Power Windows

Chapters

Prologue: The Apostate
The Journey Begins
Memories of the Past: Part 1
Memories of the Past: Part 2

Prologue: The Apostate

“We just want to be left alone. But you give us no choice...” -Kaidan Feldar, Headmaster of the Grand Circle.

Power... what do you do with it when it has done nothing but corrupted your mind? It ravages views upon the world and keeps its wielder away from destiny’s grasp to forge a new, twisted strand of metaphorical thread. There are few who can cut the thread with the blade of self realization. But those times are so near... yet so far.

King Gavun Adernal, the twisted tyrant king of the pool of ignorance and corruption that we call a kingdom. He’s ruthless and cruel, forcing the people into near slavery and overall making life hardly worth living.

They, the Shamans fought back once... but in the end, he silenced their gifts and kept them all on leashes like dogs. Celendros Jalmor was one of the few who got away. Running around as an Apostate to Gavun’s rules and supposed philosophies. Truly he is afraid of what Shamans are capable of.

His illogical fear has lead to paranoia. Anything even related to shamanistic magic is strictly forbidden amongst the kingdom. Celendros is a wanted man, and not because he’s a shaman... no that’s just the half of it... Celendros knows Gavun’s secret. One that could remove him from the throne.

So the corrupt king has been doing everything in his power to shut the apostate shaman up. By any means necessary...

On the quiet first night of the fourth yearly cycle, a light could be seen escaping a window that rested upon a wooden cabin.

“Tell me more about them! I wish to hear more uncle.” a small boy said while resting in his wooden double bed.

Next to him a young man was sitting on a stool. He appeared to be in his late twenties, long brown hair just barely touching his shoulders. The hair on both sides of his head were braided and wrapped around to the back of his head to meet and extend into a braided pony tail over his straight hair. His face showed signs of experience, but youth all at once. He’s clearly faced many trials in his life, but will live long enough to tell the tales in his elderly years.

The boy seemed to be enthralled in the story that his uncle was telling him. He was ready to get up and plead, but before he could his uncle stopped him by showing his palm in a motion to stop.

“I’m sorry, I’ll tell you more stories of the shamans on a later date. But for now nephew, I have to go for a while. I don’t know when I will return...” the man said. The expression on his face showed his regret, along with acceptance of what he must do. He stood from his seat and returned the stool to its rightful place near the glass window that allowed any who looked, to see the beautiful landscape of the Pianlut Highlands. Though due to it being night, there was no illumination. So it was not visible.

“But Uncle, why do you have to leave again?” the boy asked, not able to fully comprehend why. Clearly his uncle had left many times before.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll understand someday...” the man said as he opened the door to leave his nephew’s room. He snuffed the oil lamp that was hanging above the door. He left the room and shut the door gently.

He walked into the rather well furnished living room of the wooden home. A nice brick fireplace rests unlit in the wall of the room. The chairs and dining room table were centered around this fireplace. This was probably due to the highlands reaching low temperatures during the winter. There were pictures of landscapes amongst the wall above the fireplace. Each one had a picture of the man, perhaps these were artist’s renditions of his travels. To the far right there was a door that lead to where all the cooking was done. They were probably separate due to the smell of the meat cutting table. The floor was covered in various rugs, all were made from different animal pelts.

He sighed and grabbed his backpack and belt. His backpack looked heavy and full, though it was unclear what was inside. After he strapped both those items onto their intended places, he left a note for his sister to let her know that he is leaving again.

Being winter, he made sure to bring his cloak with him, it was made of white wolf pelts and stitched with some of the finest thread of the northern marches. This cloak showed you were someone of great importance.

“May the Great Mother guide me in my travels...” he whispers to himself as he quietly leaves the cabin.

Quickly he made his way over to the small stable where he had left his horse. But instead of taking the horse, he grabbed a lantern that was resting on a tree stump next to the stable. He looked around to see if anything, or anyone, was there. He smoothly waves his hand in front of the lantern and it lit up with a bright flame to provide light on the road.

He looked over to his horse that was sleeping quietly in the stables. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight, but he felt inner turmoil at the fact of he was leaving for what could be forever. Him and that horse had been through much...

He sighed and took a look back to the cabin and takes a moment to imprint the sight in his mind. He promised himself that he would never forget his family, ever. He turned to face the road, the freezing wind was at his back almost constantly. Letting out a whistle into the night air... It reminded him that he was not alone. Nature was there with him.

Pulling the heavy hood up his robe over his head, he stared solemn and quietly north. The road ahead was turbulent, dangerous and forboding; he could hardly see more than ten paces before him, but he knew with the light of his lantern and the guidance of the Great Mother, he’d somehow manage. The cold snow would possibly be an obstacle, but it was just another part of nature that the man had to deal with.

As he walked in the darkness along the dirt roads. He contemplated many of his troubles. He’d been in hiding from the king for so long now, but ever since his sister gave birth to his nephew. It’s been harder to remain hidden. There’ve been too many trails to cover up, too many lies he’s had to tell his family, and just the overall danger of him staying that it puts everyone in. It was time to leave... for them.

After just a few hours of traveling in the darkness. He reaches the Havindr Woods. These woods have been known to be peaceful and calm. But rather empty due to the cold weather and snow, it can lead to a sense of looming... as if something was constantly watching you. There used to be stories that the man had heard as a child. It was always about a white man with no face who stalked and hunted any child that stumbled into the woods. It was never proven true, it must’ve been formulated to keep children from wandering off to the woods.

He heard a noise, a whistle. Though it was impossible to tell where it was coming from. Just before he dismissed it, a blast of electricity smashed him in the side. He soared through the air and smashed into the thick trunk of a nearby tree. He sizzled there for a moment the blunt force from hitting the tree had him dazed. He looked up and his vision was blurry and constantly moving. Meanwhile he could hear nothing but a high pitched ringing.

He slowly attempted to stand, but just as he was getting his bearings, a foot smashed into his face causing a bit of blood to stain the boot. He fell and hit the base of the tree, he slowly looked up to see three men, all dressed in brown leather armor. One was holding a crossbow that was still smoking... so it was an enchanted bolt that hit him.

“What do we do with him?” he heard.

“Exactly what we are being paid to do. Tie him up!” another voice commanded.

In his haze, as one of them bent down to grab his hands. He smashed his forehead into the man’s face. The man let out a yelp in pain and fell back. The others were a bit surprised but leapt to action.

Our robed man here quickly stood up, he did his best to put up a fight. One charged at him, dagger high in the air. He quickly grabbed the wrist of the man and put his hand on the man’s chest. In a smooth movement he threw the man to the side, using the forces of wind to assist him.

The mercenary flew horizontally into a tree and hit the ground with a thump.

“Hey! No one told us this Celendros guy was a shaman!” one of them said after witnessing the air assist Celendros.

“Who cares! Just take him down!” Another yelled and quickly grabbed their crossbow. He fired a shot aimed directly for the shaman’s chest.

Celendros make a lucky guess and used the wind to misdirect the bolt. It turned and hit the tree beside him. Just before he could do anything else, he turned and the back of a crossbow smashed him in the face... and everything went dark.

All the mercenaries recovered and stood near the shaman’s unconscious body. “Nice hit.” one of them commented.

“Why thank you, that’s the first compliment i’ve heard from you in weeks.” one said back.

“Quiet both of you. Just grab the body and let’s take it back to the castle. There’s a nice big bag of gold waiting for us, and plenty of ale that comes with it.” he chuckled after his statement.

The others picked up Celendros’s body and put it on the back of one of their horses. They now began their trek to return to the city of Shadus... where king Gavun’s castle rests within.

Celendros awoke in a daze, his head was throbbing like a mallet was hitting a gong inside his head. His breaths were quick and short, his chest hurt with every inhale. He lifted his head up and looked at his surroundings. He was chained to the cold stone wall of a cell. Clearly he was in a dungeon. That much was confirmed. He had a rather roomy cell, but he was the only one within. The place was dark and it smelled like something died in the room. That stench was horrid, but Celendros had to keep a cool head to get his bearings. He looked ahead and past the cell bars to see two guards sitting at a wooden table playing a card game.

He looked down at himself to see he was in nothing but his cloth pants he wears under his robes. His torso was battered and beaten, which was probably why it hurt to breathe. They must’ve damaged his lungs from the blows.

He looked forward to see two guards playing, what appeared to be, a game of cards. They wore basic armor that allowed for decent protection and mobility, but lacked helmets. Perhaps the king decided to cut costs for his new gold statue fund.

“Damn it! Lost again!” one of the guards announced while they threw their cards on the table. Clearly they were frustrated by their loss.

“Ha ha! Pay up ya’ nitwit!” the other said while they held their hand out to receive the coin.

“Yeah yeah, but next time, try not to cheat so much.” the loser guard said while they handed over the money.

“You callin’ me a cheat?!” the other guard said while angrily standing up. He slammed his palms on the table to show he was angry.

“I saw you slip a card under yo-” the loser guard said while they more calmly stood up. He was cut off though before he could finish his sentence.

“Hey! Quiet down!” Celendros yelled from his cell, his head was throbbing enough. It didn’t need more prodding.

“What was that?! You say you want another beatin’?! Alright then!” the angry guard said. He quickly grabbed the cell keys and unlocked the door. He stormed into the cell, already thinking up ways of how to torture the poor fool on the wall.

Celendros bent his head down and closed his eyes, he silently spoke what appeared to be a prayer... but to what?

The other guard quickly caught up with the angry guard and stopped him for a second. “Stop this madness! We were told he was a shaman, remember?!” he warned his supposed “friend”.

“Bah! What could a shaman do when he’s all chained up there?!” the angry guard said. He quickly made sure his gloves were on tight. He walked up to Celendros and sent a fist straight to his gut. He did so again and again, but Celendros didn’t seem to respond. He just kept his eyes shut and head down.

“Daren stop! You’re going to make him angry!” the other guard said to the one beating Celendros. Daren just kept beating away, until finally...

Celendros’s eyes shot open and he lunged forward, the chains broke from the force and he tackled Daren. He gripped his hands around the brash guard’s neck and squeezed tightly. Nature itself had come to his aid just as he had asked.

Daren was overpowered and all he could do was struggle and let out these occasional hacks and gurgles. Meanwhile he flailed his arms around in a desperate attempt to break free.

Meanwhile the other guard reached to pull out his sword, but Celendros wouldn’t let him. Just as his hand touched the handle of the sword, a gust of wind smashed into his body and sent him across the room and into the wooden table. It snapped in half from the blunt force of the guard’s back and he was out cold from the impact of his head on the stone floor.

Daren had passed out from lack of air and Celendros rose to his feet. The guard’s neck was black and blue, surprisingly; Celendros held back.

Still a little dazed, he said a silent “Thank you” to the Great Mother and left his cell. Luckily no alarms were sounded so he had some time to find his gear. The room was made of stone and had various wooden torture devices sitting at the far end of the room. The last time Celendros was in a dungeon, he was unlucky enough to have to suffer through a couple of them. This time he managed to get free before then.

He looked around until he spotted another table next to the far wall. It had all of his items, his robe, his backpack, his belt, and for some reason, his lantern. He quickly, but quietly, put his robe on and the backpack over his shoulders. He grabbed the lantern and looked at it. He had an idea. He smirked at the thought of what he could do with this lantern. So he latched it to his belt and headed toward the stairway up.

He slowly approached the door, but he stopped dead in his tracks. He heard the sounds of footsteps that were headed his way. Getting slightly louder with each step. He pondered for a quick second. There were two options: Run back down and hide, but have the noise of rushing down the steps being loud enough to alert the guards. Or ambush them and take them out quickly... with the chance of being stabbed by a sword.

Too late. The door slowly opened and Celendros quickly rushed up the steps. Just as the guard in front noticed him, he grabbed the guard and spun them around. He slammed the guard into the wall behind him, and afterwards he let go and kicked the guard.

The guard was already dazed from the stone wall hitting his face, but the stairs was overkill. He tumbled down and eventually hit the bottom. His arms and legs were all bending in ways they were not supposed to. But he could still be alive... Either way, he was disabled.

Just as Celendros turned his head, he had to lean back to avoid the sword that was heading for his back. This caused him to bump the wall behind him, this caused his vision to blur for a moment. So he took a lucky guess and ducked down. The next strike from the guard passed over his head. He used the advantage and grabbed the guard’s legs. He lifted up the guard and threw him over his back behind him.

The guard smashed into the stairs below, the sounds of his back breaking could be heard throughout the hallways... which caused the other guards to rush to action... which means one went to sound the alarm.

He peeked his head around the corner to see two more running this way. He said a quick prayer to the Earth Mother and removed the lantern from its latch. He looked at it for a second and noted the glass on all sides of it. He smirked and sprung to action.

As the guards quickly were about to reach the door, Celendros spun from out the corner and smashed the lantern into the first guard’s face. The glass shattered and the lantern broke. Glass shards found their way into the guard’s face as he fell onto the floor. His forward momentum caused him to keep moving forward, so he would’ve done a full backflip had the wall not been right next to the door. His back smashed into the wall and he landed on his stomach.

In a smooth movement Celendros dropped the remains of the lantern and kicked the oncoming guard in the gut. Then he grabbed the sword and he ducked down, he swung it over him causing the guard to flip onto his back and let go of the sword. Just as the guard hit the ground, Celendros spun around and stabbed the guard in the heart while he was down.

Before Celendros could do anything, the sounds of massive horns were heard in the distance, crying out to the world that someone was escaping the prison...

*Meanwhile, elsewhere.*

“But sire I-I-!” the messenger attempted to plead. But the news of Celendros’s escape, as told by the horns in the distance that were being sounded brought ill news for everyone.

“Silence!” a man yelled. He looked aged, as if battle itself was in his blood. His black hair was loose and long, reaching down to his shoulders. His beard was full, but not to the point of having the need to groom it. He sat upon his throne, he wore a golden crown upon his head that was jeweled and designed to be a show of power and control. He was adorned in royal garments that demonstrated he was king, it was colored black and had various red jewelry adorning it. His entire visage was one of power.

“But my Lord, I was simply relaying the messa-” the messenger tried to explain.

“No, I can hear your doubt in your voice. Screaming behind your voice like a small child trapped inside a box.” the king said while he stood from his throne. “Do me a service peasant.”

“Y-yes sire?” the man nervously asked. He was practically on his knees, many who had come before him have never returned home to see their families.

The king smirked and slowly walked over to the messenger, his boots making a thump that echoed through the dark throne room with each step. He stood in front of the messenger and and reached to a sheathe under his dark cape. Then he pulled out a dagger, one made of fine steel. “Take this dagger... and run it gently across your neck.” He hung on every word, enjoying each one, because he knew what they would bring... the agony of an inferior being to himself. He dropped the dagger to his feet for the messenger to take.

“W-what?! B-but!” the messenger was utterly terrified, did his king just ask him to kill himself? He looked to the various guards around the throne room, as if he expected them to help him. But they all just stood there...

“You dare deny the will of your king?!” the king shouted at the messenger. He kicked the small man in the face to knock him on his back. The black king picked up the knife and knelt down next to the messenger. “I tried to be nice, but you’ve cut the thread that held my patience. I gave you the easy way out... and now I get to have my fun gutting you and spreading your entrails all over the walls.” He gained a demented smile on his face, one of joy for what he was about to do.

“What?! AHHHHHHHH!!!!” The messenger screamed in terror at the top of his lungs, knowing his last moments were going to be agony.

*Meanwhile at the courtyard of the dungeon.*

Celendros ran as fast he could, a huge group of guards were chasing after him from behind. He was almost at the gate. But before he could pass through, the drawbridge started to rise. He picked up the pace and started to run up it. But it got too steep for him to run up and he began to slide back down. He quickly jumped off of it and straight on top of one of the guards.

He got up and ducked under a sword. He kicked the guard’s knee and sprained it, causing the guard to fall in an awkward position. Cel then kicked him in the face to knock him out. He quickly grabbed the sword and spun around to deflect one coming his way. Mid-spin he kicked the knee of another guard heading for him, and just when the guard hit the ground on both knees. he drove the sword horizontally into the guard’s back.

He let go of the sword for he didn’t have time to take it out. He had to jump back to avoid a slash from another guard. He looked around to see there were loads of guards surrounding him. At this point though there was no point in fighting without his connection to nature.

He raised his hands into the air, showing he surrendered and braced himself for what was about to come...

*About an hour later.*

The doors of the throne room burst open, from it came two guards holding a battered and beaten Celendros. They dragged him by his cuffed arms whilst he couldn’t even stand. Eventually they brought him in front of the king and dropped him into a pool of blood that was left over from earlier...

Celendros coughed quite a bit as he tried to at least get to his knees, some of the blood on the floor got in his mouth.

