Guardian

Chapters

Chapter One - Banishment
Chapter Three - Darkness
Chapter Four - Contact
Chapter Five - Release
Chapter Six - Defense
Chapter Seven - Continuity
Chapter Eight - Hindcast
Chapter Nine - Calamity
Chapter Ten - Convergence
Chapter Eleven - Succubus
Chapter Twelve - Laughter
Chapter Thirteen - Avatars
Chapter Fourteen - Peak
Chapter Fifteen - Infinity
Chapter Sixteen - Siege
Chapter Seventeen - Salvation
Chapter Eighteen - Recoil
Chapter Nineteen - Protector
Chapter Twenty - Reposession
Chapter Twenty-One - Awakening
Chapter Twenty-Two - Truth
Chapter Twenty-Three - Godslayer
Chapter Twenty-Four - Epitaph
Prologue - Trumpet
Chapter Two - Omen
Epilogue - Curtain

Chapter One - Banishment

CHAPTER 1 – BANISHMENT

Tossed and thrown about the void without any sense of direction, a silver-haired man found himself completely at the mercy of whatever trickery had been cast upon him by the being who had appeared before him and his beloved just moments before. Moments? Perhaps it was more like hours. The man had lost track of the timing of his natural clock, for being in that melting void for so long had made him completely confused and made his thoughts all run together as one.

Each glance around the void was one of complete chaos. The area around him was constantly melting and changing hues, though through the madness he could make out images. Though only brief, fleeting visions, the man could tell that they were visions from his past, memories that he had.

His head beginning to hurt from the massive amount of random information flying through it through his visual gates, he clamped his eyes shut tightly and hoped that the pain may cease, but this failed to alleviate any feeling he experienced. The visions continued as though his eyes remained open.

Wishing for the torment to stop so that his psyche may remain intact at least to some extent, Eiza began writhing about in the air of the void as the assault upon his mind continued. As he began to lose hope, however, cursing the name of the man who did this to him, the world suddenly took form around him.

Laying softly on what felt like grass, Eiza sat up and looked around. He suddenly felt an odd sensation, and looked down to figure out the issue. His red clothes now hung from him like curtains, much too large for him. His white and blue armor only made the clothes into more of a trap and less of the clothes that he had become accustomed to. So, looking around carefully, Eiza fumbled about in his garments before managing to free himself from the prison cell of his garb.

Now naked, he attempted to stand up as he would normally do. However, he quickly fell backward, catching a glimpse of a long strand of silver hair flair out as he did so. Puzzled, he lay in the grass for a moment, gazing up at the stars. He began piecing together the events that had occurred leading up to that point.

“Until we meet again, Eiza Borealis and Ailain Yurusuchi, in a place and universe that I deem fit. You will remain separate until you find your way.”

And then the man in orange robes and armor who said that raised his hand and suddenly the world melted, Eiza felt himself falling, and Ailain was gone.

Blinking, Eiza pondered what the words of the man in orange and black robes meant by what he had said. How was he meant to get to “a universe that I deem fit?” He reached up to the stars, hoping to be able to grab an answer out of the sky. He was instead startled at what reached up in place of his arm.

Shocked, Eiza sat up and lifted his arms, looking at his hands. They were not hands. He could see fur coating his arms, leading down to what appeared to be dull silver hooves that had replaced his hands. What's more, he looked down at his legs, which had also taken on a similar form, but appearing to be the hind legs of some kind of quadruped.

Frantic and scared, Eiza began looking around as his breathing rate increased. A short distance away, he could see a pond lined with cattails and topped with lily pads, which he rushed to quickly on all fours. Looking into the calm water of the pond, Eiza could see his reflection in the shimmering water, one that somewhat resembled him, yet did not.

“I'm... I'm a horse?” Eiza spoke aloud to himself, “I'm a horse... I'm a horse?” Eiza continued to look into the pond as the insects and wildlife around him continued their own chirps and conversation. He took note of the new form he had taken... Lengthy silver hair, the flame stripes still present on his face, white fur in place of his skin, his necklace still present, a horn... A horn?

Eiza reached up with a hoof and felt his forehead. Sure enough, the horn he saw was there.

“So I'm a unicorn, then. That's... Better?”

Eiza continued to look at his reflection from different angles in the mirror-like pond. Waving his tail, he could see that it was in fact quite long and flashed in the moonlight just as brilliantly as his mane. Another detail caught his eye shortly after. A picture on his flank. A branded symbol? No, it was more detailed, colored, even. He recognized this one, as it was the symbol of the Geomancers. The same three mountains, the same shape, the same color, everything. Perplexed by this, Eiza grunted and turned to head back to his clothes.

Figuring that he would not need the clothes anymore, or at least until he could revert back to his former form, Eiza trotted to the pile of garments and reached out to grab them up. Trying to grab the mass of clothes was too hard with his cumbersome hooves, so he sighed and bit down on the cloth instead, dragging the pile of garments and armor to the pond and tossing it all in, sending ripples of water through the pool.

“Hopefully those will still be there when I fix my... Physical situation.”

Eiza turned back and looked around the area he was in. The grass was tall in patches due to little or no upkeep in the area, something that he didn't find surprising due to noticing that he was in the clearing of some kind of forest. The trees around the clearing were quite high, somewhere between a hundred to two hundred feet, he guessed. From the trees, he could see various vines and many different types of leaves dangling precariously from each limb. The air was cool, something that he figured meant that he definitely wasn't in some kind of rainforest or tropical area. This assumption was backed by the sight of mountains in the distance.

Feeling satisfied with his cursory examination of the area, Eiza decided to move onto the next level of examining, one that only he was capable of. Turning his gaze to the ground, Eiza focused and watched as the blue hue he had come to be accustomed to coated his vision and his sight zoomed in on the gap between a blade of grass. The vision grew larger, he could see the cells of the blade of grass as his sight intensified, each crystal in the dirt, each molecule, and finally each atom.

“Alright, let's see... Iron, nickel, copper, aluminum, carbon... Uranium? Huh. What's this... Radon? In a solid form? That's very odd...”

After looking at the composition of the ground for a few minutes, Eiza concluded that wherever he was, it was pretty much normal except for the oddly-high levels of radioactive elements in the ground. However, he knew that his powers would still permit him to manipulate the ground, that is, if this new form allowed it, so he steadied himself and focused, allowing the world to zoom out and the hue to continue covering his vision.

