A New War, A New Guardian

Joseph's gaze shifted to the Changelings. "Release them, then we can talk. It's rather obvious you're different from that… 'Chrysalis' I've heard grumbled about, and I'd much rather only repeat shit once," he deadpanned dryly. His head tilted before he got an idea, true, it was rather childish, but it would be amusing to see her reaction. He leaned behind Rainbow before swatting her a few times sharply on the ass. He shifted back to his initial position, cocking an eyebrow at the Changelings.

The Changeling Queen gave a snickering hiss of a laugh, her black eyes landing on Joseph. “I bet her ass would be very big to hold such an empty skull. Isn’t that right? Did she have a big butt, little human?~”

Joseph snorted, reminding himself to slap Athena up side the head next time he saw her just to see if he got either the sound of air rushing through her head or an echo from the strike. "Let's just say that I've seen skeletons with more ass than her… especially when I gave her a boot in the ass. The surprised look she got was pretty damn satisfying, admittedly," he deadpanned before he winced slightly at Kratos' bellowing roars of laughter in his head.

Fluttershy squeaked, her face going red.

“My Queen?” The first drone asked, tapping her mother on the shoulder, getting her attention. “The message?”

“Oh, yes. Human, you are requested by the Alpha of Desolation to a summons. He has asked me to give you this,” she held up a small silver pyramid, the thing pulsing with a blue light. “It will lead you to him.”

Artemis tilted her head as she dragged her fingers through Fluttershy's mane quietly, resisting the urge to laugh at Joseph's comment about Athena, her older half-sister. "I advise to do what you'd planned to do before setting out," she commented with a small teasing smirk before she leaned closer to Fluttershy, whispering in her ear. "I'll bet you want to run your hands all over him, don't you?" she teased.

Joseph blinked, tilting his head as he took the small pyramid, absentmindedly noticing the similarity to a Sith Holocron. "Hmmm. I suppose. I'll have to trust the Lord knows what he's doing. After all, Jeremiah 29:11," he sighed as he stood fluidly.

"What does that mean?" Somnabula commented curiously.

"Jeremiah 29:11 says "'For I know the plans I have for you,' saith the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a better future.'" he recited. "And considering some of the shit I've gone through, I'm certain I wouldn't have survived without Christ or the Almighty's right hand holding me up," he sighed as he stretched, unknowingly releasing a burst of intense pheromones.

“W-wait, your in that funky religion too?!” Rainbow looked shocked, flying into his face with a small scowl.

"You know, religion in its nature is showing respect to nature in one form or another. However, what Christ offers is not religion, but a relationship. True, it does look like religion, but at its core it isn't so much about how you show off to others so much as helping others when they need it," Joseph sighed glancing at Fluttershy. "Those scars on my back came from me, thinking that I could join a fraternity. Unfortunately, their way of accepting me into it involved a pair of cat-o'-nine-tails with broken glass and roofing nails tied into the lashes. As a result, I ended up in the hospital and guess what? Not a single one of my 'fraternity brothers' came to visit me. Not to mention that my blood type is extremely rare… as in one in six hundred million, so transfusions of blood was difficult if not impossible to get," his comment was a deadpan. "And being that my family is dead and I had no friends in the area, what do you think I turned to? I spent close to eight fucking months in the hospital with my only company being nurses whose only interest in me was feeding me food that tasted about as appealing as cardboard and checking my blood pressure. You try going through that, plus a two year regimen of extremely painful physical therapy and see if you don't end up depressed or worse," his voice was a harsh rasp. What he hadn't revealed was the barely visible, close to two dozen scars on the underside of either forearm, hidden now by the Chinese Dragon markings upon his forearms.

He saw her eyes widen at his rant. "I rarely reveal that about me, so you can imagine that you should be thankful I mentioned to the old man I would handle this without his intervention. I didn't reveal that to him nor my great-great-great-great-grandmother to their faces, so you can imagine how much trust I'm showing," his comment was wary and cautious, revealing he didn't trust any of them.

“Geez… dude, I’m so sorry.” Rainbow wilted, looking back to Joseph after a while. “So… you and Fang have this relationship with a god? That’s what I got out of it from him, but he didn’t talk about it a whole lot.”

“But, he didn’t strike me as the very open type.” Pondered Rarity, tapping her fingers on her arm. “The only one he ever really opened up to was Princess Luna.”

"What we have, in many ways, is not so much salvation for this life, but after this life ends. And our relationship, really, is through one part of the Triune God, or as Artemis called him, 'the Creator' as it was by him all things were made and exist," Joseph commented wryly. "Because the Creator is the Father, the Son whom is also known as the Lamb of Salvation, and the Holy Spirit, whom is the one who helps us to stand despite how much we suffer," he commented. "Admittedly, unlike most… well… I never went to a church so I probably know less than this 'Fangy' as Pinkie called him. In fact, if I'm honest, right this moment is actually the most people I've been around in years… pretty sure the last time I was around this many people was high school…" he sighed.

“Well then, go on you for opening up to complete strangers.” The Changeling Queen smiled, her mandibles twitching as her large wings buzzed softly. “But, will you answer his summons, with this new information on your host?”

