God of War: Daughter of War

It was a peaceful day in the Crystal Empire, under the protective dome that kept everything and everyone safe from the cold and harsh weather that existed in this portion of the world, the Frozen North, and the crystal ponies were happy to have another uneventful day as they went about their business. After everything that had happened recently, with their return to Equestria after a thousand years trapped in a banishment spell created by the tyrant Sombra, plus the Dark King's own return and defeat, everyone was just happy to have a stress free day. Some of them did stop to admire the statues of those who had saved them from the tyrant's return, such as Spike the dragon and those he came with, while others smiled for a short period of time as they bowed their heads slightly to the large crystal palace that rested in the center of the empire, the home of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, the new rulers of their home. In addition to the normal residents of the empire there were visitors who came to study all of the newly rediscovered history that had been lost when the empire had been sealed away, and the crystal ponies were happy to have new individuals to talk to and share stories with.

The only one among their number who might be having a stressful day was Opal Radiance, an opal white coated mare who had autumn red mane and tail that were well maintained and wore a typical maid's outfit as she worked in the castle, even though most of her time was focused on tending to Flurry Heart. The little one in question was none other than the child of the royal couple, the first alicorn to be born in a long time, or ever in the eyes of certain individuals, and her power was far greater than anyone had suspected when her parents first revealed her to the world. One of her wails had shattered the Crystal Heart, the artifact powering the barrier around the entire empire, but it had been repaired by the magic of the crystal ponies and Flurry's focused power, displaying her great potential to those who were present at the time. Such a thing meant that whoever watched over her, while her parents were busy running the entire empire, had to be very careful and not cause her to go wild with her magic, least she do potentially lasting damage to anything that was around her.

For Opal, however, the stress actually came from the fact that Flurry was an energetic foal and the fact that she seemed to enjoy flying around without a care in the world, forcing her to chase after her charge, fixing anything by using her magic, as she was a unicorn, to either return them to their proper place or fixing them before running off again. The guards that watched over the palace knew this routine by now, due to the fact that it started the day that Opal was hired and had seen it at least three times each week since then, going on three months at this point, and always paused to get out of her way whenever it happened. The guards honestly felt sorry for the poor maid as she constantly exhausted herself as she did everything in her power to keep Flurry from doing any serious harm to herself or the palace, which was hard to do since Flurry was always full of energy, but they knew that Opal also got breaks and was well paid for her services, so it was well worth the effort. As the pair of guards outside the throne room thought about that they found an object flying by and, as if on queue, Opal ran down the hallway as well, panting hard as they spotted Flurry pause for a moment with a smile on her face before disappearing once more, causing the exhausted mare to follow after her.

Flurry continued to do so as they moved through the palace, in her young eyes it was seen as having fun while everyone else had different ideas on what was going on, before eventually reaching a room that she landed in, causing Opal to huff for a moment as she glanced around the hallway, only for her to close the door behind them.

"Now that the guards can't see us, and won't be by here for a time, it's time to make my move." a voice said, where Flurry turned around in the air and watched as Opal's body was engulfed in green flames, revealing a mare that stood just as tall as Princess Celestia, though her body seemed more like a bug's and she had a twisted horn.

Flurry had only a few seconds to react as the mare hit her with some sort of spell, one that formed a bubble around her, though as the mare grabbed onto the orb with her front hooves, no doubt to gloat or brag, Flurry screamed and her own magic went wild once more. The two of them vanished not a few seconds later and reappeared inside a cave of some kind, something that surprised her kidnapper, who ended up dropping her bubble in surprise as she fell onto the floor, while the bubble itself safely landed and rolled deeper into the cave. She and her kidnapper didn't have to wait too long for the sphere to come to a stop as it brushed up against the bark of a crystalline tree's trunk, where it broke apart as whatever magic fell apart, allowing her to land in front of the tree as she stared up at the figure that was approaching her. She had an idea as to why someone would want to kidnap her, given who her parents were, though while she thought about that a series of purple cracks appeared behind the bug mare and Flurry got an idea, one that might save her.

In the next instant she screamed again as her power went wild, where the bug mare was pushed back and realized that the cracks were behind her, which burst open in response to her cry and revealed a portal behind her, while the force of her action sent the bug mare flying into the portal, which closed once she was inside it. Flurry had no idea that her doing that would cause something so weird to happen to her kidnapper, though this meant that she would be fine for the time being, where she got up from where she had landed and started to walk away from the tree. As that happened, however, her world seemed to tilt as she staggered from side to side, as if she had used far too much magic, which she didn't have any control over save for when she cried or screamed, and it wasn't long before she tilted and fell on her side. After that she glanced at the tree and found that it seemed to be glowing with a red coloration, with a strange almost circular symbol resting in the air in front of it, which faded away into mist after a few moments.

