Chapters He stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down to see the sea crash upon the sharp rocks nearly a mile down.. Far enough down that it could end all of his worries.. All of his pain, all the memories of his loss. He took in a deep breath, allowing the salty air to fill his lungs one last time, before taking a step off the ledge… falling down to what would certainly be his death, after fifteen hundred years of seeing death, he was ready for one of those deaths to be his own. As he fell faster and faster, he could feel his body trying to open his wings to break his fall, but he kept them close to his side, not allowing them to spread and soar. He could feel a burning sensation on the tip of his horn, his magic trying to protect himself, but he let his mind draw blank, remembering her face… those magenta eyes that could cut away all of Equestria’s lies and deceit. Her golden mane that fell around her, making her face glow with the faintest tint of gold, making her all the more beautiful.
As he plummeted faster towards his certain death, he could hear her voice calling to him… asking why…
“Fury… Fury why… don’t do this, don’t end your life here! Live for me! Live for the others! Keep Equestria safe, keep our names alive…”
The voice split through his pain, through his worries, through fear and anger, right to his heart and mind. As if on cue, his magic boiled forth in his blood, his horn beaming a bright blue as his body slowed. Next his wings opened, unfurling and stopping his descent with their brown and blue tipped feathers. His eyes burned with tears as he could see a bright manifestation of his love, Hurricane, flying before him.
“You cannot leave this world yet my love, there are many ponies who yet need you, both for your bravery and for your love… you must stay here and become the legend you always wanted to be…” the manifestation of Hurricane said as she slowly faded into the waves that reached up to the halfway point of his drop.
His eyes still burned as he rose back into the sky, his wings pushing him forth as he returned to the ledge that he had just thrown himself off of. As he set hoof back onto the land, his knees buckled as he collapsed on the ground, no longer able to keep standing, his sadness pulling him down. His heart pulled on its strings, making him feel the pain all over again… looking at her grave… placing the roses before her, trying to tell himself that he could have done more, could have saved her if he hadn't been so occupied with his hatred for Discord, his grief for his other friends, butchered in front of him. He remembered seeing the other ponies who had walked the path with him to her grave… his youngest sister, Luna, and one of his most trusted friends, Daywatch. The memories seared his brain, their pain burning deep, like the fires of Tartarus… hot enough to burn even the purest of souls.
His body drained of energy, he laid upon the cliff for what seemed like days, reliving a past he never wanted to see again. Each moment, reliving a moment he’d rather take back, the loss of his parents, the argument between his that turned into them splitting up for nearly five years, cleaning up after the Great Alicorn War… seeing the travesties that had been committed by both sides, and the latest… the separation brought about by the draconequus Discord, in which his friends payed the ultimate price… while he still lived. His mind punished him for the fact that he was letting himself be so vulnerable by attacking him with spouts of anger, pouring out of him like the screams of a mad pony. His magic began to sporadically create the very things he feared to see at the moment, seeing all manner of predator charging him only to see them disappear before him. Soldiers marched toward him, weapons drew and ready for the attack, ready to drive the mad pony into the oblivion that he so desperately sought.
He began to hear a voice that didn’t fit with the others, which belittled him and cursed his existence, this voice sounded caring and genuinely scared for him.
“Fury.. Fury!! Over here, I found him! Over here!...” the voice said as he heard more hoofbeats approaching. “Watch, lift him up, I’ll follow you out and keep watch,” the voice said again as he felt his body lifted and placed on the back of another pony and carried away from the cliff, to an unknown location to him.
As the two ponies arrived at the castle in the forest, the pony following revealed themself as Luna as she opened the door to the castle, ushering the guard inside, pointing him in the direction of the medical wing. The far off howls of Timberwolves could be heard, singing their song to her moon, now at its highest point of the night as she shut the door tightly. She ran for the stairwell as the guard galloped down the hall to the wing, she had to awaken her elder sister, even at this late hour. The finding of the lost prince had been on Celestia’s mind ever since they had found out that he had still been alive after Discords fall. She rushed to the door with her sisters sigil and pounded on the door, threatening to break it from its hinges.
“Celestia!! Celestia!! Wake up sister!!! Celestia!!!” she screamed as she brought her hooves thundering upon the door, each strike becoming louder than that of the last.
The door slowly opened to reveal her sister, baggy eyed and angry looking, the princess having only getting to sleep a couple hours before.
“Luna… what is so important that it could not wait until the morning?” she asked, trying to act calm, though the sun goddess thought of choking her younger sister for her behaviour.
“It’s Fury!! He’s here!! We have found him! But he is not in the best of shape sister, it seems as though his mind is destroying him,” she answered as she nearly lept into her sisters hooves in both excitement and panic. “We have to help him, we have to sister!! Tonight!!”
Celestia took a deep breath… yes, she had been worried for her elder brother after his disappearance and the rise of Discord, but only as worried as he had been when he had left them when their mother had left to fight in the war. He had never really cared for them, only saying a time or two that he even knew they existed, let alone cared for them. She could never figure out why her sister loved him so, even after all these facts had been placed before her, she refused to stop.
“Fine, I will place him into a healing sleep for the night, and we will discuss things further tomorrow sister, does this sound fair?” she asked. Luna shook her head vigorously up and down as she followed her back down the stairs and towards the hall.
When Celestia walked into the medical wing, she could hear the fevered grunts of the alicorn within. She looked through the wing to see her brother, looking wretched and grief stricken as he looked around blindly. As his gaze stopped on her, instead of seeing pupils looking back at her, his eyes had a creamy white glaze over them… as if he was blinded by his own magic, seeing only what it wanted him to see. His eyes widened as he began to scream, his horn erupting in a bright blue color as he fired a blast of energy towards her. Though caught off guard by the attack, Celestia was able to dodge, watching the blast connecting with the wall, and shaking the castle to its foundations.
“I won’t let you kill them!! You fiend!! I will protect my sisters until my dying breath!!” he yelled as another spell began to come to his horn.
Celestia quickly used her magic to bring forth her sleeping spell, effectively knocking the sickly alicorn unconscious for the next three days. As Fury slumped over in his forced sleep, she caught him with her magic and laid him in his bed correctly, before adding her next spell. This spell was for healing the mind, most ponies who came in like this had just tried to take their life, then being punished by nature for trying to end their own life by making them suffer their memories again. She had only seen two other such cases, both of them earth ponies, both were unable to be saved, even her magic was unable to reverse the ill effects of nature upon them. As her horn glowed a soft yellow, she could see the pony’s eyelids begin to squeeze, clearly in pain. She brought a hoof and ran it slowly across his forehead, aiding her magic and pushing it into his head. His eyelids relaxed as his breathing began to level out, finding sleep like a lost friend.
Celestia let out a breath she didn’t realise she had been holding in before turning to her sister, seeing the mare looking as if she would jump out of her skin from what she had seen.
“He’ll need somepony to look after him, in case he wakes up from this sleep,” she said to Luna, who nodded slowly before finding a place beside the bed. “If he does wake, get me right away, every minute he is awake will be pivotal for the spell can only work if he is completely submissive,” she said again, Luna again nodding. Celestia turned and walked out of the wing, making her way back to her bed for the night before laying down and letting sleep take her… falling into a deep sleep for the remainder of the night.
Luna turned her attention back to her brother lying in bed, listening to the steadied breaths he took as his body took a much needed rest, thought she could see by his facial expressions, that he was in pain. She laid her head down on the bed, letting a rest take her as she allowed her magic to take her into the dream world, where she would aid those lost in more ways than one.
While the others slept, Fury fought for his life against an old enemy as his mind stood on the edge of oblivion. He ran through a labyrinth of memories trying to escape his mind, while he could hear an abyssal voice following him closely behind, taunting him and promising his end if he failed. As he ran faster towards what appeared to be an exit, the path seemed to elongate, now going on forever… never allowing him to be free of his mind. As this happened, the voice caught up with him, now in his ear.
“Is it fear… or courage that compels you Young one?” came the disembodied voice as it began to orbit from one ear to the other, each word trying to finally break the alicorn. “There’s no shame in giving up young one… allow me your body… through you I will wield greater magic than has ever been seen, nor will ever be again… and allow you to slip through the cracks to the next world, unashamed and ready for peace…”
Fury stood motionless as he now stared at the owner of the voice, a shadow darker than any night, and blood red eyes that could pierce through any soul… and he knew this shadow, and knew him well. He then readied himself as he opened his mouth, speaking forth clearly and loud enough for the shadow to hear him.
“To let you my body is to place the world in peril that it would not survive! Your magic would finish what you started so many years ago, and that… I simply cannot allow, even now at my minds edge, i cannot allow you passage back into the world, but I can allow you this one thing,” Fury said as his horn burst forth in an array of white light, bright enough to burn away the evil in front of him. “I can allow you the light of the world, so that you may see clearly and have hope!”
“Noo!!!” the shadow of the former great alicorn Kaorn screamed as he was burned away, along with the labyrinth he had created to enslave and corrupt his enemy.
Fury now stood before an open door, seeing the world around him through it, as if he were in an out of body experience. He was back in the castle of the woods, in the medical wing where his body slept peacefully, and beside him was his younger sister Luna, sleeping silently beside him. He looked around as his mind floated silently, and invisible to those in the waking world, making his way to the main foyer, where he could see the moon at its peak. He gazed into the throne room to see it only occupied by a couple stray bats that had flown in by accident, now flying lost in the room. He began to move forward when he was pulled back by an unseen force. He grunted as he tried to pull back, but only gave the force pulling him little resistance as he was drug back into the medical wing. When his mind had been brought through the last wall, he was surprised to see Luna standing and looking straight at him, his mind anyway.
“You cannot do this brother, you will lose your mind and body, both lost in time and space if you leave it now. You must return now, finish your sleep, dream of happier days, let your body and mind heal,” she said as she began to force his mind back into his body.
