Using all of their strength, as well as all of their wills, the stone bridge began to crack, allowing them to be able to lift up the bridge out of the way, allowing them to move it out of their way.

As they were finally able to clear the obstacle out of the way, the ship was now cleared to sail again. They continued on the path with their temporary ship again, until they heard a really familiar voice ‘Face me father, it is time to end this!!’
‘Yes. It is time.’ said the other authority voice as he spoke back.

‘Wait, that was you.’ said the human Twilight when she was surprised to hear it.

‘Ignore it,’ said Invictus ‘We cannot be distracted for a mere moment.’

Twilight began to be even more worried for Invictus, for he was hiding something, a past that he was not proud of, and what nearly destroyed him in the process. They continued on their current flight path until ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, Icebergs, both sides!!’ shouted Mage Meadowbrook as they kept colliding against it, until a handful of ice demons arrived and boarded their ship.

‘We have incoming monsters!!’ shouted human Rarity when she nearly panicked.

‘Then let’s drive them off the ship!!’ shouted Duke when he got both his spear and shield ready.

Duke attacked head on as he jumped in the air and plunged its spear into the neck of the ice demons. Human Rarity watched as Duke stood his ground whilst surrounded by more ice demons. He swung his shield at one to his right, then jabbed the one to his left, then uppercut the one in the middle. He jabbed another one, then used it to jump on it, allowing it to kill the one next to him with the jab of his spear. He jabbed his spear at another, until he raised it up and slammed it hard on the ground, until the tip of the spear broke, allowing Duke to use the broken spear point and sliced the next demon’s chest, which allowed Duke to kick it off the ship. He threw the broken tip of the spear at the next demon, whilst pulling out his sword. Human Rarity saw a demon was about to kill him with its axe, and out of instinct, she ran towards him ‘Look out!!’

Grabbed him whilst she tackled him out of the way, causing the two of them to roll on deck. When they stopped, she was on top of him. But when she looked at him, she suddenly blushed, as did he, for the two of them this close, they felt a slight attraction to one another. ‘Um…thank you.’ replied Duke.

‘Um…you’re welcome.’ replied human Rarity when she replied the same way.

Both human Pinkie and human Fluttershy were cornered when a ten foot tall demon tried to attack, until both Barry and Lyon stood in front of them, wielding their shield, sword, and dual swords. The two of them looked at one another, nodded, and attacked as the two of them were synced as they were fighting together. Human Pinkie and human Fluttershy watched in awe when they saw the two of them moving with such grace and skills. They pierced what appeared to be the piece of the armour, until the demon exploded, sending the two of them hurtling towards the two. Both Barry and Lyon were groggy, but when they came to, to their shock, they were resting on both human Pinkie and human Fluttershy’s lap, which made them blush too.

‘Sorry.’ said Barry and Lyon when they made a major error.

‘Um…no problem.’ said human Fluttershy when she felt embarrassed.

Human Pinkie giggled when she liked that Barry was resting his head.

Don noticed that Sunset was cornered and nearly pushed off the edge of the boat, causing him to run and defend her. He skid on the ground and cut the demon on and made it crash on the ground, then sliced the next two at ease with his sword, then kicked two off the ship. Sunset tried to stand up, until she nearly fell over, whilst Don quickly caught her. She ended up looking at him and blushed, for it had been her first time that she liked a boy up close to her.

‘You okay there?’ said Don when he wanted to make sure she was alright.

‘Uh, yeah.’ said Sunset when she was able to stand, until she pulled out her weapon and looked at him ‘Can you show me?’
‘Yeah, okay, sure.’ said Don when he agreed to help her.

Human Rainbow Dash tried to show off as usual, trying to contain the situation, until she lost her balance and nearly fell off. She was suddenly caught by Atreus, which surprised her when she saw him. ‘You okay?’

‘Uh, yeah sure.’ said human Rainbow Dash when she was nearly speechless of the very sight of Atreus.

