The Emissaries

The train stopped at Canterlot Station. As Motus and Prostatis exited the train, they took a look around.

"This place reminds me of home.", Motus said.

"Same. Only with a lot more towers and no flying carts in the sky.", Prostatis agreed.

Two guard ponies came up to them.

"Look at that! These ponies are really lucky there is no Dragon Empire here. If that's all the armor they are wearing, they'd be fried before they could even hit a single dragon.", Prostatis silently complained.

"Hush now, brother. Don't be rude. Remember: We are guests."

"Good day, your highness. We are here to bring you to her highness.", one of the guards said.

Motus and Prostatis nodded and followed the guards. They went through the streets where ponies stopped and stared until they reached the castle. There, the two guard ponys stepped aside as Princess Celestia came out to greet them.

"Welcome, your highness. I'm honored that you came. Please, follow me."

Once again, Motus and Prostatis nodded and followed. But as they entered the castle, the gates were shut.

"I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling about this.", Prostatis whispered.

"The good kind or the bad kind?", Motus whispered back.

"The very bad kind.", Prostatis replied.

They entered into the main hall. Suddendly, all lights were turned of.

"I knew it! Quick, let's use battle magic to light-", Prostatis started before getting something thrown in his face.

It smelled strange. Suddendly, the world around him became even darker. His eyelids became heavier. His senses started to black out one by one. The last thing he saw was Motus' horn producing a red bubble and sending it away. Then he passed out.

Shadowcorn was in the middle of being taught how to use a teleportation spell by Twilight when the red bubble suddendly floated into the room.

"What is that?", Twilight asked.

But Shadowcorn didn't answer. Instead, he poked it with his horn. For a moment, his eyes shone bright. Then he said:

"That was a memory bubble. It is used in the Alicorn Empire to send secret intel in the form of recent memories to someone else as these bubbles can only be popped by the one they are meant for. And this one was a distress call. Something is very wrong. Princess Celestia has let them into a trap!"

"Impossible!", Twilight called out.

"Indeed. But it's also the truth. These memory bubbles can not be tempered with. Not even by the one sending them."

"Then let's gather up our friends and head to Canterlot immediatly."

"Easy there, Twilight. One shouldn't call in the cavalry before he even knows what he's up against. Let Starlight and Spike gather them up. Meanwhile, we'll do some reconnaissance. Maybe it's just a big misunderstanding which can be resolved without any fights."

Twilight thought about it for a moment.

"Alright. Let's do it."

As Twilight and Shadowcorn arrived in Canterlot in disguise, they found the city as busy as ever. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They moved further down the streets until they reached the castle. The gate was shut. Some guards stood on the walls looking into the distance.

"This is highly suspicious.", Twilight said.

"Agreed. How do we get in?"

"We could teleport."

"I'd rather not. I'm still not confident enough I can do the spell without a mistake."

"Well then, how about we take the 'secret' entrances to the tunnels under Canterlot Castle?", Twilight asked pointing to one of the entrances.

"Wait! There are entranced into Canterlot just standing around out in the open completely unguarded? Okay. You know, if I were the princesses, I'd block them off. Those are quite the security risk.", Shadowcorn said.

"Yet strangely, no villain has ever used them.", Twilight replied.

"Fair enough. Though we better not tell Prostatis. If he hears about that one, he's going to rant for a while.", Shadowcorn said as the two entered the tunnels.

Shadowcorn produced some Shadow Mist to cover the sound of their movements. They walked through the tunnels for a while until suddendly, they heard a voice in the distance. They turned a corner and entered a hall. In the middle of the room stood Celestia, surrounded by a few guards. In front of Celestia, there was a Changeling-communication portal with the head of an armord changeling on the screen. Celestia was in the middle of saying:

"…next dozend changelings to pose as guards. Then we will have full control over Canterlot."

The Changeling saluted and the device was turned off.

"Quick! Turn off the Shadow Mist and let's get out of here!", Twilight whispered.
Shadowcorn turned it off and the two slowly backed away. But as they did, they bumped into something. They turned around and saw two guards in front of them.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here.", a voice said behind them.

They turned around just as Chrysalis was finished changing back.

"Chrysalis! What have you done with Princess Celestia?!", Twilight yelled.

"The same thing I'm about to do with you.", she said.

She took a step back, while two guards moved in. Each of them took out a small bag. They opened it and took out a little bit of a purple dust. They were just about to blow that dust into Twilights and Shadowcorns faces as Shadowcorn unleashed a small gust of wind in their direction blowing the dust in their faces instead. As they staggered and fell down, Shadowcorn's horn glew dark.

"Let's get out of here.", he said to Twilight.