Fury tried to scream out, telling his sister of his endeavor, but his mind had come without a mouth, and so the only words she heard were her own. As he entered his body once again, the door that had opened now slowly closed, revealing a paradise that wasn't there before. Fury took in a breath as he walked forward, taking his sisters advice and letting himself go in the new paradise for the next few days, allowing for both his mind and body to heal from the choice that nearly ended it all that night.
The next morning, Luna began her usual ritual of reigning in the moon and setting it to slumber for the day. She passed where Fury still slept peacefully, not making a noise aside from the occasional light snoring. She continued on, checking in on the ponies of the castle, rising them from their slumber to begin their day. She made quick work of the stairs running down the hall and quickly knocking on Celestia's door with a couple quick raps.
“Sister, sister wake up, tis time to raise the sun!” Luna sang as she opened the door.
Behind the door was a completely different Celestia, from the one that had scorned her the night before. She was moving through the room, a royal grace about her as her horn glowed bright, bringing the sun out from its slumber, warming the day with its mighty face.
“Good morning sister!” Celestia said proudly as she finished her spell. “How does our brother fair?”
“He's sleeping contently, not a bad dream in sight,” Luna answered as she walked over to the balcony where Celestia stood. “He did something terrible last night, didn't he?” She asked, now as serious as could be.
“I've only seen that type of behavior in ponies that had tried to take their life and failed, then it seemed that nature took over and killed them..” She said, but began to hear her sister faulted, and so changed her answer. “But he has lasted through the night, and has drifted into a good dream, so I sense he will be alright in a couple days sister, so why don't you go to bed, I'll watch him today..”
Luna nodded before walking out of the room, making her way down the corridor, opening the door to her own room. Once she was clear, Celestia made her way down the opposite way to the stairwell that came down to the foyer by the medical wing.
She made her way into the wing, walking to the only pony in the wing, still sleeping, peacefully now, his eyes gently moving beneath his eyelids, dreaming. She sat beside him, her gaze resting upon his face, wondering what he dreamt of.
“If.. If you can hear me brother..” She started, “know that I didn't do this to save you in any way, I did this for Luna,” she whispered as she got close to Fury's muzzle. “And if when you wake, you break her heart again, I will destroy you..” She whispered with hardly any emotion before rising and slowly walking out of the wing.
“Send for me if his condition changes,” she said to the guard at the door, who nodded and saluted her on the way out.
“Where am I…” Fury said to himself as he looked at the white sands surrounding him. The beach appeared to be deserted, but he could feel through his magic that he wasn't alone. As if on cue, he could hear the footsteps of another walking up to him, but no physical being was there.
“...you are troubled… my son..” A voice spoke in front of him as a faded figure began to appear before him. The figure, was that of his mother, queen paramour.
“..m-mother, is that really you?” He asked, thinking his senses deceiving him, it couldn't be her… she had been dead for nearly eight hundred years, but yet it seemed she stood there.
“It is my son.. In spirit anyway, just as you are..” she answered as she gestured to Fury, who looked to his own body, and seen himself as an apparition.
“W-what is this place?” Fury asked, a little frightened by his body.
“This is neither the great beyond nor your reality, but a place in between… a purgatory of sorts, where the dead can reach the living,” she said as she laid a hoof on his shoulder.
Fury cherished the feeling of the hoof on his shoulder… it was far more help than any therapy could do. He looked to his mother as she pulled him into a hug, which he gladly accepted.
“How I have missed you… all of you.. But you're not here to see me, you are troubled beyond the help of the living my son… you wonder of your continued existence, when all of your companions have fallen..” She said as she began to walk the beach, gesturing for him to follow.
Fury followed, his mind racing, she could read his mind…
“Do you know why mother?..” He asked slowly as he kept her walking pace.
“I do my son… you live on because you made an oath.. Unbreakable by any means, even death… one your father took..”
“Then how did he.. Die if his oath was unbreakable?” Fury asked, looking to his mother, who then stared through him.
“Because of you.. The eye knew of your existence, and that you would take up his helm, and so it allowed his oath to be broken,” she said as she slowed her pace. “And now, there is only you, so it's magic protects you, until one is born who can take your place..”
Fury took in the information, though it still confused him as to why he was there… what he had to do…
“You still wonder of what it is you must do now, am I correct?” She asked, stopping and looking to him.
“Yes mother… I wonder what I can and must do, without the gems that were bestowed upon me and my friends..”
“Did you use the stones when you discovered the cave? Or when you used your power to stand against the draconiqui?” She asked as her eyes pierced through him. “Or maybe when you defied me and your father..”
“No mother… I didn't use the stones..”
“There is power in you my son, but you must find it on your own, then you shall find your purpose… only then will you know your true destiny…” she said as her body faded away into the nothingness where she had come from.
“Mother!.. Mother!!” He shouted, but she still disappeared. As his voice died out, he looked to see his body doing the same, the white sands swallowing him, eventually enveloping his sight. A slight noise brought his eyes into focus, seeing his new surroundings.
He could see the beds around him, empty, waiting for a pony to lay in them, his own a bit comfortable. As he blinked, he seen a nurse beside him, giving him a confused look.
“Y-you're awake… the princess said that you would be in a d-deep sleep for days…” she said as she began to back away.
Fury rolled off the bed, landing lightly on his hooves, standing clumsily for a second, his legs trying to catch up with his mind. “I guess her spell went through me quicker, that's all,” he said as he took a few shaky steps.
“I, I need you to lay back down, let the princess examine you,” the nurse begged as fury took a few more steps,
“She can examine me in the throne room,” Fury said as he made his way to the doorway. The guard began to take a stance toward him, but Fury only kept his pace toward the door.
“I'm sorry sir, but my orders are to let none in or out except the princesses and your nurse,” the guard said as he stood in the doorway, opening his wings.
“Move or be moved guard,” Fury said as he stopped in front of the guard.
“Sir, you will not pass..”
“Have it your way then,” Fury said as he called upon his magic.
His magic pulsed through his blood becoming all he was as it reached his horn, where it glowed a bright blue. He blew out a bit of air and amplified it with his magic, sending the unprepared Pegasus hurling through the wing until he came to a stop against a wall.
“Make sure he gets healed,” Fury said as he looked back to the nurse before making his way to the stairs and the throne, where his sisters waited.
The doors to the throne room flew open as the freshly awakened Fury stormed in. The two sisters looked at their guest first with a bit of fright, but then to a look of relief. Luna began to tread down the steps and meet her brother, but Celestia stopped her, giving Fury a glaring look.
“Good morning brother, it is surprising to say the least to see you,” Celestia said, her hoof still on her sister's shoulder.
“Good morning sisters, I feel well rested and ready for action once again!” Fury said as he stopped just short of the stairs that led to the thrones.
“I see that my spell worked then?” Celestia asked, “Though I expected that you would sleep for at least a couple more days..”
“It seems that your spell worked a little quicker than you imagined,” Fury said as he sat, not taking care to bow or any other resemblance of courtesy for the crown.
Celestia glared at him, his disrespect for her growing, though in truth he was just as royal as she, but unlike her, he had decided long ago that he wasn’t fit to rule, and stepped down. Her eyes stared right into his mind, trying to see what he had come here for, after all, Fury hadn’t been around for the past six hundred years, they didn’t need him.
Fury took his gaze from the crown his father once wore and looked to his sister, Celestia, who currently looked like she could murder him where he stood.
“You want to know why, don't you..” he said as he turned away, “why I came back, after all I’ve done..”
“The thought has crossed my mind brother, you never liked staying at the castle,” Celestia said, her anger still brimming.
“Our mother came to me, while I was unconscious, and told me of what I am to do..”
“You lie… you and I both know that isn't possible, she's been gone for nearly a thousand years!” Celestia nearly yelled as she stood up, flaring her wings out.
“I do not, I was brought to a world between worlds, where she came to me… I am to protect the bearers of the stones, wherever or whatever they need..” He answered, not giving Celestia a reason to do something she'd regret.
Celestia grunted with disbelief as she began to turn her back, “what will you do then, now that you have this, almighty quest from our mother?” She asked with sarcasm.
Fury began to bite his lip, curving his tongue from spilling out harsh words. “I will return to our ancestral home in the empire, as she mentioned a power not unlike the gems within me, that I had to find… so home is the best place to start..”
Celestia waved her hoof, dismissing Fury. “Go brother, it's what you are good at, I will stay and keep the throne, do what you are good at and leave once again, show sister Luna the real Fury Flight, who leaves for danger and other, noble pursuits..”
Fury’s temper peaked as his blood began to boil, magic began flowing down his veins, creeping into his horn, his jaw clenched, trying to hold back the magical energy that wanted to burst forth and attack… if she only knew.
“Fury… my son.. You must carry on without us..” Galaxo said through gasps.
“Father… no, no no, I, I can help you, I swear!” Fury answered through tears.
“Not this time son… not.. This time…” his father answered as his life blood escaped through a gash in his chest. “You must return… take my throne… be the king I know you are…”
“Father… I'm no king… I'm just a soldier, a guardian…”
“Then aid your sisters at the throne… find the creator, learn her secret… become like a shadow in the night my son…” galaxo said as he took his last breath.
Fury looked back at his sister, magic brewing for an attack, but allowed himself to calm down. He took a deep breath, allowing the fragrances of the castle, lavender and daylily to enter his nostrils, their aroma calming him down, allowing for clear sight. He let his magic subside, it taking a toll leaving without casting it, slightly fatiguing him, but his strength was the least of his concerns.
“Sisters… without knowing who I am without the gems, how am I to be at your side, with untold powers… I must find who I am… I will return with the next full moon,” he said as he turned to leave, not glancing to see if Celestia even budged from his reason. As he walked down the foyer, he heard a voice clearing from behind him, and turned to see Luna with a hoof over her mouth.
“Brother, we will hold you to your word, that you will return on the next full moon, with a result of your findings, but if you return with no results, or fail to return at all… then we must and will declare you a threat to our kingdom, and will have you seized and held under contempt of our world, until either your death or the end of Equestria… whichever comes last…”
Fury nodded as he looked at Luna, nearly shocked that she had made the statement, but understood it nonetheless, if he couldn’t find a way to change, then imprisonment was the next best option. He turned back to his path and slowly walked out of the throne room, making his way to the ent of the main foyer leading to the Everfree Forest, and the rest of the world.