Atreus then placed human RD on the ground and attacked head on. He pulled out his bow and arrow, and skid on the ground, whilst firing three arrows at the incoming demons, then stood up, used his arrow to kill a demon, then used it again as he fired at another. He ran towards a demon and jumped up, allowing him to jump on the demon as he was able to gain momentum by shooting three more arrows at the incoming enemy, leaving human RD star strucked, as well as blushing.

The others on the other hand try their best. Starlight and Sunburst stood on both sides of the ship, trying to fend off any flying demons trying to attack, Pinkie used her party cannon to distract them whilst Copper Plume jumped up and bucked it right in the face. Rarity and Chivalry used their magic to make a demon trip, whilst Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Knight flew all around trying to distract them as Twilight and Merlin flew around and used their magic to shatter the ice demons. Celestia, Luna and Starswirl tried their best to counter the worst of the snow storm, but it grew too much for them as they were forced to land. Rockhoof and Mage did what they could, as did Stygian and Mistmane when they tried to fend them off. Somnambula and Flash Magnus flew around and also did what they could against the flying ice demons, whilst Thunder and Fizzlepop used all of their magic to drive the demons away. Bashful tried to protect Fluttershy, as did Spike with dog Spike, whilst Applejack and Applebuck bucked all the demons overboard trying to protect the ship, whilst both Fizzlepop and Thunder unleashed the full power of their magic from their broken horns. Invictus on the other hand focused on the worst demons using his chained swords, as well as using them to keep the bonfires alit to ensure they would continue to travel. But after the last demon had been driven away, a large pillar crashed on the front of the deck, cracking the tip of the ship. Invictus ran towards it and held onto the cracked part of the ship. He lifted it up with all his might, allowing the tip to be torn off as it fell down. And right ahead, was the Rainbow Bridge, causing Caldor and a handful of others to see.

‘I see it up ahead!!’ shouted Caldor when he was excited to be getting away from the cold depths of Tartarus.

And just when he moved part of the debris out of his way and continued its course toward the Rainbow Bridge, the heavy thick clouds began to cover the ship they were on, causing the familiar voice to speak again as it said ‘It is time my son. Look around at what you have done.’

They saw the mist forming around their feet and hooves. However, closest to the Alicorns, the mist formed a humanoid type body, revealing a tall human, wearing a royal robe whilst he gasped for air a bit as he stood wobbly on the ground, surprising them in the process. ‘Who is that?’ said Luna when she didn’t recognize it.

They continued to stare until the human Applejack pointed at the opposite direction of the royal human ‘Um, girls?’

From the opposite was another, but instead, he was wielding two swords, resembling a lot to the ones Invictus was holding whilst looking straight at the royal human. But to their shock, when they took a closer look at the person, they instantly recognized him, with Spike saying ‘Is that Invictus?’

But he was different. He was enraged, he was angry, and he looked slightly different, a little younger even, as if he was ten years younger. He looked at both his swords in anger, but at the same time, tossed both of them away as if they were nothing. Invictus charged in anger as he tackled the man against a solid rock wall. When Invictus stood in position, he raised his fist in the air as his rage had no equal. He punched the royal humanoid left right, down, up, southeast, then grabbed his head as he kneed against the humanoid’s head, whilst continuing to punch him.

Many were shocked when they saw Invictus mercilessly punched him over and over again and again and again, for his rage had no bounds whatsoever. Invictus kept punching him until he was on the ground, however, his senior teenage son Copper Plume, saw something and ran over to him, whilst holding Invictus’ hands as he gained his attention.

‘Come on, we have to go!’ said Copper as he gained his father’s attention.

‘All of you saw…’ he replied as he saw himself beating up his father whilst he was on his knees.

‘There’s no time, look!’ said Copper whilst he tried to show his father what was going on.

Invictus turned around and saw that the ship was flying towards the statue and bashed against it, but also failed to notice that their ship was on fire too. ‘I got an idea!!’ shouted Knight as he looked at them ‘Jump!!’

