"And, as you requested, Young Lady. Five barrels of the finest whiskey money and power could buy." Fleur said chipperly as she stood in front of the excited Nocturnal. "Did you really require five barrels though?"

"Fuck yeah!" Moon was certainly happy. "Wait, 'Young Lady'? I'm not royalty anymore." She replied.

"Oh, I was under the impression you were related to Lord Floral in some way." She said confusedly.

"Huh? Nah, no, we're not related. Where'd you get that idea?" Moon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhh." Fleur couldn't reply as she realized that she may have made a mistake. "It must've been my imagination." She said with a bright smile.

"Yeah." Moon was a bit suspicious. "What's your name?" She suddenly asked.

"Fleur De Lis, Ma'am. I've said it before." She nervously said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You, you're now under my protection understood? Any bullshit that comes your way, you can ask me for help, alright?"

"Alright, Ma'am. Thank you." Fleur was relieved.

"No probs, you're in my list of favorite ponies now." Moon explained as seriously as she could.

"Um, I'm glad?" Fleur was a bit confused, but accepted nonetheless.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the sound of a bush rustling.

"Ugh, I feel like I just flew fifty laps." Gilda complained as she walked through.

"Yo, Gilda!" Moon greeted happily. "What took ya so long? Ponyville should be like a twenty minute walk at best." She asked and closed the gap.

"Don't mention it. Just what in Grover's name is this freaking thing, and why did I have to fight through twenty guards to get five of them?" She asked annoyedly as she brought out a bag from from inside her cloak.

"What? Why would you fight guards?" Moon asked and looked inside the bag. "Well, you got the truffles at least." She mumbled.

"So, who's this?" Gilda asked and turned to Fleur.

"Hello." Fleur just waved in response.

"She's Fleur De Lis. She's our whiskey supplier from now on." Moon introduced her as such.

"Oh, you actually remembered her name." Gilda said with slight shock.

"Wha?" Fleur was in surprise as her new position now was a whiskey supplier.

"At least your nickname isn't 'the gay one'." Gilda said with a small chuckle before walking past them. "Where's Floral?"

"He's talking to his descendant." Moon said it too casually.

Stopping in her tracks, Gilda looked back at Moon. "What?"

"Oh, right, you don't know yet. Floral is from a thousand years ago by the way." Moon simply told her before turning back to Fleur.

Taking in several seconds as she processed the information, Gilda gave a single sigh before starting to walk again. "Of course he is, why wouldn't he be?" She mumbled to herself.

With a slightly tired mind, Gilda trudged through the camp and got to the blazing fire.

"So, why don't you have guards with you this time?" Floral asked as he sipped on a cup of tea.

"Oh, that's exactly why I came here for actually." Fancy Pants said with a nervous laughter. "I was hoping to ask you not to hurt them."

"What? What do you mean?" Floral asked back.

"Yo, Floral, I got the tru-whazits." Gilda called out and took her robe off. "Oh, and I also stole a bow from the guards." She casually explained before collapsing on a sleeping bag. "G'night." She muttered and dozed off.

Fancy Pants stared with his most 'what the fuck' face as Floral gave a blank stare before nodding. "Good night." Floral replied in spite of the fact that the sun was still high in the sky.

"You were saying?" Floral asked Fancy.

"Oh, yes, um, it seems quite a big force from the Royal Guards are coming. At the very least, five hundred strong. Supposedly, they're coming to get an explanation as to why your friend Gilda here, committed acts of assault on the residents of Ponyville." Fancy explained as he drank some of Floral's tea. "Although we intended to travel normally, we decided to use the mages of the family to teleport us here so we could inform you beforehoof. The distance is quite formidable as you could imagine."

"Hmm, if it's that big, I could guess that a Lieutenant Colonel is coming, yes? Maybe even a Colone.l" Floral asked.

"Umm, actually." Fancy became hesitant.

If Floral is from a thousand years ago, then the military itself would've also been different.

"Oh, right. A time of peace, was it? How weak has the military of Equestria become?" Floral made the guess.

Fancy gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, you see. Because there wasn't a single war for a thousand years, soldiers eventually became pointless, and were more or less replaced by the Royal Guards. Since, they were the elite of the elites when it came to combat." He explained calmly.

"Don't beat around the bush." Floral simply told him.

Fancy gave a sigh. "Yes, sorry sir. The current strongest position in the military force of Equestria, is a captain." He had hoped that Floral didn't hear the last part.

Completely shocked by the fact, Floral simply stared forward. "What?"

"A captain, sir. The highest commanding officer in Equestria, is a captain. Excluding the princesses of course." Fancy quickly explained.

"A captain? What am I expecting here? A battalion or a company?" He asked as a few different thoughts went by.

Though, his thoughts were altered by the difference in time gap. A captain usually wouldn't have the experience or skill a Colonel would have. Scratch that, not a single one of them would have experience, because there hasn't been a war. And as far as skills go, Floral couldn't quite convince himself that the guards have any of it.

"A what?" Fancy asked.

"A bat- you know what? Never mind." Floral stopped himself. "Well, when are they supposed to get here?" He asked.

"Well, judging by how much time has passed and what their method of traveling would be. I'd say, about any moment now?" He said the last part slightly sheepishly as a single shout came out.

"IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, I'MMA GIVE YOU A NEW HOLE TO SHIT OUT OF!" Moon gave a threat.

With a tired sigh, Floral drank the last of his tea as he stood up with a groan.

