A Random My Little Pony Fan Fiction Story 3: John's Kingdom

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Chapter 2: The Eternal Night

A dark cloud fell over the land of Equestria. The empire had fallen and all hope was lost. Despite the attack only occurring within the limits of Canterlot; its impact could be felt throughout the rest of kingdom. The air was dense with sadness and despair. The sunny skies were now forever dark and put into a forever eternal night sky. All was dark and gloom. No pony could do anything even if they dare tried. The ponies have met their match. The dread that filled with everypony in every square inch of the land was too much to bare. Some even ended their own lives to save themselves the trouble from being tortured from whatever may come for them. There was no longer harmony or peace. There was only darkness and hopelessness; and his name is Lord Chernobog. He sat on his crystal throne and made this land his own.

It was all to himself. However, he sat on his throne almost as if he was bored and discontent with himself. He still possessed Luna in his right hand, holding on to her tight to make sure he held all the cards in case somepony tried to one up him. Luna was tired and simply was unconscious as all of the damage she took and energy that she had used took a toll on her. She couldn’t move a muscle even if she had wanted to do so. He held no fear though on his face. He only looked disappointed, yet angry at the same time. He was maddening with the idea that he was too weak to capture the ones that fled from him.

Something inside of him could tell that it was a mistake and that he should have done everything in his power to have stopped them. All he could muster within himself was a moan and groan while sitting idly by in his royal seat as he looked what was before him. What Lord Chernobog saw was a ruined kingdom and a castle mostly destroyed with all of the subjects at the will of his mercy.

Part of the castle itself still held true and tall as the leader it was intended for. However, just like a church in a world war, it was almost nothing but rubble and debris. Throughout all of Cantorlot, there was nothing left that remained. What used to be a town filled with happy and outgoing ponies was no more. Everything was abandoned and empty.

Not a single soul to be found in the entire area. A place where it used to be filled with happy children, playing with their friends and ponies taking strolls through the parks and watching as the day go by were no more. It was all quiet to where not even a mouse could be heard scurrying between the cracks in the walls of homes. All who were in the city of Cantorlot were captured by the forces sent by Lord Chernobog. Some tried to run, but they were not fast for the Dark Leopard like beats sent by Lord Chernobog.

Some tried to hide inside of their homes, but they were quickly snatched by a three armed, one eyed beast made of the same crystal as Lord Chernobog. Some attempted to be sneaky and hide in the least suspected places on the outside such as bushes and behind crates, but they were no match for an eye in sky with the birds of prey made in Lord Chernobog's own image. No pony was safe from the wrath of The Dark Crystal Lord: Lord Chernobog. Once everypony was rounded up in droves, they were all sent to either prisons or on the chopping line. Order needed to be put into place. Lord Chernobog wanted to put fear into the land's inhabitants.

He left some alive intentionally so they can watch and spread the word as far as they could. His desire was to set an example and let the helpless ponies of the land be known that they were under new management. The message was clear: They had a new king to bow down and worship to. And to show he was a king to be reckoned with, he would have some of the ponies be executed. The ponies did nothing wrong to deserve but merely existing before the presence of Lord Chernobog's takeover of the kingdom. The ponies were picked at random, put in to chains in a straight forward line that stretched out as far as the eye could see.

The ones on death row were kept in line by the creatures made by Lord Chernobog's own body and power. They all were stricken with the fear of death staring back at them in the face. Some were young and old. Some were stallions, mares, and colts and fillies too. Some were healthy and some were sick to near death already. No pony was safe from being chosen to be put on to the chopping block. All who were picked could not escape their fate. Only darkness and despair were reserved for the ponies were sent to be killed. The death they all had to face were their heads being chopped off from a blade that was old and rusty.

It was a left over from when the ponies used to be more barbaric with their methods of death row in their earlier years in Canterlot. It was retired after harmony was established in all of the races. For the rest, they were kept in left over holding cells that were found lying around in a basement somewhere, shoved in like pigs in a slaughterhouse. They were all pushed in there, with some being crushed to death and being forced to watch as their fellow pony kind being killed one by one, slowly, bit by bit. There was no food or water for them to drink. If some were thirsty, they would have to drink their own piss or sweat. If they were hungry, unless they were willing to experiment being a cannibal, no one had the stomach to eat anything.