Before Chrysalis or any other Changeling could react, Shadowcorn unleashed his Black Light Spell. Twilight heard a portal opening beneath her. Than she fell. But not for long as she landed on the ground again. Soon after, the effects of the Black Light spell began to fade away. As her vision returned to normal, she managed to make out her castles walls surrounding her.

"Everything alright?", Shadowcorn asked.

Twilight rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah. But…Please warn me next time you are going to open a portal right beneath me."

"I'll remember it for the next time we are about to get captured. Anyways, Chrysalis is back. Seems she has captured both Princess Celestia and my siblings. I presume she used that powder. It propably makes you go to sleep. It's the only explanation I have for how she managed to capture my siblings anyways."

"Yeah. Seems like we have a rescue mission on our hooves."

"Let's see if our friends have gathered already. Then we can make a plan."

"This damm alicorn and his strange magic! Now it's only a matter of time until those ponys come in here and ruin everything!", Chrysalis yelled angrily as she walked into the throne room were Celestia, Luna, Motus and Prostatis were trapped in cocoons hanging from the ceiling,

"Don't worry, your majesty. We have successfully closed off Canterlot and placed eyes throughout the city. There is no way they are going to enter the city without us noticing.", a Changeling said.

Suddendly, they heard a sound behind them. They turned around. The Mane Six, Shadowcorn and his boys stepped out of a portal.

"You just had to say it, didn't you?", another Changeling said.

"You?! Already?! Why have you come this soon?! Why didn't you wait until it was night and snuck in quietly?", Chrysalis asked confused.

"Why should we when I can literally open portals? And also when I can do that?", Shadowcorn asked unleashing four flames which burned the part of the cocoons holding them to the ceiling. The cocoons fell down and the prisoners were freed.

"But…How did you know where I kept them?!", Chrysalis asked even more confused.

"Come on. Where else would someone like you hold their prisoners?", Rainbow asked.

"Thanks, Caudata.", Motus said.

Then she turned to Chrysalis.

"Payback time.", she said.

"Actually, I think it's time to RUN!", Chrysalis said.

She jumped in the air, shot a hole in a wall and flew out of Canterlot before anyone could stop her. Seeing their queen leaving, her changelings quickly followed her.

"Wow. That was quick.", Applejack said.

"I mean, who would be dumb enough to go against ten alicorns?", Rarity replied.

Meanwhile, Motus went up to Celestia.

"Princess Celestia, please allow us to be part of the pursuit-party."

Celestia asked confused:

"Pursuit-party? I'm sorry, but we will not pursue them."

Motus and Prostatis were stunned.

"What?! But…but they invaded your castle! They took you captive! They are clearly a danger to your kingdom! Why don't you chase after them?!"

"Oh don't worry. We face these kinds of enemies regularly and our heroes have always been able to defeat any thread before sunset. Just think about how quickly this went by. If she tries again, I have the utmost faith she will be foild again. We really don't need to worry.", Celestia answered calmly.

Motus and Prostatis were so utterly shocked, they were speachless. For a moment, they stood still with an expression of such shock and disbelieve that it almost looked like their brains had shut down. When they finally moved again, they turned to Shadowcorn. Motus said:

"Caudata, you have to come with us. Under no circumstances can you stay here."

"Why?", Shadowcorn asked confused.

"Because this kingdom is DOOMED! If they really let every dangerous enemy run loose, sooner or later, they will all band together, defeat these ponies and overthrow these monarchs!"

"We don't let EVERY enemy run loose…", Twilight said and Rainbow added:

"Villains joining forces? Ha! They would stab each other in the back the moment victory is in their reach giving us the win. Villains don't believe in friendship. Therefore, they can't work together."

Motus looked at her in shock and confusion asking:

"In what world do you live?"

"In a world were friendship always wins.", Pinkie Pie answered.

"You may think our kingdom is doomed, but you haven't seen the power of friendship yet. Whatever threat comes our way, we'll beat-", Twilight continued but suddendly Prostatis yelled:

"ENOUGH!"

"Prostatis!", Motus said but Prostatis yelled:

"No! I've had enough of this! We tried it your way and your way failed! Now we do it my way!"

Then he turned to Shadowcorn.

"You WILL come with us. No discussion! We are going home and you WILL come with us!"

Shadowcorn pinched his eyes.

"And if I refuse?"

Prostatis pinched his eyes as well.

"Then I'll make you."

"Calm down you, two!", Motus yelled.

"No. If Prostatis thinks he can force me to do anything, he is sadly mistaken.", Shadowcorn said.

"Prove it.", Prostatis responded.

"I will. But not here."

Shadowcorn opened a portal. Everyone went through it. It led to a grass plane not too far from the cave with the portal in it. Except for a few trees and some big rocks sticking out of the ground, the grass plane was empty.