"You're coming with us! Whether you like it or not!" One Shining Armor yelled at the top of his lungs as spears were pointed out from behind him.

"Dear? I really don't think you should be doing this." Cadence spoke up as a bad feeling started to creep up.

"The fuck you going to do about it?!" Moon yelled back as shadows started to rise from behind her.

"Uh, Ms. Moon, maybe we can talk this out?" Fleur tried to calm her down.

"Nah, fuck that. These assholes come to me, threaten my friend, then fucking command me to surrender!" Moon was beyond just pissed.

"If you don't stand down, we will-!"

"You'll what?" Floral asked a simple question as a heavy pressure fell upon the area.

With his green eyes dominating the camp, he slowly stepped forward as most began to have trouble breathing. Gilda was awoken instantly. Fancy froze in his place. Fleur almost fainted from being too close. Cadence had a nervous face as she stared forward. Shining Armor, he placed a bubble as he stared straight back at Floral.

With the heavy bloodlust, a metallic scent started to permeate through the area, giving the illusion of blood being spilled. Some guards fainted as they imagined themselves dying in an instant.

"Hmm, stronger than before." Floral commented as he stood right in front of Shining. "Speak." He gave a single word as the pressure seemed to become heavier.

"Grhk." Shining was struggling to even stand as his barrier slowly dissolved.

"Did I not ask you? Speak." His tone cold as ice as the bloodlust seemed to disappear from the area.

Yet, Shining was still struggling.

"Remedy! Please, stop this." Cadence finally snapped out of it and stood in front of Shining.

Glaring at her, Floral stood for a few seconds before closing his eyes. Almost fainting from the pressure, Shining caught his breath and stood there without focus.

"Thank you." Cadence said before gulping saliva. "We came here to speak with you, mostly about the actions of one 'Gilda', a griffin who has committed acts of violence against civilians and the Royal Guards." She explained the situation.

Floral took a few moments to think. As enraged as he is, the facts are there. Gilda partook in several different fights according to her. Gilda was involved in a crime, and no matter how much anger he had could change that.

"The fuck you talking about?! Those assholes are the ones who attacked first!" Moon yelled from behind her, a slightly fearful look.

Fearful? Floral glanced at Moon, and a change was in his mind was made in an instant. Gilda, was a good friend of them.

"I'll warn you. Anypony, any creature that stays here, is under my protection." Floral immediately cemented his position. "I don't care who comes, if they're a threat, then they will have to face me, understood?" He warned Cadence.

"Yes, sir. I'll be sure to properly warn them." Cadence said as she took a step back.

Lifting his hoof slightly, Floral slammed it into the ground as a shockwave spread through the camp, waking up most of the guards who fainted.

"Leave." He gave that simple command as he kept a still glare.

"Yes, yes, we understand." Cadence replied and picked up Shining.

"Ugh, wait. We can't just-." Shining tried to retaliate.

"Shining, don't. We can't beat him like this." She stopped him.

With a defeated glare, he slowly directed his eyes to Floral, who raised a brow ever so slightly.

"I'll commend you on your mental resilience, but my word still stands." He told Shining and turned back to his campfire.

Though, right as everypony started to think that the situation was over, a single voice cut through everything.

"Just what is going on here!?"

All head turned to the newcomer.

"Twily?" Shining still found the strength to question.

"Purple?" Moon spoke up.

"That dork unicorn?" Gilda murmured.

"Uhh, did we come at a wrong time?" Light asked nervously.

Blueblood had a confused expression as he scanned the area. "Captain Shining Armor, what is the purpose of your visi-"

*BOOM*

Immediately taking action, Floral moved behind Moon and Gilda. Raising a hoof, he stopped a tree in its tracks as a roar filled the sky.

"What in the?!"

"Dear Celestia."

"Holy shit."

"What is that?"

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing a lot of you gathered here." Floral said loudly as he grabbed his axe.

"That's gotta be outside the barrier." Moon guessed.

"It's an enemy, so we kill it." Floral replied and took a small stretch. "Let's go." He announced and took off.

"This is bullshit." Moon cussed and ran after him.

"Fucking hell, can I even help?" Gilda asked herself as she stared at the bow. With only a few seconds to decide, she grabbed a quiver of arrows from one of the guards and took off, grabbing the bow on the process. "Guess today's the day I die."

"We need to head over there!" Twilight woke up from her stupor and yelled out.

"Go there!? Are you crazy!?" Blueblood was absolutely against the idea.

"It's a deathwish!" Light agreed.

"If we don't deal with it now, it could potentially go off and hurt so many other innocents!" Twilight argued back.

"Ugh, now you think of others." Blueblood grumbled to himself. "How do you suppose we help? I don't know why or how Nightmare Moon is helping Remedy, but as sure as I am that Aunty's Sun rises from the east, I'm sure that we can't help with that!"

"That's just what you think! Because you didn't focus on improving your magic enough!" She replied.

"Oh, I guess I was supposed to become a lifeless loner in case of something unbelievable like that happening?" He was blunt.

"What did you-?!"

"Twilight? Do you know what that thing is?" Cadence asked as she ran over.

"Cady, tell Blueblood that we need to head over to that thing now." Twilight was adamant.

"GET OVER THERE! WE MUST PROTECT EQUESTRIA!" A guard screamed out loud.

"HOORAAHHH!!!" The hundreds of soldiers screamed out loud as they charged forward

"Shining! Wake up!" Cadence started to shake Shining, who had fainted.