Slowly, chunks of dirt rose into the air around Eiza as he focused his Psi. Pleased that his powers were still at least present, he decided to see just how much of his ability remained. He focused and released more power, watching as the ground before him was torn asunder by the wave of yellow energy. A column of earth rose into the air, piercing the sky above with a violent beauty. After a minute passed and the ground ceased its shaking, Eiza stood back and marveled at the remaining ability he had. It seemed that his powers were still more than there, as creating such a huge monolith caused him no strain at all.

Sitting for a moment and looking around, Eiza began to think. Planning out what he should do to get to the next universe, he looked up to the distance at a mountain that was quite a trek from his position, but still not far enough away to hide the huge structure on its side. It looked to be something like a castle, but not a normal one that Eiza would have recognized in the past. It seemed to be hanging off of the side like a man-made cliff. Regardless, that was the only trace of civilization that he could make out, so Eiza decided, while the moon was still high in the air, to start moving to the mountain and make his way to the castle. He thought briefly about his lack of attire, but then figured that no one would bother to get upset with him for being nude in the form he had taken, since horses were just animals.

The white Unicorn stallion stood up in the clearing and began his journey through the forest and towards the castle on the mountain.

Chapter Three - Darkness

CHAPTER 3 – DARKNESS

Snow fell harshly upon the arctic northern terrain. In the shadow of the massive cloud above, all of the snow was a much more dim and strange shade of white. There, in the umbra of the cloud that blocked out the moon's light, the visibility was all but non-existent.

The black cloud had absorbed the storm clouds around it, and though the blizzard in the area continued, the crashing noise of the electricity that would normally be released from the clouds had ceased hours ago and the wind had died out completely. Instead, the only sound was of the heavy snowfall.

Then, a new sound entered the area. The crunching of ice crystals under heavy steps. A large, black, ghostly figure moved across the wasteland, the snow repelling around the unnatural being as it moved forward. Coming to a location that it deemed fit, the shadow turned its head towards the ground and opened its eyes, revealing nothing but two glowing red orbs that tore through the humid, icy air.

The spectral shroud took a form, reaching a hand, one with three talons rather than five fingers or a hoof, down to the snow. A yellow pulse released itself from the claw and the snow erupted violently, clearing away from the epicenter of the blast and revealing a figure trapped in ice. The spectral being dug its claw into the ice and ripped the massive chunk from the ground, slamming it onto the snow. With a slash of its talon, the ice shattered completely, the figure within falling out onto the shadowed blanket of snow.

The eyes of the figure opened, a sinister purple glow shining brightly through the shadow as a wave of black erupted from the pony before the ghostly being. The stallion, wearing broken silver armor and a tattered red cape, stood to his full height and looked up at the spectral being before him. As the stallion snarled at the shadow, the ghostly presence began to speak, his voice shattering the falling snow around him into mist.

“Your power is my treasure. My price for your freedom from your icy tomb. It shall be mine, Sombra.”

“Fool. Had you not been here to free me, I would have done so myself. I was nearing rejuvenation from having my body desecrated by the crystal peons regardless of your arrival. When my body had been repaired, so too would have my freedom.”

“Do not flatter yourself. Arrogance like yours is the very reason that you fell to the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. The very reason that you are not worthy to wield your power. The very reason that it shall now be my own.”

“And just who are you to make such a demand after waking me so rudely? You think that you could claim my power for your own? You are nothing but a shadow, and we are within the shadow of the cloud above. You are and are within my domain, fool! Surrender now, or be devoured!”

“Surrender your powers now, or I will remove them by force.”

“You'll have to claim them from my cold, dead hooves!”

“Your terms are acceptable.”

The dark gray unicorn stallion's form erupted into a black mist that enveloped the ghostly entity. As the shadow enclosed, however, and Sombra's head formed from the cloud with a triumphant, evil smile, the red eyes of the specter found their gaze piercing and shattering the gaze of the purple-eyed unicorn.

Sombra found himself caught in the large talon of the specter, feeling its deathly-cold grip squeezing him tightly. Struggling to break free, the gray unicorn found himself filled with a sense of dread. He looked up, meeting the gaze of the specter, and suddenly became incapable of looking away as the world changed around him.

He found himself in the same position as when he was last defeated by the Crystal Heart, this time knowing what would happen as the purple dragon from before was caught by Princess Cadance. Attempting to move out of the way of the blast, Sombra found himself completely immobile, even when striving with all of his efforts to simply move some distance.

The blast hit him once more, this time more painful and agonizing than the first could have ever been, at a much slower rate than before. For what seemed like hours, the pain continued until he felt himself crystalizing once more, a pain that dwarfed even the hours of torment he had just faced. Then, a crack split down the middle of his front legs, which was an agony so intense that he blacked out.

He opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a crystal. On each side of the crystal were the visages of each of the ponies who had caused his downfall, all laughing at him as he was helpless to do anything in their presence. Angrily attempting to use his powers in retaliation, Sombra suddenly felt a searing pain that he had never felt before as instead of turning into a dark cloud, he was simply torn asunder by his own power.

Awakening once again in a plain white infinity, Sombra looked around quickly, fearing what horror the next vision would bring. This time, however, nothing happened. No pain, no cries of torment, nothing. He could not hear the sound of anything, not even his voice as he muttered to himself. The only sounds he knew were those of his heartbeat and the sound of blood rushing through his veins. His sight seemed to be completely useless now as well, as even when he held his hoof in front of his sight, only white was visible to him.

Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. Years. Decades. Centuries. Millennia. Megaannum. Eons. A seemingly infinite amount of time passed for Sombra, a period in which he was completely alone, could not age, could not die, could feel nothing, but could hear the maddening sounds of his own heartbeat and blood flow for the entirety of the time that he was in that white prison. He had long ago been reduced to a shivering ball, scared of everything. Nothing could break him any more at this point. Or so he once thought.

A massive explosion of shadow before him startled Sombra to the point where he could do nothing but scream in terror. All of the sound and sight that he had forgotten so long ago suddenly returned to him as the massive occurrence enveloped him. The specter from billions of years ago appeared before him in the darkness as he continued to scream in horror, the red glowing eyes digging into his soul as the specter's voice rang out in the world...

“FEAR ME, SOMBRA. FEAR ME. FEAR ME...” The voice trailed off as Sombra once again lost consciousness, this time reawakening in the blizzard, still clutched in the talon of the spectral entity. Drooling and spasming violently, Sombra heard the shadow's voice once again.