“Celendros... you’ve grown careless. You’ve remained out of my reach for a long time, but now... oh now I finally have you. And all it took was just a few hired mercenaries. If I had known it would be this easy, I would’ve come along.” The king said as he sat upon his throne, looking down upon Celendros. He seemed calm on the outside, but inside he wanted nothing more than to stand up and kill the shaman right now. But no, events must be put into motion before that glorious moment may come.

“Your mercenaries fought like true warriors and I give them respect for that, but the man behind them is the one I wanted. They may have been great warriors, but they were rubbish hunters. A couple weeks ago I spotted them scouting my house and dismissed them as simple poachers of wildlife. Events leading up to now was nothing but a rather painful rouse to get to you. It seems once again I have outsmarted the great King Gavun.” Celendros said while he smirked beneath his tattered and blood stained hood.

Gavun remained silent as he stood from his throne. He slowly walked his way down to Celendros with a strange look of contempt on his face. He stopped in front of the rogue shaman and looked down on him. He motioned his hand for the shaman to stand.

The battered shaman slowly stood up to his feet, he already knew what was going to happen. By now Gavun was as predictable as a crop farmer. “You know, why sugar coat things? Why not just go ahead and kill me now. It’ll save me from this life of being an exile amongst my own people. I know these words are useless for they fall on deaf ears. But it’s worth an effort.” he said.

The black king chuckled, “Because, I want you to suffer. Killing you now would be too easy. But now, you’ve given me the perfect opportunity, to test out my newest archeological find for my collection. You know about the expedition I went on a few months ago.” He motions to his guards to go and retrieve this new “toy”.

The guards drag out a table, but the table wasn’t the exciting part. It was what was on the table. On it rested a strange looking artifact it glowed a faint blue like a runestone, but had markings on it that demonstrated that it was ancient. Those markings were ones of the first human...

“I’ve not a clue what it does. But it is clear that it holds much power within. Its buzzing aura speaks volumes about its power. And I intend to use it on you...” The king said as he walked over to the artifact. GUARDS! Leave us at once!” he commanded.

The guards saluted their king and immediately left the throne room, leaving Celendros and Gavun alone in this large room.

“I found this during my expedition to the great jungles of Larya. It was buried by an old explorer by the name of Jonah Indianin, as said by his journal. He also spoke of it holding the power of the gods themselves, a power that I may use... to complete my reign as king.” he said, he was rather anxious to get started though it was not obvious in his voice.

“Normally you’re a lot angrier and louder by now. In fact i’m surprised you’ve not laid a single han-” Celendros said, but he was cut off by the king’s hand smacking him in the face. It knocked him down and he hit the blood stained red carpet. “That’s... better.” he managed to let out in his haze.

“Speak when spoken to apostate dog!” the king commanded at Celendros. He took the artifact in his hands and walked over to the fallen shaman. “I’ve waited long for this day to come, but your sly tricks and magical skill will get you nowhere this time.

“I’ll be sure to disappoint.” Celendros said as he attempted to stand up. He slowly got up to his feet and stumbled into a pillar. He used it as a support to keep him standing. “Oh just hurry up and get it over with. Go ahead, make me one with nature. Or have you forgotten your training as a shaman?”

“You will hold your tongue! I will tear your heart out of your chest and feed it to you!” he charges at Celendros, a strange blue glow coming from his hand.

The shaman quickly pushed himself off the pillar and fell to the ground, he needed to heal his wounds, and fast.

The king’s fist passed over the shaman as he fell. The power of his hit was so great that it broke a large chunk of the pillar off and nearly turned it to rubble. Could the artifact be enhancing his strength? He backpedaled slightly, not expecting that to happen. He looked at his hand to see it was undamaged and grew an evil grin.

Celendros quickly got to his feet and stood as best he could, his legs shook under him as he waited for the king to make his move.

The king charged again and sent an uppercut to Celendros’s chin. This time his hands were lit with a blue flame. This did not bode well for the shaman.

Celendros brought his cuffed hands up and leaned his head back. The fist came up and passed his face, he bicep of the king clashed with the chain. He pulled down and the combined opposite forces caused the chain to snap. But before he could do anything, he was hit by a massive force to his stomach. Before he knew it, he was in the air and slammed into a pillar causing it to crack.

A large thud echoed throughout the throne room. There laid an unmoving Celendros at the foot of a cracked pillar. A slight bit of smoked resonated from his torso where the flaming fist struck his midsection.

“... It’s done... after so many years I finally defeated the mighty Celendros! No more rebellion... no more renegades running around my kingdom. Finally a dawn of a new age can begin. The total and absolute reign of King Gavun Adernal!” the black king celebrated. He had no idea what the artifact was truly capable of, but he didn’t care at this moment. After many years of chasing down Celendros, he finally achieved his goal...

*Meanwhile, in a place unknown.*

It had seemed like the end for him, he’d been battered and beaten until his body could no longer take the blows. But his spirit still burns brightly. It is not ready to leave... could this be... Limbo?

“Shaman... It is not time for you to depart from this life. Your destiny still holds much left to be fulfilled.” a voice said to him. “Your ties as a Shaman had been severed when you renounced your duties as a loyal servant of nature. We have been watching over you and guiding you on your way to fulfill your destiny.”

“You mean... in the forest? When the very wind itself had assisted me against those mercenaries?” he asked.

“Yes, but now we must return your connection to you, this time stronger than ever. But be warned, this will only be for a short time. For that connection will be severed once more by another source... the artifact.” the voice explained. “That artifact is what keeps your world in tact, and another as well. One parallel to yours, but different in many ways. You must take it from the Fallen One, and protect it with your life.”

“No, I will not! I am tired, battered and broken! All my life i’ve been doing what i’ve been told I need to do. I would rather die than take back that life!” Celendros’s mind was tired, but his heart wanted to do what was right. It had been years since the shaman had trusted his instincts, purely because he no longer wanted to be the hero... he just wanted a normal life with his family. “I never asked to be a shaman, fate played a cruel joke on me and gave me the connection, I don’t want it!”

“But what of your family? Your sister, your nephew. Would you just let the Fallen One force them into slavery or possibly kill them? Would all that time you spent protecting them have gone to waste?” the voice said to him.

“I... no...” he said. He didn’t want to, but for the first time in years, he trusted his instincts. “Take me back, but not for you or the world... for my family.”

“Very well... stay strong servant Celendros, we will be watching over you.” the voice said.

“Wait! Who are you?” Celendros asked.

“The very one you pray to for guidance,” the voice said.

Before he could say anything, a bright light flashed in the darkness and he had returned to consciousness.

*Back in the throne room.*

While the king was celebrating his victory, Celendros had been recovering. His body began to glow a bright yellow and he stood up. His wounds, external and internal, had been healed. He could feel the watchful eyes of the Great Mother upon him again. As much as he hated being a shaman... he had missed this feeling of confidence.

“-absolute reign of King Gavun Adernal!” the king celebrated.

“No, your days as king are done!” Celendros yelled and leapt high into the air, a burst of wind came from his feet giving him an extra kick into the air.

“What?!” Gavun was shocked and turned around, he thought Celendros was dead. How could this be possible?!

“NOW AND FOREVER!” Celendros bellowed as he reached the peak height of his jump, he raised his hands above his head and a massive ball of fire formed between them. As he began to fall back down toward the black king, he threw the ball of flame straight at him.

Though the ball of fire was powerful, it slammed into the king and all of the energy spread around him. As if he had some sort of shield. The king wasn’t expecting this, but the artifact seemed to be protecting him. But before he could do anything-

Celendros had landed and sent a powerful fist straight for the king’s face, it smashed right through the shield and slammed the king in the face. A loud crack noise was heard, as well as a loud boom that echoed throughout the throne room.

The king flew back and right into his kingly throne, he fell forward and roll down the stairs and attempted to stand back up, but he only managed to get on one knee before he he coughed up a lot of blood, and he felt his jaw. It had been broken from the blast. Even with the artifact’s shield, under it he was still human. Though as he stood up, the artifact went to work and healed his jaw. “You cannot beat me, even with all your might I am still a god! This idol is power incarnate! You are nothing but a man! A mere mortal to be crushed under my boot! You will bow before your ruler, apostate or not!”

“You will never be my king, you will never lead me. I am free to do the Great Mother’s will!” Celendros retorted. He made his way toward the so called “god”. He stopped right in front of the king. “If you are a god, why are you on your knee while I stand above you.”

“YOU WILL NEVER BE ABOVE ME!” Gavun screamed with rage, he leapt up and smashed the relic into Celendros’s face. It shattered into pieces and a bright flash exploded from the king’s hand. The flash was so bright it nearly consumed the entire city.

But when it faded... the two were gone. The throne empty...

When the flash faded, the two found themselves in a strange place. It looked similar to Gavun’s throne room, but aged and abandoned. It was dark and the stone had cracks everywhere. The windows were all shattered and outside there seemed to be a dark forest.

“AAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!” Celendros heard from behind him. He quickly got up to his feet from being knocked on his back to see the king holding his right wrist. Above it though... there was no hand. Blood was leaking from the wound, and it looked as if the hand was torn right off.

Before Celendros could do anything though, the left side of his face began to burn and he smelt was seemed like burning flesh. It only got worse as it continued to burn, seems that when he woke up some of the adrenaline was still being burned in his body. He quickly opened up his water flask and attempted to manipulate the water... but nothing happened... Oh no. He had expected the connection to be broken, but not this soon. Both of them were in no condition to fight, so he quickly walked over to the writhing king. He smashed his foot into the king’s face to knock him out and temporarily end his suffering. He contemplated killing the king right there, but there would be no honor in kicking a man while he’s down. Even the evilest of men deserve a second chance.

So he knelt down and removed the dagger from the king’s belt and left as fast as he could out of the castle. He needed to find water quickly before the burns get worse. He stuck the knife under his belt since he didn’t have a sheathe to put it in.

“Here I go again on my own... into the wild without nature guiding my back. May the Earth Mother guide me...” he said to himself as he approached the wooden bridge that hung over the gaping cliffs that surrounded the castle. “Where am I?” he asked himself.

He let out a heavy breath and slowly began to make his way across the bridge, it shook and swayed with each step, due to it being a simple rope bridge, it was very unbalanced. Meanwhile, he contemplated where he was. “Could this be the other world the Great Mother was speaking of? She had told me that the artifact was what kept the worlds apart... but now that Gavun shattered it upon my face... oh no... That means now nothing is stopping the two worlds from colliding into each other and merging into one. But how would I possibly be able to ‘fulfill my destiny’ if there is no artifact in which to do so? But I suppose I should not worry about this now, I need to worry about survival...”

After much time of aimlessly wandering the dark forest, having to deal with the various elements against him. Heat, dirt, even some of the wildlife tried to attack him. Luckily he’d done this enough to know what he was doing, only this time, he knew not where he was going.

Finally after a few hours of wandering in the forest, he reaches a tree line. He made his way to it and thanked the Great Mother that he wouldn’t have to deal with any more mosquitos. But what he spotted was rather odd, but not unnerving. It appeared to be someone’s home, made inside of a large tree. He’d heard stories of homes like these, but he never thought they actually existed. But at this point, he didn’t care if it was an ogre cave, it was somewhere that he could get some help. His face was burning, his clothes were tattered, he cut himself when he tripped over a tree branch, and he was sore from all that walking.

He slowly made his approach to the front door, he let out a sigh of relief under his hood knowing that his journey is almost temporarily over. He knocked on the front door a few times.

“Um... h-hello?” Came a timid voice from inside the cottage.

“Sorry to bother you ma’am but I’ve been lost in the forest for hours and eventually made my way out. Would you mind directing me to the nearest village?” he asked from behind the door, slightly curious as to why she didn’t open it.

“Oh, um... well,” the door slowly creaked open, a bit of pink hair showing out from the crack.

‘Pink hair?’ he thought, quite the unusual hair color... Perhaps some sort of dye?

“Um... if you don’t mind, can you please tell me who you are?” the voice asked.

“My name is Celendros Jalmor of the Pianlut Highlands.” he stated, he almost thought this was a trap, so he kept his guard up. His right hand was already hidden under his cloak to grab the dagger he took from the king, if he needed to.

A small head poked out, and what Celendros saw caught him by surprise. Was that a small horse? Let alone it could talk?

“I’m F-flutter-” was all he heard before she let out a short scream and slammed the door.

“I just need to know where the nearest inn is!” he said. He put his palm to his face and sighed.

He heard nothing from behind the door and decided to leave, supposedly, her alone. He headed south hoping that he’d find civilization at some point. As we walked though, he thought if all of those... things, would react that way to him as well. Let alone help him and explain to him where he was.

‘I’ve two options... find the nearest town and hope no one runs at the sight of me. Or pick one out and slowly reveal myself... seems I have no choice but the latter.’’ he thought to himself. He approached what appeared to be the treeline of a dark forest. Apparently, he’d gone in a circle. While he stopped a moment to think, he decided to travel west along the treeline instead of through the forest. It would be a better guide than going in circles.

He walked and walked until eventually the sun went down in the sky to make way for the moon. Celendros decided to make camp just inside the forest.

As it got further and further into the night, his stomach began to rumble as he got hungry. He sat by the small fire he made and reached into his cloak. All he could find in the pockets was a piece of stale bread. It’d have to do. He held it above the fire for a few seconds to warm it up, luckily it was only cool outside and his cloak was keeping him warm.

The forest was dark, almost unnaturally dark. It felt to Celendros as if something was constantly lurking in the shadows. He’d just finished his stale bread when he heard something russel in the foilage behind him. He quickly rolled to the other side of the camp and got into a low stance, meanwhile pulling out the iron dagger.

He heard a growl coming from the darkness. He squinted his eyes and muttered to himself “Wolf...” just at that moment something brown jumped out at him. He rolled to the side to dodge it and it was gone again. It was using the environment to its advantage. This was a terrible time to have his connection with nature severed.

It jumped out again and he rolled onto his back, it landed on his feet that he raised and he used them to throw the wolf behind him. He got back up and noticed something strange, there was a splinter in his boot. “What the...” His guard was let down and it jumped out again, he brought his arm up and the wolf bit down on it over and over trying to get to him. He yelled in pain, but through the haze he brought the dagger up into the wolf’s chest.

It fell limp onto the ground and Celendros fell onto his butt while he held his mangled forearm. It was heavily bleeding and punctures all over it. He stared at it for a second almost cursing the fact that he couldn’t heal it. So instead he tore off a large section of his cloth pants and wrapped it around his arm to close the wound until he could get help.

This was bad. Those horse things would be terrified of him from what that pink haired one displayed. But he won’t be able to heal the wound out here... The cloth wasn’t doing a good job holding the blood back, all it did was slow down the process to give him time. The dead... wolf if you could call it that, had a pelt made of wood so he couldn’t skin it to create a makeshift bandage.

After a little while of decisions he got up and started heading along the treeline. It was dark so he couldn’t see well. But hopefully there was a town nearby. He walked and walked and as he did his skin grew more and more pale. He was bleeding out and all he had was the small glimmer of hope that these “people” would help him. Fifteen minutes had passed and he began to get weak. His vision blurred and he fell to the ground.

He shivered as the loss of blood made him cold and the cloth around his arm, it had gone from its normal brown color to a dark red, unable to absorb any more blood. He looked up and saw some lights in the distance, but couldn’t get up to get help. He slowly closed his eyes and consciousness had left him...

For a moment his consciousness came back to him... he was laying on something soft. All he could remember was laying in some dirt. He heard a female voice that said “Spike, get some water.” and he mumbled a little bit. “Wait! I think it’s waking up!” the voice said.

Celendros slowly opened his eyes, but his vision was blurry. He saw purple, a lot of purple. Something was in his face, could it be one of those... things? “Ugh...” he let out. “Where am I...?” he quietly asked to no one in particular.

He heard a gasp, “Omigosh it can talk!” the voice said. “You’re in ponyville.”

“Where?” he asked again.

“Po-ny-ville.” the voice enunciated.

“That’s an odd-...” he vision cleared up and it was one of those horse things... right in his face. In his mind he’d thought he’d be taken captive by them so he tried his best to keep calm and get the answers he needed. “...What are you?” he asked. He couldn’t remember much of what happened after he’d gotten here in the first place.

“The same could be said for you. What’s your name?” it asked.

“Celendros...” he said. Meanwhile some of the pain in his arm was coming back.

“Celendros? That’s a funny name. My name’s Twilight Sparkle and i’m a pony.” she explained to him.

“I’m human. Clearly i’m not from around here. I’m glad to find not everyone around here is afraid of me. There was this one... ‘pony’ I had met earlier. She screamed at the sight of me and slammed the door. She had pink hair and a yellow coat. So I presumed you people were all like that.” he told her. “But now I can see diversity in color and perspective in your people.”

“Thank you?” she didn’t fully know what he meant but she dismissed it. “Well you seemed to have met Fluttershy, she’s really shy and tends to get startled quite easily. But she’s really nice when you get to know her.”