As he walked into the forest, the air began to change, from the peaceful environment of the castle to the uneasy stillness of the forest, as if at any second something would jump out of a brush patch or fall from a tree, attacking its victim. He stepped carefully through the forest, even though he had the magical ability to fight off nearly any creature that walked these woods, a reckless use of magic had its way of returning to its caster in this forest. He stepped down the path, letting himself get lost in the woods as he walked through its majestic scenery, though his gaze set upon the exit, hoping not to run into some of the forest’s predators, who had often tried to take the weary traveller for their next meal.
As he neared the edge of the forest, the small village of Tree Sap came into sight. The village was nearly apart of the forest, most of the ponies using it for their day to day lives, taking from it the ripe fruit from its trees, always leaving one to replace the tree when it died. The others in the village used crops to grow apples for cider that was nearly unbeatable in taste. He took his first steps from the forest and onto the road that ran through the village, greeting a few of the earth ponies that were on their day to day business, who waved and began to bow.
Fury made his way to the local tavern, feeling a thirst creeping into the back of his throat. As he reached the building, a yellow mare caught his eye, the earth pony running into the building in front of him, followed by a few stallions. He grinned as he walked in, knowing that the town was also known for the beauty of its mares, who were known across the kingdom. He opened the door and walked in, and as he did, the tavern went silent as the alicorn across the floor, so quiet that he could hear each hoofstep, each breath he took in perfect clarity.
He sat down at the last seat at the bar, unoccupied just as the next three seats to his left. As he set down, a mid aged mare set down a full cider in front of him, looking him deep in his eyes.
“We don’t see many alicorns here, in fact, you may be the first, so sweetie, you got a name?” the mare asked.
“Names Fury, Fury Flight,” he said as the room gasped, as many of them knew of the legendary warrior he was made out to be, but astonished that he was there.
“Alright love, first ones on me, then you got your own after,” she said as she left the cider and walked away, waiting on her other customers.
Fury nodded as he took the mug in his hoof and drank the cider, its sweet flavor catching his taste buds in a high. He finished off the cider, lightly clunking the wooden cup on the bar, signaling that he was wanting another. As the waitress returned, he placed a gold bit on the bar, watching her pouring more cider in his mug before walking away. As he took a savory sip of his newest cider, he felt another pony set beside him, and with a glance of his eye, seen it was the yellow mare he followed in. He smiled as he set his mug down looking to the mare, who smiled back.
“Hello, here for a drink?” he asked as he tossed a couple bits on the counter, where the tender poured two ciders and went back to her other customers.
“Sure, I could have one,” she answered as she took the mug and sipped the beverage.
“So, here to see me up close?” Fury asked, waiting for the answer they all gave, that they wanted to see the hero up close, then try to woo him.
“Actually, I just wanted to say that you look funny, I've never seen a pony with wings and a horn before,” she said as she giggled.
Fury nearly spit out his cider as he looked at the mare. “You’ve never heard of me, or of those like me?”
“Oh I've heard about the two rulers in the forest, and of the great hero of the war, but I've never seen any of you,” she said as she took another drink of the cider.
He took a drink of his own cider, before thinking of something to say, “so who’s the group with you?”
She giggled as she looked at him, her eyes meeting his, “why, you wanna train them to be great warriors hehe, though i think they would love it, I don’t think my father would appreciate his sons gone from the fields..”
Fury nodded, letting a small giggle escape his normally stoic expression. “So you and your brothers come here often?”
“Nope, only when important heros are in town..” she said as she winked, giggling a little.
Fury looked at the mare with confusion, “how could you know that i was going to arrive here?”
She began to laugh out loud as she answered, “It’s a joke silly, you really gotta get out more!” she said as she finished the cider before setting the cider back on the table before sneaking a peck on his cheek, “thanks for the cider, have fun!” she said as she ran for the door, followed by her three brothers, looking as if they were late for something.
Fury watched the door for a moment longer before finishing his cider and walking out of the tavern where the evening air cooled him and the sunset marveled him. He turned his nose to the north and began his travel to crystal empire, the yellow mare fully taking up his mind.
As Fury walked down a road leading from Tree Sap to the next town, Spearsound, which lay due northeast, he watched the wind blow through the fields of wheat, the plants flowing like the sea. He watched it with a sort of longing… seeing the see reminded him of that which he lost.. His hurricane. As he continued his slow pace, he took in the smells, the aroma of the wheat, sweet with a bit of salt, and the cider smell, still on his nose from the town he just visited. He saw a couple down the road a bit and decided to stop and talk to them, unaware of what was going to be seen.
As he arrived at the cart, it was obvious that something was wrong, the ponies he seen weren’t standing, rather leaning on the cart. He ran to them, checking to see if they were simply resting from their travels… but when he reached them, the blood spoke otherwise. He stopped, looking at the two ponies… his heart sinking quickly, and his rage beginning to rise… who could have done this, and why?...
He looked to the mare, a middle aged mare by the looks, her pink dress soaked in her own blood. He felt for a pulse… nothing… she’s gone.. He thought as he moved to the stallion. As he went to touch the stallions neck, he took a shallow breath.
“Sir… Sir are you.. Are you alright?” Fury asked, seeing the stallion begin to regain consciousness.
“I… I… I don’t think… I can.. Make it..” he answered as he weakly opened his eyes to look upon the pony talking. “You’re… an alicorn… bu.. But I thought they all… died out..” he made out.
Fury took a breath and swallowed back his guilt before answering, “Yes, I am an alicorn, my name is Fury Flight, prince of the land… and me and my sisters are all that remain of the alicorn race..”
The stallion smiled a little, before looking to his wife. “M.. My wife..”
“I’m.. I’m afraid that she’s gone sir…” Fury answered, watching as the stallion teared up, then laid back.
“I’ll just have to catch up then,” he said as he began to slip away.
“Wait! Please tell me who did this to you!?” Fury asked, watching the stallion look up one last time.
“There were four of em… big stallions, and a yellow…. Mar……..” but before he could finish, the stallion passed.
Fury stood up, flared his wings and let his magic boil, leaving his horn in a form of lightning that sparked across the sky as he let out a loud and long scream. “I will find who did this!! And they will pay!! I Swear to you on my life stranger, that I will not rest until whoever did this no longer draws breath!!!”
He then took off down the road at a full gallop, and a fire in his eyes, and doubt in his heart. ‘Mortal ponies did this… mortals…. Those which I gave my life to protect.. Now kill their own, I will stop these pillagers, then I will leave.. With no trace of me ever being on this planet…’ Fury thought to himself as he ran, nearing another wagon on the side of the road, with similar looks to the last.
He galloped hard into the day, until reaching the town of spearsound, the distraught citizens nearly running in panic. He looked to the ponies with confusion, normally Spearsound was brimming with pride, its citizens almost arrogant with it.
“Please no… Please leave our village in peace!!” came a shout from a mare in the back, followed by a stallion.
“Please leave us be… we didn’t break the law they set!” came another.
“What law… I mean you no harm,” Fury said as he took slow steps, offering for one of the citizens to walk forward, where he placed in her hooves a small amount of bits. “I require information about pillagers in the area, they have gone too far,”
With that, the villagers began to cheer and gladly huddle around Fury, telling him more information than he could take all at once. They then led him to the local tavern, where they had made it into a hospital of sorts to heal those who were targeted by villains could be treated, those who survived. As he looked at the ponies, he couldn’t see any pattern, there were young, old, rich, poor, stallion and mare. He called upon his magic, feeling the magic grow as it made a blue aura around his horn, traveling to all of the ponies in the room, doing what he could to help them, the magic healing them to a degree. Some of the ponies shot right out of their beds, while others still lay there, either shocked by the feeling or not completely healed by the magic.
Fury looked to what seemed to be the mayor, and pulled him close, “where can these bandits be found? They’ve made enough of a mess… and it’s time for them to pay for their crimes,” he said quietly, in to which the mare pointed to the east.
“If you really want to find them, head due east, about a half days journey, there will be a small farm.. There you’ll find them,” the mayor said as he ran to an older blue earth mare who was beginning to get off her own bed.
Fury took one last look at the ponies in the tavern/hospital before leaving, beginning his hunt for the bandits. He walked to the edge of the small town before jumping at the outskirts, letting his wings take him into the air, where he ascended into the clouds, keeping his position as he continued east, his heart hungering for vengeance.
From the air, Fury watched the earth ponies frantically running errands, talking about not having time. He thought of something he was told long ago.. By his friend and love, hurricane.
"Look at them Fury, how they dance to a beat set for them, quickening with each moment," she said with awe, watching a group of ponies running about the empire.
Fury smiled as he looked her in the eye, "why is it you care for them so much? They run about, worrying about their own impending doom, trying to stop it," he said as he brushed a lock of hair from her face.
"I'm in awe of them... And also quite jealous... Look at our lives... We'll live thousands of years before we age and die, see countless generations of these mortals come and go, whilst we never change a face... It's pretty boring, and no more beautiful than that of an aging tree... But them.. Every moment could be their last, each breath their final... And so their lives, though short and often meaningless, are so much more beautiful because they are doomed... It gives life meaning... And beauty.." She said as the memory faded.
Fury looked down from his memories to see the small farm the mayor described. He could see up to ten stallions running about,doing chores among other farming things. He stopped and hovered a bit, watching them move about, not really seeing the villainous vibe that was described, or the yellow pony that was described by… it was then he saw them, galloping in hard from the west, three big stallions and a yellow… mare. Fury’s anger boiled over as he charged down from the sky, letting his anger control his magic, the lightning of his rage charging forward and enveloping the house, where numerous fillies and colts ran out, followed by an elderly couple, running to shelter from something they never expected.