All were in despair about their fates. There was nothing but doom and gloom that fell on everypony's ears. There was no hope or freedom. All was lost. Even if some survived, there was no life left to live. Some in the cells were thinking about offing themselves when they got the chance. No pony was coming to save them it had seemed. Everypony was miserable and only wanted to embrace the sweet of the dark unknown abyss known as their fleeting end.

Even if it all meant that there was no afterlife at the end of their lives, they just wanted to escape their torment and torture. This was no life to live now, so why even bother trying to live some had thought. Nothing had mattered anymore. It was a kind of darkness that fell on Canterlot that would soon fall on over all of Equestria and soon the other lands.

Only if their new king was strong enough to save them from their current blight; but he was presumed dead and defeated by Lord Chernobog as the rumors floated around the cells. This only made the moral worse. No one was coming for them. Not a king. Not a princess. Not even god could save them, if there was even a god to begin with.

Lord Chernobog said it loud and clear for all to hear, "Line up the next one!"

The next in one line was a weak little stallion with a light blue coat color and a thick dark blue covered mane. He had looked like he was beaten to a bloody pulp, broken by the creatures. His mind was broken from within while his eyes told of a terror from before and the horrors that he had seen.

When he was told he was next, he shivered in his spot and shook his head yelling bloody murder for all to hear, "No... -N-N-N-NO! No! I DON'T WANT TO GO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO! PLEASE SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU! WHY WON'T SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING! PLEASE!"

As much as he struggled to fight back against the beasts that dragged his chains forward, he could not resist. Before him was a block of stone and a dull ax. The pony was then forced down by one of the beasts and his head put flat down on the block. Beside the pony stood a tall crystal like beast; one that looked like a demon almost.

It stood tall and twisted, almost as if it was out of a nightmare or an urban legend that ponies would tell to their children late at night. It didn't have a face, only a blurry, indistinguishable face that only the mind could imagine what it really looked like underneath. All it could do was make deep, distorted growl sounds, almost as if it was trying to make words of some kind. But it had thinly tall legs and thinly long arms with two fingers and a thumb. It took a firm grip with the ax, raised it high as it could, and swiftly cut off the pony's head without a moment of peace. There was no grace period for the pony to reflect on his life or give his final thoughts.

There was no formal way of saying his goodbye to the land of the living. Lord Chernobog didn't care much for formal goodbyes. It wasted his time and the oxygen around him. As the life left the pony's body, Lord Chernobog's looked upon the corpse with great greed and cruelty. He was pleased to see progress being made to his new kingdom. While he didn't smile to show his satisfaction, underneath his crystal skin laid his desires to see death and destruction of these lands. He couldn't wait until he could purge of the previous inhabitants and make this world his. However his thoughts were soon interrupted as his main crystal raven with red eyes named Custos arrived by his side. He was his personal little assistant when needed; especially when he needed certain information. However Custos was a little bit more special than that and had a special little magic to him that would make him useful in more than one situation. He was the trick of many trades as some would call it.

Custos landed right next to Lord Chernobog's throne and spoke in a little nasally voice while bowing before him, "Hello my master. I bring news of the ones who escape your grasp."

Lord Chernobog looked a little pleased to have heard been given this information.

Lord Chernobog said to his pet Custos with demand, "Good. Tell me, where are they hiding?"

Custos said out loud and clear to his master, "They are only forty four miles from here setting up camp last I saw. They got a long ways from you my master, but if you leave now we can catch them and make them pay for ever insulting your throne!"

Lord Chernobog groaned while looking away from his little pet and said, "No... I want you to go back to them and find out what they're next move is. I'm curious why they didn't stay to fight me when they had the chance. Especially after last time, I was sure they would have tried to fight me. I want to know what they know."

Custos looked a little curious as to what his master was talking about, eyeing him as if he had something to say back to him.

Suddenly Lord Chernobog looked back at Custos and jolted at him slightly while yelling, "LEAVE! AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU FIND OUT WHAT THEY'RE DOING!"

Custos was startled by Lord Chernobog's demand and flew away immediately high into the sky and saw from the begrudging king. Without a single word, Custos flew past the other birds made from Lord Chernobog and past the ruins of what used to be Canterlot and towards the group's location.

IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE...