“I see... perhaps my approach could’ve been better...” Celendros said, mentally kicking himself for being so straightforward.

“So where did you come from? I’ve never seen anything quite like a human.” she asked him.

“I’m from the Pianlut Highlands. Judging by the climate of this area, it’s quite far to the north.” he said.

“Pianlut Highlands? I’ve never heard of a place called that, and it certainly isn’t on any map.” she told him while she had a look of confusion on her face.

“Well then this is certainly odd...” he said. Then he thought for a moment. He’d been all over Socobeck and have never been to a place like this. Then he remembered the idol... the idol! “What country is this town located in?” he asked.

“Well we’re in Equestria.” she answered him.

“So what you’re telling me is that i’m on a different planet. I’ve been all over Socobeck and i’ve never heard of such a country. In fact the only species that even resembles yours are the centaur.” he deduced. He began to worry, about his family, the few friends he had left. But then he remembered... Gavin was here too. “Uh oh...” His memory started to come back to him. He was still rather out of it since he’d just regained consciousness. But things were starting to come back.

“What? What is it?” she asked.

“Do you have some sort of monarch or leader?” he quickly asked.

“Yeah, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Why do you ask? Is there something wrong?” she began to get worried.

“Yes! Something is very wrong, I need to speak with them right away. It’s a matter of life and death!” he exclaimed. He tried to sit up, but as soon as he moved his right arm. A shock of pain was sent to his brain from his arm. “Argh!” he let out and fell back onto the couch he was laying on.

“Don’t move! Your arm is in horrible condition!” she told him. “Whatever it is, i’m sure it can wait... or can it?” she began to mentally ponder it. He did say it was life and death, could it really be that serious?

“You don’t understand, another human came here with me. And he’s not like me, he wants nothing more than to enslave everyone and he has a powerful artifact in his possession and i’m the only one who can stop it.” he quickly explained. “But... as you said. I can’t leave so we have a major problem...”

“Maybe not, I can send a letter to the Princess.” Twilight suggested.

“You can do that?” he asked.

“Of course I can, i’m her star pupil! Spike! Take a letter!” she said and a small dragon came to write things down. She levitated a quill and paper to him.

‘The longer I stay here, the more insane i’m going to get.’’ Celendros thought to himself.

Twilight told Spike what to write down and he did so. Afterward he breathed fire and the letter disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

“Your magic is strange. How does it work?” Celendros asked.

Twilight looked at him funny, “You don’t have magic on your world?” the more they talked the more excited she got about meeting an alien. She quickly levitated a quill and notebook in front of her, ready to write down everything he was about to say.

“Well...” he raised a brow at her attentiveness. “We do have magic on our world, but it’s different than what you displayed. Mages have to spend years communing with the arcane magics of the world. They study the language of magic and how to speak it. These enchanted words are what allows them to cast the spells. Then they must train their bodies to handle the stress it puts on their body. Arcane magic from my world is dangerous though. There are four truths that mages have to learn and memorize. If they fail to follow all four truths, they are banned from the circle and stripped of their connection to the arcane.” Celendros explains in detail.

“What are these four truths? And why do they punish them so harshly?” Twilight asked after she finished writing down everything he said.

“Well, the first one is: Magic is Powerful. Magic on my planet is the difference between a servant and their master, a peasant and a king. The use of magic is growing. Judging by what’s happened in the past, each time the use of magic increases, a great disaster shortly follows. However, even though the history of magic is well known on my planet. Mages and their patrons come to the same conclusion that it ‘Won’t happen to me’.” he remembered every detail. Due to the fact that before Celendros became a shaman, he wanted to become a mage.

“Fascinating!” Twilight said as she writes it all down.

“The second is: Magic is corrupting. Magic corrupts the soul on my planet. Even the most humblest of men who take up the art of the arcane become prideful and arrogant.” he continued.

Twilight nodded and continued writing.

“The third one is: Magic is addicting. When one feels the power of the arcane coursing through their body, resisting the urge to cast it again is difficult.” Celendros said. Then he stopped for a moment, he throat was getting dry. “Could you bring me some water?”

“Sure” she said and set the quill and paper down. She went into the kitchen to get some water.

‘What am I doing?!’’ Celendros scolds himself in his mind. ‘I’m telling her everything, she could just be gathering information so she could tell her princess! I need to think. How do I get out of this while my arm heals...’ Before he could continue thinking she came back.

“Here you go.” she heartily said and levitated a glass of water to him.

He took it with his good arm and nodded in thank you. He took a large sip and set it down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Okay, can you please continue?” she asked him politely while she levitated the quill and paper back in front of her.

‘I guess I don’t have a choice...’ Cel thought to himself. “And the last one is... Magic attracts the demonic. Magic is a literal gateway drug that allows demons to bring evil influences into the world. Mages often have to deal with the threat of possession every once and awhile.”

“Demons?!” Twilight exclaimed. “Does that mean I could be attacked by some demon?!” she began to freak out.

“Calm down! I don’t think that applies to Equestria.” he tried to reassure her. Though, he didn’t know if this was true or not. But all he could do was give her words of comfort. “Take this from a Shaman, i’m sure it’s impossible.”

“Really?” she asked. She started to feel better but then had another question. “Wait. What’s a Shaman?”

“Shamans are the messengers of nature and the Great Mother. I’ll explain to you later. I need to get some sleep. Though he really wasn’t tired, he needed time to think of how he’s going to get back home.

“I- but-! Okay, I guess.” she said while her ears folded back onto her head. She was really disappointed, but understood. He was really hurt after all.

“Don’t worry Twilight Sparkle. You’ll get your answers soon enough. Now please, may I sleep in silence?” he politely said.

“I guess...” she said. She headed up stairs to go read a book.

Celendros took this time to figure out where he was. He never really got the chance to before since she was barraging him with questions. He looked around to find out his was in some sort of library. The architecture was strange though, like it was inside a tree. But he’d only be able to find out if he went outside... but he wasn’t able to due to his arm.

He slowly brought his right arm in front of him, he did so carefully so it wouldn’t hurt too much. He inspected it to see it was wrapped in bandages and a small bit of the torn skin poked out around the edges. Luckily it didn’t feel like the bone took much damage. But the flesh wound was pretty severe.

Now he pondered about that idol. He felt the indents on his face from the idol, some of the runic markings on the idol had been burnt onto his face. After he felt the touch of the idol. His face began to feel strange. Then his head hurt. The residual energy from the idol was doing something to him. It hurt alot but he needed to stay quiet. He withheld yelling in pain and gripped his head. Then the pain faded and consciousness left him again...

In his sleep, flashes of memories of him healing the wounded with his shamanistic abilities flew through his mind. And in this dream he could feel as if a part of the connection he had with the elements was returning.

Celendros woke up again and lifted his head to see that it was night time outside. He could see through the window by the door. “Hello?!” he called out. Seems that no one was home.

He laid his head back down on the pillow that was provided for him and stared at the ceiling.

He took this time to contemplate the dream he had. He remembered those memories now almost perfectly, and he could feel some of the connection restored. But not fully, maybe enough to manipulate a small bit of water, but nothing too major. He thought of something though... he took the half-full glass of now lukewarm water and stared at it for a moment.

He rested the glass on his chest and waved his good hand around it. The water began to move around in the glass, following the hand as it circled around the glass. He lifted his hand up and the water lifted from it, it might not appear so but this was difficult. Almost as if he was learning how to do it all over again. He fluently moved the water over to his hurt arm and the water floated under the bandages. After a moment the wound gained a green aura for a moment and the arm felt much better. It was slightly healed, but not by much. And the magic worked as a sort of pain killer. He was glad to know he had at least a small source of healing for now.

He thought for a moment... could that idol have been the key to man being able to commune with nature? If so, he needed to fix his arm and find the shattered remains of the idol, and soon. For if Gavun found it, Equestria could have a war on its hands, and Celendros would need to be right in the middle of it.

He hated war, it brought nothing but death and sorrow. But he also saw it as a necessity at times, it was the way of things on Socobeck. War acted as a sort of filter between the weak and strong. But this war between Gavun and the people... it’s just unnatural.

There was a reason why Gavun gained so much power from that idol. There is also a reason he hated shamans so much. It’s because he was one... formerly. He was originally meant to be the deliverer of the people. But he delved into the arcane magics in search for power. Which lead to him being the subject of possession by a demon. This had corrupted his mind and gave him a lust for power. He convinced some of the more powerful shamans of the order and forced nature to bend to their whim through dark rituals.

With as much as Celendros hated doing it. He had to kill the dark shamans one by one when they were alone. He half-regretted doing it, but it needed to be done. Gavun was the only one he couldn’t kill. For by this time, he’d killed the king and assumed the title. Ruining Celendros’s chances of ending a disaster before it happened.

Though the prophecies were true about Gavun... he delivered the people into a life of slavery and poverty. A life that Celendros both embraced and fought against. He was tired of being the hero, he was tired of missing his family, he was tired of fighting. The only thing pushing him forward was the fact that it was the right thing to do. He was tempted to run away from his problems, but he knew they’d always come back. Painful sacrifices need to be made in order to do the right thing... Celendros knows this more than any man ever should.

Author's Note

Sorry if there's any grammatical errors, I tried to catch as many as I could. I hope this will suffice until the next chapter can come out!

The Journey Begins

One week had passed and it wasn’t very ideal for Celendros’s situation. He hated being stuck in one place unable to do anything. The princess hadn’t responded to Twilight’s letter yet, which was rather odd according to Twilight. But all Celendros could do was wait and do what he could to speed up the healing process with the small sliver of his connection to nature he had.

Twilight walked through the front door and smiled at Celendros. “You seem to be doing a lot better than last week,” She noted out loud as she walked toward the small coffee table in front of the couch.

“Yes, I’m more mobile than I used to be. Your magic has been helping much with the pain. Not so much in the speed, but it’s definitely helping,” Celendros told her while he adjusted himself on the couch. “In a while I was going to try moving around some. To see if my arm could handle it.”

Twilight nodded, sitting down on an armchair beside the couch. “Well if you need anything, anything at all please feel free to let me know,” She said, smiling sweetly. She bit her lip slightly. She had been waiting and waiting to ask him all sorts of questions but just never got around to it.

“Thank you, but I should be able to handle it by myself. Though if you hear any screaming... I’ll be on the floor,” Celendros said, afterward he chuckled at the weak joke. “How has your day been?” He asked. He had nothing better to do so he asked anyways. Perhaps it’ll help pass the day some.

“Well, to be quite frank it’s been very stressful,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I actually have been meaning to ask you a few questions.” She said with a sheepish smile.

“More?” Celendros disappointingly asked. He was tired of all the questions for the past week. “How about we forget about the questions. And if something comes up in conversation, you’ll learn that way,” He suggested.

Her ears folded down, she looked slightly sad. “Well... I suppose so...” She said with a disappointed tone in her voice. Twilight stood up and smiled. “But I suppose it’s for the best, I mean I do ask quite a lot of questions.” She giggled slightly.

“Sorry if you’re put down. I’m a quiet person myself,” Celendros told her. “Well, I suppose it’s time to try to get up,” He said, sighing in the process. He slowly got up in the couch and groaned. He’d been laying down for so long, his body was mildly sore. The only time he really got up was when he needed to use the bathroom. His arm hurt slightly, but not enough to hinder anything. So because of this, he stood up slowly and stretched his back. “So far so good...” He said weakly.

Twilight had a notebook out and was writing in notes about this phenomenon with her magic. She walked beside the fairly large human trying to make sure he wouldn't get hurt terribly if he fell. “I... Don’t know how much I would be able to do if you fall, to be fairly honest,” She said, keeping a close eye on him.

He took a couple steps and groaned, his back kind of hurt from the sudden movement. But his arm was fairly decent in levels of pain. “Well, it’s not too bad so far. Maybe if we could get it a sling, I’d be able to be mobile,” He said. “And maybe, I could start working on my magic.”

Twilight nodded and put the book and pen down. “I will be right back!” She said as she raced upstairs. She started to go through the bathroom closet trying to find the first-aid kit. Once she had found it, she took it by the handle between her teeth and trotted downstairs. “There... should be everything we need in here to craft you a sling,” She said, going through the box and levitating the necessary supplies out of the kit with her magic.

“How odd...” Celendros commented. “Where I’m from, all we had for first aid was rubbing alcohol, bandages, and some stitches. Mainly because of how low the rationing of medical care was in the Pianlut Highlands. Gavun kept most supplies for Shadus,” He explained while he watched her work with her magic. It was quite amazing in his eyes, how a single horn could be something so diverse and nimble.

Twilight shivered at the mention of Gavun. ”This Gavun... I don’t like the sounds of him. How exactly could the poni- I mean your people exactly let him do all these terrible, terrible things?” She questioned out loud.

“They didn’t have a choice. It was either obey or die. I was the only thing we had to call a revolution, and even then I failed. But now as soon as my arm heals, I’m leaving to go fix everything,” He said. He felt slightly bad since he couldn’t beat Gavun back on Socobeck. But he knew this was what fate had planned. “As... wonderful as it is here. I can’t stay,” He hesitated slightly because he actually hated it in the library.

Twilight spoke as she dressed his arm in the sling and bandage. “But...” She shook her head. “Would it be possible for you to take me with you?” She questioned him. That wasn’t exactly meant to come out.

“It’s too dangerous, you’d be just another thing for me to protect. Sorry, but if someone were to join me in this... they’d need to have combat experience,” Celendros reluctantly told her. He didn’t like having to let someone down like that, but he didn’t like having to save someone all the time either. “I enjoy your company, I really do. But I’d be really sad were you to get hurt because of something I caused.”

Twilight shook her head. “Oh no please, I understand. I’m not exactly the fighting type... I’d probably just weigh you down anyways,” As she said this she finished the sling packing up the rest of the first-aid kit and she walked into the kitchen. She put it on the counter while grabbing a plate of cookies and brought them out to the library. “Would you like a cookie?” She asked, setting the tray down on the table. Twilight wasn’t the best baker in Equestria, the cookies were burnt and hard as a rock.

“... Cookies?” Celendros asked. They didn’t have treats such as cookies on Socobeck. “I’ve not heard of such a treat,” he said.

At the mention of cookies, seemingly out of nowhere a excitable pink pony appeared in front of the man “Did you say cookies?!” She giggled hopping up and down.

“Ah!” Celendros yelped and jumped backward, he barrel-rolled in the air and threw his good hand out, nothing but a small puff of smoke came from his hand. He landed behind the couch with a loud thud and knocked over a couple books from the shelves behind him. He let out a “Argh!” He almost landed on his hurt arm but managed to recover. He was slightly embarrassed at the feeble attempt at magic, but it was a reflex.

The pony cocked her head “Oh! are you a magician?! I can do tricks too!” As she said this she pulled a top hat out and pulled a toothless baby alligator out of it “Tada!” She looked around and walked over to the man “I’m Pinkie Pie!” She giggled and offered a hoof to help him up.

“I’m Celendros,” ‘Cel introduced himself as he stood up. He didn’t take her hoof because he knew his weight would be too much for her. “I’d clap in appreciation of your trick... but I only have one working hand. As for me being a magician... technically, I am one.”

Pinkie giggled again. “Well, as I like to say, a broken hoof is a bad hoof!” She said.

Twilight raised a brow “When do you say that Pinkie? And what exactly brought you here?” She always had so many questions for this strange mare.

She looked to Twilight. “Duh silly! I came here to meet the new pony in town! also because I wanted to ask you something...” She whispered in Twilight’s ear giggling as she nodded.

“I’ll be outside if you two need me. I’m going to get some blood pumping through me. Sitting on that couch has been affecting my health negatively,” Celendros said while he pointed toward the front door. He headed outside and shut the door with his good arm.

Twilight waved as he left before looking back to Pinkie “Pinkie... I’m not exactly sure he is the type for a party,” the lavender mare said doubtfully.

Pinkie hopped up and down squealing with joy “Don’t be silly Twilight! Everypony loves a good party, and I throw the best ones for new ponies!” she said happily as she took one of Twilight’s cookies and put it in her mouth, she bit down hard. There was a loud crunch noise and Pinkie’s face turned a tinge of pale green. Rushing over to a trash can she spat out the contents of her mouth. “Um...Twi... Try using just a teensy bit more sugar next time.”

Celendros examined his good hand, he tested his abilities with the elements. So far they’re pretty pathetic, even an apprentice could do more. All he could do was hold a tiny flame in his hand, create a light breeze like someone was breathing on another, manipulate a small amount of water, and cause some pebbles to turn over. “Damn!” he let out in frustration. He needed to figure out how to strengthen the connection. For at the time, he was useless as a Shaman.

The ponies inside of the town seemed to not pay any attention to him at the moment, the populace was already alerted of his presence and paid no heed to him. Other than a purple maned mare who gasped at him “Darling! What exactly is that you are wearing?”