"I will say that Alpha of Desolation does sound rather ominous," Joseph hummed. "But it ain't like I have reason not to," he deadpanned dryly.

"But how can you trust Changelings?" Rainbow blurted incredulously.

"How can you not trust them when you've had an encounter with a single truly malicious Changeling? Judge them not based on their race, but by the individual," Joseph admonished gently.

"Gotta say, brother, the runic verbiage here is unlike anything I've seen in the Nine Realms," Mimir commented from a nearby desk where he was reading a book. He knew the fact that Mimir was effectively a decapitated head capable of speech was shocking.

"Just goes to show, Mimir, that even if by your own opinion and Odin's, you were 'the wisest man in the Nine Realms' that there's always more to learn," Joseph chuckled as Twilight, Rarity, and one of the Changeling drones jumped in shock.

“And here I thought I’d seen everything!” The Queen marveled at the head, poking it in the cheek and feeling the horns with her two lower hands. “Reminds me of Havaak’s old horns…”

“Yo, dude.” Rainbow tapped Joseph on the shoulder to get his attention again. “We might want to bring some protection. Hey Twilight, think we could bring some Royal Guards with us?”

“Uh, s-sure.” The purple alicorn took several shaky steps away from the groaning and grumbling head.

Joseph blinked before he snickered at Mimir's discomfort. "You do know what they meant when they mentioned that phrase 'Son of the Spartan', don't you?" he drawled.

He saw Twilight's head tilt inquisitively.

"It's because of the fact that I found something that few knew was there underneath the ruins of Ancient Sparta… though I rather doubt the old man knows what else I found," Joseph commented.

"And what exactly was that, boy?" a deep growl commented dryly. Joseph smirked as they all jumped at Kratos' deep voice as he glanced back, noticing his form was somewhat transparent, much like an astral projection.

Joseph, without a word, stood and tugged free a crystalline yellowish amber stone.

The elder God of War's eyes widened. Upon the stone was inscribed a single name in icy blue: Κράτος.

"Where in Hades did you find this? You found it, didn't you?" the Elder Deity commented, his voice uncharacteristically choked with emotion as he spoke.

All Joseph did was nod. "I met them… before I met you, Kratos-jiji," he said softly. "They don't blame you, Lysandra and Calliope. Lysandra realized that Ares was fucking with you, but couldn't voice it to you," he said softly.

Fluttershy could tell those names meant something important, from the astral projection of the deity. "Who… are they?" she said hesitantly.

"Kratos-jiji's first family, taken from him by a selfish deity's manipulations," was all Joseph said grimly. He saw the older deity give him a look that held a hint of gratefulness at not going into detail.

“I’m glad you’re having a touchy moment with your ancestor who’s using you as a vessel, but when should the Alpha expect your arrival? I doubt he’d be happy with you dropping by unannounced.” The Changeling Queen said, looking to Joseph, ignoring the glare Kratos sent her.

"Depends on where he is and how long it takes to get there. I may be cordial enough to listen, but if you decide to threaten innocents, your head is mine," Joseph deadpanned bluntly. He didn't see his ancestor's eyebrows rise slightly in surprise.

“His pack is in the north Western Hemisphere. Follow the tracker.” The Queen gave him her own deadpan, crossing all four arms.

"You are aware I know, quite literally, nothing about this world, aye?" he sighed with a shake of his head.

Smirking, the Queen used some of her magic to conjure a map of the world. One thing that Joseph noticed right off the bat was that there were no north or south poles, only a single ring of perpetual winter going through the world’s equator. A red marker sprung to life among a small cluster of mountains just below the frozen ring. “That is where you’ll find him. I swear, your generation can’t find anything without google maps…”

"Actually, I found his old home in Sparta without it. In fact…." Joseph spoke, flicking a thumb back at Kratos, "I heard male whispers guiding me to it… and I'm fairly sure whom it was," he deadpanned.

"Orkos," was all Kratos rumbled.

Joseph, however, hadn't taken his eyes off the glowing map, not noticing that a single dark gray tomoe formed within his golden red irises. What he did notice was that he could see details of the map more clearly as it slowly rotated. The marker glowed to the east-northeast of a pale bluish purple palace surrounded by an area of light green and miniscule buildings before the green shifted to white with a rather noticeable boundary. His grip upon the Oath Stone tightened, faint purplish black cracks forming on the dark amber-golden stone.

“So then, how do you plan to get there? It’s quite the distance…” The Queen mused, joining Joseph in observing the map.

“We’ll take the blimp.” Stated Twilight.

Rainbow shook her head, sighing. “And get there in a week? No thanks! Any ideas big guy?”

"I do not know this place that has the ring of green amongst the white, but it appears to be closest to there," Joseph commented, unaware the ponies knew the location as the Crystal Empire. "I'm guessing you don't have mag-lev or bullet trains," he commented, not noticing initially how Twilight's eyes widened at the though of new knowledge, even what would most certainly be a jump in technology for ponies. He was unaware steam trains were the most advanced.