Out in the middle of the woods, far, far away from the travesty that occurred in Canterlot, the group who took John away had decided to make camp for a while. There, they found a hill with high enough ground in case they needed to see if anyone was going to come for them. On top of the hill, they made a little fire pit with a fire strong enough to keep them warm for the time being. The eternal night unleashed by Lord Chernobog had made it a bit cold for travel and less warmth since the sun was no more. Four of the humans along with John surrounded the fire and sat on some nearby logs and rocks, with John in particular sitting on a log like a bump. The fifth human, the one that was weak from before, was walking towards the camp fire after have done some surveying of the land.

He walked towards the group with tiredness in his eyes and said, "Well, I don't think any of them followed us. I think we're in the clear for now."

The fire human spoke up in rage as he raised his arms up in a fit as the weak one took a seat right next to the earth human, "Well isn't that just great. We wouldn't be here if someone hadn't stopped me!"

The earth girl looked over to the fire human with annoyance and bit back at him and said, "I was saving you from getting killed you idiot! He was going to rip you to shreds!"

The fire human leaned in closer to the girl and said, "You don't know that! I almost had him goddamn it! I was going to be one who tore him to shreds!"

The girl leaned in forward too and yelled back, "That's not what happened last time when you said that! Last time he almost killed you!"

The ice human spoke up louder than the other two humans and said with a strain look on his face, "ENOUGH!"

The two human paused and calmed down and while looking at the ice human. Once the tension in the air had calmed down, the ice human looked a little calmer and put on a warm smile. All eyes were on him with even John looking at him. John however didn't produce any emotions on his face. He only continued to have his signature crossed-eyes and his look that only a retard could produce.

The ice human said to all who were looking at him as they looked to him for his words, "We must not fight here. Not now... not after what happened back home. We need to all stick together and think of the future of not just everyone here... but of everyone back home. Besides... we have a guest and we shouldn't be rude to him with our grievances."

The ice human looked towards John with a welcoming warm smile as everyone else looked towards him as well.

John didn't know what to say to this and simply let the others talked before he had anything to say on the matter at hand. The others didn't seem too pleased however. They didn't seem to like him very much based on the looks they were all giving him; especially the one in the mysterious suit. You could not tell what look he was giving and one could only imagine what he was thinking. The ice human however was kind enough to be the friendly one and continued on the conversation.

He looked towards John and said, "I'm sorry for all of this mess. I was hoping to meet under better circumstance, but I suppose that bastard got to you before we could. And I am so sorry for my friends acting up. They are usually not like this. we're just... going through a hard time right now. And we believe you could help us."

The ice human paused and only stared back. No one expected an answer from John, but they still all waited silence.

The ice human continued on while clearing his throat, "Excuse me... where are our manners? We should all introduce ourselves. My name is Glacio. Really it's Prince Glacio, but no need for formalities. Just call me Glacio. Well... really its King Glacio now but I'll explain that bit later."

Glacio looked deeply depressed when he had said that. Most would wear the title of 'King' with a badge of honor, but he did not it had seemed. However he continued onwards and spoke to John with heart, explaining who he was to him.

Glacio explained to John in a calm, warm voice, "My dad... he is... I mean WAS once king. He was the king of a world far from your own. He was well revered and respected. Everyone loved him and I looked up to him too. But not long ago... Lord Chernobog came and attacked us by surprise."

Glacio had a deep tone of dread in his voice as he tried to recount his memories of his past. Everyone around the fire except for the one in the suit looked troubled as well as they all looked down and afraid.

Glacio went on, "He killed many in the recent battles, but only recently did he kill my father while taking siege to the castle. Not only that, he almost won too... if wasn't for my father's last minute blow to him. He used his crystal of his own making and it damaged Lord Chernobog deeply. So much so that Lord Chernobog ran away as he grew weak and with nothing left to fight with, he fled from battle. We had him on the run and we almost caught him... but then suddenly we lost him. Then we found out he escaped from our world and into yours and well... now we're here."

Everyone looked to John. They were from another world or another universe and to the humans; a talking pony was only the tip of the iceberg to their day.

Glacio continued on while giving a sad look in his eyes as he recalled the tale of battle, "Now all that is left is the remains that he left us with. It was terrible. So many dead and gone. And I was trained too to lead them all into battle... but I only ever got them killed in the end. And at the end of everything and my father being dead, that only left me being king. With so much destruction in Chernobog's wake, it's hard tell what to do. But then I had remembered my father's crystal that he used. It can solve a lot of our problems. The issue is that I couldn't find it. And sadly I tracked it to here. Somehow it came all the way to your world. And we need to find it, and I believe I can find it."