It was strange, she judged the appearance of his clothing rather than his physical form. She didn’t seem phased at all by what he was. Celendros turned his attention to the mare and raised a brow at her sudden appearance. “My apologies. My apparel is in such bad shape because of the last battle I was in put them in this condition.” he explained to her while brushing off some dust he’d accumulated from the couch.

The mare shook her head. “Oh how horrendous! Well... if you wish to have your... attire looked at just stop by my shop anytime! I’m Rarity by the way.” she said happily to him while she looked over Cel’s tattered clothing.

“Uh, yes I’m Celendros, pleasure to meet you. My apologies, I would love to speak with you further, but I’m currently in the middle of something. Perhaps we could speak later?”

“Oh that would be splendid! I suppose I should go too, I have some errands to run. Ta-ta!” he waved goodbye to him with her hoof and trotted off to do her business.

“She was... different from what I’ve seen here of the ponies. She talked like a noble of the south back on Socobeck, and didn’t even flinch at the fact of the difference in race...” Celendros thought out loud. He grunted as he felt a sudden sharp pain on his hurt arm. Turns out a bug had just come and bit him. It didn’t seem serious, but the bite quickly turned red. “Now I’m going to have to deal with this all day...”

Back inside the library, a familiar baby dragon started yelling running down the stairs. “Twi! Twi! A letter from the princess!” he said happily before tripping on the last two steps, making a slight yelp before being caught by Twilight’s magic.

“Spike, please remember not to run around the library.” Twilight scolded before she walked over and took the letter with her magic over to the door, opening it and cleared her throat “Celendros, The princess has finally responded.” She said offering the letter to him.

“Good, we’ve had to wait long enough.” Celendros said, giving a tone of annoyance. He took the letter and read it thoroughly.

“Dear Twilight, Thank you for bringing this to my attention and I apologize for not responding sooner. I would like to meet this Celendros as I have also had reports of another group of humans coming in from near the Everfree Forest. I have made arrangements for a train ride to Canterlot for him. Again thank you for letting me know of this strange phenomenon.
Princess Celestia.”

“Uh oh...” Celendros said with a frown on his face. “Twilight, pack your things. We need to leave for this "Canterlot" to talk to your princess.” he said while he quickly walked back into the library.

Twilight followed. “R-really? I get to come?” She sound a bit confused but levitated a saddlebag over packing it with the necessary supplies for the trip, for her at least. This would include: Papers, Quills, Inkwells and some cookies and other food items.

“Yes, because I need a guide to tell me where to go. Or else I’ll get lost. That and I’ve no idea the way you ponies work socially.” Celendros explained to her. He wanted to go alone but he had to face the facts. He took a glass of water and used it to fill his water flask. Afterward he’d head outside and look around for the train station. He wanted to get there early just to be sure.

Twilight called out as she shut the door “Spike! Watch the library,” She chased after Celendros “W-wait up!,” She said, catching up to him. “The train doesn’t come for another...two hours!”

“Plenty of time to meditate and practice my martial training then.” ‘Cel told her with a smirk on his face as he walked.

Twilight paused for a moment before speaking “What... exactly does meditation do for you? Your species that is.” She asked curiously pulling out the infamous notepad again.

Celendros sighed and decided to humor her. “It clears the mind to assist in our focus, as well as calm the body. Plus it’s a great way to pass the time.”

She jotted this down and placed the notepad back in her bag “So essentially the same thing that we ponies use it for.” She thought out loud with a smile. “You know, talking to you is such a treat! It’s like being in magic school all over again, I get to learn about new and exciting things that... I’ve never even heard of before!”

“Glad I could be such a wonder. When I went to the circle to learn how to be a shaman, I never found it to be so fun. In fact it was entirely boring and slightly painful.” Celendros said, remembering his first days in becoming a shaman. The days of getting burnt by fire and hit by rocks... good times, he remembered them fondly.

She had the notepad out again. “So what exactly do you do as a Shaman? Make fires and throw rocks?” She was extremely curious about this topic that was ever so rarely talked about.

“We’ll talk about that at a later date. For now I need to practice my combat skills when we get there.” he told her. He really didn’t need to, but he didn’t like talking about being a shaman. After being hunted for so long about what you are, it tends to become an enemy in itself.

Twilight nodded and slowly approached the station steps walking up them carefully, she didn’t want to drop any of her stuff. She sat down and exhaled. “So, do you have any family?” She had always thought of this but never bothered to ask. “Or do humans not have families?” Twilight wasn’t meaning to be rude, she was just very naive as to what she just asked.

“A sister... and a nephew.” he reluctantly said. He’d pushed them out of his mind for the past week, but the question just brought the memories and guilt back. He slightly hung his head but did his best to keep his composure.

Just as she finished taking this down she looked up and gave a little gasp “Oh shoot! I’m sorry if that was a touchy subject, sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me...” She also hung her head, feeling really guilty for what she had just done.

“It’s fine, you couldn’t have known. Just... I’m not ready to talk about it yet.” Celendros shook his head and regained his usual stern presence.

She perked up a bit “Well, if you say so. You said earlier you didn’t know what a cookie was?” she stated having just remembered that he asked what it was. “Well it is this type of desert that you make out of dough and whatever you feel like the cookie should have in it.” She smiled and nodded having not the slightest clue about what she just implied.

“... So you could make an ale cookie?” Celendros asked with his own form of curiosity on his face now.

“Well... that I’m not sure of, but if you were to somehow make ale into a solid state I’m sure it would be possible!” she giggled a bit. “What I mean is that anything solid, like chocolate chips or gumdrops, raisins. You know, those things.”

“Apparently I don’t.” Cel remarked. He’d never heard of those things before. They sounded... strange.

“Well, I’m sure you will encounter them while you are here in Equestria.” She reassured him before sighing. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, Spike had a bad dream and started fidgeting... crawled into my bed.” she said sadly.

“Yes, I could hear him talking in his sleep from the couch. He said something about evil rabbits if I remember correctly.” Celendros chuckled as he said this.

Twilight shook her head with a sigh. “He is quite silly...” She giggled, opening a book flipping through it. “You know, I’ve looked up on several teleportation spells, just to get an idea about how much magic it would take to send you back to your home,” She sighed putting a hoof to her head “The amount of magic needed for such a spell... It isn’t even a fathomable idea.” She closed the book placing it back into her saddlebag.

“Don’t worry about me. Besides, I don’t want to leave anyways.” Celendros told her as he got more relaxed in the tiny chair he was sitting in. “As long as Gavun is here, I don’t want to leave until my business is done. Besides, I have to be here anyways.”

Twilight nodded with a grin “Well, you are welcome in Ponyville whenever you feel like coming back,” She readjusted herself before resting her head on his lap closing her eyes drifting off to a nap.

‘... Damn it...’ Celendros thought, now that she’s napping on his lap, he can’t go practice his martial skills. He contemplated for a few minutes on what to do to pass the time. He inspected his good arm because he forgot to test one element... He flicked his wrist and lightning flashed out of it. He jumped in surprise and fell out of his seat. “Ow damn it!” he screamed in extreme pain since he landed on his hurt arm.

She yelped, rolling off the the chair landing on her flank. “What in the name of Celestia was that?!” She look around slightly curious but shaking from the sudden noise.

Celendros grunted heavily in reply. He was too busy writhing in pain. He held his arm that fell out of the sling and attempted to get up as best he could. He heard the question but he wanted to keep his ability hidden, it could prove useful later so he lied, “I heard a noise and I jumped, argh... you know the rest.” He thought it was pretty smooth so he went with it.

She stood up and shook her head waking herself up, using her magic to place the arm back into the sling “Scared me...” She yawned sitting back in the seat. “So, what exactly do your skills entail?” She questioned him, the notepad was out again.

“What skills?” Cel asked. If she asked about melee combat, he’d answer. But if it was shamanistic skills. He’d have to find a way out of it.

“Like, can you cook? Are you good with pets?” She started to listing off a bunch of different basic skills that most ponies would have.

Celendros mentally thanked the Great Mother and answered the question. “I’m an okay cook. Enough for me to survive off the land and cook the meat I’d obtain from a kill. As for pets, I used to be befo-... before I didn’t have time for them.” he had to stop himself mid-sentence and change it.

“Well that is such a shame, animals are such nice crea-” She stopped mid-sentence and cocked her head at him. “I’m sorry, did I hear you right? You KILL and eat animals?!” Twilight seemed like she was confused and slightly afraid “Are... you... going to eat....me?” She asked, curling into a ball.

“Yes, where I’m from, we eat animals. But only when we need to. On Socobeck, if we didn’t eat animals, the world would become overpopulated with animals. So by the natural way of things us humans assist the carnivores in eating meat, thus is why the Great Mother created us as omnivores. Because of this though, if an animal were to be sentient, such as you, we wouldn’t eat it because it would be just as bad as eating a person.” Celendros explained it to her as best as he could, while trying to reassure her. But he was never good at cheering someone up unless that involved killing or fighting something. So it is usually a large vicious circle with Cel.

Twilight exhaled in relief. “Phew, for second I thought you might have gotten hungry,” She smiled and giggled before stopping for a moment. “What exactly is this... Great Mother?” She questioned curiously

Celendros sighed, knowing he couldn’t explain this one. “It’s something that you have to experience, in order to understand it,” he told her. He wasn’t lying either. The people of Socobeck know nothing of the Great Mother, only the Shamans knew of Her.

She nodded slowly putting the notepad away “Another one of your foreign mysteries I suppose...” She sat back saying in a sad tone. “I wonder when the train arrives...”

“Should be in about an hour or so.” Celendros deduced. “When you have to survive in the wild as much as I have. You need to learn how to keep track of time without having something to tell you what time it is.”

The mare nodded again resting her head on her hooves. “I suppose I could take a small nap within that time frame.” She closed her eyes slowly and snored lightly, it was actually quite cute.

Celendros sighed in slight relief. He got up and made sure no one was paying attention to what he was doing. After he confirmed this. He got into a low stance and began practicing his combat skills. Luckily this training involved learning how to compensate for a lack of certain limbs. To everyone but him, it would seem like silly dancing. But to him, it was a deadly art... and it was.

An hour later.

Twilight awoke to the sound of a train whistle. She gasped “The train is here!” She said excitedly, getting out of the set trotting onto the train.

Celendros stopped in the middle of his practice as the train arrived. He followed her inside. He’d never seen a train like this, but it was similar to the railed cars they had on Socobeck.

She sat near a window and looked out of it, sighing. “You know, trains have always interested me.” she said to no one in particular. “They go so fast... much better than walking to Canterlot.” she nodded looking to Cel. “Did they have trains on Socobeck?”

“Not like this...” Celendros said. He had his arm on one of the walls of the train, struggling to keep his balance. This was new to him, and he didn’t like it. “I think I’ll stand...” he said shakily. And of course once the train started moving. He nearly fell over.

Twilight giggled at this and placed a map on the table in front of her “This is a map of Equestria, take it. It will help you get around.” She smiled as she slid the map to the end of the table beside him.

He leaned down on one of the seats, and took the map. “Thank you. With this I won’t have to do nearly as much looking up or down on my trip,” he jokingly said. The map wasn’t a necessity, but it will help him quite a bit.

She nodded happily. “Anything for a friend.” she smiled and made a squeak noise before returning to look out the window. “There... is one thing you should know before speaking with the Princess, try not to get up in her face and yell, not... a good idea.” she looked at him with a serious face.

“I’ll do whatever I feel is necessary around your princess. If that involves yelling, then so be it. I’m not afraid to get hurt. This wound on my arm proves it.” he sternly said to her while moving his bad arm for emphasis. Celendros always had a problem with being told what to do, whether it be a warning or a command. Mainly because he had to deal with it all his life, and it never worked out for him in the end.

Twilight nodded slowly. “Well, the Princess is a very kind and caring pony. So long as you don’t threaten her or anypony.” She tried to reassure. “You never did mention how exactly your arm came to be that way.” she said curiously.

“A strange wolf creature made entirely of... wood, attacked me in the forest. I had to use my arm to protect my neck from its jaw. I killed it in the end... but it nearly killed me as well,” he explained to her. He didn’t want to add the gory details.

“Oh, Timber wolves!” She shook her head “Such nuisances, but what can you expect from entering the Everfree Forest? Such a twisted, scary place...” She got a bit goosebumps and shook a bit at the thought of the Everfree.

“Huh... it seemed just like your average dark forest to me. In fact it reminded me greatly of home.” Celendros reminisced fondly. He wasn’t fully sure if all woods were like that on Socobeck or Equestria. He traveled all around the world of Socobeck all the time, but he hasn’t seen everything there for sure.

Twilight stared at him, slightly confused. “You mean, no pony controls the weather? At all?” She was very much confused but sighed “Of course, you don’t have Pegasi, silly me.” she facehooved and giggled.

“Yes, the Great Mother set up a near perfect system for how everything in nature works. Though us humans do need to tend to the land and environment, but not nearly as much as ponies do from what you’ve told me.” Cel chuckled lightly and finally decided to sit down on the seat in front of her.

She took the notepad out again and began to write with her magic. “So, this would mean the Great Mother is some sort of Creator of worlds?” she questioned again. Man she was pushing him for answers.

“Close, but no banana.” Cel said and chuckling slightly at her lack of understanding. He hadn’t used that saying in a long time. As it was one from the days of him as a child. Since then, the saying was out dated on Socobeck. “I told you, it’s something you have to experience in order to understand it. Only a shaman can do that.”

Twilight groaned hit her head on the table with a sigh “Well this is going to bug me for the entirety of my life...” She joked.

“Well... maybe, though the chance is zero to none, you will be able to come with me to my world. But I doubt that that will ever happen, considering how dangerous everything is there.” ‘Cel sighed slightly, almost wishing it could happen. He’d taken a liking to Twilight. He was really enjoying their friendship so far in the past week. It was years since he had a friend to talk to.

Twilight began to speak but got sidetracked at the fact that there were screams coming from the next box. She peered through the window and gasped. “Celendros! M-more humans, and they are terrorizing innocent ponies!”

“Well what do you expect me to do about it?!” he said as he stood up and walked over to peek through the window. He cared about what was going on, but given the situation with his arm. It wouldn’t be healthy to do that much movement, not to mention he’d risk the chance of the arm getting worse.

“I don’t know! But they pointed at you and are coming in here!” She shook and hid under the nearest table.

The boxcar door was kicked open and in stepped several laughing humans who had faces only a mother could love. The largest of the five men stepped into Cel’s face “Well well well, lookie wha’ we found ‘ere boys! Runaway prisoner, you know the king had us out here to scout the area, but this is even better! We get to bring him you.” The man then cocked his fist back and tried to punch the shaman square in the face. This man was also wearing a metal gauntlet, it would hurt greatly if it connected.

Celendros ducked down and twisted his body to the left, his back hit the torso of the man and the fist passed over him. Just as they connected he sent his good arm up and smacked his elbow into the man’s face. Afterward he’d take a step back and shake his bad arm a little bit, it was going to be sore later...

The man growled loudly as he held his bleeding face and stumbled back looking at his men, “DON’T JUST STAND THERE YOU BUMBLING FOOLS! GET HIM!” Two of the men charged at him, one with a dagger and another with brass knuckles. The one with the dagger jumped onto the table and tried to thrust downwards into his back while the other guy tried giving him a good shot to the gut.

Celendros spun to the right and bent his right arm down, at the start of the turn his smashed his elbow into the side of the man’s face. Causing in turn the man’s head to hit a metal pole to Cel’s left. Afterward he’d deflect the incoming fist with his knee and kick the man in his other knee with the same knee.

The two men having just gotten the crap kicked out of them lay on the ground and over a seat, groaning. The other two look nervously at him, and then scream charging at him. One had a battle-axe and swung it down horizontally towards him. Twilight shrieked loudly, kicking at the other one who had managed to grab a hold of her tail.

Cel heard the scream and quickly decided to end this. He leaned to the left and grabbed the axe-hand of the man attacking him. He pulled it down and send his knee up, smashing it right into the socket of his shoulder, the loud snap could be heard throughout the car as the joint popped from its socket and his opponent screamed in pain because of this. Afterward he’d step over the fallen man and kick the one going for Twilight in his ribs. Then, he sent his hand forward and a steady stream of forked lightning burst from it and electrocuted the man until he couldn’t move any more. The loud bang of thunder crashed through the train, doing no damage but mildly hurting the ears of everyone inside.

The thug twitched as he hit the ground and sizzled. Twilight sobbed softly under the table. Conveniently the train stopped, just as it did a group of heavily armored stallions marched on board and yelled out, “You there! Come peacefully or we shall use force!” Four of them walked behind him and began to place each of the thugs into magic bubbles that followed them as they walked off the train. All that remained was the head guard and two others.