"You win, I come with you. I win, you leave and tell Fortis to not show his flank around here. Deal?", Shadowcorn asked.

"Deal.", Prostatis said.

The two took position a few meters apart from each other.

"I hope you know some good shielding spells. You are going to need them.", Motus said.

"What do you mean?", Twilight asked.

"I don't know how it is around here but in the Alicorn Empire, when two alicorns battle, they can forget everything around them rather quickly. I'll try to block as much as possible. But Prostatis' offensive abilities far exceed my defensive capabilities.", Motus responded.

"Well. Maybe this is going to go quick. I mean, Shadowcorn knows so many different kinds of magic…", Rarity said.

"That might be true. But Prostatis is a master of defensive magic having developed a number of new spells himself. And since Caudata doesn't know about them, he might just get suprised very soon. On the other hand, no one has fought against elemental magic in millenia. And since neither Prostatis nor I know the full extend of what a master of it is capable of, Prostatis may just end up being suprised as well. One thing is for certain: This is going to be tough for both of them.", Motus concluded.

Then she took a step forward. Her horn glew bright. She fired a blast of magical energy into the sky. Shadowcorn and Prostatis took their battle stance. The blast exploded into a bright sphere which soon disappeared. For a moment, both Shadowcorn and Prostatis simply stood there. Then suddendly, Shadowcorn shot a beam at Prostatis. Prostatis however formed a small shield on top of the tip of his horn which he used to capture the beam. As the beam went into the shield, he did a 360 degrees turn before throwing it back at Shadowcorn. But Shadowcorn easily dodged it. Now his horn glew red. He shot a fireball at Prostatis. However, Prostatis simply put up a shield in front of him which absorbed the fireball. Afterwards, the shield drew together into a small sphere surrounding the tip of his horn. The moment the last bit of the shield entered the sphere, a straight, fast beam shot out in Shadowcorns direction. Shadowcorn quickly moved the nearest of the big rocks in front of him. But the shot simply pierced through it. As it fell down however, Shadowcorn disappeared into the earth. For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddendly, four holes opened up around Prostatis. Prostatis took a quick look around. Then he created a glowing sphere over his head. For a moment, it floated in the air before shooting down a hail of shots in all direction. Motus quickly put up a shield before some stray shots could hit them.

"See what I mean?", she asked.

The barrage destabilized the structure of the holes causing them to collapse. Suddendly, a fifth hole opened some meters behind Prostatis. Shadowcorn jumped out and shot a light-blue beam at Prostatis. Prostatis grabbed some chunks of dirt laying around with his magic and through them at the beam. The chunks of dirt got frozen solid. Shadowcorn shot another beam. This time, Prostatis flew into the sky. The beam hit the tree behind him instead. Once in the air, Prostatis drew a line into the air with his horn. For a split second, the line remained before drawing together forming three orbs. The orbs flew towards Shadowcorn each of them giving off a shot from time to time. Shadowcorn dodged them. While dodging, he grabbed three more rocks with his earth magic and threw them at Prostatis. Each time, Prostatis recalled one of his orbs using it to destroy a rock shattering it into four to five smaller yet still sizable pieces which fell back onto the ground. Once Shadowcorn ran out of rocks to throw, Prostatis gathered another sphere on top of the tip of his horn. This time, it was much bigger. Four beams came out. Each of them hit the ground surrounding Shadowcorn. But instead of disappearing, they persisted, cutting through the ground towards Shadowcorn. Shadowcorn quickly ran towards the nearest tree. His horn glew black. He shot at the shadow of the tree before leaping into it. Prostatis stopped.

"What the-?", he asked confused.

Suddendly, a line began extending outwards of the shadow Shadowcorn just leaped into. Prostatis shot at it but it only hit the ground underneath the shadow line doing nothing to keep it from continuing moving forward. It continued until it hit the shadow of one of the rock pieces which had fallen down. Suddendly, two lines extended towards the nearest shadows. Once they reached them, two more lines came out of each newly connected shadow. This continued until every shadow on their battlefield was connected.

"I see. So the rocks where part of your plan. You knew I would destroy them allowing you to set up this net of shadows. Very clever, little brother. But what now?"

Suddendly, the Shadow Mist came out of every shadow covering the whole net. Then, a beam came out of the Shadow Mist. As Prostatis blocked it, another beam came out of another part of the Shadow Mist. As he blocked that one as well, more beams came out of more different parts of the Shadow Mist. But Prostatis blocked them all. Finally, he said:

"Alright. Let's end this."

He gathered up a massive sphere above his head.

"Oh no. Everypony! Shield up! Now!", Motus yelled.

Once the sphere was gathered up, Prostatis threw it into the Shadow Mist. For a moment, nothing happened. Then it exploded into a massive sphere of light consuming the Shadow Mist and everything it hid. The shockwave it produced even hit the shield the group had put up shattering it throwing everyone to the ground. As the dust settled, nothing but a giant crater was left of the battlefield.