The fire human then interrupted Glacio and said as he stood up and interfered, "Enough of the sob story Glacio, I'm sure he doesn't want to hear this right now. Right now he needs a reason to get up and fight this son of a bitch."

Everyone looked to him with Glacio being annoyed as the fire human was being rude to him. However Glacio held his tongue and let the fire human continue. The fire human crossed his arms with a sort of impatience that could only be found within those who only cared for themselves. He looked straight into the eyes of John and tried to be stern with him and what he had to say.

The fire human went on with a direction in his voice, “My name is Ignis. I used to be the king’s right hand and the body guard to this kid here.”

Ignis quickly glanced over to Glacio almost as if he was being disgruntled towards him.

However Glacio made no comment on the matter and Ignis went on as the campfire continued to burn in the night, “But that was soon taken from me as well as everyone here. And right now we can’t just be sitting around a little campfire telling stories. Right now, we need a reason to get out and fight. And we need a damn good reason too. Not only did he take away who I considered to be a close friend of mine, but I failed to fight him last time we faced each other.”

Ignis started to hang his head low in despair while letting his arms loosen up a bit He was ashamed and felt a wave of guilt pass over him. To him, if he could go back in time and fix his mistakes, he would do it in a heartbeat. Yet he was facing the hardships of reality itself with the knowledge of himself never ever getting to fix those mistakes. No matter how hard he had tried to forget and repress his own memoires, he could never let his past action down. He had condemned his own soul to be tortured by his own weakness.

Ignis went on to say to John, “I could have taken him, but I was too weak to fight him. He caught me off guard and I was too slow. If only I had seen him coming, I know I could have been prepared for him. But… he just attacked from out of nowhere. There was nothing I can do.”

Ignis looked upward to John and shook his head clean just a bit.

He then possessed the eyes of a mad man and said to John, “But none of that matters now. What matters is that me and everyone here are still alive. And as long as we’re alive, it’s all the more reason to keep on fighting. We all lost something here to him. So tell me… what’s your reason for fighting?”

Ignis looked dead deep into John’s eyes from across the raging blaze from the fire pit. There was a cold, dead silence in between the two as John just continued to stare on blankly with his crossed eyes. There was no response but the crackling sounds of the nearby fire. Ignis however was waiting for an answer, and a tough one at that.

But before either of the two could say anything, the girl looked towards Ignis and spouted out, “What’s your problem with him? We just met and barely got out of that place alive. We have plenty of reason to fight him Ignis. We just need a plan.”

Ignis turned around and looked towards the girl with annoyance.

Ignis said to her with a tone, “Oh, then please by all means then… why don’t you tell him the plan then. I’m sure you have an idea since you decided to interrupt me.”

The girl got up with fury in her eyes and said as she tried to stare down Ignis, “Fine then!”

The girl then looked towards John, placed one hand on her hip and tried to move the conversation along.

The girl said to John, “My name is Terra by the way. And what Glacio said was right. We believe you could help us. But the problem is that we don’t have exactly the power to stop Lord Chernobog by ourselves. We need a little bit more of a “boost” you could say. And right now we need to find the other crystal and use that power to stop him. Problem is it’s a long ways away from here, and we don’t know exactly what to expect. So my idea was that we should split up into two groups. One to go back to where Lord Chernobog has taken over and save as many lives as we can and the others can go after the crystal. I know it sounds risky, but it’s the best shot we have. And if all fails, we can try to warn anyone else around here before its too late… again…”

Terra was then interrupted by the weak human as he sat on the log with his head hanging down.

The weak human said with a low tone, “I don’t think that’s a very good idea Terra.”

Terra turned to the weak human and said with a frustrated tone as if she was betrayed, “What!? That is a good idea. Besides, it’s not like you were that much help when Lord Chernobog attacked us. And you weren’t much help back there either. You just stood there.”

Terra briefly turned to John and said without a care in her voice, “This is my older brother Ventus by the way, in case you wanted to know who he was. Don’t listen to what he has to say. He was sort of the weak one in the family. But despite his uselessness, we still loved him.”

Ventus looked down even more to the ground with embarrassment when his younger sister talked down to him like that. He was shaking and whimpering a little bit on the inside, wanting to move on the conversation as quickly as possible.

Ventus tried to his best to say, “W-Well let’s not get into that right now. What I’m trying to say is that it’s not a good idea to go back there right now. If we do, Lord Chernobog will know and he’ll definitely tear us into shreds this time. Last time, we were lucky to be even alive.”