“Ten seconds, Sombra. That is the extent of your psychological resistance to my power. Make no mistake,” The specter dropped Sombra into the snow with a clumsy splat as the gray unicorn curled into a ball and continued shaking violently, “My power is already far greater than yours. It always will be. But you are a stepping stone to my next target, one who's will shall bend only in the face of your presence.”

The specter extended his hand outwards towards the collapsed ball of Sombra, and opened his talon with his palm facing the shivering unicorn. Tendrils extended from the specter's palm and enveloped Sombra, slowly dragging back towards the specter's hand, claiming all of the color on Sombra's body as they went, leaving nothing but a black and white outline of the once-tyrannical king of the Crystal Empire.

“In the end, even your strength cannot match my own. Even you give in to the power of Terror. And soon, all of Equestria shall fall before my grip.”

Terror turned his shadowy gaze towards a barrier in the distance that surrounded a massive crystal structure.

“The Master of Defense and the Princess of Love shall be my next targets. Come, Sombra. Come with me and watch as I succeed where you so miserably failed.”

Extending his other hand, Terror shot forth a gray translucent ball that enveloped the shaking unicorn and raised him into the air, trailing behind the specter as he slowly began his march to the Crystal Empire.

“Vengeance upon this unnatural world... It shall soon be mine.”

Chapter Four - Contact

CHAPTER 4 - CONTACT

“Hm?” Eiza looked up and to the north through the treetops of the forest. The sun was soon to come up now, so the sky was getting lighter, the stars harder to see. What caught his attention, however, was a wave of Psi that had passed by just then. Wherever it may have originated from, Eiza could tell that it had traveled an immense distance to reach where he was due to the odd wavelength.

Eiza began wondering if the inhabitants of the land were all unicorns like him, as his sister had always told him when he was little that unicorns were capable of magical feats. Perhaps the “magic” was actually Psi?

As he continued to wonder and walk, Eiza heard a rustling noise in the brush behind him. Not turning, but keeping his attention on the sound behind him, Eiza continued to walk in the same direction. After a few moments, whatever was in the brush suddenly jumped out with a howl. Eiza jumped and flipped around in the air, facing his attacker.

“What the...”

Never before had Eiza seen a creature like this. The shape was obviously wolf-like, but composed of various bits of wood. What's more, there was not just one, but three of the wolves. Snarling and appearing to be somewhat hungry, the wolves suddenly lunged forward at Eiza.

Retaliating quickly, Eiza used his Psi to sent a nearby boulder flying in front of him, crashing into the three wooden wolves and scattering their parts about randomly. Eiza smirked at how simple the task was, turned, and began walking away before noticing bits of wood in front of him glowing and floating backwards.

He turned around and became wide-eyed at the sight before him. The wolves had been blown apart by the rock, but they were reassembling themselves into one massive figure. Trees lifted and uprooted so that they could join the structure, and nearly every piece of wood within a hundred feet seemed to conglomerate into the massive wolf beast.

“There's definitely not enough room for this here... Um...” Eiza turned and began rushing through the forest at full-speed. If he could make it out of the forest and into an open area, he would be able to maneuver better to combat the monster, and perhaps have some help as well.

Charging through vines and brush, he could hear the huge wolf let out a deafening howl before trees behind him began toppling, heralding the monster's charge towards him. At this rate, Eiza would surely be run down by the creature. However, luck seemed to be on Eiza's side, as he suddenly found himself in a clearing in front of an oddly-shaped tree. Various bottles hung from the branches, and a totem rested implanted in the ground in front of a large oval door with a skull atop its frame.

With no time to judge, Eiza rushed forward and knocked on the door frantically in an attempt to get whatever resident was within to open up and help him out. A reply came as the door opened slowly, revealing a zebra with a tribal mohawk and golden jewelery.

“What makes you think that it is remotely right, waking me up at dawn's twilight?” The zebra, expectedly irritated, seemed ready to slam the door right in Eiza's face. However, her expression quickly changed as a massive wooden wolf head poked through the woods and into the clearing. “Goodness gracious! A timber wolf that big is outrageous!”

“I know it is! We need to get out of here!”

“Ah, my silly silver-haired friend, there's no need to fret. The solution here is a better bet!” Reaching inside of the doorway, the zebra pulled a satchel out and hurled it at the timber wolf, landing inside of the beast's maw. Instantly, the giant timber wolf backed up and began hacking and coughing in an attempt to get the taste of whatever was in the satchel out of its mouth.

“Oh, wow!”

“Don't dilly-dally, my white-coated friend! Deal the finishing blow and bring the beast's end!”

“My pleasure!” Using his Psi, Eiza sprouted a huge column up from the ground beneath the timber wolf, shattering the beast into many pieces. This time, however, they did not reform into another monstrosity. Eiza sat down and sighed heavily, the use of Psi and going for so long without nutrient intake finally beginning to take their toll.

“Most impressive, that display of power! However, what are you doing out here at such an hour?”

“Trying to find someone to help me out. I guess I found someone, huh?”

“Of course you did! Although, I would have rather hid.”

“Huh? Oh! No, not help from that thing, I could've probably dealt with that myself if I had gotten into an open area, but I kinda dragged you into that. Sorry.”

“No worries. So then, where were you headed in such a hurry?”

“Well, I was heading there-” Eiza pointed up to the mountain, now visible through the treetops, “-but you know that I got sidetracked.”

“Canterlot? I see. But surely somepony important as you knows how to get there safely?”

“Huh?”

“Anypony else would agree. The safest route is definitely not through the forest of Everfree.”

“Well it's not like I wanted to go through this way, I just kinda got stuck with it.”

“You must be new then, to this land so vast. Come, well talk more, I shall treat you to breakfast!”

“Ah, would you? Thank you so much, I'm actually very hungry.”

The two headed into the home inside of the large tree. Shelves lined the walls, all stocked with potions, potion bottles, and ingredients. In the middle of the main room was a large cauldron where a bubbling liquid released a delicious scent that filled the room.

“What would you like? Soup? Salad? I've a delicious recipe for cream of rose-spike.”

“Uh. Anything that is filling. I need the nutrients.”

“A hard trek ahead? Perhaps you'd like to lie down? You may use my bed.”

“No thanks, that's not necessary. I don't have to sleep too much so long as I have sufficient nutrient intake.”

“Hm...” The zebra stopped her searching on the shelves and walked over to Eiza, patting him on the head and looking in his ears, proceeding with a few more examinations before he spoke up.

“Uh... What are you doing?”

“Not a normal pony, this much is true. Tell me, friend, just what are you?”

“Um. A unicorn?”