"What the buck are they doing?!" Blueblood shouted in shock and anger.

"Seriously, can we even put up a fight with something like that?" Light questioned as she looked over.

"By the stars." Luna said softly as she stood on her balcony.

Having been awoken by a roar, she quickly looked on over.

"Sister!" She yelled towards another balcony.

Celestia wiped some spilled tea from her neck as she threw the napkin away. Giving Luna a determined look, she looked over the city.

"CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! EVACUATE THE CITY IMMEDIATELY! HEAD TOWARDS THE EMERGENCY BUNKERS IN THE MOUNTAIN! STAY THERE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!!" She gave the command before nodding to Luna, who nodded back.

With that, they flew off. A few hundred guards all followed behind as only about fifty or so stayed behind to instruct the civilians. As they flew, Celestia sent a letter to Spike.

"What?!" He stopped in his tracks as he looked over the letter. "Gosh darn it!" He yelled out loud as he took off where he came from.

He had to complete the task as quickly as possible, then head towards the bunkers.

"How the fuck are we even supposed to fight this thing?!" Moon asked as she kept running.

"I'm not sure I'd actually be able to help in this!" Gilda said as she flew over them.

"It doesn't matter! We have to try! If this thing gets out, then Equestria, no, the entirety of Equus is done for!" Floral replied as he jumped over a fallen tree.

"You gotta be shitting me." Moon cussed and followed suit. "Aren't we already outside the barrier?!" She asked out.

"We are!" Floral simply replied.

"But we didn't pass it!" She said.

"It means it's extended! It's probably just bigger now!"

"Alright! What's our plan?!"

"Attack." Floral said and jumped up.

Kicking off of trees, he dodged icicles before reaching a deer. Splitting it in an instant, he sidestepped as a needle went by before stomping on the deer to destroy the core.

Phasing through the needle, Moon charged forward as a shadow. With only a second to react, a hedgehog found itself in four parts before its core was destroyed.

Right as a tiger tried to pounce on Moon, Gilda came down from the sky and slammed into it. Slicing it open with her claws, she jumped back as Floral replaced her and punched with a dark hoof. Three blades shot out from the tiger as it fell down.

"Can you use the bow?" Floral asked and retracted the blades.

In response, Gilda drew an arrow and shot it as a bull ran over. Piercing through the eye perfectly, she gave a chuckle and pulled it out after it came sliding over.

"I'm not too shabby." She said confidently

"Griffin of many talents." Moon said with a small smack on her back.

"Good, let's move." Floral commanded.

With Gilda on the air, they made fast progress, leaving behind a slaughtered mess.

"So, that's definitely a dog right?!" Gilda asked from the air.

"Maybe, I don't fucking know!" Moon replied.

"It is." Floral calmly replied before throwing his axe forward. "But that doesn't matter."

Coughing from shortness of breath, a guard ran at full speed.

"Keep moving, Iron!" He wanted to shout obscenities at the other, but kept it in.

"We do this for Equestria!" Another guard shouted to the sky.

Though, as much as he was pushing himself, he was actively looking for a way out. Surrounded by others who were fully committed to die, he was regretting his decision to wait as long as possible before taking his mandatory training.

"That darned rule." He complained only to himself. "If only, I had gotten it earlier." He hoped for a saving grace.

"Monsters at the front!" One of the ones who took charge yelled out.

"Charge!"

With a heavy heart, he brought out his sword as he looked back on Luna's training regime. Having spent hundreds, possibly thousands of hours training in the last month alone, he held a more refined stance. Still, he was absolutely terrified of fighting. He remembered just how scary a real fight was. How he felt so close to death just by staring at his enemy. How his enemy wasn't even focused on him, but his captain.

"AAAHAHHH!" He steeled himself and swung his sword at a giant mantis.

Right as he missed, the mantis started to attack. Fearing for death, his body moved on its own and barely blocked the strike. Collecting himself, he stood high and stared at his opponent.

"Huh?" He was confused.

There was pressure coming from his opponent, but, it couldn't possibly be compared. If anything, this was like putting a pack of ice on your head after walking the frozen north for months.

With slightly more confidence, he took the mantis on.

*Bam*

*Bam*

Raising a cloud of dust, two alicorns stood up. Their armors clanking for each movement, whilst reflecting the light of the sun.

"Ugh, did we guess right this time?" Luna asked and looked around.

"I'd say yeah." Celestia replied as a cloud of smoke faded from her horn.

"Good, it's been quite a bit since I've held this." Luna said with a smirk as she raised a sword.

"So have I." Celestia replied and raised a glaive.

"PRINCESSES!" A random guard shouted.

"We're saved!" One of the shouted.

"GUARDS! CHARGE THE ENEMY!" Celestia commanded and instantly let out a beam of light.

Luna immediately followed it up as several dozens of ethereal swords appeared alongside her.

"HOOORAAAHH!" With a war fry from the guards, the battle shifted.

"I can't believe you taught them a millennia old principle." Celestia said as countless balls of magic floated out, only to shoot themselves at the monsters.

"There's a reason why it worked." Luna replied and flew up to gather thunder.

"I think they went in!" Light yelled as she skidded to a stop.

"This is troublesome." Blueblood commented as he stared at a wall.

Slightly panting from exertion, the two took a second to gather their breaths as they decided on a plan. The wall was completely opened with leftovers of shadows coating the edges. Any vines or organic material that tried to close the gap was instantly skewered.

"I," *inhale* "am here," *exhale*. Twilight came running over.