Terra overshadowed her brother and snapped back, “How could you even say that!? What about everyone who’s been captured by him? If we leave them, they’ll be dead for sure. We can’t just leave them to die!”

Ventus looked a little sad by this statement and hanged his eyes low to the ground as he looked up at his sister.

He had said to his sister with a low and whimpering tone of voice, “I know Terra. And you’re right… they will die if we do leave them. But what choice to do we have? Go back there so we can die with them? We can’t let that happen, especially not after last time. This time we just need to stick together and just head for the crystal. And if we can get there in time, then we can still save some.”

Terra looked angered by her brother’s suggestion as she bent over towards Ventus and looked like she was ready to tear her brother a new one, “Save some!? What about the others Ventus!?”

Ventus was taken aback by the way his sister was coming at him.

Ventus said back to her in a scared tone of voice while shaking his head, “Well it’s just a suggestion. Besides, you never really cared for the subjects before. Why all of a sudden do you care now?”

Terra quickly cooled off within a second as she then stood straight up and looked nervous. She was panicking on the inside, not sure what to do say in response as she stumbled and mumbled to try and get a single word out.

However, before she could even mutter a phrase, the mysterious man in the suit who was sitting right by them said out loud in his gruff voice, “You’re all idiots.”

With the sudden burst of sound echoing from the mysterious man in the suit, all eyes were on him now.

Ignis however took offense to this as he took a step close to him and asked, “What did you just say to us?”

The mysterious man in the suit then exclaimed while staring at them with disapproval, “This is nothing but a waste of time and energy. All of you just complaining like this when you can be on the move right now and finding the crystal. But instead you bicker around like idiots.”

Ignis then said in a challenging tone, “Well if you think you can do better, why don’t you take charge of us then?”

The mysterious man in the suit replied, “I’m already leading the pact.”

Ignis looked a little confused as well as Terra and Ventus. The three then looked to Glacio as he stared back with compassion on his face.

Ignis asked him, “What is he talking about? I thought you were supposed to be leading us? You’re the new king after all.”

Glacio slowly rose from his seat and said with hope in his voice, “And I still am. But for right now we needed all the help that we can get. And after we found him, I made a deal with him.”

Terra asked in an antsy tone, “What deal!? I thought you said he was only tagging along?”

Glacio said with a warm, hopeful smile, “And I meant it. It’s just that he has agreed to lead this pact. If we weren’t strong enough to beat Lord Chernobog then, why would we be powerful enough to do it now? We need all who can help us and I saw the perfect opportunity. And right now him and this king… King John I believe… are who we need by our side and who can lead us to victory and to avenge the death of our loved ones. If I am to be your new king, you must trust me on this.”

While everyone had seemed to have calmed down from the sudden burst of news, confusion still lingered in the air.

Ventus looked up and asked Glacio, “Well ok then… but what did you promise him then in return?”

The mysterious man in the suit butted in and said to all of them, “He promised me the crystal. I need to find someone, and that crystal can help me.”

Ignis was taken by surprise by that statement, but didn't show a sign of weakness. He stared sternly at the mysterious man in the suit as the mysterious man in the suit himself got up to intimate Ignis. He got closer to him, standing a bit taller than him with a sense of being the dominate one if they were all to fight each other.

The red and orange glow from the fire bounced off his suit and made John see him in a different light. His cape slightly brushed gently to the side with a light gust of wind from nearby. He was a mysterious stranger before, but now even more questions are raised about him. The mysterious man in the suit didn't get too close to Ignis, but close enough to make Ignis feel uncomfortable and a sense that he would lose if he tried to pull any punches. Ignis didn't show any sign of weakness though. He only stared strongly straight into what he thought was the mysterious man in the suit's eyes.

Ignis said to the mysterious man as the man in the suit stared down at him, "You're not taking it. So if that's what you came here for, then you better turn and start walking away right now."

The mysterious man in the suit talked down to him with his scruffy tone of voice, "I'm not asking. One way or another I'm going to use it."

Ignis tried to show intimidation himself by getting closer to him as the two continued to exchange subtle threats to each other.

Ignis fired back with a tone, "I don't care what you want. I said you're not taking it."

The mysterious man as he looked down on him further, "And what makes you think you're going to stop me from breaking your neck and taking it?"