"Everyone alright?", Motus asked.

The group affirmed her question. Meanwhile, Prostatis searched the ground.

"Where are you?", he asked,

Suddendly, he was hit by a light-blue beam freezing him and capturing him into an ice block before Shadowcorn said:

"Right behind you."

The block fell to the ground right in front of the group with Shadowcorn landing on it.

"Ready to give up yet?", he asked.

But Prostatis' horn glew. He let out a powerful shockwave freeing himself.

"On the contrary. I'm not done yet."

"I disagree.", a calm voice said.

Shadowcorn and his siblings became stiff. A white male alicorn almost the size of Princess Celestia walked up to them. He was wearing golden armor with a white diamond placed in the middle of his chest armor. He also wore a golden helmet that covered his mane. The helmet had a red diamond in the middle. His tail was long and colored white and yellow. His cutie mark showed a winged crown. He was surrounded by three more smaller alicorns in full body armor carrying swords. Prostatis immediatly kneeled down while Motus ran up to him asking:

"What are you doing here this early, Fortis?!"

"I was scouting ahead, of course, to see whether the area was safe. While doing so, I saw this light show."

Shadowcorn turned around to him. His eyes were pinched and he had a wide, obviously fake smile on his face. Upon seeing him, Fortis immediatly put on the same obviously fake smile. The guards immediatly drew their swords but Fortis dismissed them with a wave of his hoof.

"Well, well, well. It has been a long time, hasn't it, your highness?"

"Indeed, Abomination. Unfortunatly, not long enough."

"For once, we are in agreement. Please excuse that I am not bowing to you but I simply have better things to do right now."

"Oh, do not worry. I wouldn't want the grass to be polluted anyways."

"Yet here you are walking on it."

"Please. You walked on it before I came here. Even a dragon stepping on it would be a major improvement. Now, if you excuse me: I too have better things to do.", Fortis said walking past Shadowcorn towards the Equestrians.

"Still wanting to have the last word. Must be difficult with all those echoes in your court."

"Ha! I'm glad to see you did not lose your sense of humor. It's the only thing which makes you not a complete waste of time."

"Why thank you, your highness. I wish I could say the same about you.", Shadowcorn said with a smug smile on his face.

Fortis turned his head to him. With a suprisingly genuine smile he said:

"Ha! You know, Shadowcorn, as much as I despise you, I truely missed our little back and fourth."

Shadowcorn was genuinely taken aback by his words. Fortis put on a triumphant, smug smile before turning his attention back to the Equestrians. He eyed up Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

"Say, you five: What happened to you? Did you lose your horns? Or wings? Or both? If so, I'm sure we can help you get some new ones or reattach the old ones, if you still have them laying around."

"Your majesty, these are the inhabitants of this world. They are born that way. Apparently, Alicorns don't occur naturally around here anymore.", Prostatis said.

"Hm. How odd. I mean, how can you live without a horn, a set of wings or both?"

"Quite easily, actually. You should try it. Maybe you'll even learn humbleness.", Shadowcorn said.

"Too bad it didn't teach you manners. You are in desperate need to learn them. Honestly, how someone like you can be an offspring of such a fine pony like Adika still eludes me…", Fortis replied before turning to Celestia and Luna.

"And who are you, if I may ask?"

"I am Princess Celestia and this is Princess Luna. We are the rulers of this kingdom."

Fortis made a respectful bow.

"It is an honor meeting you, your majesties. Please excuse my sudden and univited intrusion into your lands. I meant no disrespect."

"Do not worry. We are aware that you thought this land was in a state of anarchy. However, we are also aware that you want to enter our kingdom with an army and we kindly ask you do not do that. We seek no conflict with the Alicorn Empire.", Celestia said.

"My apologies. I will, of course, tell my soldiers to stop any further preperations for crossing into this world once I return to my world. We also seek no conflict with fellow ponys. All we want is to take Shadowcorn back with us. It is apparent that he refused our offer to be pardoned. Therefore, he has to pay for the crimes he comitted."

"That will not be possible. Shadowcorn is now an equestrian citizen. We understand that the things he did are considered crimes in your world. However, that is not the case in our country. Further, he has been in exile for thousands of years. We believe that is sufficent as a punishment and no further punishment is needed.", Celestia said.

"Is that so?", Fortis asked coldly, „Well. If that is your stance, then I shall return to my subjects for now to think. I will return tomorrow to solve this issue."

Fortis turned around and flew away, followed by his guards and Prostatis. Motus stayed behind for a moment and said:

"I'm sorry. May you have fortune in the days to come. You are going to need it."

Then she followed them.