"Good. Since we don't understand enough, we'll go together as a team and follow the path of destruction." Blueblood gave the plan.

"Yeah, that works. I think." Light was positive. "Can you move right now, Twilight?"

"I, heugh, yeah, just, give me a sec."

Blueblood carefully stuck a hoof in the gap as the shadows slowly came forward. Sensing their slow movements, Blueblood took a gamble as he waited for it to coat his hoof.

"Bluey! What're you doing!?" Light asked worriedly.

"Possibly letting Nightmare Moon know we're here." He replied with a nervous expression.

"She's not, uh, Nightmare Moon. She's Moonshine, different pony." Twilight added on as she observed what would happen.

After a few seconds, a single eye started to grow in the shadow. Slowly looking over them, the three were grossed out by the action.

"Oh, you three." The eye suddenly spoke.

"Moon?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, it's me. Look, we can't come back for you guys. It's too busy here. This thing has five cores in total. We went for the one in its heart. Tell whoever that can fly to go to the one in its brain. The three others are likely in the gut area, maybe the legs. You'll have to figure it out. There's monsters inside here also. No cores, but be on alert. You never what could happen. Good luck!" With that, the eye disappeared as the shadows retreated to open a path.

"Well, let's go." Blueblood said after wiping his hoof on Twilight.

"Eugh! Gross!" Twilight immediately pushed him away and entered first.

*Bam*

*Crack*

"Bear's down." Floral spoke up after crushing the neck of a stone bear.

Ripping a monkey in half, Moon flicked the blood on her dagger away.

"Yo, Floral! Purple bitch and two others are here!" Moon told him.

"Alright!" Floral acknowledged it and continued.

Getting into position for charging, he sprinted as soon as he heard a whooshing sound. Right as he reached a gorilla, an arrow appeared from behind him as it hit the gorilla in the head.

With the perfect chance, Floral leaped up on its head as his hooves turned black. With one twist, the gorilla was beheaded as Floral cleaved it in three piece as he fell down. Getting up with a roll he grabbed his axe, which had been stuck inside of a pink fox.

"Good shooting Gilda." He gave a compliment as he cleaned the blood on his axe before moving.

"Yeah." Gilda replied and followed suit, grabbing her arrow in the process. "These are slowly breaking though. I'm not sure it'll last until the end of this!" She informed.

"Got it!" Floral replied.

"Hey, you got this! Don't worry." Moon reassured her as she went ahead.

With Floral at the lead, Moon right behind him and Gilda adding support, the three were almost a dream team as they pushed through the hordes of monsters.

"Dead end." Floral said out loud as the stared forward.

"Bullshit! This entire thing is a body and we're moving through the veins. Why the fuck would it end?" Moon asked as she took a look.

"Wait, that's what it was?" Gilda asked out confused as she counted he arrows.

"Yes, those monsters are basically the antibodies." Floral replied.

"Yo, Floral, punch this wall." Moon gave the command.

"How deep?" He asked, knowing it had stuff behind it.

"About, ten trees?" She said as shadows crawled out of the wall and came back to her.

"Got it." He said and got in position.

Gathering magic, his hoof became darkened as tendrils visibly lashed out. With it almost bursting, he punched forward. As the hoof broke the wall, the tendrils pushed forward as it was fully opened. Then, without pause, the tendrils pushed forward as a wooden pony was caught.

Instantly pulling, Floral shot at neck-breaking speeds at the pony. Instantly crushing it, he pushed out more magic as blades shot out from underneath him.

Landing behind him, Moon pushed a wolf away as she readied herself. An eagle fell from top with arrows in both of its eyes and an open throat.

"Should at least fucking tell us, no?" Moon joked as she entirely surrounded by darkness.

"That's the thing right?!" Gilda asked and stared forward from her height.

"It's bigger, but yes!" Floral replied and slammed his axe on the ground.

Five blades shot out from the impact, slicing open most of the monsters in front.

"Don't fuck up!" He yelled out and swung his axe.

"Hmm." Celestia pondered as she read the words written on the ground. "Alright." She decided. "Captain, take the guards and head for the organs. Me, Luna and Cadence will go for the brain." She commanded and took flight, Luna and Cadence quickly following after.

"YOU HEARD HER! MOVE! MOVE! FORMATION C31!" Shining commanded with a forceful voice as the soldiers rushed in with him at the lead.

"I am so going to marry him when we're done with this!" Cadence complained loudly.

"Hah! I'll be sure to get you the best treat all the way from Yakyakistan then!" Luna joked and readied her sword.

"Sure! I'll give my blessing." Celestia was happy about the idea as she charged a spell.

"Alright." Cadence was happy. "But, I'm not sure how much I could help." She said but still readied her magic.

"Hey, you know the basics. That means you're already stronger than the guards." Celestia assured her as she prepared to charge in.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks." She said bashfully, but lost it as she stared. "How big do you think this thing is?"

"Well, because of the irregularity of the Everfree, we can't know. But, we do know it's big enough that we need to deal with it as soon as possible." She explained. "Though, I'd say it's about six times the size of the castle." She added on.

"I, wow. I feel like I should know a swear just for this occasion." She said, getting a snicker from Celestia.

"Fuck is always a good start!" Luna said with a joking tone as she stretched her body. "Alright! Let's head in!" She shouted as her body was coated by a layer of blue electricity.

"Got it!" The two replied and shot a blast of magic, making an opening in its head.