“Haha! A clever response from one who fights like a brute. Oh, by the way, do you enjoy bamboo chutes?”

“Um, thanks and uh... Yeah sure.” She noticed that I wasn't from here so fast. Do I really stick out that much? I guess even this form can't hide my Psi. I probably should've kept the cloak.

“Zecora, that is the name by which I am known. Tell me, my friend, with what name have you been bestowed?”

“Uh...” Zecora? Some kind of pun? She's a zebra, and her name has zebra in it... Oh no, if I use my actual name, she'll definitely know I'm weird again. Think, think... Ah! She's giving me a strange look! “Uh... Brimstone. My name is Brimstone.” Zecora cocked an eyebrow at the silver-haired pony and looked at him strangely for a moment before smiling again.

“Brimstone! Quite a name! One truly worthy of a stallion of whom rocks are his game!” Zecora turned back to her shelf and grabbed a few bottles, then turned and walked back over to the cauldron and dumped the foods within into the pot. “So tell me, Brimstone, where are you from? Nopony native of here would cause such a conundrum.”

“Um... Uh... Wait, where is 'here,' exactly?”

“Hm? Truly that clueless you cannot be. Gaze upon that map over there, do you see? The red 'X' indicates the location of you and me, here in the heart of Everfree.”

Brimstone walked to the map and looked at it for a while. It appeared that there was a small town much closer by than the castle on the mountain. While he had been trying to get to “Canterlot,” he could have instead set his sights on “Ponyville,” which was much closer by. He probably would have noticed the town once he exited the woods, though, even if he hadn't run into Zecora. Maybe I'll make a detour there instead.

“The stew is ready, so if you will, come over please and eat your fill.”

“Ah! Thanks.”

Dipping a wooden bowl into the cauldron, Zecora handed the stew to Brimstone, who downed the entire thing almost instantly.

“Goodness me! Never before have I seen someone eat my cooking so ravenously!”

“Ah, yeah, it's really good. Plus I'm about starved, so it's even better. Can I have more?”

“Help yourself to your heart's desire, take all you need to quench your hunger's fire.”

Brimstone continued scooping up bowl after bowl of soup until the cauldron was emptied out. Patting his stomach cheerfully, he felt himself dozing off to sleep.

“You know, Zecora... I think I might be forced to take you up on that sleep offer...”

“Haha! This is perfectly fine. Stay a while, take your time.”

Hearing his sister's voice from so long ago, Brimstone listened to a familiar lullaby play through his mind as he drifted into sleep.

Chapter Five - Release

CHAPTER 5 - RELEASE

“Ho boy,” An orange pony stretched and yawned as she found her way into a kitchen, “Ah didn't get one lick of a good night's sleep. Them dreams sure were bad.”

“Ah hear ya, sis.” A younger pony with red hair in contrast to her older sister's blonde hair stumbled into the kitchen shortly thereafter, “Ah didn't think ah'd ever get to sleep.” A bulkier stallion plodded into the kitchen after this.

“Eeyup.”

“Well, ya know what they say about bad dreams!” An elderly mare with a white mane and tail entered the kitchen, “The bad'uns always mean somethin's goin' on.”

“Well ah just hope that ah sleep better tonight. Won't be able to do much apple buckin' with cat-nappin' like that.” The orange mare poured a glass of milk for herself as everyone situated themselves at the kitchen table. The filly looked out the window and suddenly sprung up and rushed to get a better view of something outside.

“Applejack! Big Mac! Granny Smith! Look!”

“What is it, Applebloom?” Granny Smith made her way to the window and looked out, suddenly becoming filled with shock. “What in tarnation-” Her sentence suddenly cut off by a powerful gust of wind, Granny Smith found both herself and Applebloom hurling through the air across the kitchen as a blast of rain smashed through the window. The sudden gale blew open the door as well, leaving the addled wits of the Apple family to attempt some form of fixing the home.

“What's goin' on? What's happening?” Applejack shouted as she barred the door, the wind fighting her the entire way.

“Ah don't know!” Applebloom shouted, attempting to button the curtains closed as Big Macintosh held the window shut, “There was a big wall of rain that just randomly appeared out there! Ah've never seen a storm like this before!”

“Oh, all the apples're gonna be blown into Phillydelphia by the time this storm passes!” Granny Smith braced herself against a chair until Big Mac finally managed to shut and bar the window. Fixing her messed hair, she walked over to the window and peered outside. “It's raining cats and dogs out there! The apple harvest isn't gonna be a good'un this time around, I tells ya.”

Outside, the wind had calmed slightly, but the torrential downpour continued without interruption. Across Ponyville and inside of a boutique, a white pony with curled hair furiously scurried about to grab up clothes that had been blown about by the gale that had blown open her front door.

“Oh no! Oh no!” Scooping up a blue dress into her front leg, Rarity turned and shouted across the room at a pile of clothes, “Sweetie Belle! Shut the door, quickly!”

The pile of randomly-strewn clothes rustled and erupted as a small white filly jumped out and ran to the door, closing it with haste. Looking outside, the little pony peered up at the sky.

“Woah...” In awe, Sweetie Belle found herself completely locked on the sight of the clouds above. The dark blanket moved at a speed beyond anything that she had ever seen, and rainbows tore through the openings that allowed minute amounts of sunlight to pierce through and illuminate the raindrops.

Rarity stopped gathering the clothes as a loud bump and crash were heard upstairs. Setting the folded dresses down neatly on a table, Rarity walked up the steps into her room, and was greeted by the sight of a tangled mess of blankets moving about the room. Opalescence sat across the room from the ball of cloth, hissing and growling at it with each movement. Rarity let out a shrill scream that caused the flopping ball of clothes to stop rolling about on the floor.

“What are you screaming at?” A familiar voice calmed Rarity slightly.

“Rainbow Dash?”

“Get me out of this!”

The white unicorn walked over to the ball of cloth and untangled a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail, who shook some of the rain off like a wet dog before sitting down with a grunt.

“What is this dreadful weather, Rainbow Dash?” The white unicorn queried, “Cloudsdale hadn't scheduled such a deluge like this, had they?”

“Not that I know of. I was out for an early morning flight near Cloudsdale and saw this big black cloud in the north that was also unscheduled. A few minutes later the clouds disappear and I get blasted in the face by a tornado! I bet Cloudsdale's having a great time right now.”

The sound of a door closing downstairs turned the two ponies' attention. Upon their arrival on the ground level of the boutique, the two were greeted by their friends – a purple dragon and mulberry unicorn.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash quickly shot over to the unicorn, hovering above her, “What's going on out there?”