Celendros groaned in frustration. “I know the drill...” he told the guards and followed the guards wherever they would take him. Besides, he could just escape in a few hours anyways.

Twilight crawled out from under the table and yelled “No! Don’t take him! He was the one who saved us!” But it was useless, the guards were already on their way towards the castle.

All ‘Cel could do was comply. He contemplated using force and violence to escape, but that would not bode well for his image and reputation among the ponies.

The guards lead him into the elegant looking castle, they came upon a door with a guard stationed by it. He saluted and opened the door that lead down into darkness. The stallion that was leading Cel motioned towards a cell with a open barred door. “Get in.”

“No need to be so rude.” Celendros remarked as he walked inside. He took a seat on the stone cold floor and leaned against the wall. “Now away with you guards, I need time to think.” he jokingly commanded them.

The three guards grunted, and walked opposite ways. But not before locking the door. He was left with only the glow of a torch on the opposite wall and the moans and groans of the other prisoners.

Celendros sighed, but enjoyed the time to himself. He waited for two hours in the dungeon, planning on what he would do next and what to do with Gavun. Clearly he has found a way to either summon people from Socobeck, or travel back and forth... this was bad. Really bad. But for now, he needed to get out of here. But before he could start thinking of that, someone approached his cell.

A familiar voice was heard from the outside of the cell, though no visible features could be seen, the voice was a dead give away. “Celendros? Are you alright?” The voice of Twilight spoke. “Don’t worry, I’m working on getting you out, I just need to talk to Celestia when she is free.” She seemed quite worried for him.

“I’m fine. Take your time, all this time to think is wonderful.” Celendros reassured her. Meanwhile he rubbed some of the dust and dirt off of his nearly destroyed cloak.

“Well, if you say so, Thank you very much for saving me. By the way. That was a very scary experience and I don’t wish to have it again...” She said as she hugged him through the bars.

“Hopefully, you won’t. But with me, there’s a good chance of it happening again. Back home I faced this almost weekly. With Gavun’s men constantly at my back you should get used to it. Hopefully next time my arm will be healed enough to fight. I had to resort to magic in order to finish the last guy off.” Cel said with a sigh after he hugged Twilight back.

“Huh, so that is shaman magic... Interesting. Well, I’m going to see if I can talk to the Princess... I’ll be back later.” She nodded to try and reassure him.

“I’ll be here, of course.” Cel said in goodbye to Twilight. He leaned back on the wall and closed his eyes. He needed some sleep.

She trotted up the stairs, the door shut behind her. Just then coughing was heard from the cell next to him “You won’t stop the king... He is too strong for you.” the large man wheezed.

“Oh I don’t plan to stop him. I’m just going to shove my boot so far up his butt... his nose will bleed,” Celendros said. He was just messing with the guy, he had nothing better to do.

The man spat towards Cel, possibly getting some on his boot. “Long... Live...The King.” These were his last words before he passed out from the pain.

“Thanks for the shoe shine bud...” Celendros said to the unconscious thug.

About a day later, Twilight came back down into the dungeon with a guard. He proceeded to unlock the door and step aside. “You are free to go.”

A snore sounded from the back of the cell. Celendros had fallen asleep about an hour before they arrived. To most he’d look like a filthy bum by now. His beard was unkempt and dirty, cloak torn and tattered, and he was sleeping on the floor.

Twilight entered the cell and cautiously poked his face with her hoof “Cel... endros?” she called out timidly.

He sorted and opened his eyes. “Huh... what?” he said. Clearly he was confused slightly.

She giggled. “You can leave the cell now, I’ve spoken with the guard and they agreed to free you. We can go see the princess now, come on.” She smiled as she said these words.

“Oh good, I was getting bored.” he said as he slowly got up. He stretched and his back popped. He held his hurt arm which he managed to heal a bit more with the mandatory water he received with his hay breakfast. Every day it was improving, but not by much. It should take another two weeks at this rate before it would be healed enough for him to use it. He walked out of the cell and motioned for Twilight to lead the way.

Twilight exited the cell nodding to the guard before walking up the stairs. She sighed a bit cracking her neck. “Come on, the throne room is this way.” She said cheerfully as she lead Celendros through the castle halls.

Celendros followed along, he was rather uncomfortable being in a large castle. The only one he’d ever been to was one where death was around every corner. He dreaded having to talk to the Princess. Since he was always bad with authority, mainly because of his demanding father and Gavun always riding his back throughout his life.

She looked at Celendros and furrowed a brow before speaking “You look over-cautious and worried. Is everything okay?” she asked him with concern.

“I’m fine... just the last time I was in a castle, everyone wanted me dead. Not to mention the fact that royalty makes me nervous.” he told her. It was nice to get things off his chest, but he didn’t know why he was being so open about things.

She nodded with a smile. “You have no need for fear. The princesses are more than likely the nicest ponies in Equestria!” She sounded very excited as she said this.

“We’ll see...” he shakily said. As he walked he was regaining his composure on the outside. But on the inside, the closer they got, the more nervous he got.

As he said this they would have walked into a spacious room. At the end of a red carpet trimmed with gold lining sitting on a throne was none other than the mare in question. The white alicorn smiled. “Ah, Twilight so good to see you. This is Celendros I assume?”

“Yes, I’m the one you had arrested and thrown i-” Celendros stopped mid-sentence since he realized what he was doing. “That’s me.” he corrected himself. Then he nudged Twilight with his leg for her to say something.

Before she could speak, Celestia spoke. “Yes about that, you have my deepest apologies. I had gotten word of several humans terrorizing my citizens on a train and acted with swift care. If there is anyway I can make it up to you, don’t hesitate to ask me.” She nodded and then took a long pause “But this means that there are more than just you here. Do you know these other humans?”

“To a point. These men were most likely sent by Gavun somehow. Most likely he has a shard of the idol, which I’m sure Twilight explained what it is in her letter to you. At this point, I give you a warning. I am the only human you can trust unless I give them my okay, which most likely will never happen.” Celendros explained to the princess. He was doing his best to assert himself as an asset, rather than a problem. “You can make it up to me by helping me find a shard of the idol.”

She nodded before raising a brow “Would... a shard possibly look like this?” She levitated a small chest to his feet which opened, revealing a small glowing shard of the idol he had mentioned.

Celendros went wide-eyed at the stroke of luck. “Where did you find that?” he asked quickly. He made his way closer to the princess to get a better look at the shard.

“This had fallen into the royal gardens one night. One of the royal guards had brought it to me and I had been keeping it to figure out what exactly it does. If this tremendously powerful fragment of an ancient artifact can help you in any way, please take it. On behalf of me.” Celestia smiled again before speaking “Is this... Gavun leader of the other humans?” she questioned him.

“He is, and he is not to be underestimated. He will stop at nothing to get the shards and enslave your people. If he restores the idol, he’ll be invincible, like he was when I fought him in his throne room. This idol is supposedly the thing that keeps our worlds from colliding, and is the very catalyst that keeps nature from fading away. I broke Gavun’s jaw while that idol was in his hands, it instantly restored his jaw and composure. His strength was like that of a herd of elephants.” Celendros shuddered as he remembered the battle, it was intense, and he nearly died so many times.

She gasped a bit “Well we can not let this happen. Twilight, send word for your friends and gather the Elements of Harmony. You must do anything you can to aid Celendros in stopping Gavun.” She was extremely worried. “I cannot thank you enough Celendros for bringing this urgent news. I am here if you need absolutely anything.”

Twilight was already down the hall heading for the exit of the castle towards the train station.

“Before I go, Princess. One question. Why so quick to trust me? After all, I could secretly be on his side. Or maybe just out for power. Where I’m from I would’ve been branded insane and thrown in a dungeon... which I have been on numerous occasions before.” Celendros asked as he took the shard. He was actually confused. He’d never met a leader that was so quick to trust him. Normally he’d have to prove he’s trustworthy.

“Because, despite what you make yourself out to be. You are a truly good being on the inside. A trustworthy person, you need not to hide it in this world. The ponies of this world are kind and care for each other. They would never harm anypony and I hope to keep it so no pony tries to harm them. From what Twilight told me about what you did on the train, I have more than reason to trust you.” She had stepped down from the throne and smiled at him. “Now, please help save Equestria.”

“Fine, but know this. I am no hero. Nor do I want to be remembered as one. Where I go, violence and destruction follow. What happened on the train is a good example. I cannot guarantee the safety of your people, but I can guarantee I’ll try.” ‘Cel warned her and left. He wasn’t one for goodbyes.

Outside he caught up to Twilight and dangled the glowing shard in front of him. He wasn’t sure what to do with it. “Hmmm...” he let out in verbal thought.

“So, what was that on the train? Was that what a shaman does?” Twilight questioned him while trotting towards the station. “And what does that shard do?”

“A Shaman controls the very forces of nature. How strong the connection is between the Shaman and nature itself is what determines the power. Back on Socobeck before I had lost my connection the first time. It was strong, stronger than most. What you saw on the train is what a normal level shaman would do. But we can do more than just shoot lightning from our hands.” Celendros explained to her. Then he snapped his fingers with his good hand and an electric spark came from his fingers. “As for the shard... I have no idea.” He stopped after a couple seconds and stared at the shard. “Stand back, I have an idea.”

She took several steps back and removed the notepad again prepared to write down her observations.

Celendros removed his bad arm from the sling. It buzzed with pain as he moved it to grab the shard with both hands. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment or two. After a few seconds of nothing. The ground began to mildly shake around him, small pebbles on the ground begging to roll in a circle around him. Slow the circle gained more and more dirt and rock to follow.

Twilight giggled with excitement documenting everything that was happening even drawing an illustration, not the best but it would do. “Are you alright? Does it hurt?” She had so many questions but limited herself.

Then the rocks began to lift and circle around him in a sort of tornado of dust and rock around him. He didn’t reply but started groaning in pain. His bad arm was regrowing skin, the muscle repairing itself. It hurt immensely as it was healing faster than what was natural. The glow from the shard got brighter and brighter until eventually it sent out a burst of energy from his hands and all the rocks fell back to the ground. Celendros stood there not saying anything, but he fell backward onto the ground.

Before he could hit the ground Twilight caught him with her magic “Celendros! Please don’t tell me you died...” She was worried as she strained to lift him with her magic.

Sadly he was too heavy for her magic to lift. But he groaned as he thumped back on the ground. He brought his now healed left hand up and rubbed his head. It was buzzing and throbbing. But he was conscious. “What happened? I blacked out.” he groggily said.

She was in shock just pointing at his newly healed arm “Y... y... your arm...” She managed to finally spit out some words.

“W-what about it? Everything is a haze.” he asked as he struggled to sit up.

“It... reconstructed itself!” She exclaimed as she began to write in the notepad excitedly. “Does it hurt more or less? Can you stand? Do you have new powers?” She started running through questions rapidly before stopping to catch her breath.

“Settle down... and stop yelling,” Celendros snapped as he slowly got up. “And I won’t really know until I can test it on something.” He examined his arm with slight amazement, but not much surprise. He remembered when the idol healed Gavun, so he wasn’t too surprised that it healed himself.

She nodded and slowed down “The shard stopped glowing, you must have taken the power from within it.” She noted with a nod before examining his arm closer.

He shot his right arm out to try and cast a flame. Nothing but a puff of smoke left his hand. He groan and tried water from his flask, nothing but some movement like last time. So there was only one thing left to try. “Okay then... one thing left to try. Twilight, see that boulder over there?” he asked as he pointed at a large boulder in a group of rocks.

Twilight nodded “Are you going to move it?” she said walking closer to get a better view.

Celendros didn’t say anything, he just took a step back and braced himself. He raised his right foot then slammed it to the ground. A narrow shock wave of rock burst forward and smashed into the boulder, cracking it in half. The two halves fell to the opposite side of each other and Cel celebrated in his head. “This will be very useful.” he commented.

Twilight was extremely flabbergasted at the event she had just witnessed, she stood there completely speechless. Her mouth tried to produce some form of speech but nothing came out.

“Alright, let’s go. We have a lot of work ahead of us.” Celendros said to Twilight as he headed forward to leave the courtyard. “We need to get your friends, then figure out where the other shard pieces are. Do you have any ideas?” he asked, unaware of Twilight’s current state. Shamanistic magic was so normal to him he forgot that it wasn’t normal for her.

She stood there for a moment before shaking her head. She ran after him, eventually catching up. “Well, perhaps...” She thought for a moment before speaking again “I could always try a spell that would search for spikes in magical activity. Would that work?” she questioned him.

“Maybe, but this shard could be a different kind of magic. One you’re not used to. Remember, it’s from my world. On my world there are multiple kinds of magic, not just one.” ‘Cel warned her. “I don’t want you wasting your energy, we might need it in case of an attack.” While being unlikely, with Celendros surprise attack chances are heightened.

She nodded a bit with a sigh. “Right right, how silly of me to forget. We could always do it the old fashion way, just ask around town and see if anyone has heard anything about heightened magic levels or the such?” She yet again questioned him, but was more sure of herself this time.

Celendros scratched his chin and raised a brow in thought. “That would work... if we knew where to ask and who to ask. It wouldn’t be here in Canterlot, the blast was too powerful for the shards to be that close together. We would’ve heard about one in Ponyville if one was there... which brings us to our dilemma.” he half thought out loud, and half explained the situation to Twilight.

“That means...they could have landed all over Equestria!” She seemed a bit worried, this was going to be a very difficult task. Possibly even more difficult than her and her friends have ever dealt with “Where do you think we should start? I mean... these shards did come from your world. Do you know anything about them? Perhaps that shard you picked up could help us?” She said to him quite fast.

“The shard is tapped dry. I absorbed all it had and I know just as much about these shards as you do. As for where we should start? I don’t know, if this was my world we could head to Helkend, the City of Rogues where for a few gems you could get all the information you wanted. But I know nothing of your world beside what is openly obvious.” Celendros sighed after speaking. At this point he weighed his options. Either the search could take too long and Gavun would win, but if he were to obtain the idol eventually he could still defeat Gavun. With the expense of the ponies suffering for a few months. Or continue this leadless hunt with the off chance of getting somewhere. He shook his head after he realized he blanked out for a moment and returned to the conversation.

“Well we don’t have much of a choice, let’s round up the girls and maybe we could get more ideas on what to do.” She commented walking towards the train station with a sigh. “This... Gavun right? If he were to gather all these shards, what exactly would happen to Equestria? I mean, I know something bad, but what are we talking about?” She was again worried but was glad to be of some use at all in stopping some form of threat to her world.

“The same thing that happened to my world. He will take complete control and bring everyone to almost complete poverty. He’d turn the world into one where only the wicked prosper and the good suffer. And it would never end. That idol makes any who have it in their possession, invincible. He’d be the sovereign king of both our worlds. Becoming the most powerful man to have ever lived.” he reluctantly told her. The more he spoke the more he got worried with things like, what if he failed? What if he didn’t fail but the cost to get there was almost too great? Things like this ate away at him whenever they came, but he had to hold his worry in and remain strong. For Twilight’s sake.

She looked to him and solemnly nodded “I... I see.” She said quietly before going silent as they walked. It never crossed her mind that something so sinister and horrific could happen to the land she called home. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she thought of all the horrible things that could happen.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do everything in my ability to make sure that doesn’t happen... but that doesn’t help much does it? I’m only a shadow of what I once was...” memories started to come back to Celendros, regret, anxiety, sadness. The consequences of him giving up being a shaman have really come back to haunt him in the past year.

She stopped for a moment and hugged Celendros. “It’s just a bad thought is all, if we stay positive and believe in ourselves we can win this!” She let go and smiled at him wiping her eyes before continuing to walk “Besides, getting yourself worried over hypothetical this is really silly.” She smiled again, but it was more... forced, she actually had a single doubt in the back of her mind they might not be able to do this..

"Time will tell, where I'm from, you prepare for the worst so you are prepared for the best..." Cel remained skeptical, years of relying on himself for things has dampened his hope reserves.

Twilight nodded a bit. “Well, let’s try not to think about it right now.” she just wanted to have this end, all this was so new and odd to her, she liked it. But at the same time, all of the things that had happened recently scared her.

Celendros stayed silent for a few minutes as they headed toward the train station. His face had the signs of worry all over it. “Twilight... I need to ask something of you.” he said. He wasn’t proud of what he was going to ask. He wasn’t even sure if it was the right thing to do...

She perked her ears up a bit after hearing her name called. “What can I do for you?” She smiled sweetly after saying this trying to reassure him.

Seeing that sweet smile only made it worse, but he asked anyways. “If I die during this... quest. It’s going to be up to you. I need you to promise me, that you will take this dagger,” he pulled out the iron dagger that he took from the king and held it out for her to take, “and drive it through his black heart.” He didn’t specify who... but it was obvious.