All of them were able to jump off the ship before it got worst, but not without crash landing through the roof of the Rainbow Bridge. All of them groaned when they felt partial pain whilst getting up, whilst looking at the ship was on fire and crashing somewhere else.

‘That was yer plan?! shouted Caldor when he got frustrated over their crazy shenanigans ‘Yer all cracked!!’

‘Hey, at least we got out in time!!’ shouted Knight when they discovered they were no longer in the rainbow bridge’s chamber.

‘Whoa,’ said Sunset Shimmer when she looked around ‘Where are we?’

‘From the looks of this place,’ said Caldor when he looked around ‘I’d say we happen to be in the private study of Pelagius.’

‘Pale what?’ said Rarity when she was confused by the name whilst she tried to shake her head when she felt like she was having a headache after jumping off of the ship.

‘Pelagius my dear,’ said Caldor when he told about him ‘Is the god of war on this world, but also the god of peace, wisdom and Justice. He was the one who helped maintain peace within the thirteen realms. He used this place as his private study to find ways to bring peace.’

‘Then why didn’t he bring peace?’ said Starlight when she wondered about something.
‘Because he was killed.’ said Caldor.

Many were surprised as they looked at him. ‘What happened?’ said Luna when she was curious.

‘It’s like this,’ said Caldor when he told them of his fate ‘He taught us that every race, gods, mortals, ponies and many others are equal and that they should be given a chance to work together. But it never came to be because both Eros and his brother Apollo were damned by his teachings. And for that, they excommunicated and killed him.’

‘And you hated them ever since?’ said Invictus when he noticed something ‘Why do you care for Pelagius?’

Caldor was silent for a few moments, and dropped a bombshell by saying ‘He’s my brother.’

Many were surprised by what Caldor revealed, for it would explain why he hated Eros so much. ‘Oh dear,’ replied Mistmane ‘We had no idea.’

‘We mustn’t linger here,’ said Stygian when he gained their attention ‘The longer we remain here the more likely we would be spotted by Eros if he managed to escape.’

At the same time, Merlin charged up his magic ‘In that case hold still.’ He ended up using his magic at full force, and casted a powerful spell around them when he said ‘Praesidium Maxima’, causing all of them to have a spell over them.

‘Whoa,’ said Sunset when she noticed ‘What did you do?’

‘I casted a protection spell on all of us to keep the likes of Eros from tracking us, but this time, the magic won’t wear off, and I’ve made sure all of us have the spell on us.’

‘That’s good,’ said Don when he sighed in relief ‘I don’t want to get pummeled by that guy again.’

‘So where do we go from here?’ said Fizzlepop when she looked around.

‘We’ll take that passage,’ said Caldor when he pointed at the bronze door to their left ‘If I remember correctly, that passage leads straight towards the Rainbow Bridge.’

‘Then let us be on our way.’ said Invictus as he was able to open a door for them.

But as they walked, Twilight and the others felt nervous for some reason. ‘Uh,’ said human Applejack when she felt nervous ‘Are we gonna talk about what just happened back there?’

‘Y’all mean about Invictus beating up that other feller?’ said Applejack when she remembered.

‘You know,’ said Starlight when she didn’t want to investigate more about Invictus, for he was getting more scarier by the day ‘I don’t think we should talk about it. Otherwise it’ll lead to nothing but trouble.’

As they continued to walk down the hallway, Caldor suddenly spotted something. ‘Wait,’ he said as he and the others looked to their right.

They saw a large stone slab that was leaning against the wall. ‘What is it?’

Caldor used his eye to help make it clearer. To their surprise, the stone slab revealed a man standing at the center of a bridge, with symbols showing all over the slab on every corner. ‘That’s my brother…so that’s how he did it.’

‘Did what Caldor?’ said Luna when she stood next to him.

‘My brother found a way to travel to other worlds to other realms without using the Rainbow Bridge and talk to the other gods.’

‘Other gods?’ replied Pinkie Pie when she was curious of what they meant.