“I don't know! I've never seen anything like it before.” The unicorn removed her raincoat and handed it over to Spike, who hung it from a coat rack nearby. “I saw the cloud earlier this morning and had been trying to figure out what it was since it didn't look natural or like something that Cloudsdale would make. None of my books had a single answer to the issue, though. All I do know is that whatever the cloud was, it was holding back a lot of wind from the north. That's why when it dissipated earlier the wind rushed down south to Ponyville.”

“Do you think it could be King Sombra again?”

“No, Rainbow, I don't think so. Sombra never turned himself into a cloud of that magnitude. Besides, the Crystal Heart destroyed him, remember?”

“Then what could it be?” Rarity asked concernedly, her anxiety growing. Another knock on the door caught the attention of the group, and Sweetie Belle answered the door again, allowing Applejack to step into the room.

“Alright, just what in the hay is goin' on out there?”

“We were just discussing this,” Rarity replied, “How are things out there at the moment?”

“They ain't good, ah know that much. Thought the farm was gonna get blown over by the wind that came through here. Almost all the apples and leaves on the trees at the orchard're on the ground or blown away. Once the wind died down ah decided to head this way to make sure everypony was alright.”

“We've still received no word from Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie,” Twilight stated, “We should probably head out to check on them.”

“Ah wouldn't worry too much 'bout Pinkie. She was hoppin' around more than a frog in a pond when I came this way. Asked if she wanted to come, but she said she wanted to play around in the rain.”

“Well what about Fluttershy, then?” Spike interjected “She must be scared half to death.”

“We should probably go check on her.” Twilight stood up, “Let's go, everypony. There's no time to waste. We'll get everypony together and send a message to Princess Celestia.”

The group gathered gear to weather the downpour and headed out into the torrent.

Chapter Six - Defense

CHAPTER 6 - DEFENSE

A large force field stood monumentally before Terror as he stopped and gazed upon its surface. Transparent to allow light into the Crystal Empire, but solid so that the land within would have its own bright and cheery atmosphere. The shadow examined the barrier silently for a few moments before looking down at the colorless, shaking Sombra next to him.

“Behold, Sombra. My power shall perform the first of many feats that you could never achieve.”

His talon sprouting from his shroud once more, Terror lifted his hand and touched the surface of the barrier, watching as the surface around the tips of his claws slowly evaporated under his touch. He dragged his claw over the surface, cleaving open a yellow entrance for himself.

“What the...” A white unicorn stallion with blue hair suddenly raised his head from his breakfast.

“Is something wrong, dear?” The Alicorn across from him suddenly entered a state of concern, being surprised at his sudden action.

“Something just got through the barrier. I'm going to go investigate.”

“What? That's not possible, though. The Crystal Heart ensures it.”

“Yeah? Well I can feel the barrier since I'm attuned to it. Whoever or whatever just got through had to go through not only the Crystal Heart's shield, but our own augmented version of it. I need to go check it out.”

“Be safe, Shining Armor.”

“I will, don't worry.” Shining Armor winked and smiled at Cadance before leaving the magnificent crystal room, heading to the entrance of the crystal castle, and opening the door. Stepping out into the sunny atmosphere of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor took a deep breath and smiled at the beauty of the crystal world before him.

Even in the frozen north that the Empire was situated within, the barrier created by the combined powers of him, Cadance, and the Crystal Heart kept the elements from penetrating the land, allowing it to continue being a sunny, green utopia. The buildings around the large city were all composed of various materials, the crystal residents all happy and cheerful under the sun above.

Trotting quickly down the main road towards the barrier's edge, Shining Armor returned greets from the happy residents of his kingdom. He hid his true intentions under an interminable smile so that nopony would become concerned with his actions.

Taking a turn off of the main road, Shining Armor began to run to quickly get to the barrier. Upon reaching the clearing that led into the field before the barrier, Shining Armor stopped and peered out at the odd sight before him.

A tall, black-cloaked figure hovered across the land slowly, his ethereal robe appearing to flap gently in non-existent wind. Upon looking at the figure for a few moments, Shining watched two red glowing eyes appear on the being's face, which stared directly at him. Filled with a sudden sense of dread, Shining Armor instantly knew that the entity was dangerous, putting himself into a defensive, combat-ready position. Without another second of waiting, the entity disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared inches in front of Shining Armor, startling the unicorn.

“Shining Armor, Master of Defense. I have come to see you.”

“Yeah? What about?” The unicorn stallion braced himself, not letting his guard down as the intensity of the despair he felt only grew while the shadow was so close.

“You will relieve yourself of your power. It shall be mine. Allow me to claim it for my own peacefully, and I promise you no harm.”

“Oh yeah? And what if I refuse?”

“Then you will end up like this one.” The shadow lifted a talon and withdrew from his cloak the orb containing the black-and-white form of King Sombra. The very sight of the tyrannical king would have been enough to startle Shining Armor, but seeing him in such a defeated manner, in a form that was fetal and trembling, was enough to take the Prince of the Crystal Empire completely aback.

“That's...”

“King Sombra. Master of Shadows. The very same foolish unicorn who fell at the hands of your ridiculous Crystal Heart.”

“What did you do to him?”

“I warned him of the consequences of his insolence before it came to this. I calmly demanded his powers and he responded with hostility. In turn, he received hostility. And so the cycle comes full-circle.”

“I don't know who you are or why you want my powers, but you're not having them, got it?”

“And who are you to make such a defiant statement, Shining Armor? A prince? Royalty? You think that gives you power over me?”

“No, but I know that you can't harm me so long as we are within this barrier, so leave now or I'll remove you by force!”

“You say this as though you could intimidate me, little stallion. But you cannot. I can see the fear in your eyes. Doubt. Doubt that you can stand against me. From the moment you laid eyes upon me, you knew that you were nothing.”

“Shut up.”

“You knew that you could not stop me. You knew that no matter what you did, you could not keep me from claiming your powers.”

“I said shut up.”

“And you know, even though you are too afraid to admit it, that you cannot protect your precious Mi Amore Cadenza from me.”

“Shut your mouth!” The white unicorn, horn glowing brilliantly, lunged forth at the shadow.

“How brash and unpredictable. You truly are just a foolish little pony.” With a quick swipe of his talon, Terror deflected a magical beam, sending it flying into the barrier in the distance. Shocked, Shining Armor attempted a melee attack, bucking with his back hooves. To his surprise, the shadow caught his hooves in one claw, lifting him into the air and holding him upside down. Locking eyes with the shadow, Shining Armor suddenly found himself somewhere else.