This only caused more power to erupt from Fury’s horn, eviscerating the house to splinters, where his magic moved to the barn, erupting in flames. He landed hard on his hooves, the blow barely stunning him for a second before he began to walk towards the farmhouse. A group of stallions that had been tending the fields began to charge at him, hoping to scare him off with their numbers, and so he stopped and ushered one warning.
“I am here for the bandits, that have caused so much damage throughout the land, step aside and be spared,” he said in a commanding voice.
The group hesitated for a second, before backing away and running to assist the elderly couple. Fury moved towards the group of four, who stood at the western edge of the farm, looking like they were scared stiff, seeing the very devil walking towards them as Fury walked past the barn, the hay inside it exploding in flame behind him. He continued his walk, seeing the fear grow in the ponies by the house, now homeless.
“You have caused great harm to the surrounding areas, taking the lives of your own kind… how does it feel to know that it all ends today,” Fury said as he approached, magic beginning to boil once again.
“I will not die today, no.. I have become too much! I am a god!!” the apparent leader said, a larger gray stallion with a short brown mane.
Fury rushed in and took him by the throat and lifted him into the air. “Pathetic.. Any ‘god’ would have seen that coming..”
“W-what do you want… money.. It's yours..” he choked as he pointed to a large bag upon a brown stallions back.
“I don’t the money you stole.. I want the life you stole from others..” Fury answered as he let his magic tighten the grip.
“You’re… insane… I..” he then closed his eyes and prepared for death.
“Oh no… I want you to remember me!” Fury said as he tossed the stallion into the fire, hearing his screams of agony before a silence.
Fury landed back down once again, looking to the now three ponies standing before him. “Anyone else wanna be a god?” he asked as he looked, but the two stallions laid down the bags and hung their heads, waiting for the same gruesome demise. Dalila herself broke into tears as she sat down.
“T-thank you… you made him go away… he was going to destroy the village tonight… I didn’t wanna be apart of it, but he told us if we didn’t… he’d kill the rest of our family..” she sobbed.
Fury then looked at the three with a bit of guilt… the mastermind behind it wanted it all, using them as both slaves and help, but it didn’t stop the fact that they had been apart of horrible crimes. He then looked to the house and barn, now both a flaming mess, and called upon his magic. A gust of wind quickly put out the flames as his magic worked, the house and barn rebuilding themselves. As he focused his magic in, he could see a figure running to the west, no doubt the leader looking to refuge.
After his magic finished, he looked to the three ponies, his mind now set on judgement. “You three are at a crossroads.. You can no longer stay here.. But I offer this once. You will either be taken into spearsound, where you will be tried and most likely given your last rights, or… you travel with me, and settle in another land, never to return here,” Fury said, knowing the consequence of either choice they were about to make.
Dalila stood up and walked over to Fury, looking at him with tearful eyes,” we’ll travel with you… and settle in the land you take us..”
Fury nodded and motioned for them to follow as he turned around and began to walk for the north once again. The three ponies followed him, not not knowing where they were going, only that they had a new lease on life.
They made good time for the next few days, stopping along the way at small towns where Fury would go into town and buy goods for the travels and meet the other three at the northern edge, where they would stop and rest. They stopped at creeks and cleaned up, living in harmony with the land, where Fury began to teach them of the harmony between the land around them and themselves. He would often recall stories on the road north, telling them of his travels through the land, and his experience with the true gods and goddesses of the world.
After five long days, they had finally reached the edge of the frozen north, its wintery kiss taking them all by surprise.
“We can’t… travel too far in this… w-we’ll f-f-freeze..” Dalila stuttered from the cold.
Fury turned around and smiled, “we won’t have to, hang on,” he said as he took ahold of each one and teleported them north, to the edge of the Crystal Empire. He looked with tear filled eyes at the shining capital of the world, as he heard the other ponies begin to ooh and ahh.
“What is that place?” Dalila asked in wonder.
“That… that is home..” Fury said as he began to walk to the giant gate, separating the kingdom from the rest of the world…
As Fury walked through the gate, followed by the three ponies in tow, he looked in awe at his old home. Though it wasn't as bright as he remembered, the crystal still shown with a luster unequal to any gem. He walked up the main road, stopping to greet some of the locals, amazed to see a pony from the statues in the castle. He made his way through a small crowd at the castle square leading into the castle.
The three ponies behind him began to struggle to keep up with him, and began to call out to him.
Hearing the group behind him, he rolled his eyes and turned back to them, seeing them catch up. "Ok my new friends, I release you from me, this is your new home, go forth and make a new life!" He said with a little authority, in which the two stallions faded into the group and began their new life. Dalila on the other hoof, stood resiliently before him.
"Why do you not leave with your brothers?" He asked, watching her smile in return.
"I don't know, I guess i wish to follow you," she answered as she began to blush.
Fury shook his head as he placed a hoof on her shoulder, "I can see the thoughts that flow through your heart, and I must tell you that I am not what you seek, find a good stallion here, settle down and bear foals for him… to love me is to love the stars.. The sunset, you can admire them as much as you want, but in the end they will care not for you…" he said as he turned and walked back towards the castle.
"It doesn't bother me!! Because out of those stars, one was made just for me…. Out of all of those sunsets, one would be beautiful just for me.." She said as a tear began to slide down her cheek, watching as Fury walked away, not turning around. "You would walk away from Love!? Why!??"
Fury stopped, his face beginning to shake, memories of Hurricane appearing in his mind… her terrified look as the serpent Discord drove his claw into her chest. He looked back, his eyes blurring from tears wanting to escape. "Because those I love die.. And I will see no more death for my heart…" He said before turning back and walked into the castle, leaving Dalila standing among the crowd, her face shocked as much as it was sad… he had brought her here for a reason.. And it wasn't for her to 'settle'..
Fury walked through the castle doors and crossed the foyer to the throne, occupied by a young unicorn mare, who looked to Fury, then to the statue above the foyer, then back to Fury.
"Y-you are…. F- Fury F- Flight… the B-Brave??" She asked, staring at Fury with a bit of awe.
Fury nodded with a tight grin, "yes I am, and what might your name be?"
"My name is Princess Amore!" She answered back with a form of regality.
"I see your majesty… you wouldn't mind if a war hero like myself stops for a stroll in the library, would you?" He asked as he bowed to the young princess.
"Oh of course my friend, my son Sombra should be in there, help yourself to any book you choose!" She said as she pointed to the right foyer, where a hallway led to the massive library.
"Thank you princess, I will most definitely visit your son as well," he answered as he walked to the right, heading to the library.
As he entered the massive library, a young grey foal sat with his eyes glued to a book on the arcane. Fury's eyes fell upon him with a slight grin. This foals ambitions seemed to be much like his own when he was a young foal, wanting so badly to have his magic, that he studied for months on end to grasp it. Fury approached the pony and gently tapped his head, startling the young reader.
"Know any good spells young mage?" Fury asked as Sombra jumped.
"No sir!! I was just.. Whoa.." He said as a gasp escaped him. "You're… you're… you are him.. The alicorn from the statue.."
"Yes.. I am him.. Or was… at one time" Fury answered as he looked out at the library, its knowledge covering all history, from the very beginning.
"W-why are you here sir?" Sombra asked as he closed his book and jumped up from his pillow on the crystal floor.
"Answers… answers to who I must be.. And how to become him.."
Sombra tilted his head a little as he followed Fury through the library, holding books and listening to Fury as he took notes and searched for knowledge that somehow eluded him of the power his mother spoke of.
Outside the castle, Dalila walked through the markets, finding new things and trying some of the local cuisine, looking for a way to appeal to the stallion she loved. As she passed a book merchant, she spotted his face on the cover, the title saying 'Fury Flight, The Hero of Wars'. She looked at the book, catching the attention of the merchant.
The merchant had a small cart that served as his selling stand, the cart having looked as if it had seen many stories on his travels. Its blue color had faded and spots were brown where the boards had been replaced. The merchant himself was an older stallion, stocky in his body with a face that looked as rough as a dragons. His face was adorned with a large scar over his left eye, with a patch covering his eye itself, while smaller scars found their way along his face. He glanced to dalila with a toothy grin as he hobbled over to her and the book, an adventurous look upon him.
"Fancy a read of him eh? Fury's story appeals to many a mare and stallion alike, his bravery holds them at their seats, while his sadness drives many to tears… but many mares wish they could stand in the place of Lady Hurricane, Fury's one true love," the merchant said, his tongue working to persuade her on his book, though Dalila was already buying it as he spun the tale.
"I need this book sir, I need to know of him… how to better understand him," she said as she placed the bits on the rickety board that stood as the merchants counter.
"Excellent my lady, may your aim be true.." The merchant said as he vanished to the back of the cart.
Dalila happily squeed to herself as she galloped off to the nearest bench, where she began to read the tale of the one she loved so.
After looking through the last book he had found, Fury was no closer to the answer he sought then When he had arrived. He glanced over at Sombra, to see the young colt sleeping soundly while clutching a book in a loving embrace. Fury looked out a window to see the moon high above him, propelled further with his sisters magic. He sat down beside Sombra and watched the young one sleep, happy and content.
"So is this the life I would have had, would it not have been for the events that forced me to become a warrior…" He said quietly to himself. "His heart is full of wonder and joy… while mine is full of sadness…"
"..and why is that lunkhead? Did you fall in your thick head again?" Came a voice from his mind, yet so clear that the foal beside him shivered.
"I know your voice… but where are you… Huri?" Fury said as He looked around.
"...all this time, and you still haven't changed… not willing to look under your nose.." The voice said again, coming from the arcane book that Sombra held tight.
Fury looked down at the book with tears in his eyes, smiling with a smile he hadn't had since before the wars of his life. He gently removed the book from Sombra's hooves and opened the book, immediately finding his answer on the first page, in her hoof writing.
He stared at the page, tears in his eyes as he looked back to the foal, who now watched him with tired eyes.
"Did, did you find something?" Sombra asked.
"Yes… I understand now, who I am to be, and where my power derives from…" Fury answered, closing the book and returning the book to Sombra, who immediately went back to sleep as Fury walked out of the castle, to come face to face with dalila once again.