“W-well, there is the Friendship Express… but it only goes to the Crystal Empire.” Fluttershy piped up, looking over the map from behind Twilight. “B-but, weren’t we supposed to be going… o-out of Equestria? To find Fang? S-sorry…”

"The Lord will guide us in His time. Trust in Him. Though I am curious about these 'Elements' she mentioned," Joseph commented, flicking a thumb at Rainbow Dash in reference to the Elements of Harmony.

“Uh…” Rainbow looked at him oddly, then shook her head with a grimace. “They’re old magic tools we used to take down bad guys, the Tree of Harmony was the source of their power. But…”

“But with the tree gone, the Elements are useless. I might as well use them on a necklace for a new dress…” Rarity bemoaned, gracefully sitting in a chair.

The Queen rolled her ebony eyes. “Pfft… good riddance… not like they did much anyway.”

"Just because their physical representation is destroyed or useless doesn't mean their spirit is destroyed. What they embody is not so easily destroyed. As V claimed in 'V for Vendetta' – "Beneath this jacket and body armor is not just flesh and blood… but an idea… and ideas are bulletproof." Joseph's gaze shifted from Rarity to Rainbow as he spoke upon hearing them. "Galatians Chapter 5, verses 22 and 23 – “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” Those who are in Christ are distinguished from unbelievers in that they have been gifted with the Holy Spirit, enabling them to bear fruit." he recited, not noticing how both Rarity's and Fluttershy's eyes widened at the recitation.

AJ's eyes widened slightly, noticing two of the former Elements in that odd recitation. Her gaze flicked to Twilight, who nodded as well, giving away she, too, had noticed.

There came a knock from the door as Twilight went to answer it. “Chancellor Neighsay? W-what can I do for you?”

“Nothing at the moment, my dear. I just came to see how our new… guest was doing.” The Chancellor stepped into the room, his gaze sweeping over the occupied room until his eyes landed on Joseph, a small sneer overtaking his muzzle. “Ah, so you’re our… visitor…”

Joseph cocked his head, looking behind the stallion. "Huh," he commented wryly.

"Huh what, sugarcube?" AJ commented.

"I don't see a tree root sticking out of his ass. Although your, shall we say 'bedside service', really needs work… the approach has the feel of ‘you're not worth my time or effort’. How can you be a diplomat when you tend to approach any meeting with a holier-than-thou attitude and a small redwood shoved up your ass?" Joseph said bluntly.

AJ's eyebrows rose at his blunt honesty, noticing the slightest orange aura flicker from his body.

Rainbow, however, snorted a laugh at his bluntness.

“Hmf!” Neighsay huffed out a snort as he swung himself to face Twilight, a level look in his eyes. “Princess, the delegation from Pencil Fillia is here do descuss the new trade routes.”

“B-bu… y-yes sir…” The alicorn hung her head, knowing that she couldn’t escape her duties.

“Don’t worry Twi, we’ll say hi to Spike for ya!” Rainbow smiled as her saddened friend began her walk towards the door.

"Yep, he's suffering from a severe case of stickupassis. I would say we should pour a lot of termites up his arse to clear out the blockage, but I don't think there's any room to get them in," Joseph deadpanned with a straight face. He could see Rainbow struggling not to laugh as AJ smirked. "You mentioned something about running a bath?" he commented, his gaze shifting to Fluttershy, seeing her cheeks flush. He saw Rainbow's eyebrow twitching upward.

Soon after, the human emerged from the steaming bathroom, the two blushing Pegasus behind.

“So… how was your bath?~” Rarity’s eyes gleamed, begging for any gritty details. Anything to help drive the spark of love!

“I-it was… o-ok…” Fluttershy blushed, burying her face in her pink mane.

Joseph chuckled. "From the way you were cooing and shivering, I'm pretty sure you enjoyed getting clean just as much. And don't think anything else happened other than that…. unless you want to find out for yourself?" he commented, teasing Rarity. He tilted his head at Somnabula, who flopped on the bed with a small, almost dopey smile. "Safe to say she's feeling relaxed, wouldn't you agree?" he commented nonchalantly.

He took a deep breath as both mares had been extremely attentive and thorough in the bath, though he got the sense they had wanted to make him comfortable with them, not thinking that he might decide to help them relax at the same time. He didn't realize that the marking that had been blood red over his right eye, shoulder, and chest had altered its color to a shimmering mother-of-pearl silver, standing out sharply against his light copper-olive skin.

“Very good.” The Changeling Queen nodded, circling him as an approving mother would over her child. “The Alpha will appreciate you cleaning yourself up for the meeting. I shall go ahead of you to inform him of your coming visit. Again, when do you think you’ll arrive? Just a rough estimate will do…”

“Uh…” Applejack looked over at the clock. “It’s about an hour after noon…”

Joseph glanced over his shoulder at Kratos as the older deity gave a slight nod. "Depends on who can keep up with me from that place with the patch of green amongst what I'm guessing is snow. Solo? Depends on the terrain, but being that it's four peaks to the east northeast of that location? I dunno. I'm guessing you have steam locomotion, aye?" he commented wryly.