‘The other gods of war.’ replied Invictus when he looked at the slab.

‘How do you know?’ said Twilight when she looked at the slab.

Invictus looked at one of the symbols, recognizing it from his realm ‘It is something I am far too familiar with.’

They noticed him gripping his fists, making them realize that there was a time that he was a different person, until the gods of his realm changed him, and ended up becoming a man full of cruelty and rage, making them realize that when the time is right, they will ask him. Caldor took a closer look whilst he studied the map using his hand.
‘Curious,’ he replied, until he used his eye, causing the map to be highlighted as it revealed a special stone, with special towers and special rune magic ‘Very curious.’

‘Whoa,’ said human Twilight when she looked at the map ‘What is that?’

‘I don’t believe it,’ said Caldor whilst he looked at the map ‘My brother learned from the First Ones in Adularia. There was a special key that could help unlock the doorway there.’

‘Another doorway?’ said Twilight when she looked at the map ‘Is that possible?’

‘Aye, it…’ said Caldor whilst he was cut off when he saw something. To his shock, it was ancient textures his brother left behind. ‘By the beards of the ancients, that’s why Eros wanted this.’

‘Wait,’ said Celestia when she was curious ‘Wanted what?’

‘Don’t you see your highness?’ said Caldor when he explained ‘The First Ones studied ancient magic for years. Among them is a spell about resurrection, even resurrecting a god if need be.’

They were shocked by what he said whilst Merlin figured it out ‘That’s why he was after us, he was trying to find a way to resurrect his kind.’

‘This is bad,’ said Sunset when she could hardly believe it ‘We can’t let him know on how to resurrect gods like Eros.’

‘No kidding, if he finds a way to Adularia,’ said human Twilight when she calculated the risk ‘And ends up resurrecting his pantheon and unleashes them all in an apocalyptic nightmare?’

Pinkie and her human counterpart gasped loudly when they realized it too and both ended up saying ‘Armageddon City.’

‘Then we must move.’ said Invictus as he guided them to another door. When they walked through, they realized that they were now standing on what appears to be a lift of sorts. Don pulled the lever, allowing them to slowly ascend.

‘Hey look,’ said Rainbow Dash when she pointed at what she saw ‘We’re back at the Temple’s tree.’

After they climbed off, they were heading towards the Dwarves’ forge. When they arrived, Driskle was happy to see a lot of familiar faces. ‘Oh thank the heavens, we were worried.’

‘My brother was,’ said Brock when he pointed his flagon of mead as he was now on his lunch break ‘I knew you lot would get out of there eventually.’

Celestia looked at Caldor ‘Caldor, if I may ask, how long will it take Caldor to break out of there?’

‘I’d say about a week your highness.’ said Caldor when he began to assure them.

‘Then we’ll meet back here by Friday.’ said Invictus when he made the arrangements.

‘At Friday?’ said Luna when she was confused by that arrangement ‘Why Friday?’

‘My sons, as well as Sunset and the others, still needs to attend to school.’

They were actually surprised that Invictus had said something like that. ‘That is, not what I expected a guy like him to say.’ said Spike when he whispered to Twilight.

‘Well he’s right, I mean we’ve been gone for almost an entire Weekend.’ said human Twilight when she realized the date today.

‘Alright then, it’s agreed,’ said Yen Sid when he agreed ‘We’ll meet back here on Friday.’

‘Agreed.’ said all of them together.

And as such, all of them went their separate ways. The EG Mane 7, as well as Yen Sid, Atreus, Duke, Barry, Lyon, Bucky and Don, went back to Canterlot City at Canterlot High to continue their education, whilst the Mane 7, along with Merlin, Knight, Chivalry, Copper, Bashful, Applebuck and Thunder, went back to Equestria. The Princesses went back to Canterlot with Caldor as they have much catching up to do, whilst Invictus stayed behind with the Dwarves, hoping to upgrade his weapons to ensure that when Eros shows his face again, they’ll be ready.