"Hello, Fury Flight, the king who stepped down to be a guardian of all.. Who has lost more than anyone could imagine, but still fights for good…" dalila started as she crossed her front hooves and looked to the ground.
"You are still here? Why?" Fury asked, a small lump building in his throat.
"I knew when I first met you in the tavern, that you were special… but it was on the trip here I understood that I loved you… and reading about you… I better understand you, and know that even if you don't love me back, I will be here for you… as long as I live… to show you that there are souls here worth saving.. And.." But her speech was cut short by soft lips meeting hers. She was startled by it, but kissed him back, allowing her tongue to meet his.
As Fury and Dalila stepped through the gardens of The Everfree castle, Fury could smell a certain aroma coming from the center of the gardens, where he could see a purple mane flowing. The foul smelling odor caught him with a sickly sweet smell of rotting decay. He turned his nose as he stopped at the door of the castle, where a pair of royal guards stood motionless, their spears crossed across the door, not allowing the alicorn and earth pony admittance. Fury looked at the guards with some shock and dismay.
“Is there a problem here gentlecolts?” Fury asked as he stopped at the door, his nose nearly touching the spear. “Let us pass”.
“We cannot allow you to pass sir, you have not been released by our checklist sir,” the nearest guard said, his middle aged muzzle slumping as he spoke.
“Do you not recognize me? I am Prince Fury Flight, brother to the two sisters… now let us pass!”
“Sir, we cannot allow you admittance into the castle as your name has not been cleared..”
Fury took a deep breath as he stepped back, “Alright then, have it your way”, Fury said as the magic in his horn sprang to life as a sphere of magic exploded and launched the guards from their positions and landed them by the workspace of his younger sister, who was currently studying the decaying of timberwolves.
The castle doors opened as Fury strolled through looking to his sister, Celestia, who was sitting comfortably upon her throne, looking at Fury with a slightly irritated look. She slightly raised an eyebrow as he stopped at the edge of the stairs leading to her throne.
“How many of my guards will you put in the medical wing?” Celestia asked with a bored tone.
“Why am I barred from coming into my own home?” Fury asked as he sat down on his haunches.
“I thought your home was in the Crystal Empire Great Fury Flight, great guardian of small towns… and now the taker of mares?” she said as her eye glanced at Dalila, who tried to shrink into nothing at the thought of being called a prize. “I heard about the fire at the bandits property, and now the villian on the run… have you made anything better brother? Or simply let your emotions and magic run wild?” she asked as she set up tall, looking down upon her brother with an egotistical look.
Fury set and looked at the ground, the event she described still fresh in his head… he had let his emotions get the better of him, his magic was still roaring from the power he let out, his soul still torn from it… from his dive off the cliff. He could still hear Celestia talking about the law he had violated when he went to the farm and let his magic loose.
“...Fury, and for that… I must ask that you stand down.. And come to the lower levels peacefully..”
“You are… trying to arrest me?” Fury said as he stood up, his eyesight checking behind him seeing two unicorn guards behind him, their magic holding ready. “I am not going anywhere!” Fury said as he let his own magic begin to flow.
“You do this brother, and our familiar tie will be broken… you would let yourself start a war?” Celestia said as she slowly got up from her throne.
“It wouldn’t be the first time I made a war,” Fury said as he eyed Celestia as she stepped down the steps.
“Fury, don’t do this… You can’t win this… come peacefully,” she said as she reached the bottom of the steps.
Fury’s mind heightened as he drew a deep breath and let his magic crackle, lightning escaping his horn and keeping the ponies around him save dalila at a distance. His eyes blinded with a sheet of magic, letting him amplify his magic ten fold.
“No one will touch me or her!! The first one to move will feel it!” Fury said as he pushed his magic more, creating a larger gap between himself and the others.
The door burst open as a wite magic sliced through the electricity and struck Fury in the back of the head, nearly knocking him out, but enough to strike down his magical barrier. Luna stepped through the door with her magic raised, looking at Fury with nothing but rage.
“You dare come here and attack our sister!! Dare to show Thy face after what has happened!! Thou should be ashamed… thou is no longer a brother of ours..” Luna said as she pushed her magic again, going for Furys mind.
Fury let a tear slip from his magic blinded eye before letting his magic strike all of the ponies surrounding, the force of the lightning blowing the ponies back as he grabbed dalila and teleported away.
He reappeared in a small sanctuary just north of the castle, stil having his magic on high alert as he looked around to see if he had been followed by any magical threat. Seeing that they were indeed safe, Fury stopped to contemplate what he had just done. He had attacked those he loved, those he swore to protect above his own life. He wished he had listened to know what else had happened when he lost control of his magic. Had the stallion ran off and began taking lives.. Or worse, stealing ponies to form a new gang. He wasn’t sure, as his mind had blacked out when Celestia was explaining that to him. It was then that he remembered that he was not alone.
He looked over to Dalila, who though was a yellow pony, her face was nearly white as a ghost. He sat down in front of her and tried to look her in the eye, but her gaze averted to the ground. He brought a hoof to her chin, but she only moved her head away.
“Dalila… please look at me, what did she say?” he tried to ask thoughtfully.
Dalila looked at the ground, her mind in pieces as well as her heart. The princess had called her a prize, a common tramp. And then laid the bombshell that her father, the pony that the alicorn had burned alive in front of her, was not only alive, but taking the lives of others. She knew if she told him, he would hunt her father down and finish the job he had started. She kept her eyes closed tightly, not wanting to look at the pony in front of her.
Fury looked back before sighing and turning around, walking over to a nearby tree, stopping and resting by it.
“He’s still causing harm isn’t he? That pony from the farm… he’s important to you as well..” he said, not looking back. “So you are protecting him from a fate that is sure to follow him… am I right?”
“Yes…” she whispered, not looking at Fury.
“You would rather him roam the lands killing at will, taking what he pleases?” Fury said as he turned and looked at Dalila, the mare looking at him with fear in her eyes. “That kind of lack of courage started a war that killed many many ponies… more than any amount that now live..”
Dalila tried to swallow a lump in her throat, but it just wouldn’t go down. Was this the stallion that she fell in love with? How could it be… the stallion she saw was caring, and had a romantic side that made any stallion around her fall away. The stallion she saw before her though, was nothing like the pony she read about. The fire in his eyes was not the romantic flame she seen in the crystal empire, but a ruthless fire that threatened to burn away the land in a fiery inferno. His body language spoke to that of him flying away and finishing the job that he had done when he had come to the farm of her grandparents.
Fury looked at Dalila, waiting for the answer to his question, but if she had one, she was not going to tell him. He turned away, only stopping for a second to turn his head back slightly to dalila.
“Go back to the castle, wait there while I do some business..” he said as he unfurled his wings and took to the sky.
Dalila broke down as she watched the brown streak of Fury’s body disappear against the horizon, flying away toward her father… and the inevitable end of her father. A small white light began to illuminate her cheek as she turned to see Princess Luna, her stern eyes scowling Dalila straight down to her soul.
“Where is our brother!!?” she demanded, opening her wings to be more intimidating than her usual royal self.
Dalila shrunk down, covering her eyes as she shouted, “He's gone to kill my father… the bandit that he burned!!!” she screamed out frantically.
Luna turned away and took to the sky, her own wings taking her higher into the sky towards her target, a small brown dot at the edge of her eyesight.
As fury landed in front of the small shack, he could smell the stench of death… its rotten odor penetrating his senses. Fury let his magic lead him, heightening his senses as he looked around, hearing the hoofsteps of two different ponies, one of them limping. He could then hear the slightest gasp… as if one of the ponies was being harmed. He armed his magic and let it flow through his horn as he produced a large ball of magic which he propelled forward and destroyed the door on the shack, revealing a gray pony with a large burn across his face, with an older mare up against a wall, his hoof around her throat.
His magic crackled like lightning as the pony turned to see his nightmare in the doorway… Fury’s blue eyes focused on the gray pony, his face changing from anger to fear….. A magical crack erupted from Furys horn.
The magical lightning shot past the gray pony and struck the far wall on the small shack, the dry wood easily catching fire from the power of Fury’s magic. his rage erupted as he charged in, his horn erupting as he tossed the gray pony through the wall and throwing the old mare out the front. Fury ran through the burning wall, kicking the stallion before he could get up, knocking the air out of his lungs.
“I spared you!!” He roared as he brought a hoof up and caught the stallion across the nose. “I gave you a second chance at life!! And this is how you use it!!? Strangling the life out of others!!” he said as his back hoof kicked the stallion and threw him into a tree behind him. “your end will not be a happy one… I will make sure I watch you go slow...”
“Fury!!!! Step away from the pony!!” Luna said as she landed hard, quaking the ground and plants around her.
Fury turned to his sister, his rage still seething through him, eyes now locked on hers, his magic at the ready. “This stallion has killed dozens, and you would let him live!?” he said as he felt his magic beginning to course through his horn.
“He will live out his life in Tartarus! For the crimes he has committed, he will never see the light of day again brother! Step away from him,” Luna roared in return, her voice commanding and rigid.
Fury let a crack of lightning escape his horn as he took a step forward, “This pony had a chance at life, and he squandered it, he doesn’t deserve to live anymore,” he said as he took another step.
Luna’s eyes narrowed as her own magic flared, “Fury, you do this, and you will spark a war!!”
“It seems though that you and sister already made your minds up for that… so make the first move then…” he said as his magic began to hold up the gray stallion up by the throat.
Luna’s magic sprang to life as she fired her own magic towards Fury, who raised his shield to deflect her magic back. The magic, now striking the shield and deflecting her magic in all directions, some of the magical rays striking the trees around them, some of them striking the ground, and some also soaring into the sky. Luna pushed her magic farther and tried to break Fury’s barrier, but with every bit of magic she pushed, Fury only held more against her.