That was the last thing that Flurry saw as exhaustion claimed her and she rested her head against the cave floor, knowing that, in time, she would have the strength to move again and she just needed to sleep for a time, unaware of what was actually coming her way.

Kratos, after having fought and killed Castor and Pollux, two individuals joined together in body, made his way up to where the Oracle of Delphi, Aletheia, had landed during the destruction of the area that the battle had taken place in, though she had sustained serious damage and claimed that the relic he now carried had no effect on her. As such he knelt beside her, a companion of sorts in her last moments as she willingly helped him learn what he was seeking and what needed to be done once she was no longer of this world, namely helping him rediscover some memories that explained everything. The ring and necklace he carried belong to his wife and daughter, both killed by his hand no less during an attack on a settlement that was far away from their home, but they had been there nonetheless and he, in his rage filled state, cut them down without a single thought, not realizing his error until after the deed had been done. In addition to all of that Aletheia informed him that the Furies were infecting his mind due to the fact that he was running from his oath to Ares, the God of War, allowing him to learn that the Shade, a figure who had been helping him, spoke the truth, despite the fact that he learned that his ally was Orkos, a Fury himself.

It was good to know that his only ally right now was definitely on his side, since he had few allies at the moment, though as he thought about that Aletheia coughed, causing him to take her hand as he sensed that her life might be getting closer to it's end, just as she had foreseen at some point in the past.

"My time grows short, Kratos... to be free of the madness that is plaguing you, you must defeat those who hold your bond to the God of War." Aletheia stated, something that caused Kratos to pause for a moment as he heard that, because such a thing meant having to fight the Furies themselves, where the oracle must have sensed his concern since the Furies liked to use illusions in their dealings, "I know you are worried about their illusions, so let me point you in the right direction: the Lantern of Delos, located across the sea, houses the Eyes of Truth, my own eyes that have been plunked out of my head, which will help you in your quest for freedom."

As Kratos opened his mouth, to say something about the situation he was in, but before he could actually say anything he and Aletheia felt the wind kick up for a moment as a flash of light appeared above them, causing him to look away for just a moment as the dying oracle coughed up some blood. When the bright light died down Kratos found that someone new was resting near them, a young girl, probably about four years old by his reckoning, who appeared to be a mix of human and what he assumed was a pony of some kind, only she had a short horn in the middle of her forehead and a pair of small feathered wings on her back, sized to fit her body. Her mane and tail seemed to be violet colored and happened to have blue highlights, while her body seemed to be more of a pinkish gray, something that was definitely unique based on everything he had seen in the past, and she wore a blue cloth outfit that reminded him of what civilians wore, similar to his own dead daughter. In addition to her Kratos found a pair of steel sickles resting near her, or what he assumed were steel since he wasn't familiar with all the types of metal in the world, but even he could tell that there was something odd about them and assumed that the girl would be able to figure it out in due time.

Aletheia, on the other hand, let out a weak chuckle, as if she had seen something interesting before her demise, which caused Kratos to turn his head towards her while the little pony girl groaned a little, meaning she was slowly coming to and would see them in no time.

"Kratos, she is... the key... to your happiness." Aletheia said, confirming that she had seen something odd with her oracle powers, though before Kratos could even question her, and figure out what in the world she was talking about, she laid her head on the stone slab that she was resting on and the last bits of life faded from her body.

He had just a few moments to himself as he heard another moan and found that the little girl was waking up, causing him to turn towards her as she opened her eyes and slowly started to take in her surroundings, a cavern that had all sorts of broken pillars and even a shattered bridge, plus the rocky walkway that they were on.

"Wh... Where am I? Who are you?" the girl asked, where she started to frantically glance around the area they were in as she noticed him standing there, a tall ashen figure standing near a lifeless body with a pool of blood nearby, something that caused her to sway for a few seconds before fainting, a reasonable response from one of her age.

Kratos sighed for a moment as he realized that his quest had just gotten a lot harder than he had thought it would, since he wasn't about to leave a little girl, especially one as unique as her, here for the Furies to kidnap and do whatever they wanted with her, he just had to be patient as he wondered what the future might hold for him now.