Twilight was taken back at what he had just said and stood still and silent for a few minutes before speaking. “Celendros... you won’t die. I won’t let you, but... if it does come to that...” She levitated the dagger out of his hand and into her saddle bag. “I will honor your request.” she smiled weakly, she never even wanted to think of her friend meeting a gruesome end at the hands of anything. But she would uphold the promise she had made him if it came to that. Not happily though.

Cel stopped walking and turned to face Twilight, “Many have wondered why my world is the way it is. War, death, violence, and disease at every turn. The way I see it, is that it’s a way to cull the weak or perhaps give relief to the undeserving. I know I shouldn’t ask this of you, but on Socobeck this is a large honor. One that shows another trusts you, almost like a handshake. But more meaningful...” he said to try to reassure her. He was never very good at it, for all he did was tell the truth.

Twilight ran up to him and hugged him tightly beginning to tear up and sniffle “I just don’t want to think of my new friend dying... everything that is going on is so scary. I’m not going to lie, I am quite honestly scared out of my wits...” She nuzzled him as she cried softly.

He hugged her tightly, not knowing how long moments like these were going to last. “I am too...” he said as a tear came to his eye. “But no matter what happens, I’ll do my best to keep everyone safe.”

They made their way back to the train station and began their journey back to Ponyville. It was time to begin the long road ahead to defeating Gavun. The stakes are high, to the point of the fate of two worlds rests on the shoulders of Celendros and his companions. Two days and nights had passed before they decided to meet with the other five ponies that would be joining them on their trek. Celendros didn’t like meeting new people, so instead he planned their next move for the duration. But finally the time came to where he couldn’t wait any longer.

Twilight opened the door as all her friends entered the library slowly, all except Pinkie Pie who happily hopped into the library giggling rapidly.

“Ooo! Ooo! Where is he? Where is he? Dash you have to see him! He walks on two hooves and looks all creeeeeppppyy!” The pink mare hopped up and down in front of the cyan mare who she called Dash.

Dash sighed a bit and rested a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder, making her stop bouncing. “Pinkie... you know nothing scares me, and so what if he can walk on two hooves. I could if I really wanted to.” She said with the slightest hint of cockiness in her voice.

Rarity stepped toward Twilight, using her magic to levitate a bundle of clothing out of a saddlebag. “Twilight my dear, could you be a darling and give these garments to Celendros?” She batted her eyelashes with a smile, extending the clothes towards Twilight.

Twilight nodded with a smile taking the clothing and walking up the stairs knocking on the guest room door. “Celendros? The girls are here and Rarity fixed your clothes.”

A loud crash of thunder blasted from the room, as well as a bright flash that looked blinding from the inside. A loud thud sounded on the back wall then the floor. They all heard a yell from inside “Ow! Damn it!” it was Celendros crying out in frustration, as well as pain.

As she left upstairs the girls downstairs started talking amongst themselves, as the large thunder echoed through the house Fluttershy yelped loudly and hid under a table.

Twilight opened the door slowly and walked in. She placed the clothes on the table “Are you alright?” she cocked her head at him a bit curiously.

Celendros was on the floor, sitting against the wall. He was holding his right arm that had a brown glove on it. But it wasn’t ordinary, it had a metal circle on the palm as well as metal plating on the finger tips. His entire right forearm was smoking. It appeared as if he’d been working for a few hours, sweat had soaked into his common clothing that he often wore under his shamanistic gear. “I’m just, shaken is all. I need to fix this insulation in the glove, apparently some of the rune cloth inside ripped and won’t protect my hand from larger exertions of electricity,” he explained with a heavy breath as he stood back to his feet.

She nodded a bit and tapped the clothes. “Those are there for you. Rarity says hello, you can come down when you are ready.”

“Are you sure? I mean, a crash of thunder did just come from my room. Perhaps you should calm them down,” ‘Cel told her. He’d heard much of Fluttershy’s courage so he was sure she’d been startled. “I just need to finish with the glove, then I can come down,” he said as he sat down at the desk that Twilight gave him to use. He took the glove off and looked at it for a moment. “Oh, and tell your friend Rarity that I give her my thanks.”

Twilight nodded and walked out. She closed the door behind her and went back downstairs. The others were downstairs comforting Fluttershy as she approached them. She then cleared her throat “Fluttershy, everything is alright. It was just Celendros testing his abilities.” She reassured her friend with a smile.

Fluttershy looked up at Twilight, shaking a bit. “A... are y-you sure? I... suppose you are...” she said quietly as she crawled out from under the table.

Twilight nodded and patted her on the head. She walked over to the table and sorted some papers before she turned to the girls, “Right, now I suppose you all have some questions about what exactly is going on.”

Applejack nodded a bit as she stepped in front of the others “Now, Ah can’t speak ‘fer all of us, but Ah ‘fer one would like to know what kind of things we are about tah be doin’.” She nodded a bit and the rest nodded as well.

Twilight paused for a moment before speaking “What we are about to do is something that could decide the fate of not just Equestria, but the world Celendros comes from. We are going to need to find shards of this... relic of sorts, it holds great power, as I have witnessed first hoof. When Celendros comes down he can explain the details as I’m not exactly fully aware myself.” She flipped through some papers that were set on the coffee table. She took a look at each one carefully as these were her notes on the events up to now.

Up in the guest room, Celendros had just finished fixing the glove that he called “The Spark”. So he took his cloak made of a wolf pelt and put it on over his clothing and took his newly repaired gear that rested in his old backpack. He pulled the hood up over his head and opened the door. He shut it behind him and walked down the stairs, mid way he said to Twilight “Ah, I see you brought them all here.” Once he reached the bottom he paused for a moment and examined all the ponies in the room... he expected more, but he wasn’t disappointed. “Some of you I’ve met, but others remain anonymous.” he said to them.

Fluttershy gasped a bit and hid behind Applejack “W-why would you do that to that poor wolf?” she shook a bit letting out a small squeak.

Applejack tipped her hat towards him. “Don’ min’ her, timid lil’ thing. I’m Applejack.” she smiled a bit as she patted Fluttershy on the head.

Rainbow Dash stepped forward “So your the one who suppose to be all scary and creepy? I don’t see it.” She shrugged a bit “Name’s Rainbow Dash, best flyer in Equestria.” she was obviously over exaggerating as she grinned towards him.

“Yes... I suppose I have a lot of explanation to do. Especially with my robe, and the dangers of being my traveling companions.” Celendros stated as he waved in greeting and acknowledgment of their introductions.

Rainbow Dash snickered a bit “Danger? Pfft. I live for Danger! it’s my middle name.” she said as she seemed very full of herself.

Pinkie cocked her head a bit “I thought your middle name was...” Rainbow looked over to her and Pinkie closed her mouth.

“I assure you, miss Rainbow Dash, that what you will face will be from my world. One where violence and death is quite common.” Celendros warned Rainbow with a smirk on his face that showed under his hood. “You ever killed someone before?” he knew that it was a bit of a harsh question. But in order for him to lead them through the tough times, he needed to know how far they were going to go.

“What?!” they all gasped in unison. Shock plastered on all their faces, clearly the answer was a stern no.

“That’s what I thought. Hopefully most of the fighting will be left to me, but I can’t promise your own safety, so you need to be willing to do whatever it takes for survival. It the coming times, I am going to teach you how to defend yourselves...” Cel trailed off when he remembered that they weren’t human like him. “... to the best of my ability. If you think you can’t handle it... back out now, for once you’re waist deep in the quicksand, there’s no getting out.”

Twilight was the first to step up, it was logical since she was the closest to Celendros out of the six, “I’m with you Celendros, wherever it takes us.” she gave Cel a warm smile, but her eyes told a story of worry. That much was obvious.

“Well... If Twilight is with ya’. Then so am ah!” Applejack bravely said as she stepped up, her trust in her friend’s judgment was apparent.

“Pffft, how bad could it possibly be? I’m in too.” Rainbow Dash said as she stepped up and playfully hit Cel with her hoof.

“Well I suppose I could get someone to run the shop for me... I’m in as well.” Rarity said, it was clear she was unsure but if her friends were willing, so was she.

“Oh this is going to be so cool! I’ll be sure to pack plenty of games, and snacks, and streamers and-” Pinkie excitedly bounced up and down while she started to go down her list, but Rainbow Dash quickly stopped her.

Everyone looked to Fluttershy who was currently wishing she were somewhere else at the moment. “I-I don’t know...” she quietly said while she hung her head.

Before anyone could say anything, Celendros picked up on something... vibration in the earth under the floorboards. This was a feeling he missed, for it alerted him when something was coming... something was coming! He quickly walked over to the front window and peeked outside. “Girls, we need to move now!” he shouted.

“What? What is it?’ Twilight said, she peeked out the window too and gasped at what she saw.

There, alone man stood. Dressed in light black leather with a red scarf wrapped around his mouth and neck. On his head he wore a hat that was round and kept the sun out of his eyes. On his back a long but light two handed sword rested on his back and a strange one-handed axe hung from his thigh. His red blood-shot eyes stared right at Celendros. After a moment of silence, he slowly started to walk toward the library.

“He didn’t...” Celendros said in disbelief, he quickly headed for the coffee table and began to hurriedly pack maps and survival gear.

“Didn’ what?” Applejack asked.

“Karek... Gavun hired Karek...” was all Cel could say before the front door smashed open.

“Evening... Celendros.” said Karek, his voice was gruff one of experience but intimidating enough to scare a tiger. He slowly walked inside, each stride showing his confidence. He quickly unhooked his axe from his sheath and waved it around a bit.

“Everybody out! I’ll hold him off as best as I can! [i[Now!” Celendros commanded as he tossed the bag full of supplies to Twilight and quickly leapt over the table to face Karek head-on.

“Come on, we need to go!” Twilight said to her stunned friends, regardless of not knowing what was going on, she was more experienced in the survival field against deadly humans. She pointed with her hoof at the back door and they all ran for it.

Meanwhile Cel hopped over a sweep kick that came from Karek. As soon as he landed he took a back hand to the face that caused him to stumble back. He reached back into his robe looking for the iron dagger, but then he cursed in his mind. He gave it to Twilight...

Karek leapt forward and expertly swung the axe down at Celendros, he was deathly silent as he fought until he said, “It’s been years since we last met, but now Gavun has put a price on your head, and I intend to collect.”

“The only thing you’ll collect is a thrashing when Gavun finds out you failed!” Cel said as he shuffled to the side and kicked Karek in the side. Afterward he quickly grabbed Karek by the hair and smashed his face into the coffee table.

Karek shook his head as he struggled to get back up. His nose was bleeding... but quickly stopped. “Always the fighter, you never just want to lay down and accept your fate. You know you can’t beat me.” He gave an evil laugh and lunged his axe forward.

“Maybe not, but nothing lives for ever.” Cel side-stepped and kicked the axe out of the assassin’s hand and lunged forward with his shoulder. He slammed into him and sent him flying back over the couch.

“On the contrary, when you’ve lived to be two-hundred years old you learn that if you play your cards right no man is able to escape your grasp.” Karek said as he recovered and leapt over the couch, he sent his foot forward toward Cel’s face, aiming for the temple.

“Or perhaps your deeds just haven’t caught up with you yet.” Celendros said as he rolled out of the way. But before he could recover a cold boot smashed into his face and he hit the wall behind him.

“You know it’s been a long time since anyone’s put up a real fight. This is a nice refresher, not like the last people I killed.” Karek smiled under his scarf as he charged at Celendros. “I think you know them quite well... perhaps a sister of someone...”

“You didn’t...” Celendros went wide-eyed under his hood. But couldn’t do much else for a shoulder slammed into him. He hit the wall again but his facial expression didn’t change... quickly he balled his fists up as he deduced what happened. His face grew a look of anger and he spun around, ducking at the same time under a fist that was headed for his head. He quickly grabbed the back of Karek’s head and smashed it into the wall. Afterward he turned the assassin around and grabbed him by the neck. He began to beat Karek’s face relentlessly.

“That’s better!” Karek managed to let out in between one of the punches. He let the hits come and spit out blood after a few.

“NO! IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO GO THIS WAY!” Celendros yelled, he didn’t think Gavun would actually do it... He threw Karek to the ground and grabbed Karek’s jaw. He watched as Karek’s bruises and busted lip began to fade away back to normal. So he began discharging electricity into the assassin’s body.

Karek groaned in pain and quickly shoved Cel off. “I thought you’d like that, now the real fight can begin.” he let out in between coughs. He slowly got back up and drew his sword. He charged forward at the fallen Celendros and swung his blade down.

Cel quickly rolled to the side and prepared himself for the next attack. And there it was. A kick that was headed for his face. He lunged forward to a handstand and let himself fall on the assassin. Afterward he grabbed Karek’s left leg and twisted it, snapping it from its socket.

Karek yelped in pain and let go of his sword. “Argh! Didn’t think you had the balls...” he let out as he grabbed his leg.

Cel took this chance to get up and run to the axe that was across the room. He rolled and grabbed it, getting into a low stance he let his anger build. And his enemy to make a wrong move.

The dark assassin took his leg and snapped it back into place, then he used his sword to help himself up as his body fixed the damage. Afterward he’d take his sword and raise it above him, he charged forward for Celendros.

Cel yelled in rage and leapt, he spun around and kicked Karek’s exposed chest to stop his charge, and as soon as he landed he swung the axe down and into the assassin’s skull. Afterward he grabbed the sword from the limp hand and shoved Karek to the ground. He impaled the man in the stomach with the sword to make sure he wouldn’t get back up. Afterward he turned around and grabbed a wooden chair, he swung it around and smashed the femur bone of Karek’s leg, as well as the chair.

He dropped the remains of the char and through his heavy breaths he said, “See you next time, you son of a whore.” He said and grabbed the axe lodged in Karek’s forehead. He pulled it out with some struggle and angrily said “I’m keeping this.” Then he turned around and made his way to the back door.

After the back door slammed shut, Karek’s eyes shot open... and the gaping wound on his head began to close up.

Memories of the Past: Part 1

He loosely held the axe in his hand, blood still dripping from the blade onto the ground as each boot took a step. With a heavy breath he made his way to where his new traveling companions were waiting for him. Blood dripped from his nose. That kick to the face really hurt, but he wasn’t concerned about that now. The only thing on his mind was brutally slaughtering Gavun for what he did. Now he had no real reason to continue on his quest, but the want for revenge was strong. So strong that after he had it, he could die right then knowing justice had been served. It was all he had now, his family was gone, his home was in ruin, and his people enslaved. All he had left was his health and emotion. Those were the only fuel he had to keep going.

“Celendros are you alright?!” he heard in the distance, that voice coming up to him from straight ahead. It was Twilight. The last thing he wanted to see right now. She and her friends came galloping towards him, but he just continued to stare ahead on his path.

He did nothing but grumble in reply.

“Celendros? Are you okay? What happened?” Twilight tried again, she caught up to follow behind him. She was worried, and it was obvious. Something happened but it was unclear to her what it was.

“I knew it! I knew I should’ve stayed behind to help. I would’ve took him down no swea- ah!” Rainbow Dash began her usual boasting but was cut off by the bloody axe swiftly swung down to the ground right next to her. She quickly backpedaled a few steps in shock of what Celendros just did.

He stared daggers at her, the smallest thing could set him off so he shut her up. “I’ll give you all two options, leave me be or keep quiet.” he dryly but threateningly said after he pulled the axe out of the dirt.

They all decided to keep quiet and follow behind him.

“I’m thinkin’ we just need to give em’ a little time.” Applejack whispered to everyone, out of earshot for Cel of course.

That was it for him, his family was all he had left. Gavun took that away while he hid behind his throne like a coward. Cel would not have been as mad if Gavun at least had the balls to do it himself. So he walked. The shaman didn’t care where we went. He just walked.

For a full two hours they headed south, in complete silence. Though it was slightly awkward for everyone, Celendros took this time to think and calm down. Anger wasn’t going to get him anywhere and would only get him killed.

He sighed heavily and stopped to turn to his companions. “I’m sorry for the way I was acting. I wasn’t in my right mind. Especially you Rainbow Dash, you can get a swing back at me if you’d like.” Celendros said to them, kneeling down to get to eye level.

“We forgive you, but what happened back there?” Twilight asked, she knew something was really wrong. He’d been fairly nice to her in the past week or so. For him to just explode like that? Yes, something was definitely wrong.

“He... ugh how do I put this...” Celendros weakly said, he didn’t want to say anything they weren’t ready for... but they needed to face the truth and understand what they were up against. “He had my sister and nephew assassinated or captured for torture. I don’t know exactly which one but either is equally as bad.”

“I... don’t know what to say...” Twilight said after she backpedaled and pulled her ears down on her head.

“I didn’t expect you to...”

Days later.

Darkness, only darkness. Celendros didn’t know where he was, or how he got there. Though his apparent consciousness remained, he could not move. Before he tried anything, he heard voices. It quickly became bright and where he was was clear. In the study hall back at Yolhelm Citadel. It was here Cel trained under the tutelage of Kaiden Feldar, former headmaster of the Grand Circle of Shamans.