“Do you really think you have it in you Luna? You caught me off guard once… it won’t happen again!” Fury said as he changed his defensive magic to offensive. His shield broke as he let his magical lightning crackle and shoot forward and strike Luna, her own magic straining to hold it back. He pushed more magic into his lightning and got a sadistic smile as the lightning finally struck Luna and the lightning began to course through her body. Luna dropped to the ground and began to convulse as the lightning rushed from her to the ground. Fury then threw the gray stallion, unconscious to the ground in front of Luna, his gaze now blank and unseeing.
“you got your wish Luna, he still lives…” Fury said as he turned, “the pony still lives, he can serve a sentence, but never challenge me again Luna… next time I won't stop,” he said as he opened his wings and took off into the sky, flying back to the north, seeking the Crystal Empire once more.
Luna came to a few minutes later, her body still twitching slightly as she looked up and saw the gray pony lying unconscious in front of her. She slowly rose to her hooves and lifted the stallion In her magic as she turned and flew back towards Canterlot, her heart broken as she flew, knowing her brother had changed for the worst.
Back in Canterlot, Dalila paced back and forth in the throne room, her mind running a million miles a minute as she glanced up at Celestia, who set unmoving upon her throne, not noticing any pony else, in her mind. Dalila took a deep breath and turned to Celestia.
“Do you think he will be ok?” she asked, her question seeming to go unnoticed to the regal princess, but after a few moments, Celestia answered.
“Fury has always been in some sort of trouble, but he always seems to get out of it somehow, I’m sure he’s just fine,” she answered as her glance made it to Dalila for the first time since the yellow mare arrived. “What do you see in my brother? Is it the usual? The power? The royalty?”
“He’s different, I can see something in him… and he saved me from a life I hated…” she answered as she could feel herself tearing up.
“I see, you were one of the three ponies that ran with the gray one?” Celestia said as she stood up.
“Y… Yes... I was...”
“And the others? Who were they?” Celestia said as she walked down the stairs from her throne.
“They were my brothers, timothy and mac...”
“Where are they now? What did Fury do to them!?” Celestia said as she stopped in front of Dalila.
“He gave us a choice… he said enough was done that day, so he said we could either turn ourselves in and more than likely hang… or start a new life in a new land...”
“What new land!?” Celestia nearly roared, her eyes focused on Dalila’s as she waited for the answer.
“He took us to the Crystal Empire… my brothers are somewhere there, he told us to start a new life… so we did…”
Celestia seemed satisfied by the answer, and turned around, her back to Dalila, "and this, this was your choice? to live with my brother until the day you die? Are you aware who he is? Who he was?" she said softly.
"I... I read up on it some... The fury of the west, that's what they called him..." Dalila said as she looked to the ground... her heart in shambles. "I thought he had changed since then... but i was wrong.."
Celestia turned, her eyes looking as if she could cry, "no, you are not wrong... my brother did change.. but he also has gone through a terrible ordeal, and having you to think about took that off his mind.. but it seems that your father brought back that warlord inside him.."
she was interrupted by an exhausted Luna, collapsing to the ground from the air and dropping the gray stallion she held with her magic. The stallion, now awake and cautious, tried to run away from the castle, but Celestia was quick about getting the guards to apprehend him and bring him before her. Luna looked up at her sister, with tears still in her eyes, and quietly whimpered, "Sister... he has gone bad... he attacked me.."
Celestia looked down at her sister with fear... Fury had done this, no doubt. if he was willing to do this to his own flesh and blood, what would be capable of doing to innocent ponies in his way. She helped her sister up and slowly walked her down the hallway to the royal medical wing, where six nurses awaited her, ready to help with whatever she needed.
Up north by the Crystal Empire, Fury looked out into the snow with hatred, but not for the snow or the cold, but for himself. He had done the exact opposite of what he had promised his father he would do... he had attacked his own sisters. and what was worse, it seemed that he was starting to lose control over his emotions. He let out a piercing scream as he let his magic channel into his horn and sent out a display of lightning that even the strongest of thunderstorms could not compete with. as he did it, he heard a laugh come from behind him, as if whomever it was was mocking him.
"who is there!?" fury shouted, looking blindly into the snow, only hearing more of the menacing laughter.
"Show yourself!!" he shouted, sending out a blast of magic into the wilderness.
The laugh seemed to be right behind him now, and as he turned around, he saw nothing but his shadow. as Fury looked at the wilderness, his shadow caught his eye as he watched it move irregular. the shadow then left the ground and took shape before him, a shadowy version of himself looking back at him, a hideous smile upon its face.
"It's about time you released me..." the shadow said as it began to circle him, its yellow eyes staring into the eyes of fury, not taking any attention off of his new entity.
"You... you didn't truly die..." fury said as he watched the shadow laugh.
"No... I didn't... seeing my defeat becoming more and more imminent, i decided to split my soul so that i could live on... and now here we are, so close to me having a new body.. one with enough power to finish all i started, and with your father and friends out of the way this time... no pony will be able to stop me!" the shadow said as it began to laugh heinously…
Fury reared up and shot a blast of magic at the shadow, the lightning simply splitting the shadow, not causing any harm. In his anger, he let out another scream and allowed his magic to go wild, magical beams and spells shot out across the sky and land, The storm inside of Fury quickly becoming one on the outside as well.
As the magic swirled around fury and his shadow, a calm cooling voice echoed from the snow…
“Fury… your mind is in jeopardy… you must heal..” the voice said as a small beam of light struck the alicorn, knocking him unconscious
“We need to hunt him down, Celestia!! Before he turns his magic against more he sees as guilty!!” Luna roared after she had awakened a day later, her eyes brimming with a magical fire that consumed her with rage as she faced Celestia in the throne room.
Celestia walked down the throne room, motioning for her enraged sister to follow her, waiting calmly for the violet alicorn to stomp across the room, her hoofsteps sounding of thunder against the walls of the castle. The white alicorn then made a gesture to the land outside, the nearby villages still healing from Fury’s outrage, destroying buildings and burning farms among other things.
“Look out there Luna, look at our kingdom… it is in ruins now… yes, our brother is responsible, but if we try to make a counter attack against him, how many more would suffer? Die? Become homeless? Sister, we must fix our kingdom before we try to pursue our brother, and besides,” she added, gesturing with her horn to the still sleeping Dalila, “He will return for her, and when he does, we’ll be waiting for him,” she finished as she looked out at the gardens of the castle, burnt from Fury’s lightning. She sighed and walked back to the throne, where a line of ponies waited for her judgements and council.
Luna grimaced as she agreed with her sister, walking out into the forest, heading to the small village of Tree Sap, still recovering from the bandits that had plagued the lands the week before. She walked slowly, attending to the weak, the injured as she could, giving what she could to those who were in need, all the while her hatred for her brother growing, beginning to consume her mind.
Fury opened his eyes to see the walls of the guardian cave, the great eye fixed on him, looking to him with pity. He tried to stand, but found his body was magically paralyzed. He turned his head, trying to see what or who had knocked him out and brought him here, but he couldn’t see the one responsible. He felt a memory jog as the eye opened wide, he could see himself jumping from the cliffs, trying to take his own life. He tried to shut it out, but the memory only got stronger as he fought it.
“The mind is a great thing… yet is easily manipulated… especially in an occasion such as yourself..” came a deep voice from the eye.
“Who… who are you?” Fury asked weakly, not aware that he was as weak as he was.
“I am the one… the being behind all beings… the creator of the guardian power and keeper of its wisdom…” the eye stated as it blinked and let the horrid memory fade, now instead showing a tall being that stood on two legs, its features hidden by a bright light behind it. “You have poisoned your mind, and now, you must heal,” the voice said before Fury was once again knocked unconscious, the great eye closing and disappearing into the wall.
When he awoke next, the walls around him had changed. No longer did he see the torch lit room of the cave, but now dark grey stone. The atmosphere seemed thinner than that of the cave as well. He moved his head and found that he was no longer under the spell that held him parallyzed. As he stood up, he could hear a voice from the room next to him, one he recognized too well.
He ran to the next room to see the shadow of his father, setting quietly and watching a small fire burn. He turned to Fury and looked through him.
“You are awake my son,” he said as his shadowy form stood up. “You must be wondering why you are here?”
“The thought has crossed my mind… but where is here?” Fury asked as he looked around the bunker.
“This is my moon base, built after I brought this body into orbit,” Galaxo said as he gestured to the room and celestial body around them.
“So… we are on the moon? Is that what you are saying father?” Fury said, a little perplexed that his dead father stood before him as a shadowy illusion.
“Yes, we are indeed on the moon… for it is here that we must dispel this demon from your mind,” Galaxo said bluntly before motioning for Fury to sit beside his aurora.
As Fury walked over to his father's form, the hair on the back of his neck began to stand on edge and he caught a deadly chill. He sat down and watched his father's form take a seat across from him, his magic increasing the fire and the light it shown, revealing that the gray room was adorned with memorabilia, but nothing he could recognize, and nothing that looked as if it was crafted by equestrian hoof.
“I have seen what you did my son, trying to impale yourself upon the rocks… and allowing that demon to invade your mind.. And so we must cleanse it before you can ever return to the world, or you will become a dark version of yourself, and try to destroy the world instead of protect it..” Galaxo said as he motioned to Fury’s head.
“Father, I don’t understand, h-how are you here? I watched you fall at the black castle..”
“Did it not occur to you that you have stronger magic than that of the other ponies around you? That none could match your or your sisters magical prowess?” Galaxo asked, not seeming to give much thought to Fury’s question.
“And that alone makes you one of the most powerful beings in existence? No my son, look around this room, tell me, what do you see?”
“I see many things that I could not begin to recognize, I assume that they are artifacts of ancient equestria?” Fury answered, taking a closer look at the items upon the wall, all of them resembling something to do with the night sky.
“My son, I am not of this world, and nor was the others… we were all aliens to this planet, before there was life. This is why my children are so much more powerful than that the native races my son, you have different magic, vastly different,” Galaxo said as he let his horn softly glow and illuminate the items, the weird nic nacs and artifacts glowing with a bright blue aura, the same color as Galaxo’s glowing mane.