Standing in the middle of a wheat field where the wind blew as calm waves across the grains, Shining armor looked to the distance and saw a lone oak tree. Under the tree were his two favorite ponies in the whole world: Twilight and her foal-sitter Cadance. Smiling, he walked to the two as they sat beneath the tree. Twilight turned her head to see her older brother and beamed at him as he sat down next to the two.

“Are you okay, B.B.B.F.F.? You were out there in the field staring blankly for a while!”

“Yeah,” Shining Armor replied, “I guess I kinda spaced out, there.”

“Hey, Shining?”

“Yeah, little sis?”

“You'll protect me when I need to be protected, right?”

“Me too?” Cadance playfully interjected.

“Of course I will,” Shining Armor laughed, closing his eyes and smiling, “Why do you ask?”

“BECAUSE YOU LIED...” His eyes shooting open at the warped and synchronized voices of Cadance and Twilight, Shining Armor was met by the terrifying sight of the flesh of the two melting away until nothing but skeletons remained. The landscape around them suddenly burned away into dust, the tree died and decayed rapidly against the flames that surrounded them. Screaming, Shining Armor closed his eyes and held his ears so that the cries of his loved ones would not penetrate his hearing, but the effort was in vain as the sounds still found a way through.

Suddenly, Shining found himself awake in a bed, sitting up quickly, drenched in sweat. Breathing heavily, he looked over and saw Cadance still asleep in bed beside him. Sighing in relief, Shining Armor laid down again and kissed his beloved on the cheek, but suddenly realized something. The being next to him sat up in bed and turned, her mane falling free and revealing the face of Queen Chrysalis.

“Shining, my dear, you're up so early...”

His breathing rate increased again, Shining Armor moved backwards quickly out of bed and fell out, rolling quickly and running out of the room and into the open area of Canterlot, where his eyes widened in pure shock.

The skies were red, clouds darkened with evil that lingered over the city blocking out the sun's rays from reaching the earth. Collapsed buildings and broken statues lined cracked and destroyed streets. Ponies of all forms and colors were kept in cages where multiple Changelings gathered around to snarl and laugh at the groups within. Ponies were used as slaves to pull massive amounts of rock and gems around the city to an entrance beneath the castle. The worst sight, though, was the one in the town square: Cadance, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight and her friends – all crucified upon crosses of bone.

His breathing becoming sporadic and fast, Shining backed away from the sight, suddenly feeling a hoof find itself beneath his chin and turn his head. Chrysalis looked deep into his eyes.

“Beautiful, isn't it, my King? And to think you tried to stop me before...”

“Shining... Shining Armor...” A voice rang out from the town square. Reluctantly, his pupils as small as ants, Shining Armor turned his head and looked out to the crucifixions of his friends. There, the empty, gouged eye-sockets of his beloved pierced his soul. “You promised to protect me, Shining! Why did you lie to me? Why!”

“Why, big brother? Why didn't you help us?”

“Why? Why? Why?” The words continued to ring through his mind as tears fell down his face and he collapsed on the floor. Shutting his eyes tightly, Shining Armor wept for a few moments before opening his eyes again, witnessing a different vision.

The Crystal Empire, completely destroyed. The Crystal Heart cracked in two and laying on the ground in halves. Bits of crystal strewn about the ground randomly as snow fell through the now-empty and unguarded sky. His subjects, the crystal ponies, sat in corners huddled together for warmth, crying. The voice of a small filly pierced his heart like a dagger:

“Why didn't Prince Shining protect us, mommy? Why...”

“I don't know, sweetie... Just try to sleep... It will all be over soon.”

“No! No!” Shining Armor cried out with tear-drowned eyes as he reached out for the freezing family and collapsed in the snow. “No more! No more... Please! Don't show me any more!”

“No more... No more... No more...” The white unicorn hung upside-down from Terror's talon, quivering gently and staring blankly at the green grass below.

“Twelve seconds. Interesting.” The shade looked down at the spasming ball of Sombra next to him. “Even this typical unicorn was stronger than you, Sombra. Pathetic.”

Dropping the white, shaking unicorn in front of him, Terror extended his talon and the tendrils sprouted once more, enveloping Shining Armor and dragging back towards the shadow, claiming the colors of the unicorn and his cutie mark as well. After absorbing Shining Armor's power, the barrier over the city flickered a few times. Terror looked up at the barrier above and snarled.

“This wretched force field bars the cooling environment from the land. Such an unnatural defiance against the nature of this planet... Is sickening.” Raising a talon to the sky, Terror released another pulse of energy, this time both black and rose-tinted, and viewed it hit the barrier. The barrier flickered violently for a few moments before suddenly burning to nothing. Crystal ponies in the nearby city were suddenly shocked at the occurrence, watching in horror as the Crystal Heart nearby cracked violently down the middle and fell in halves.

In the field, feeling the snow fall slowly upon him, Terror chuckled. He looked down at the shuddering Shining Armor and extended his talon to him once more, encapsulating him inside of another gray orb, then taking both him and Sombra back under his cloak. The shade then looked into the distance at the crystal castle and chuckled once more.

“Come, Shining Armor. Come with me and witness the fall of your beloved. I promise that you will not be parted from her for much longer.”

The shadow began his journey towards the crystal castle, the snow slowly building up upon the unprotected land.

Chapter Seven - Continuity

CHAPTER 7 - CONTINUITY

“What!” Brimstone suddenly stirred into alertness from his sleep, flipping out of his chair and onto the floor. Another wave of Psi had passed through the area from the north again, though this time he tracked it from slightly east of the last wave.

“My, oh my, finally awake, I see! I'm surprised that you did not feel the shaking of the tree!”

“The tree shook while I was asleep?”

“A blast of wind, quite a gale! Then came through rain and hail!”

“Woah, really?” Brimstone stood up and walked to the window, looking out into the forest. Many trees had been bent back from some kind of blast. Brimstone questioned if wind alone was responsible. He also wondered if it had anything to do with the waves of Psi he kept feeling.

“Over now, the storm seems to be. If you are ready, I can escort you out of Everfree.”

“Thanks, Zecora, but an escort won't be necessary. I memorized the correct route off of your map.”

“Oh, quite a mind! Very well, then, go ahead and I will stay behind.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.” Brimstone smiled as he opened the door. Suddenly, an idea caught his attention. “Oh! I know!”

“Hm?”