Quickly following Luna, the two instantly shout out more spells as Luna cleaved several different monsters in halves.

"RAHHH!!!!" Luna shouted loudly as she moved faster. "COME ON!!!"

"Ugh, that died eight hundred years ago!" Celestia told her and swung her glaive.

"I kinda like it!" Cadence said with a chuckle as she teleported back before shooting a spell.

"Here!" Luna shouted and threw a sword at Cadence.

"Got it! Thanks Aunty!" She shouted and ran in.

"I'm fighting with children." Celestia groaned as she impaled an ape.

"Wow." Light was amazed by the sight.

"Yeah, this is crazy." Twilight replied as they moved as a unit.

"Good thing the invisibility spell works. Uses too much magic though." Light commented.

"How'd you do this spell anyway? I couldn't figure it out." She said.

"You don't use a single rune from every other camouflage spell. Only use light and space runes."

"I see, what's the rune count?"

"Four-thousand three-hundred thirty two."

Blueblood simply followed along as he heard the number that only alicorns use in their spells. Most the average mage from the Royal Guard was one thousand and eighty.

"So, that's the thing we need to destroy." He commented as he stared upwards.

A single glowing rock the size of a pony. Connected by hundreds of tiny strands.

"I guess so, how do we do this?" Light replied.

"Well, let's actually get up there first. Maybe we can set off an explosion spell from the inside. It's probably safer." Twilight theorized as the other two agreed. "Alright, get closer." She told the two and put her hooves on their shoulders.

*Flash*

Appearing with a flash of light, the three stumbled slightly as they stood on the uneven core.

"Alright, let's get to it." Blueblood spoke up as he started to gather magic.

*Rumble*

Taking the three out of their concentration, the whole area started to shake. Blueblood took a hold of Light as the three felt themselves moving.

"Which way are we moving?!" Twilight yelled the question.

"South! We're moving to the heart!" Blueblood yelled back.

"Ugh, I'm getting dizzy." Light commented as she held back from letting out her insides.

"I'm losing the spell!" Light yelled as the magic emitting from her horn disappeared.

Suddenly becoming visible again, Twilight and Blueblood glanced at each other for a single second.

*Bam, Bam, Bam*

In an instant, a multicolored barrier was set up around them. Quite a few different projectiles all slammed into it, almost cracking it in the process.

"Ugh, not sure I can last much longer." Twilight groaned in pain.

"You're supposed to be better than me at magic, right?" Blueblood asked as he pushed himself.

"Not like you're doing much better!" She replied and continued to hold on in pain.

"Sure! Whatever you say!" He yelled back as he started to breathe heavily.

"Agh! Fuck me!" Moon yelled angrily as the movement finally stopped.

"Where are we?!" Cadence asked out loud.

"Cady! Is that you!? Is Twi with you?!" Shining asked all the way from the bottom.

"I'm over here Shining!" Twilight shouted to the ground.

"I'm out of arrows!" Gilda shouted and swiped her claws.

"What's happening?!"

"FOCUS!" Floral shouted, reaching everypony.

With that reminder, they all started to move. Including the hundreds of soldiers.

"Push through!!"

"We've made it!!"

"Keep fighting!!"

"HOORAHH!!"

Breaking through the wall with repeated blasts, the small army easily created a hole. Pouring in, they instantly went into combat. Hundreds of monsters greeted them, some flying, some throwing magic, others using pure physical strength.

No matter what came, none could compare to what manifested.

"Oy! Floral! That bastard is back!" Moon called out as she threw a phoenix off of her.

"Just give me some ti-!" Floral was interrupted.

"Floral!" Both Moon and Gilda shouted as the stallion flew through the air.

Waking up, Moon leaped in front of Gilda. With a significant amount of magic, she swiped to the side, lashing out a giant claw that shred through several huge vines.

"Hey, kid." Moon called out and held her hoof out. "Take these, they deal damage in an area." She explained as exactly ten pure dark arrows manifested.

"Aight." Gilda grabbed them as she stood guard.

With only ten shots, she'll now have to choose carefully.

Flying through the air, Floral was calm as he observed his surroundings. In a split second, he had already been removed from the vicinity of the core.

"Cores." He corrected himself as he stuck his axe into a bugbear. "So, the thing's moved all of it here." He mumbled and dug into the bugbear with his shadow.

Killing it in an instant, he jumped down as his hooves started to glow green. With correct timing, he slammed into a diamond bull, shattering it into pieces. Taking a deep breath, he slowly let it out as he interacted with his magic.

His light, the green part. The part that wanted to work together, but was painfully different than the others.

"I need to collect more." He deemed it useless for now as he took off.

"Woah!"

"What happened?"

"Hey!"

"What just happened to my monster?"

Guards were becoming confused as their opponents died before their eyes. Severed and mutilated, the guards were taken aback by the sudden slaughter.

"Remedy!" Celestia yelled as she landed next to him, blasting a few beasts on the way. "This thing is moving!"

"Yeah, I felt that!" He replied.

"Northwest! It's trying to exit the Everfree!" Luna landed and informed the two.

"Shit." Floral cussed as plans went through his mind. "We don't have a choice, we have to destroy those cores before it leaves the forest!"`

"Sounds easy enough!" Luna said she started to gather magic.

"Yes, we'll take two of them out." Celestia added as she readied her own magic.

"Alright, let's do this then." Floral said and killed any monsters that got too close.

In one shot, the two blasted the cores as two of them exploded.

"Bullseye!" Luna laughed.