“There will be time to answer all of your questions, but for now my son… rest in the light of the fire, and let its light guide you to your next journey…” galaxo said as Fury’s eyes wavered on the fire before closing them and drifting into a deep spiritual sleep…
Morning came too early for the grey stallion as he opened his eyes and looked to his side, where his bride lay sleeping, in a comfortable position snuggled beside him. He smiled as he rose to meet the day, seeming like any other in the Crystal Empire, perfect as usual, but an odd feeling drew the stallion to the darker half of the room, where a small token lie on the floor.
The item resembled that of an alicorn, and had a red tint to it. He picked it up to examine it when the piece flew around his neck, latching on as if it was made for him personally. He looked down at the trinket on his neck and quickly took it off and tossed it aside. It was then that he felt it, a drain of his magical energy. It wasn’t a large drain, but enough for him to notice it. He examined the small trinket again and noticed that the small eyes now glowed a soft tint of yellow and blue. He picked it up again and let it take its place on his neck, and began to feel a rush of power flow into him. He took a deep breath and squealed excitedly as he felt small bolts of magical energy pop and zap off his horn.
“This must be what Fury feels when he wakes up in the morning..” Sombra said quietly to himself as he walked out to his balcony, unawares of the shadow behind him.
“I’m out…. Or rather.. I’m In!!!!” a voice laughed and cackled from deep inside Sombras inner mind.
Fury woke from his spiritual sleep in sweat, feeling so much paid in his head that the alicorn screamed out in pain.
“AHH!!! My head!” Fury screamed as he shrunk down in the corner.
“The world is in danger… you must save it once again my son..” the shadow of his father said as his aura began to change. “And i'm afraid… you must do it alone..”
“What!? Father!!” Fury said as he turned to see his father’s shadowy image slowly disappearing.
“You have all you need to dispel the evil within you… you must only try to expel it now my son… have faith in yourself…” Galaxo’s spirit said as it disintegrated to dust before Fury.
Fury took a long moment to weep for his father once more, letting three distinct tears fall from his cheeks before recomposing himself and looking towards the door to the outside. He took commanding steps, each step sounding like thunder crashing across the sky. His horn lit a bright green and let his mind seek out the darkness inside him… finding a large cloud inside his heart and mind. He pulled the cloud and forced it out of him, his eyes and mouth filling with the darkness as it left his body and began to create a cloudy version of himself before him.
He stared at the cloud being, and it stared back beady red eyes staring through him. Fury took a deep breath and called his magic, his horn glowing a bright green and shining on the cloud, who began to writhe in pain. The cloud tried to cover them both in its darkness, but Fury only strengthened his magic, forcing the cloud to shrink and dwindle as it screamed in agony. As the cloud finally disintegrated, Fury felt a sharp pain in his chest and turned to see the last bit of cloud attaching itself to him as his spell backfired and shot the ailing alicorn towards the earth, his body heating up from the reentry to the earth's atmosphere. Fury hurriedly called a spell to mind to block him from the heat, then began to pray that he find a soft landing...
"You wish great power… enough to rule your world and make certain none can stop you…" The voice whispered in Sombra's ear as he shined the amulet, walking out to greet his subjects. "With my help… you could be the greatest king that has ever lived, and will ever be…" it promised as he looked upon his subjects, most of whom were still grieving the loss of his mother, Queen Amore. He took a deep breath and waited for his young bride to walk out beside him.
"My faithful subjects… today I come to you as a grieving prince… our mother has passed, but let us instead celebrate Queen Amore's life!" He roared, his calls echoing across the courtyard in front of the palace.
The cheers and cries were interrupted by a sonic boom above them. As Sombra looked up, he could see a small figure crashing through the sky, a spell protecting them from the heat of their fall. The figure landed on the far side of the Crystal Fields, near the front of the kingdom, but still close enough to feel the initial shockwave of the impact that the figure had when colliding with the earth once more.
Sombra and his royal guard tracked the figure to a small crater, where the alicorn Fury Flight lay, the wind knocked out of him and weakened from the fall.
"Look at him… he was the most powerful force this world has seen… and now he is weak before you… you have the chance to take his place, and then unimaginable power would be yours…" the amulet whispered, its words like a drug to Sombra now.
"Take him to my chambers… see that he is given care fit to a king," Sombra said to one of his guards, who began to help move the unconscious alicorn from the crater.
"Why do you let him live?? His power could be yours… all you must do is take it for yourself…" the amulet scolded.
"No.. Fury is my friend.. My mentor, I want to stand at his side as his equal, not take his place," Sombra said to the amulet, which glowed a bright yellow.
"Very well my king… off to your coronation ceremony then?"
Fury's eyes opened slowly to a very dull pain on his sides, that spread to his hooves.every muscle seemed to be sore and bruised, and his magic felt weaker at the moment… it must have taken a lot out of him to pull off the spell he had done. His mind jerked a visual of his shadow half shrinking and becoming part of him again, bringing him back to reality… evil in its purest form was going to return to Equestria… and he had to stop it.
As he rose from his bed, he thought it odd that he landed on a bed, and then that there were guards around him. He looked the one hairs before him up and down, the guard standing still, acting as if he wasn't being awkwardly looked at by an alicorn.
"You're not of the day or night guard… who are you?" Fury asked carefully.
"I am one of his majesties, Sombra's royal guards…" The guard answered.
"So I landed in the north? Where is Sombra by chance, I must speak with the prince, and the Queen if possible," Fury said as he started toward the door.
"His majesty is in the royal foyer down the hall master Fury Flight," the guard said as he lifted his spear and then departed the room.
Fury entered through the door to see what had appeared to be a great feast. He took a moment to look around when he was called upon. He looked forward to see his friend, prince Sombra with a grin on his face.
"Fury my friend! You have awakened, yet another reason to rejoice!!" He said as the crowd of royals within began to cheer. He ran over to the alicorn with a joyous gallop, catching him with a cheerful goblet.
"To my friend and mentor, who can fall out of the sky and get back up.. Fury the mighty!!!" Sombra cheered, holding up Fury's hoof, who took a sip of the goblet being given to him by a server.
"Not to be a pain, but who might I toast? To whom is this feast celebrated for?" Fury asked with his goblet raised, but as he did, the room went deathly silent. He looked around, wondering if he had said something wrong, but the unicorn prince before him answered.
"We are celebrating the life of our late queen, Amore…" He answered, his morale dropping.
"Pls forgive me.. And accept my condolences my friend.." Fury said as he knelt to Sombra.
"Yesss…. Bow before your master…" the amulet whispered, bringing a small smile to Sombra's face, which didn't go unnoticed but his young bride, Princess Diamond Sparkle.
"Fury.. My old friend, let us remember her life, as she would have wanted, together!" He said, raising his goblet high.
"To the Queen!!" He said as he dumped the remainder of his goblet to the floor, as he motioned for the others to do the same.
The celebration went well into the night, and after the final guests had departed, Sombra escorted his bride back to his chambers, where he disrobed, and ran to his bath. Diamond however stayed by the bed, not amused by her husband's behavior tonight.
His mother was found in the courtyard, dead of What seemed of poison, and he was celebrating it as if she was tricking him. Weirder still was how he acted once fury had shown up, as if he was both insulted and a little fearful at the same time.
A shiny object caught her eye on her husband's robes, a small amulet. She gently picked up the trinket when Sombra's voice cut in…
"Diamond… pls give that to me…"
"My love, What is this?" She asked, her blood running cold as the metal seemed to draw her soul.
"It's nothing… pls give it to me," he said, a little stricter than the first time.
"N-no…"
"What?"
"There is evil in this Sombra… I feel it… coursing through it.." She said, beginning to back up slowly, her husband taking a few steps toward her.
"The amulet belongs to me.. Give me back what is mine!" Sombra said in a voice that wasn't his own.
Diamond felt pure terror as she felt the crystal at her rump, not being able to go back any further.
"W-who are you… where's my husband…" She asked slowly.
"Can you not see me?" He answered in the same voice, it being deeper than any pit in the empire. "Or is it that you finally see?" He said as his eyes caught in a magical flame, turning yellow, though the flame itself was blue
"You… you killed Amore.. Didn't you…"
"She was in my way to the throne… and now… so are you," he answered, his horn glowing a dark red.
"You would kill your own wife?" She said, terror in her eyes.
"I killed my mother… why not you.." He said as he shot the wall behind her, the Crystal shattering as he pushed her out, her falling downward, watching him smile sadistically.
She could feel tears welling up as she knew the ground was coming, but her wings wouldn't open, as if they knew she needed to die as well. Her death was stopped as a force grabbed her in mid-air and put her safely on the ground.
"You have wings… why didn't you stop yourself from falling?" A bewildered Fury asked, looking at Diamond, who was still in shock.
"He… he wanted me dead…"
"Then maybe you should run.." Fury said as he turned to face the castle, where Sombra had just landed, his magic levitating him down.
"Fury Flight… at every turn you are a nuisance… making my plans that much harder.." Sombra said as he focused his yellow eyes upon the alicorn.
"Don't do this Sombra… don't challenge me.. It only ends badly for you" Fury said as his horn crackled with lightning.
"In a normal situation… you would be correct… but now…" Sombra answered as he sent a. Magical blast toward Fury, who tried to block, but was struck and flung by it.
"I am in control now… and that weakling Sombra is a prisoner of his own mind…" Sombra said as he watched Fury rise, hurt, but determined.
"So it's true… you're the evil that has returned to the world… Kaorn.." Fury said, his horn lighting up, firing a green blast of magic to Sombra, who simply deflected it back at him, adding a blast of his own on the way.
The blasts hit fury, throwing him through a pillar holding the palace up, shaking the very foundation of the city. Fury rose from the rubble, barely able to stand, his magic leaving him by the second. As he watched Sombra call another blast forth, his vision changed, from seeing his enemy… to being in the throne room of his sisters, a weak Diamond standing by him, falling over as she over exerted her mind.