“Hang on just a second.” Brimstone walked out into the swamp. A blast strong enough to tilt so many trees would have probably upturned a bunch of dirt too. “Ah ha!” Brimstone caught sight of a shimmering rock. Using his power, he lifted the large rock from the muck and then focused.

A glow enveloped the chunk of naturally-occurring iron. Using his Psi to manipulate the atoms, Brimstone compressed the element and smashed together the atoms with his Psi, releasing the energy skyward as a yellow beam of light. Zecora watched in awe as the metal chunk shrunk and changed color from red and silver to all silver to a brilliant gold. The chunk, now a perfect, basketball-sized sphere, landed in front of Zecora.

“There!” Brimstone took a deep breath, “I don't know if you value gold as highly as my native kind does, but hopefully that can at least get you something nice for all of your generosity to me.”

“What a sight to see! Never before have I seen someone so proficient in alchemy!”

“What? Oh, yeah.” Brimstone had heard the term “alchemy” before, but never thought much more of it than of nonsense. He figured that this zebra that lived in the woods probably had many mystical beliefs considering the totem outside and the potions and such. “Alchemy is part of my specialty.”

“A talent quite fine! You must be as rich in materials as you are kind!”

“Uh, well... Thanks. But I really do need to get moving, Zecora. It was nice meeting you. Thanks again!”

“A thousand goodbyes as you leave my home. May we meet again someday, Brimstone.”

Alone again, Brimstone wandered off into the woods and began his trek to the west. If he headed that way, he would soon be in Ponyville. There, he would be able to more-quickly find some way to an entrance to the next universe, and be one step closer to being back with Ailain.

Chapter Eight - Hindcast

CHAPTER 8 – HINDCAST

“Figures that the rain would stop as soon as we leave.” Spike kicked a rock in frustration as the group traveled down the road to Fluttershy's cottage.

“Beats flying with wet wings,” Rainbow Dash happily drifted over the group at a casual pace, swirling and spinning in the air subconsciously due to her overactive body.

“Ah hope that Fluttershy's alright,” Applejack tilted her hat slightly to bar the bright and unhindered sunlight from blinding her, “Ah'm sure that the wind must've scared her somethin' good. Them critters probably weren't none too happy neither.”

“I'm sure she handled it just fine,” Rarity began, “Besides, what's the worst that could have happened with her home surrounded by all of those trees- Oh my!”

The group stopped in shock as they turned the corner into a clearing and were met by the sight of Fluttershy's cottage – practically in pieces. The roof had nearly been blown off completely, the door was missing, the bird feeders that could normally be seen outside the home were gone entirely, and the bridge leading across the creek was completely shattered and randomly-strewn in parts around the area.

“Oh no! The whole place got torn apart!” Twilight's voice became filled with fear for her friend. Fluttershy's home was somewhat south of Ponyville, so she had originally thought that the cottage would be safe from the winds. However, she failed to take into account that the trees around the house created something of a trap for the wind, which most likely had ricoched off of the trees behind the house and recoiled back upon the backside of the cottage.

“Well, at least the chicken coop's in one piece.” Spike pointed over to the coop – high up in a nearby tree. The chickens seemed to be just fine, though they were stuck up too high to get down without harming themselves.

“Rainbow,” Twilight began with an authoritative tone, “Fly up there and get the chicken coop down. We need to see if Fluttershy is alright.”

Nodding her head, Rainbow Dash took off up towards the tree as the rest of the group jumped the creek and headed up to the entrance of the house. Entering the unbarred doorway, the ponies took in the sight of the wrecked inside of the house.

“Fluttershy, dear,” Rarity called out, “Are you okay? Are you in here?”

A faint whimper caught their attention, the group turning to a pile of random objects over a quivering blanket. Twilight walked to the objects and cleared them away with her magic, then lifted the blanket up. Beneath the cloth was an abundance of small animals and a yellow pegasus with a pink mane, all quite shaken by the storm.

“Are you okay, Fluttershy?”

“Is... Is it over?” The yellow pony whispered quietly in fear.

“Yeah, it's all over now. You can come out.”

Angel was the first one to oblige, hopping out quickly and stretching his long ears, wiggling his poofy tail as well. Slowly, Fluttershy calmed the animals and allowed them to scurry out to their chosen destinations.

“It all happened so quickly... All I could do was gather all of the animals I could under the blanket. Oh... I hope the birds and chickens are okay...”

“The chicken coop's in a tree.” Spike's nonchalant statement instantly drew irritated response from the group, save for Fluttershy.

“What!” The yellow pegasus quickly darted into the air and flew towards the doorway, crashing into a cyan figure that was making her way into the cottage.

“Geeze, what's with you?” Dash rubbed her head as she sat up on the floor.

“Oh, Dashie, I'm sorry... Are the chickens okay?” Obviously not truly concerned for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy's worry continued to rise and gather the longer she stayed inside of her broken house.

“Yeah, yeah, they're fine.” Rainbow Dash moved out of the way slightly to show the chicken coop outside placed randomly on the ground. The chickens ran about in a delayed terror, having not been able to during the storm.

“Oh!” Fluttershy darted past the cyan pony to tend to the frightened chickens. As soon as her form left the cottage, Spike's eyes widened and he let out a green flaming burp, complete with a rolled-up scroll.

“What's this?” Twilight caught the letter with magic before it hit the ground, “A letter from Princess Celestia...” The mulberry unicorn unraveled the letter and began reading, her eyes widening in shock as she let out a gasp.

“What happened?” Applejack quickly moved over next to Twilight, followed by the other members of the group.

“The Crystal Empire is under attack by an unknown force,” Twilight summarized, “The shield was taken down from around the city... The Crystal Heart was destroyed!”

“What!” Dash's scream was followed by her snagging the letter for herself and reading it aloud, “The barrier of the Crystal Empire, along with the Crystal Heart, have been destroyed by an unknown power. Shining Armor, Prince of the Crystal Empire, has gone... missing? Missing!”

“My brother is in trouble?” Twilight allowed her shock to further claim her, “What? What happened? What's going on?”

“Do you think that this has anything to do with that cloud you said you saw earlier?” Rarity asked with horror.

“It might be related to that storm just a few minutes ago.” Applejack added.

“I don't know...” Twilight held her head with a hoof as she became more and more confused and shocked, “Is there anything else?”

“No,” Rainbow Dash began, “Nothing but a distress call. 'Please send the Elements of Harmony as soon as possible, the Crystal Empire is on the verge of failure with no defense.' This sounds really bad.”