"Not yet." Floral said grimly as the cores slowly rebuilt themselves.

"Wall, that's troublesome. We'll have to destroy them at the same time." Celestia mumbled as she readied her glaive.

"Alright, I'll leave one for your guards, that should work right?" Floral suggested as he swung his axe.

"Absolutely." Celestia replied and flew off.

"See you around, Remedy, or Floral. Whichever you prefer." Luna said before flying off after Celestia.

"My name is slowly getting more popular." Floral mumbled as he ran off.

"OY! Where the buck is Iron Shield!?" A random lieutenant shouted over the battlefield.

Ahhhhhhh.

Please don't notice me!

Please!

Finally calming down after hearing the thudding disappearing, I got out of my place of hiding as I ran the other way.

Somehow getting separated from the rest by accident, I made my through this thing whilst hiding. My sword was long broken, the armor on my body being the only thing I have in my possession. I'm supposed to have a shield as well, but I didn't pass the training for it.

Although I was slightly more confident after somehow defeating that mantis monster, I'm still terrified of battle. Especially when I'm alone, and without a weapon.

"Eep!" I shrieked in slight fear as I now faced a giant beast.

Although not as big as the one I'm currently in, it was still enough to tower over me. Slowly walking around it, I tiphoofed as I tried to not breathe as much as possible.

*Thud*

"Uph!" I instantly silenced myself.

Noticing that the beast hadn't awoken yet, I looked down at what made the sound. A, chain? It was made of wood, and was insanely chunky.

Glancing between the beast and the chain, a certain train of thought was bound to happen.

"Hey, you awake?" I carefully asked the beast.

Dear Celestia, what am I doing?

"I don't know." Somehow, I heard Princess Celestia replying. This place must be playing illusions on me.

Stepping closer, I carefully placed a hoof on it. Its fur was, weirdly soft. Looking closer, I squinted through the darkness and realized it was wood. Wood, wood that was starting to glow!

Turning as fast as I could, I stared at its face. Its razor sharp fangs. Wooden jaws that just promised a painful death. And its eyes. Dear, Celestia. It was almost entrancing. Instead of the usual green glow Timberwolves gave, this one was orange.

It's so, so-

*Shlliirp*

I was frozen in place as I stared at the tongue made of fire hanging from its mouth.

"Did you just?" I couldn't help but ask.

Shushing me, it pointed its paw at its chain.

"Oh, right. Yeah, sure." I replied and tried to break it.

But it was no use. I was a pegasus, so I didn't have the necessary strength or versatility to break it. Trying several times, I was left exhausted.

"Sorry, big dude. I can't break it." I spoke with a defeated tone.

It looked straight at me.

"Hey, don't judge me! I'm only a pegasus, my gifts can't help here."

With an eyeroll and a groan, it lifted its paw and tapped my helmet.

"I am using my head! I just can't think of anything that'd help!" I replied angrily.

Flinching as I heard my voice echo through the area, I quickly looked back at the wolf.

With a paw on its face, it was somehow annoyed as it made a motion. With both of its paws on the sides of its head, it lifted it up.

"Ohhhh." I finally understood.

Taking my helmet off, I used the neck guard to slam down on the chain, taking away a tiny piece.

"Hey, it's working!" I celebrated slightly and slammed it down again.

Going as fast as I could, I slowly broke it, piece by piece. Though, I didn't need to do it much longer as I finally went through.

"Alright, one more time and the chain should break." I reassured the wolf and tried to slam down again.

Only to stop as green electricity shot out at random directions from the broken part. Oh right, that was magic. So, this chain was magical.

Glancing at the wolf again, I stared in amazement. With parts of its body glowing brightly, it slowly stood up with a stretch. There was molten, something, falling from its mouth. With one tug, it instantly broke the chain and jumped behind me.

"What the?!" I got confused and got slightly off the ground as I saw what was up.

Hundreds of monsters were coming again.

"Oh dear, we gotta run!" I yelled at the wolf and tried to drag it.

But it wouldn't budge. And before I knew it, it picked me up and placed me on its back.

"Hey, what're you doing?! You can't fight that many!" I tried to reason with it.

In response, it roared forward as a wave of fire was spewed forward.

"Wow." I could only give a single comment at that.

Then it suddenly started to sprint forward.

"Hey, the battle's isn't over there!" I yelled as it ignored me. "HEY!!!"

"We can't get a hit in." Luna complained as she was pushed back.

"The guards are a bit too busy with the monsters to help us." Celestia commented worriedly as she threw another spell.

"Ugh, that fucking barrier is such a cheat!" Moon said angrily as she shook her sore hooves.

"We're here!" Twilight yelled happily as she skidded to a stop.

"Twilight!" Celestia was happy to see her alright.

"Yeah, we're also here." Blueblood added as he looked like he rolled through dirt, then got blasted with tree sap and blood, only to roll in more dirt.

"Blueblood! You look, rough. What happened?" Celestia asked with worry in her voice as she cast a small healing spell.

"I had to tank for these two." He said as Light bumped into him after teleporting.

"Uph, ugh. This is ridiculous. There's no end to these guys." Light complained as she gathered more magic.

"If you have so much time, go do something!" Gilda suddenly yelled from the sky, making the group disperse.

"I got a hold of this bastard!" Floral shouted as he threw another punch.

With spikes shooting out from where he punched, a barrier was no longer useful as the wooden pony inside jumped back. Then it was instantly met with an arrow to its face.