It was exactly how he remembered it. It was a library built in the architecture of the Helren Dwarves. The citadel was built in the side of a mountain thousands of years ago before the war of the three human tribes broke out. It was a safe haven for those who remained neutral, a place of refuge from all the death and conquest. Though during the time of Celendros’s apprenticeship, it was the current home of the northern shamans.

“Ultimately they will become empty, mindless spectres... stripped of will and soul, only their thirst for freedom gives them hunger for vengeance...”

“But... I don’t understand. If they are getting pushed into a corner... why do they fight back?”

“A corner is just an excuse to fight harder.”

“I see...”

The sound of a deep chuckle echoed through the hall. “My dear Celendros, your naivety clouds your understanding of what is happening. Which is why you are still merely an apprentice. In time you will understand.”

“If you would just explain it to me, I would.” the younger Celendros responded. He appeared to be in his teens. Perhaps sixteen or seventeen. Before the beard and long hair, when he was still just trying to make his hair presentable.

“Experience is the true teacher of wisdom. With study comes knowledge, with knowledge comes curiosity, with curiosity comes experience, with experience comes wisdom.” his mentor explained to his pupil.

With this the young shaman sighed, and Celendros’s vision faded to black once more. A few moments pass and slowly the sounds of a cheering quote creep their way into his field of vision. The shaman felt something shove him down to the ground. Through the blackness it revealed where he was... The sudden shackle around his feet, the muffled sounds of a guard yelling at him, and the sounds of slaves asking him to get back up. Yes, this was Zeddeck, the coliseum in the sky.

He slowly got back to his feet to find he was in nothing but his trousers and was in a long line of shackled slaves. They all slowly made their way to the gate, which lead outside to the arena. It was surrounded in elevated seats that made sure to keep its patrons at a distance for safety.

In the middle lay a hole, any who fell faced a one thousand foot fall into the ocean below. It was often used as a quick way to finish a battle, or for executions. The only who have survived such a fall were either the luckiest being in the world, or had help from powerful magic.

The slaves, including Cel, were unbound from their shackles once they entered the arena. Loud drums were playing and each man was given a weapon. Things like swords, staves, or even a dagger. When the guard offered him a weapon, he shook his head and smirked. “No need for one.” The shaman had just recently finished his training, and thought he could take on the world. He had the elements at his side, nothing was more powerful than that.

After they received their weapons and instructions, they all went to their own corners in pairs of two. Cel was grouped with a young man, maybe in his early twenties. He looked scared out of his mind, legs shaking, weapon trembling, he’d clearly never held a sword before.

“Listen and listen carefully, I can get us through this if you jus-” the shaman tried to explain to his partner but was quickly cut off by the horns that blasted, signaling for the free-for-all to begin.

Cel rubbed his ears for a moment, those horns were right above him. After he recovered he motioned for his partner to stay where he was. After which, the shaman went to work. Six men versus one shaman and each other. That’s never ended well in the past, it’s unlikely it would now.

Celendros dashed forward, using the air to glide his feet along the stone ground below him. He came to a halt in front of the group and raised his arm. A block of stone rose up and launched him into the air, he spun around and his hand was engulfed in fire. From it, a large fireball formed and flew directly into the ground in the middle of the group of men fighting.

The shaman used the air to lighten his landing and directly on top of one of the fallen men. He took a chunk of the stone from the ground, and smashed it into the face of the man below him. The stone broke and his opponent’s face was a complete wreck. One down.

Cel turned around after hearing the yell of an oncoming attacker, he backflipped in the air and clapped his hands together. From them a blast of thunder sounded from them and a bolt of lightning struck the slave below him, frying him completely. Four left.

One of the teams charged at Celendros directly from in front of him. Weapons raised and hope in their eyes. The shaman stomped on the ground and a stone spike impaled the first one, he spun around for show and sent a quick puff of flame to light the other on fire.

Two remained and looked to each other with worry. They knew they wouldn’t win, so they questioned just throwing themselves down the hole.

Cel didn’t give them much of a choice. He raised his hand and a large stone wall rose in front of the two, with a flick of the wrist, the wall bolted forward and pushed the two down the hole.

Though, what he wasn’t expecting was a gust of wind sending him hurtling toward the hole itself. The shaman managed to tumble in the air and grab the edge of the hole. He let out a quick yelp as he held on for dear life with one arm. Steeling himself, Celendros pulled his other arm up and brought himself back up to the surface.

The young shaman turned around after standing to see his “partner” hurling a large boulder of stone at him. “A rogue...” he muttered and leapt in the air with a puff of wind, over the hole and toward the hunk of rock. A loud crack sound blasted through the arena as his fist slammed through the boulder.

“Heretic!” the rogue shouted at Cel as he charged forward, sword expertly held at his side. It exploded into flame just before he slashed it at the younger Celendros. This rogue clearly used his anger to fuel him.

The shaman landed on the ground and ducked under the sword so he could grab the rogue by the torso. He took the man down and proceeded to beat his face before receiving an electric shock to knock him off. It caused Cel to stumble but not fall, it just gave the little man time to recover.

Celendros was getting impatient, so he charged forward, fist raised high and ready to strike with the force of earth behind it.

But his opponent was ready. He charged as well and went down, spun on his knees, and slashed his sword diagonally across Cel’s chest. It cut deep, but he didn’t give the shaman enough time to react. He brought the power of earth behind himself and shoved Celendros down the hole.

His own blood leaked out of his body, leaving a stream of it in the air as the shaman fell. The sound of wind causing all sound to be inaudible. The pain in his body made him unable to move correctly, which made it impossible to call on the elements to save him. Cel underestimated his betrayer, and swore if he ever made it out of that predicament alive. He’d never trust a soul again.

As his motionless body tumbled to its doom to the ocean below, his consciousness began to fade. Though just before he hit his watery death, he awoke...

“Ah!” Cel yelped as he shot up from his sleeping spot. He’d been tossing and turning in his sleep, sweat covered his face. It took him a moment to realize it was just a dream, but it felt so real...

A lift of the shirt reassured him it was just a memory, the large scar across his chest and stomach confirmed it really happened many years ago. With a sigh of relief, he looked around to confirm his surroundings. It was almost time for Celestia to raise her sun over Equestria, so it was tough to see beyond the light of the fire in their camp.

They had reached San Palomino Desert, in search of one of the shards. While asking around Appleloosa they heard of a strange meteor crashing down in the desert to the west. So that’s where they went.

“Celendros, what’s wrong?” he heard behind him. With a quick turn of his head, it was clear that it was Rarity walking over to him.

“I... it was just a bad dream. Sorry if I woke you.” the shaman apologized, after which he wrapped the blanket around him what was keeping him warm when he slept. It was still cold outside, but beginning to warm up.

“Oh, but I was already awake. This dreadful weather is just... awful, the freezing cold and dirt make it impossible to get comfortable.” she complained. The elegant pony sat next to him, using her magic to wrap her own blanket around herself.

“My apologies then, but the first few times sleeping in the wilderness are always the worst, but you get used to it.” Cel replied. He looked to the darkness ahead of them, the memory still fresh in his mind. “... What do you think will happen if we fail? I’m not saying we will just... It’s a lot to take in.”

“Well... I’m not sure what will happen. Sometimes it may seem like it’s impossible, that you’re alone with whatever it is you’re up against... but it’s your friends who are there for you. They are there right beside you, willing to go Celestia knows where.” she warmingly said to him, it was fairly obvious he was stressed with what he was facing.

“You’re right... for years I’ve thought I had to do things alone. That I was the only one who could do it. I see now that I was a fool. Thank you.” Celendros sighed with some relief. “To tell you the truth... I’m terrified. My world is in my hands, and this one in your... hooves. But all of you at my side... makes it easier.” he did his best to crack a smile.

“I’m glad to hear that dear.” she gave him a quick hug and went to go wake her friends up.

The shaman decided it was time to get up, so he reached over to grab his robe. It smelled a bit, but it was all he had to wear. He made a mental note to wash it as soon as he could. Cel slipped it on and stood up, he left the hood down because it wasn’t needed at that time.

With a yawn and stretch he moved to reignite the campfire, with a quick zap of electricity to the wood, a spark was created and the fire was lit. This got the attention of everypony in the camp.

“Good morning Celly!” Pinkie Pie said with her usual happy tone, she bounced her way toward the fire and sat right down.

“Right, good morning everyone. I suggest eating what little we have, this is a desert after all so we’ll have to ration out our food. We’ve been past the easy part, now we’re on the hard part. We’re looking for some old ruins, presumably out west somewhere. So we’re heading in that direction” Cel explains to the group.

“But uh... we don’t have anything.” Rainbow Dash said while she searched around the camp for any food.

“What do you mean we don’t have anything?!” Twilight hurriedly said, joining her friend in looking around the camp. She turned over blankets, saddlebags, and anything else in the area.

Everypony looked to each other with a bit of worry on their faces. They soon turned to Celendros for what to do. They’d never had to travel like this before and never even thought of running out of food on a trip.

“I’d offer to hunt for everyone... but uh...” their human friend let out before trailing off. “Looks like we’re going to have to forage what we can after we get moving. I’m sure there are some cactus fruit around or something. I’m not entirely sure what your planet has in terms of natural foods.”

After they settled their food problem and just deciding to wing it, they packed up their things and continued to head west. When the sun came, it quickly became hotter and hotter as the day went on. Heat waves rose off the horizon within the next hour or two of traveling.

While they made their way through the desert Cel made sure to look out for any signs of water. It was the basic five, look for wildlife, dry streams or river beds, collections of rocks, plantlife, and cacti. Each of these were ways Celendros learned to gather water through his travels on Socobeck. This world was fairly similar, so he thought these rules would apply.

“Rainbow Dash, I need you to do something for me.” he said before kneeling down to eye level after signaling for the group to stop.

She trotted ahead of the group to Cel after comforting Fluttershy that things were going to be okay. “Yeah?”

“I need you to fly around and search for any dry river beds or dry streams. If you see anything, come back to me. I’ll know what to do.” he explained to her, making sure to emphasize the importance of this.

“I’m on it, I’ll be back in a bit!” she saluted him and immediately soared into the skies. The usual rainbow trail followed behind her as she flew in search of the things he told her to look for.

After a few minutes of waiting and being cooked in the hot sun. Celendros got up from where he was sitting and looked around. What he saw in the distance was a bit unsettling... “Uh girls... we have a problem.”

“What? What is it?” Twilight approached him and asked. She looked in the direction he was looking and went wide eyed.

“Does anyone have some form of fabric I could borrow?” Cel asked would holding his hand out for somepony to put something in it. He continued to stare at what was ahead of them.

Rarity levitated a scarf from one of her saddlebags and put it in his hand. She wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with it, and worried about one of her favorite scarves.

Celendros took the scar and wrapped it around his mouth and nose, over the hood and resting on his shoulder. He sighed and looked at Twilight for a moment. “Twilight, if this somehow manages to get past me. I’m going to need you to cast some kind of spell to keep everyone protected. Can you do that for me?”

“I- I’ll try my best.” Twilight said, a bit worried about him. She knew he could handle himself, but she’d never seem him do anything even related to as powerful as a sandstorm before.

Rainbow returned shortly after Cel took the scarf, she was about to warn him about the sandstorm, but he held his hand up to stop her.

Cel sighed and began to walk toward what was ahead of him... a giant sandstorm that was headed directly for them. He was going to try to redirect it if not stop it. Though it would’ve been a huge help if he had the element of wind with him. But this was going to be extra hard because he’ll only be able to control the sand, not the air pushing it.

It had a deep rumbling noise constantly at its back, to Celendros it was beautiful in its own way. How so many tiny little rocks could create something so big and powerful with a gust of wind.

After a minute or so of walking, he reached a suitable distance from it and took his stance. With a tug of his scarf to make sure it was on tight, Cel rose his hands in the air and called upon the element of earth to assist him. He directed his hands toward the sandstorm and immediately it was like a stone wall was fighting against him to move forward.

It didn’t show any signs of slowing down, so he pushed harder. By now his muscles were beginning to burn against the tremendous force of the storm. When he looked up, he was slightly comforted in the fact that it was beginning to move a different direction... by about two degrees.

It was unsure if success was in sight, it had been a long time since Cel had to move an entire sandstorm. It was difficult enough when he was still an official shaman. But now this was as if asking a child to roll a boulder up a steep hill.

He struggled for a good three minutes before something happened, the storm froze in the air. Unmoving as if it was taunting Celendros... this meant something or someone was controlling it.

An entire moment passed until the storm crumbled and crashed all together. The shaman fell to the sand below him in exhaustion. With a huge gust of wind, the sand in the storm returned to the earth below to reveal who was controlling it in the distance...

That bastard who tried to kill Celendros in the arena. The same man who gave him that gaping wound on his chest that later formed into a scar. “You...” he weakly said. Before he could do anything, the sand enveloped him into the ground.

As if being pulled by unknown force, the rogue was using the sand to pull Cel toward himself. It felt strange like moving through a tube made of sandpaper. He tried to stop it but he was too weak.

After a few quick seconds of rough hell, the shaman was launched out of the ground about twenty feet in the air. When Cel landed, his face hit the sand pretty hard. So he couldn’t see much of anything, and began to cough endlessly.

With shake of the head, some of the sand cleared up before a foot kicked him in the face and caused his body to roll over to his back. “Unnnnh...” he moaned.

“Celendros!” he heard in the distance before the sound of a magical blast sounded, and that boot went tumbling back. “Are you okay?!” sounded in his ears. It sounded like Twilight.

“Twilight...” Cel managed to let out in his dizzy haze.

“It’s okay, we’re here for you.” Twilight said while keeping an eye out for the rogue shaman.

The dazed shaman managed to slowly get up, looking around to see his friends standing right by his side. Except for Fluttershy, she was there but hiding behind Twilight. He felt Rainbow Dash and Applejack helping him up through his daze. “Thank you... watch out!” he exclaimed before pushing the two ponies out of the way and sending his own hand out to absorb a blast of lightning directed at them as a group.

The rogue shaman lashed his arms out to send a torrent of flame their way, he’d gotten more powerful over time clearly. This was like a small wildfire coming from his arms alone.

“Everypony run! I’ll hold him off, keep heading west. I’ll catch up to you all!” Cel yelled while bringing up a wall of sand to block the fire. He was still dazed but at least he was able to concentrate once more on fighting. He knew Rarity was going to be angry by the time he was done, the scarf was all dirty and slightly torn now.

“Not this time! We’re here with you!” Twilight bravely said while standing right next to him. Everypony followed closely behind.

“Yeah, we’ll show em’ who's boss!” Applejack confidently said while staring down the rogue shaman who was recovering.

“I... fine. Just do what I say when I say it, alright?” Cel regretfully but sternly told them. He reached under his robe and took his newly acquired axe and held it in his usual fighting stance. “Rainbow Dash, I want you to be air support. If you see an opening, strike swift and hard. Applejack and Twilight, you’re with me directly. Don’t hold back, but don’t kill him. He’s mine....” he instructed, but on that last statement. It was clear that enough was enough. “Pinkie, Fluttershy, you’re ground support. If anyone gets hurt or you see an opening, take the shot.”

Everypony did what Cel told them to. Rainbow Dash flew up high, ready to strike. Twilight and Applejack followed closely behind. While Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity stayed behind incase somepony got hurt. Which was very likely.

Celendros charged forward with a yell and axe raised high, his friends following close behind. When he reached the rogue shaman, his opponent pulled out that same old sword he’s always had and they clashed weapons. Cel managed to twist and grab him by the neck, allowing Twilight to send a blast of magic at his chest. The shaman then pushed him forward to Applejack to allow her to buck him directly in the torso.

Cel raised his hand and signaled for Rainbow Dash to come down and hit.

Rainbow swooped down and picked up the rogue shaman, lifting him high into the air to try and let him go. But before she could do much, he brought his sword up and cut her down the side of her body, which caused blood to leak out. She yelled in pain before letting go and falling down.

“RAINBOW! That’s it you son of a bitch!” Celendros screamed out at his enemy. “Twilight catch her, you’re the closest!” he commanded before he held his axe back so he could charge it with electricity. It buzzed with power before he threw it directly at the falling rogue shaman. It hit its mark and exploded with a massive blast of electric power. Chunks of the man fell from the sky as well as blood.

Twilight just barely managed to catch Rainbow with her magic. She levitated her on to Applejack’s back and stopped to look at her unconscious friend for a moment. A single tear came to her eye before everypony else came rushing to her.

Cel quickly retrieved his axe and caught up with the group. When he saw Rainbow’s wound he winced a little. “O-okay, we need to get her someplace safe. We’ll set up camp nearby and if we can get her conscious again, she can tell us if she found any water. With that I might be able to get her in a more stable state.” he worriedly told them.