Ignis said as he held his head up high and tried to show confidence, "That crystal belongs to us and the royal kingdom. You don't have the right to lay your filthy hands on it."

The mysterious man in the suit threatened, "Then I guess it'll be over your dead body then and I'll have to pry it from your cold dead hands."

The two stared each other down as both gave a low droning growl towards each other. Both were ready to fight each other and be willing to take a life.

Before anything could escalate further, Glacio quickly stepped in between the two and pushed them aside while giving reason, "Enough you two! Now is not the time to fight."

Glacio turned to the mysterious man in the suit and told him, "You need to cool it for now. I am a man of my word!"

Glacio turned to Ignis who felt a little insulted and explained, "Ignis, I know it sounds like I am being disloyal, but believe me; I wouldn't be doing this if I knew it wouldn't work. We need him and I only promised him that he can use it for a little while."

Ignis fired back while looking back at the mysterious man in the suit, "A little while!? What if he tries to run away and take it? We don't know him. We don't even know where he comes from for fuck's sake."

Glacio looked at him with worry but confidence in his eyes, "I know it seems off Ignis. I know during these trying times we cannot trust anyone. But right now we need to trust someone, almost anyone who can have our backs. Even if it's just for a little while. And right now these two are the only ones who we can believe in. I know I only just became king not long ago with little experience. But believe in me. Believe in your king to lead you and everyone else back to glory."

After giving it some thought, Ignis finally calmed down and came around. He gave a small sigh and the sign that he was giving up. He hanged his head down and gave a minute to let the moment pass.

He looked at Glacio and said as relaxed as he could, "Fine... what other choice do I have I guess? I trust you. And as long as it's for a little bit, I guess I'm fine with it."

As the two were having their moment, the mysterious man in the suit walked past Ignis to take a closer look at John out of curiosity. Ignis noticed this and simply looked back at him with a sense still of untrustworthiness.

Ignis said out loud to both of them, "But we don't even know what his name is though."

The mysterious stopped in his track and subtly looked back, giving Ignis a side glance as the light from the fire reflected off his black suit.

He looked towards Ignis and Glacio and said with a hint of tiredness, "You can just call me TK."

Ignis looked at him as if he was crazy and asked, "TK? Who even named you that?"

TK said before looking back at John, "Someone who I'm trying to find."

Ignis didn't want to poke the bear any further. From the tone of TK's voice, he seemed like he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't seem to be in that kind of mood where you could casually chat and relax at a bar with. There was something underneath TK that he didn't even want to dare open.

Glacio looked at John and in turn everyone else looked at him.

Glacio said with soreness in his eyes while still putting on a warm smile, "I'm sorry you had to see this. We're not usually like this but lately we haven't been ourselves. We're lost just like you. But that is why we look to you King John. You have much loss as we do. And together, especially with a kingship like yours, we can fight Lord Chernobog together and save both our kingdoms. We look to you John to lead the path and be our light and to use the crystal to bring back brighter days for all of us. So... what do you say John? Will you help us find the crystal and defeat Lord Chernobog once and for all?"

John sat there staring off into deep space while the rest looked at him, waiting for a response. Ventus in particular was on the edge of his seat, thinking something more prosperous would come from his mouth and deliver an encouraging speech of some kind. However to their disappointment, none of the above occurred.

All John said out loud like a manic, "My anus is bleeding right now!"

His anus was not bleeding, providing a confusing statement to even say. All who were looking at him just looked a little discomfort and left confused as to what to take from that.

Even TK was let down as he said to the rest and while giving no sense of confidence, "This is pointless. He doesn't even speak coherent sentences. He'll be of no use to us. We need to ditch him and go after the crystal ourselves."

However Glacio was not the one to give up so easily as he walked towards John and kneeled down to his eye level. He had approached him with a smile that said he wasn't going to give up hope on John.

He said to the rest while trying to level with the pony, "Now let's not jump to conclusions. I still see him as a spark of light that is within him that will do all of us some good."

Glacio then looked at John and spoke with strong assurance, "John. I know you don't seem to be the brightest in the room, let alone speak words that are quite moving. But I see hope in you. You are king after all and somehow you were able to become one and have your own kingdom. So surely, somewhere deep down in you, I know there is something that will be brighter and stronger than any of us. I believe in you John. We all do."

Glacio looked back at the rest as they all awkwardly stood by and had to cringely agree with Glacio. Glacio then stood up firmly and walked towards the others as he motioned them to come together around the fire.