"Bullseye!" Gilda celebrated.

Taking the chance, Floral immediately caught the pony. With shadows coating his hooves, he sunk his hooves inside its chest. Driving in magic, he remembered exactly what Moon taught him.

Several spikes instantly shot out, completely immobilizing it.

"It's our chance!" Moon's voice resounded through the crowd.

With sudden stairs made of shadows rising from the ground near the cores, nine ponies rose.

"We got this one!" Blueblood yelled as he helped Light climb on, Twilight teleporting next to them.

"This one's ours!" Shining yelled as he stood next to a tired Cadence.

"I have mine!" Celestia declared.

"I got mine as well!" Luna added on.

"Yeah, I got it here!" Moon yelled out as she emerged as a shadow before materializing. "Where the fuck is Floral?"

On the ground, Gilda pulled out her last arrow as she saw something headed after Floral, only to get knocked down as a tiger pounced on her. Holding it back with her back legs, she was struggling to push it back.

Her right claw, the one that held the arrow, was held down by the tiger's paw. She glanced, and saw the thing getting faster as it approached Floral.

"Alright, I think I can hold you off." She told the tiger.

With a flick of her claws, the arrow landed close to her face as she held it in her mouth. Prepping the bow, she pulled back with her mouth. Aimed straight at the tiger's eye, she was tense. Right in that instance, she aimed higher.

"Got'cha." She said with the arrow still in her mouth before releasing.

Whistling through the air, a single black arrow traveled quickly. Its body was made of pure shadows, yet it traveled like a normal arrow. It had no mass, yet it was somehow affected by gravity. Despite being nothing more than the absence of light, it still held lethality.

"AGH!" The wooden pony was hit.

Taking the chance, Floral immediately grabbed it in a hold. Not seeing another choice, he gathered magic as he pulled it apart. Take the front legs, then the chest, then the spine, and finally, he pulled the head apart as a single gem presented itself. "Bastard." He crushed the gem in a single move before rushing up the stairs.

Arriving with a leap, he pulled his hoof back as he pushed more magic in.

"NOW!" He yelled out.

Taking the signal, four spells were successfully finished. Each core was either blown to bits, except for one which Moon sliced into pieces.

And the last one, broken down to shards by a single punch.

Still keeping their guards up, they studied their surrounding. Creatures with wings dropped to the ground, some barely missing the group.

"Holy shit." Moon mumbled as she looked down. "WE FUCKING DID IT!!" She laughed mirthfully and loudly as celebrations were roaring through the area.

"Ugh, I feel like dying." Gilda complained and threw the lifeless tiger off of her.

"Well, that was certainly an adventure." Celestia commented cheerfully as she looked down.

"Indeed, Tia. It was definitely more exciting than Court, I'll tell you that much." Luna added on as she inspected her sword.

"So, now that this fight is over, could you two actually explain what's going on?" Cadence asked tiredly.

"Yo! Who the fuck is Pretty Pink Princess over here?" Moon asked with a smirk as she raised herself to their level.

"Well, I do think it's time you two had a proper introduction." Celestia spoke softly.

*BOOM*

Suddenly shaking, the body started to move.

"What the fuck?" Moon mumbled as she looked around.

"The cores!" Somepony yelled.

"Keep them separated!" Twilight shouted as she struggled to hold all of them back.

It eventually got easier as more and more unicorns started to help.

Looking at all this, Floral was apprehensive. He slowly looked around, trying to see what went wrong. Hundreds, thousands of vines started to grow out of the floor, the walls. And in that tiny moment, he saw just a glimmer of something.

"He's alive." He muttered and tensed his body.

Using whatever he had left, he aimed his own body. The force building up felt massive as the others noticed it.

"The fuck are you doing?!" Moon asked as she forcefully held pieces of the cores away from each other.

In response, Floral shot out from his position. Swiftly traveling, he carefully changed his trajectory.

"You!" The wooden pony suddenly turned around.

"Shit." Floral cussed as he felt himself crashing through the pony.

"You, ungrateful, traitor of a champion!" The voice was heard from everywhere. "Do you now wish to save this world!? Make sure that what happened to you doesn't happen again?!" The wooden pony he had crashed through dispersed and turned into branches.

As it kept talking, Floral found himself trapped in those branches. Trying to dig himself out, he couldn't. He was then dragged to a wall as he no longer could move.

"Begone!" The voice yelled loudly as a few vines were summoned and threw Moon away. "Your little bloodlust trick doesn't work on me, Floral Green."

Bound down, Floral could only glare as he tried whatever he could to get out.

As an entire passage was opened, a single pony amidst an army of beasts became visible.

"Is that Iron?!"

"What in Celestia's name is he doing there?!"

Questions arose from the guards as several more passageways were opened.

Floral tried to use his magic, yet no matter what he tried, his bounding wouldn't budge.

"We have more enemies!"

"Defensive positions!"

"Sarge! Out team is too tired!"

Hearing all this chaos, Floral struggled harder. There was a golden chance at winning, and he practically blew it. If he doesn't do something here, then they were going to lose.

"Keep fighting! Our evacuation path is closed!" Celestia ordered the guards as everypony else joined the fray.

"Where's Moon?! We need her help over here!" Luna yelled out.

"YOU!" The voice shouted as Moon was lifted off. Unconscious as she was now lost in the body.

Getting desperate now, Floral just tried everything. Physical strength, he didn't have enough. Nocturnal magic, also insufficient. His green colored magic, still a bit useless.