They all agreed and began to quickly go back to where they were, before they spotted the sandstorm. It was high on a dune of sand so the lay of the land was easy to see. The shaman did his best to keep up, but he was still a bit dazed from that beating he had taken.

Everypony scrambled to set up camp while Cel took care of Rainbow as best he could with the limited knowledge of first aid he had..

Celendros put an ear to her chest to see if she was still breathing. She was, but probably not for long. So he took some of the sand and put a whole bunch of it on the wound to help stop the bleeding.

He took his axe and put it in the fire they had just started, he waited until it was burning hot, but not glowing red, and took it to Rainbow’s body. He used it to cauterize the wound and keep it from getting infected. He was careful not to burn as much of the fur as he could.

Rainbow moaned in her unconsciousness, it was fairly obvious it hurt quite a bit.

“Uh Rarity...?” he asked out to the group, not exactly sure where she was at in the makeshift camp.

“Yes, what do you need?” the white and purple mare quickly responded, she looked like she’d just seen a ghost. This was a bit of a foreign thing for her, a friend has never been hurt this bad before.

“You may need a new scarf.” he told her, while he took the scarf and wrapped it around Rainbow’s torso to keep pressure on the wound.

“It doesn’t matter, just take care of her!” Rarity exclaimed while she tried to find a suitable blanket to put over Rainbow when Celendros was done.

“Okay okay! Just... ugh. It’s been years since i’ve done first aid!” he snapped back at her. While he tended as best he could to Rainbow. He got her to the point to where all they could do was wait until she regained consciousness.

“Is she... going to be okay?” Fluttershy quietly asked Cel while trying not to cry, but she let out little sniffs and whimpers.

“I don’t know, all I do know is that if we can’t get to any water... there may be complications.” Cel reluctantly said, even he looked nervous. He’d survived from a wound like this before, he had the scars to prove it. But the circumstances were different as well, like actually having the elements at his back to help heal him. “May the Great Mother guide us...”

Author's Note

I'm sure the grammar in this chapter is a bit off, but I did my best to catch everything. I've taken a lot of criticism with this story and tried to build upon it and actually give Cel some character. So I hope you guys enjoy part 1 of chapter three. The first of the halfed chapters.

Memories of the Past: Part 2

“See anything?”

“N-no... just sand.”

A group sigh sounded all around Celendros. The middle-aged shaman groaned before wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He was tired from carrying Rainbow Dash on his back for nearly a mile now, but the heat was making it an actual challenge.

“I’m so thirsty...” was all Pinkie Pie could say to the group, her mouth was dried up from lack of saliva.

“I know, we all are.” Twilight weakly said. She leaned up against Cel’s waist to try to help relieve some of the pressure on her legs.

“Celendros... she’s beginning to look a little pale.” Rarity managed to let out while struggling to keep up with the rest of the group.

“Ugh... I know, she’s beginning to feel a bit cooler. We need to... pick up the pace.” Cel said between dry coughs. To which he began to pick up the pace as best he could, but within just a few feet of walking. The heat began to play tricks on him.

The shaman looked to his feet to find they were walking backward, but when he looked up they were still moving forward. Celendros shook his head a bit to try and clear it, that only made it worse though. His vision became red before his legs began to feel heavy, like sandbags were attached to his ankles. Before he could do anything, they fell right out from under him and his vision blurred.

He could tell his friends were saying something, but everything was fuzzy and muffled, like his ears were covered. “I... I...” was all the barely conscious shaman let out before his eyes began to force themselves shut, “Cac... tus...” Then everything went black.

The sound of pouring water and birds played over and over in his ears, like a broken record, but soothing. There was a voice but it was too far away to be understood. Celendros attempted to stand but found he could not move his body and that his eyes would not open. “What is this?!” the shaman yelled out furiously, if there was a time to toy with the man, then would not have been the proper time.

“Persevere” a whisper quietly said in his ear. It was a female voice, it sounded like... her.

“Y-you!” was all Cel could say before he suddenly felt a shock of pain in his face. “OW!” echoed throughout wherever he was. “Enough of this! Whoever is doing this, I will end you as soon as I am free!”

“Don’t try, you’re in my world now.” a deep voice pounded in the shaman’s ears. “When the time comes, I will tear your mind in two. Like a knife that cuts butter.”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Cel yelled out in pure anger before he felt the sensation of being submerged under water and everything blacked out once again for him.

Celendros yelled as he shot up from wherever he was laying. With a quick observation of where he was, the shaman deduced that he had been brought to an oasis in the desert. In front of the man a wooden bucket surrounded in a purple glow was aimed right at him... still wet. “Water...” he said, not even looking at anyone around him.

“Uh... sure.” the familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle said from behind him.

Shortly the same bucket was brought back to Cel, this time full of water. Immediately, he yanked it out of Twilight’s grasp and chugged the water down as fast as he could. Desparate for every last drop.

As soon as her friend was done drinking, Twilight spoke up, “We found an oasis and did our best to keep y-”

“Rainbow Dash, where is she?” Cel cut her off rather hastily, not really caring about his well-being.

“Sh-she’s near the water...” she quickly told the shaman, unsure whether to be nervous or happy.

Without a word, Celendros got up and went over to inspect Rainbow. What he found wasn’t pleasant, she was in a state that was worse than what she was in earlier. Quickly he went down to check her vitals and found that his friend was still hanging on. “There’s still time.” Cel stated to the group.

Everyone was enjoying their time of rest, but immediately went over after they heard Celendros say what he did.

“I need a bucket of water, some sand, cloth, and some fire.” he ordered to the group before they all went off to go find his required items to save the cyan pegasus.

Soon, only a few minutes later all five of them returned with the items their shamanistic friend needed and made sure to place them neatly next to him.

Celendros closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After, he took the sand and filled his hands with it. The shaman laced it all over the wound to help stop the bleeding as best he could before rubbing outside of it to get the excess sand off.

Rainbow Dash lightly groaned and twitched, it was obvious the sand hurt quite a bit.

Cel kept going though, how she felt wasn’t a priority. He found what they did for fire and basically they make a small little fireplace next to him that he could light with electricity. So he did and brought his hand to the fire. The fire obeyed the shaman’s every command and followed his hand as he slowly attempted to cauterize the wound.

“The painful part is over” he said to at least try to reassure Rainbow if she could hear him. Celendros then took the water and enclosed it within his hands. A faint glow came within as he cascaded the water over the wound and heal it as best he could.

The healing helped some, it brought Rainbow Dash to a stable state where, if watched, the wound would heal with a big scar but she would make a full recovery. At least that’s what Celendros said, but in his heart he knew he couldn’t make any guarantees.

With a heavy sigh the shaman looked to the group who were all doing nothing smiling at him before they all rushed over to give him a group hug as thanks. As uncomfortable that made him... deep down inside he enjoyed it. “I... thank you. But this can never happen again. Too many have already died under my watch.”

The five got off him and looked at their human friend strangely.

“There have been... others?” Twilight asked while she took a seat next to him.

“There’ve been many, companions, friends, even family. By now its happened so much that it doesn’t even bother me anymore... and that scares me.”

“I... oh...” the purple mare said once she understood what he meant.

“Listen, Twilight. A lot has happened in my past that I regret and wish never happened. But don’t let my inner demons make you feel anything but happy thoughts. Know why?” Cel told her while he scooted a bit closer.

Twilight shook her head, not fully understanding what her friend meant.

“Because i’m still alive and fighting, and I wont stop until the fight has been kicked out of me.” the shaman gave her a warm smile for the first time in... ever. At that moment he realized that he actually had a real friend. One that he could confide in, talk to, and even share secrets with. Celendros had forgotten what that felt like... pretty damn good.

After everypony, including their human companion, decided it would be best to rest a day so their friend could heal, they made a campfire and sat around it. By now the sun was beginning to set in the sky after Celestia cast her magic that made it do so. So Celendros offered to tell stories.

“How about... I tell you the story of the first bar fight I ever got into?” he suggested.

“Ohhh that sounds fun!” Pinkie let out while bouncing up and down.

Everyone else agreed that it could be an interesting little story.

“Alright... but be warned, this could get a little graphic.” Cel warned.

The sun had set on Socobeck for the day, it was time for all the shops to close, for people to head home, for adventurers to set up camp, for partygoers to drink...

Curfew had been set for the night and any who did not have a pass to allow their roaming, they would be sent to jail for the night without food or water. No exceptions. This was shortly after Gavun’s seizure of the throne, before all the real crazy set in.

I had just got my pass from the guard’s office and made my way to the nearest tavern. Me and a few friends had just made it to Shadus from a long trip up North. They parted ways with me and I just needed a place to unwind a bit so a tavern seemed like a good idea.

Now I walk in and notice the place is quiet, but I hear some commotion toward the right section of the room. I look over and find this little guy being berated by a couple of off duty guards. At the time I decided to ignore it and let the on-duty guards do their job. Surely the barkeep would’ve sent them a message.

So I found myself a seat and got comfortable, ordered my drink, and tried to enjoy it as best I could.

But boy did they start to get loud... I looked back and barked at them to stop. They must’ve ignored me or just didn’t hear my voice over all the yelling. So naturally I was a bit disgruntled but I just said “Forget it” and went back to my drink.

After a few minutes of getting a little bit tipsy, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I knew who it was because the yelling stopped, so I glanced over my shoulder to find a couple of larger fellows, about my size but definitely more stocky.

This next part went pretty quickly, he said something about minding my own business before he tried to hit me in the back of my head. Being the expert I am in the way of combat, I saw it coming and moved my head. His fist slammed into the tabletop and I swear I heard a pop when he did so. The guy reeled back saying all sorts of nasty things while holding his hand.

The other one attempted to punch me in the face so I spun around and caught the arm, grabbed him in the back of the head and WHAM, smashed his teeth directly into the edge of the bar! Chunks of them went flying everywhere and after I got up and pushed his arm up above him like a lever until it popped. Naturally he screamed but his partner was still there so I quickly turned and kicked him in the neck.

To which I paid my due and walked out before any more guards came to arrest me, I headed to the nearest place I could find shelter and slept for the night. And that, is how I learned to mind my own damn business.

“That was... interesting.” Twilight said, not sure how to feel about the story.

“How... barbaric.” Rarity commented while showing a look of disgust.

“Well ah-” Applejack tried to say before she was cut off.

“Fine, I wont tell stories anymore cause those are the only ones I have that don’t involve death, slaves, or some form of pain.” Celendros said before he got up and stormed off in frustration.

“But Cel-!” Twilight let out before she got up and tried to catch up.

“I don’t want to hear it, damn it!” the angry shaman barked back. He’d been under much stress for a long time, what with his family being dead, his friend almost dying, and constantly being under pressure to save two planets.

“Twi, I think he jus’ needs some time.” Applejack tried to comfort Twilight by putting a hoof on his shoulder.

“I just... don’t understand why he’s so angry all the time.” the purple mare stopped to think for a moment. “I’m going to talk to him.”

“But Twilight...” Applejack said while sounding a bit unsure.

“Not this time Applejack.” Twilight confidently told her friend before trotting over to where Cel went. As she got closer she heard a sniffing noise come from where he was sitting. “Cel...?” she quietly let out.

Celendros quickly wiped his face before turned to her and saying “What?” rather bluntly.

“I... wanted to talk to you what happened back at the library. I think you’re holding things back.” she told him as she sat down next to him.

“I’m no-...” Cel stopped to think for a moment, about what he realized earlier, but he wasn’t sure if Twilight could handle it. “I am but, to be honest, i’m not telling you things because I don’t think you could handle it if I did.”

“I’m sure whatever you tell me I-”

“Gavun had my sister and nephew assassinated,” the shaman blurted out.

Twilight just sat there with her mouth agape. Hearing this made her scared, sad, and a little bit curious. It was painfully obvious.

“I really need some time to think. Go get some sleep, i’ll keep watch over Rainbow Dash.” Celendros advised to her.

“...okay.” Twilight said and slowly made her way back to the camp, head low to the ground and ears against her head.

Cel sighed and layed on his back. The cold sand helped quite a bit with soothing the aftereffects of his heatstroke. But didn’t soothe the pent up emotions inside. He needed to hit something, badly.

So the shaman stood up and started walking, he didn’t care where.

After a few hours of walking and thinking, he heard a noise, like the sand began to shift below his feet. Before Cel could do anything the ground collapsed from under him and the sand consumed him.

Celendros struggled to get out of the giant pile of sand, but eventually he made it out before suffocating. “By the great mother...” he let out in between gasps as he notices the glow of... “The shard!” the shamans exclaims.

Cel rushed out of the sand and toward the shard that was resting next to a rather... decorated chest. “Wait wait wait... it’s never this easy...” at that moment he heard a noise. Like a whisper in his ear, though what it said was impossible to tell. Before the shaman could do anything something slammed him in the back and sent him barreling forward and into the stone wall ahead.

When Celendros looked up he saw a mirror image of himself... the only difference was that it had an ominous dark energy surrounding it. He takes note of the rather full beard the image had and comments “I really need to shave...” before the image charged at him, a copy of his axe raised in the air.

Cel held his arm out and the shard was launched toward his hand by the stone below it. he caught the shard in his hand and immediately the bright blue energy slid up his arm and up into the burn marks on his face that began to glow immediately.

With a totally lucky guess the shaman lept up and over the image, the air around him assisting him. Man, this was a feeling he missed dearly. The shaman landed on the ground and grabbed the chest, he spun around and smacked the image in the face with it before bolting in the opposite direction.

Having faced one before, Celendros knew mirror images could not be defeated but only quelled. Luckily he had the tools to do so. He jumped up and through the hole in the ground and flipped, mid-flip he used the earth to make the sand fill in the hole. To which the mirror image would be trapped forever under the sand.

Once he hit the ground, Cel fell over on to his back and dropped the chest. He was a little out of practice in using the air to send him soaring through the sky like a bird... a bird that has to land every few seconds.

Celendros stood up and stretched, completely forgetting how cold it was outside by now. So he quickly grabbed the chest and opened it. To which his face went completely into shock when he found what was inside. Plated bracers with the ornamental design of a wolf on them. How were they even there? There was no way a pony could’ve crafted bracers such as those... so who did?

It didn’t matter at the time. Cel just put them on and got to work, going through simple training procedures on how to use them, it was a mandatory thing for a shaman to know. But this shaman hasn’t worn these in years. He knew it was going to take all night, but if he could pull these off. It will be quite worth it.

Morning came and the desert was already beginning to get hot again. Celendros decided by then to hurry back to the camp him and his friends had created. It was difficult to tell which direction it was in, but eventually he remembered that it was west and the sun rose in the west. So the camp must be west. At least he thought...

The new bracers were a strange added weight to his hands, but it wasn’t too difficult for the shaman to adjust. It would take up more energy for him to hit things, but it would add extra power to each hit. As well as enabling him to completely block most swords and axes, perhaps small maces but that was a long shot. Seeing as how they were designed to break and dent armor.

“I really hope they weren’t too worried about my departure...” Cel said to himself while he adjusted the bracers on his wrists to make them a bit more snug.

After a few minutes of walking, the heat began to start getting to him again, but this time he was able to use the air around him to help keep body temperature at least at a steady ninety nine or so.

But even with the use of air, it was still hot... really hot. Right then Celendros really wished he had water. Of course, he knew that was all back at the camp... which did remind him that he’d lost track of where he was going about five minutes ago.

So this time instead of using old fashioned ways of navigation, Cel was going to use an ancient shamanistic technique that can locate vegetation. He would’ve thought about it when they were looking for water, but he was a bit too desperate to think clearly.

The shaman got down on his knees and buried his hands into the burning hot sand, luckily the gloves he was wearing helped with keeping them from actually getting burnt. Then, the human bent down and put his forehead to the sand.

Celendros got to work, through the sand he could search out in different and just barely feel things. He was taught when searching for plants, search for water, and water feels cold in the hot sand. So the shaman tried to feel for something cold, after going through many different things that were either squishy, rough, or even slimey, he felt something cool and wet. That must’ve been the oasis.

Cel stood back up and felt really dizzy and his vision was bright and slightly blurred. These were usual side effects of that trick since it puts a lot of stress on the mind. Once the shaman got his bearings on where he needed to go, he set off to the oasis.

...

When he got there, Celendros nearly fell over at what he saw. Four armed men... and their leader was that same guy who he first encountered when he got here. “That bastard.” the shaman said while his axe handle slid through his hand to the end after he removed it from its latch.

But after Cel saw what the leader was doing to them, he went wide eyed and his face slowly descended to a look of rage.

The leader of the bandits was interrogating his friends to find out where the shaman was.

Celendros wasn’t going to disappoint.

Author's Note

Sorry for any grammar errors you might find, I kind of rushed this out because i haven't done anything in months and thought you guys deserved at least something.