As everyone did, he looked to John and said a gleaming glow on his face, "Look before you King John. We are your only hope to get your kingdom back, as well as you are ours. We can help each other save our lands and our loved ones and find the things that we seek most. Lead us John like the True King that you are and we shall be your Knight in shining armor to protect and serve till the very end. For the glory of our kingdoms, I say forth from here on out we shall be The Knights of John!"

Everyone else except for TK looked intrigued and started to have a boost of morale inside of them.

Ignis, Terra, and Ventus all followed Glacio as they all said unison, "The Knight of John!"

They all however noticed TK didn't chime in as he kept his arms crossed, waiting for them to be done.

Glacio asked with curiosity, "TK, why don't you say it?"

TK said without a care in his voice, "I don't need to. Besides, I don't need be a Knight. I already have one."

Glacio and the others looked at him weird when he had said that as if he was alluding to something but didn't quite catch on to it. They just however brushed it off and looked back at John with a smile and gratitude as John got up from his log and looked at them like his usual self.

He then surprised them by saying out loud while raising his right hoof high into the air, "Here here you weird looking hippogriffs!"

The rest smiled all but TK and repeated in unison, "The Knights of John" and to solidify their pack and their potential friendship to one another.

However, Custos was lurking nearby and keeping a watchful eye on them...

BACK IN CANTERLOT...

Custos came rushing with heavy breath from the fields and hills; miles away. As he struggled to get back to Lord Chernobog in time to tell his master of the news of what John and the others are up to. Everypony else down below was still miserable as before and holding out for a hero to save their day from ruin. Everything was bleak as before such as the sky and the air around them. It was the same as before Custos left, but gradually getting worse by the hour as all of Equestria was plunged into eternal night.

Custos made it to the throne of Lord Chernobog and said as he tried to catch his breath and Lord Chernobog looked rather impatient, "M--M-My... master... I have... returned with... great news..."

Lord Chernobog slammed his black left crystal hand on the throne and demanded out loud, "Well go on and spit it out! Tell me what they are plotting!"

Custos as best as he could say, "They are... they are going to find the other crystal that went missing. The one that you tried to retrieve from before you failed."

Lord Chernobog took offense to the words of failure. He did not want to be mocked and wasn't going to have it. He would have torn Custos to shreds and tortured him if it wasn't for the fact he still had use for him.

Lord Chernobog looked to the side and thought for a moment to himself, "The crystal? I thought it surely had been destroyed. It was what the King used against me from before. Hmmmm..."

Custos asked nervously to his master, "So... so what should we do master? Shall we rally the troops and go after them?"

Lord Chernobog said as he slowly looked back at Custos, "No... we haven't claimed my kingdom enough yet in order to do it. We're still building our defenses and building my new throne. We'll just have to make due with you."

Custos said in an afraid yet nervous state, "M-M-M-Me?!"

Lord Chernobog said as he got closer to the raven with intimidation in his eyes, "Yes you. You have the power to trick and imitate. Turn into what they fear the most."

Custos wanted to compromise and think of something else.

Custos said with an arguing fear in his throat, "But master... it hurts when I transform, especially into many. I-I don't think I can do it. Anything but that master."

Lord Chernobog belittled Custos while putting pressure on him, "You can and you will. You will do whatever it takes to stop them from reaching the crystal until I can retrieve the forces that I need to get the crystal myself."

Custos tried to argue with his master, "But master, don't you already have the crystal that you were looking for? You're sitting on it even!"

Lord Chernobog explained to his little pet, "Yes, but this one belonged to the King that I killed. This only gives me power as long as I sit on it. The king's crystal however will give power the likes you can't even fathom. I will be unstoppable. And I could take over more than just this world, but beyond it! And perhaps the kingdom that I failed to acquire from before..."

Lord Chernobog started to think to himself as he looked off into the distance, almost as if he was in a trance of some kind. Custos followed suit and leaned in a bit closer as he waited to see if his master would say anything else.

Lord Chernobog then glanced over at Custos and proceeded to snap at him and yelled out loud, "WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE!? GO NOW AND STOP THEM!"

Custos flew away in a flash of a second and towards the band of knights.

All the while Lord Chernobog screamed into the eternal night, "I AM THE TRUE KING! THIS IS MY KINGDOM! I WILL NOT BE MOCKED! AND I WILL NOT BE MADE A FOOL OF AGAIN!"

Read The Character Commentary Here