With no options left, he sat still as thousands of different plans went through his mind. None worked, still, he had to try something.

Right in that moment, he felt something foreign, yet familiar.

What changed? What just happened? What came in?

Answering those questions, he focused, and looked inside. Staring upon the multicolored ball of pure magic, Floral did something.

"What do you want?" He asked softly.

And like a demon's temptation, he felt something being pulled.

"Just, get me stronger." He muttered as he accepted the offer.

And in that instant, Floral was gone from the world for a bit.

Something just happened. I don't know what it is, but something happened. Something bad.

Having just waked up, I was completely restricted from all movements except my eyes. I tried to use magic, maybe slip through as a shadow, but my magic was blocked off.

I could feel it. Air wasn't exactly here.

Barely able to stay conscious, I was struggling.

Floral, where are you?

*Bam*

Startled at the sound, I woke up again as I started to breathe again.

"What the fuck?" I could only cuss as everything started to shake. "Just, what is-"

Silencing me, a single blade cut through the walls. Stopping right next to my neck, I was nervous as I stared.

It's, Nocturnal magic. At a crazy amount too. This, it's ridiculous. I haven't seen this much on a single creature except for dad. And he's literally a god.

"Moon." A voice called out.

It was two voices at once. Like, an echo.

Them, the entire wall was pulled off. To say I was stunned, would be an understatement. It's Floral, right?

I was staring at a pony, I think. He was pitch black, with eyes that glowed a dominating green. He didn't have eye whites, but he did have fangs that I could see.

Pulling me out, he stayed silent as he placed me on the floor. I took the chance to charge my own magic.

"Floral?" I called out.

Staring at me with still eyes, his glow slowly faded away. His color started to come back.

"You alright?" He softly asked.

And he fainted.

"Oy! What the fuck!" I panicked a bit and grabbed him.

Holding him as I stood up, I sighed as I stared at my surroundings.

"This, will be a pain in the ass." I muttered and started moving.

Tiredly walking through different tunnels, I followed a pattern. I only went through the places that were dried up.

I don't know why it's like this, but I have a feeling this monstrous guys is somehow involved. Considering his usual eccentricness, it sounds about right.

"Moon?" Luma asked as she appeared at the end of the tunnel.

"Yeah, it's me you old hag." I replied jokingly.

"I, fuck you, Moon." She seemed to have lost patience for my bullshit.

Can't blame her, I'm equally tired.

"So, did we win?" I asked as I got out.

"Look for yourself." She said and pointed.

It was the place we were fighting in before. And every guard in the place was celebrating.

"Iron Shield." Luna mumbled. "I might bring him over to you two for special training." She suggested.

"I expect payment in the form of alcohol." I instantly made the price.

She chuckled. "Yeah, I can do that. I'll bring vodka from Yakyakistan. Sound fair?"

"Hell yeah." I agreed and gave her a hoof bump.

"Anyways, what's he doing now?"

"Oh, I think he's just-" I stopped talking as I stared at Floral.

He was quite relaxed, snoring, something I haven't heard him do once. Also, there was hundreds of little vines growing through his skin.

"What the fuck!?" I yelled and tried to put him down.

"Stop fucking yelling." Floral moved to a more comfortable position.

Taking a moment, I observer Floral, who, by all accounts, should be writhing in pain.

"You two are so out of the ordinary." Luna commented with a chuckle. "Come on, fight's over. Gather your things and let's get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya." I replied and headed off.

This fight. It took a lot more time than I thought it would. Though, maybe it's the skepticism I learned from Floral, but I can't help but feel like this is a bad thing."

"What in the?" Rainbow was left flabbergasted as she stared at the entirety of the Royal Guards gathered in one place.

Barrels upon barrels of different drinks were being passed around the area.

"Oh, excuse me." Another guard walked around them with a wagon of barrels.

"Um, what's happening?" Fluttershy asked carefully.

Celestia was basically in the middle, drinking it straight from the barrel as she stood against Moon, who was also chugging straight from the barrel.

Cheering and laughter was spread throughout. Most had some kind of injury, yet it didn't stop any of them.

"Come on, Moon!! Show her what you got!" Gilda was yelling as she placed a bag of bits on another barrel. "I placed fifty on you!"

"Tia! Drink as if your life depends on it!" Luna was shouting equally as loud.

"Place your bets! Place your bets! It's still not closed yet! With these two alicorns, a barrel or two is nothing!!" Light was actively encouraging the drinking contest.

"Um, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be here." Derpy commented as she struggled to understand.

"Honestly, same here." Rainbow said as she looked around.

"Two hundred bits on Princess Celestia!" Twilight's voice suddenly cut through the crowd.

"Wh~at?!" Rainbow was shocked. "Okay, I gotta see this." She said and dragged the other two in.

"This fucking thing on Moon!" Floral yelled and placed a box of rubies.

Author's Note

Yo! I'm out with another chapter! This one's a lot longer than the others right?

Anyways, I thought that something like this would be a checkpoint of sorts. After this chapter, I'm thinking to skip ahead a bit, just to get the story rolling. You won't mind right?

Just in case you're curious, I don't think Iron Shield would become a main character or something. More like a recurring character that gets development off screen. Something like that.

I'm on Pony Town now! I decided to make it cuz why not? I probably won't be spending much time there, but feel free to search around for me. I'll pretty much only be online on the global safe server.

Anyway, thanks for reading! And I'll see you, next time!

"Ain't that right?"