Fury watched Luna rise, a look of death in her eyes as he also fell, too weak to fight, to hurt to stand… the last he saw was a pair of white hooves before him as he passed out of consciousness…
"He should be struck down where he stands!" Luna roared as Fury lay on the castle floor, her eyes burning with revenge.
"Luna, he deserves a fair trial, you know that," Celestia said in return as she placed herself between her sister and Fury.
"Would he have shown us such mercy?" Luna asked in a sneer as she lit her horn with a magical blast.
"Would someone please listen to me!?!" Diamond shouted as she jumped in front of Celestia, desperation in her voice.
Celestia nearly jumped herself as she had forgotten the other pony with them. Luna herself calmed her magic back and looked to the other pony.
"And how may we assist you… miss?" Luna said, her blood still boiling.
"Diamond, Diamond Radiance Sparkle your majesty," Diamond said as she curtsied to the princess. "And I brought him here… its the only other place I could think of… since" she started, but cut herself off with a scared sigh.
"Since when?" Celestia asked from behind her, worry growing in her face.
"My husband… King Sombra… he's started a war.. He tried to kill him," she said as she pointed to the very weak Fury.
"And why would Sombra attack him? He very nearly thinks him a god," Luna said with disgust in her voice.
"My husband wasn't entirely himself… he had an amulet.. He cared for it more than me… more than his own mother.." Diamond explained slowly in tears.
Celestia turned her head to Luna, a look of worry growing upon her face, and upon seeing it mirrored on her sister, turned her attention solely to Diamond.
"What did this amulet look like?" Celestia said as she sat down beside the crystal pony.
"It was gray… and looked like a.. An alicorn… with glowing yellow eyes…" Diamond squeaked.
Luna sighed slowly as she looked to Diamond, fear growing in her voice, "of all of the magical artifacts in Equestria… why did it have to be the Alicorn amulet.."
"W-what do you mean by that?" Diamond asked as she whimpered slightly.
"The Alicorn amulet is a powerful relic of ancient Equestria… one said to hold a piece of the soul of a once great Alicorn.." Celestia said as she used her magic to heal Fury to a degree.
The magic coursed through Fury's horn, leading into his body, some of his strength retuning to him. His eyes wearily opened, looking to his savior. Upon seeing Celestia, he let out a sigh and let his head fall back to the stone floor.
"Are you… going to take me… to the lower levels.. now.." Fury breathed slowly as he opened his eye back to his sister.
"As much as I want to Fury, as much as I want to destroy you for everything you've done recently… I fear that I cannot now…" Celestia said softly as she aided him to his hooves.
He looked to his other sister, who looked as if she was still contemplating attacking him, and then to the pony who saved his life, a brown Alicorn who was still recovering from her teleportation spell. He weakly left his sister's side, hobbling towards the throne where Luna scowled.
"My sister… my great sister.. I have wronged you… greatly… please, allow me.. this repentance… I ask for your forgiveness, my head was spiraling into darkness… I was losing myself," Fury said as he stopped before Luna, dropping down to a half bow, half begging position. "I ask that you forgive me… or make my death quick…"
Luna stared down at Fury, her piercing eyes showing more than just a whim of taking her brother's life, but as she looked up to her elder sister and seen the fear in her eyes, she shrugged off the impulse and placed her hoof upon Fury's head. "My brother… the hatred I had for you is gone, and I forgive you, on the terms that you surrender. I wish not to fight you again.."
Fury looked up to her, his eyes blurry with tears as he answered, "My sister, I concede my life, I surrender all…"
Celestia walked across the cobble to where her siblings were making up and placed a wing around them both. "Brother, my dear brother, Equestria calls for it's hero again, Luna and myself do not hold the wisdom of battle and strategy like you have become renowned for, and thus I call upon you Fury, if Sombra means to start a war, then I will have you lead our armies to meet his. Do this… and I will consider your past sins against us… resolved."
Fury looked down, the memory still fresh in his head of facing his newest rival, his oldest foe… his once greatest friend. His eyes filled with a new round of tears, the fear in his heart growing in the fact that he would have to fight the one pony in this time that he called his friend.
"I will do this sister… but I am afraid it is not Sombra we are up against.." he said as he looked at Celestia.
"Who is it then that we are to face brother?" Celestia asked with a small tint of fear in her voice.
"A great shadow has returned to the land… at first I was skeptical, it being nothing more than a whisper in the darkness.." he said as he stood, looking to Luna. "Then the night I leapt from the cliff, it came to me in my mind, as a powerful shadow that meant to take me. After my mind was split, I found that he was growing inside of me. After my attack, I was taken to the great cave of the Guardian, where I was shown that my mind had been poisoned.."
"What does this have to do with my husband?" Came Diamond's voice as she trotted to the three siblings.
"I'm afraid… that Sombra has been taken by the spirit of my greatest foe… Kaorn has returned to the world, and seeks to rebuild what he once had.." Fury said as he walked away from the group, looking to the stairs that lead to the chambers of the siblings.
Diamond shrank back, the name hitting her with a great pain as she had read the name and all the butchery that had followed with him. She herself was one of the few Alicorn families that had survived the great war, being very young at the end of it, her memories of it were scattered and scarce.
"You're saying that the monster that killed all those Alicorns so long ago, the one you locked away with the elements of harmony… he's returned, and taken my lovely husband's body…"
"More so that he's taken his soul… to hit me where it hurt, as I am the only one here who still holds the power to stop him.." Fury said as he looked down, his voice trailing off.
"What can we do against him?" Came Luna's voice as she stepped off from the stairs and trailed her brother.
"Indeed… What can we do?" Fury repeated as he turned back to the ponies. "The armies of ponies that once were are now but dust against the plains… their memory being all that remain of their once great might…"
"We will build a new army, one that can stand to the tyranny of Kaorn's savagery, and keep the Crystal Empire safe," Celestia added as she consoled Diamond.
"And what, dear sister, would that army consist of? There hasn't been great unicorn mages in decades, the earth ponies squabble over their land and as for the pegasi… they dream of nothing but a new home," Fury said slowly.
"But we have something that you didn't have before.." Luna said as she cut in.
"And what, pray tell is that?"
"We have the great Guardian, and the sisters, wielding the power of the elements of harmony… and a world free from Kaorn's will, a free Equestria that will unite if he strikes," Luna answered, her eyes beaming.
"Kaorn is not so foolish as to attack the whole of Equestria… he learned that lesson the last time, and will not tolerate the ponies uniting against him again," Fury said as he stopped. "As for the power of the guardian… I'm afraid that after I cast the shadow from me on the moon… it hasn't returned to full strength yet…"
"But brother, if you cannot stand to Kaorn, what can we do?" Celestia said as she looked to him with grief.
"I didn't say that dear sister…" Fury said as he smiled at her for the first time. "Kaorn does not have his full strength either, and right now is beatable, if we time our strategy right.."
"But where will he strike first?" came Diamond's voice as she looked to the ground.
"After he gathers his forces in the empire, he will lead a strike on the town of Spearsound, I'm nearly certain of it," Fury said as he took a deep breath.
"Why there? It's not a capital city, or even a strategic ground to hold for a campaign," Celestia asked as she looked to her brother with confusion.
"Yes dear sister… but it is there that he was defeated so long ago, and there that a stone tablet rests with the seal of his defeat and the way for his physical return… and so there he will strike with all his might," Fury answered.
"But wouldn't that only unify the ponies against him?" Luna interrupted.
"Not if he is successful, Spearsound is a town of Proud and prideful ponies, and he is able to take the town, it will demoralize the rest of Equestria, and send a message to the world of his new might.."
Diamond took a shuddering breath, seeing the glowing eyes that had taken the place of her husband, her mind reeling from the memory. She took a step back, not realizing the yellow pony walking in as she backed into her.
"Eep!" Came the voice of Dalila as she bumped into Diamond.
"I'm dreadfully sorry!" Diamond squeaked out as she flew around to see her victim.
The interruption had caught the attention of Fury, who looked at the newest pony with mixed emotions. His eyes had caught Dalila's, who had in turn caught his own, and he had felt the years he had been gone in her eyes, drowned in the tears that formed.
"Y..you stayed… after all this time…" he said slowly.
"She has brother," Celestia said softly as she stood beside him. "And the ponies of Spearsound have forgiven her, because of your actions," Celestia continued. "Her love for you has made her a great ambassador, and a better friend.."
"I had hoped that you would return… but I began to lose hope. The princesses helped me stay true to my promise.. that I would always be here for you," Dalila said softly, her eyes now full of stars.
Fury looked to his sister, then back to Dalila, the love in his heart growing enough that the shadow inside him was no longer able to hold a place, and with a sharp breath, fury felt the shadow slip away and fade into nothingness. He took a deep breath as he could feel the tingling sensation of his guardian magic beginning to return to him, the powerful magic filling him with confidence.
"I will travel to Spearsound, and do my best to ready the town for Kaorn's strike, I need you and Luna to bring in the unicorn from the guard, and any willing from the lands surrounding, and begin training them for this war… shield magic and stunning spells should be sufficient," Fury said to Celestia as he walked towards Dalila. "I would be much appreciated if you would accompany me on this trip my dear," he said to Dalila as he gave her a small hug.
"Where does that leave me?" Diamond asked concerned.
"With me, we may need all the magic we can muster for this," Fury said confidently as he walked for the end of the foyer, Dalila striding beside him.
"There is another… brother, a great unicorn that I believe could aide you greatly… if you can sway his mind.." Celestia said slowly. "He has a magical ability that far surpasses many of the others.."
"And who might this great unicorn be?" Fury said as he turned, nearly at the end of the hall. "But when you go there brother, know that he has taken a life of pacifism… he refuses to harm others.."
"Understood…" he answered as he turned back to his path, leading out of the castle down the path of the forest, where it would lead to the unicorn, Starswirl and the first battle of this shadow war.
"His name is Starswirl, he lives in the village of Treesap, in the western edge, in a small hut…"