“Ah just don't get it.” Applejack started with irritation, “How could the Crystal Heart be broken like that? It's one'a the strongest magical items in all of Equestria. Not even Sombra could've overcome it.”

“I risk my life for that thing and it gets broken. Go figure.” Spike crossed his arms in an attempt to cover his fear with irritation.

“This is serious, Spike.” Twilight suddenly overcame her despair and began planning, “The Elements are probably our only hope right now. Spike, take a letter of reply.”

Before he could grab a sheet of parchment off of the floor to begin writing, Spike burped up another letter. Applejack quickly caught the page and opened it up, the group gathering around her to see what was on the page. Shock and horror filled them once more as they read what was on it.

Chapter Nine - Calamity

CHAPTER 9 – CALAMITY

THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER

“Get to your defense stations at once!” Cadance's voice echoed through the halls of the Crystal Castle as troops in brilliant gemstone armor rushed to battlements on the outside walls. Cadance continued to her balcony to make an announcement across the Empire to her subordinates. Stepping out onto the ledge and amplifying her voice with magic, her words rang out across the city:

“My people, I, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, demand of you to retreat to your homes and bar your doors and windows. The shield around our Empire, as you all know, cannot be removed by anyone or anything without sufficient magical power – Even your Princess cannot penetrate a barrier created by such an object without it knowing my peaceful intent. But for it to burn away as you all have witnessed, our Empire must be in grave danger. I implore all of you to take shelter from whatever has caused this calamity. As your Princess, I swear to you that nothing bad will happen to you all, for I shall protect you. Await my words before exiting your homes. That is all.”

Stepping away from her position, Cadance turned and was saluted by her head guard.

“Madam, we are ready for any orders we receive.”

“Good,” she replied, “I fear the worst, Captain.”

“Do you think it was necessary to force all residents into their homes?” The captain of the guard peered out at the scurrying masses of crystal ponies, all heading to their shelters in preparation for the oncoming storm.

“I truly, truly hope not.” Cadance said with a sigh, “But soon after Shining Armor left, the barrier went down and he did not return. I was filled with a great sum of sorrow... Sorrow like I've never felt before. Not something that you feel when a loved one passes on or when the one you love leaves you, but a sorrow that fought to crush me completely for no identifiable reason at all. There is something within the borders of our kingdom, my captain. We must be ready.”

“Yes, madam.” The captain of the guard turned and headed to the battlements where many of his troops stood at the ready for anything that could befall the kingdom.

Cadance turned and retreated to her throne room, attempting to don the armor of warrior royalty so that she may take part in the battle as well should her guardians fail. The very thought of them falling was painful to her, it made the sorrow she felt grow... She shrugged it off and continued on down the opulent hallway.

The captain of the guard stood out in the midst of his troops, all adorned with invincible gem-crafted armor that shone brightly through the dark skies and the blinding snowfall. Statuesque and vigilant through the blizzard as it coated all of the walkable matter with white, the captain glanced around slowly.

“It's too quiet, Captain...”

“Shut up!” The leader snapped at his subordinate, “The intruder could be anywhere. If you can talk then you aren't focused on the battle!”

“Sir!” A scout exited a nearby tower attached to the battlement and rushed to his Captain, kneeling before him, “A shadowy figure was seen within the city limits. Its whereabouts became a mystery to us, however, as it disappeared when it turned a corner!”

“You hear that!” The Captain shouted out to his subordinates as he began walking behind them, “It's nearby! Don't leave your posts!”

Turning his head to walk a step further, the Captain was met by black. Startled, he looked up and was grabbed before he could react by a three-clawed talon that lifted him by his head off of the ground and up to eye-level with the shadowy figure. Two red eyes open and pierced the Captain's soul, resulting in the immediate screams and cries for the agony to end. The shadow dropped the spasming, foaming captain on the floor as the soldiers around him turned in shock, preparing to retaliate.

“One second. How pathetic. You call yourself a captain?”

The soldiers all fired magic and magical arrows upon the shadow, watching in horror as the magic-enhanced projectiles all bounced off of the specter harmlessly.

“Fools.” The specter raised both claws in the air and spread them, “You disgusting lot are not worth my time.” A massive, rose-tinted orb surrounded Terror and expanded instantly, dispersing after a few feet but sending all soldiers caught in the attack flying. The battlements and wall around the shade collapsed under the force of the blast, sending shards of crystal flying through the air as projectiles, injuring other nearby soldiers. “Back down and you will be spared.”

“Never!” A single pegasus soldier stood back up who had been caught in the blast and slammed against the wall of the castle, “So long as I bear the invincible armor of the Crystal Empire, I will remain loyal to my rulers, Cadance and Commander Shining Armor!” The pegasus suddenly flew forth at the specter. “If magic doesn't harm you, then eat my hooves!”

The flying kick was batted away with one talon as soon as the pegasus reached Terror. The shadow then grabbed the pegasus, clutching him within his cold talon, squeezing down upon the crystal platemail.

“Invincible?” The pegasus squirmed and fought to get free, unhindered by the grip of Terror as he continued to slowly increase pressure on the armor. “You have no right to use that word.”

“Don't bother!” The soldier shouted at Terror, “You won't harm me, freak!” The soldier then spat in Terror's face, the shade's eyes not changing their dull red glow as the saliva slowly dripped down his face.

“How arrogant.” A crack suddenly split down the shoulder of the armor, the soldier gasped at the sight of his magic-enhanced diamond cuirasse failing to defend him. “You, who are nothing but a common soldier, an ant in my eyes, dare to insult a God with your 'invincibility?' You have no power here.” The armor suddenly shattered, shards of gem stabbing into the pegasus as the immense pressure of Terror's talon suddenly smashed many bones within his body. The cry let out by the pegasus soon fell silent and Terror tossed him aside, watching his body fall from the high battlements and hit the snow-coated ground below with a clumsy splatter.

Looking back at the soldiers behind him, soldiers who were reluctant now to attempt any further attack upon him, Terror's face warped into a shadowy, freakish grin.

“What happened? What happened to all of that will to slay me?” The soldiers winced at the voice of the monster, stepping back slowly, shaking. They had faced fear, the fear of dying, the fear of knowing that whatever battle they were in could be their last... But they had never faced this. The certainty of their demise. “Where are you going?” The soldiers stepped back again, using all of their focus to maintain their balance upon the wall as their vision became blurred and their heart rates increased. “Where is your bravery... Where is your courage... Where is your sense of chivalry?”

Fear finally claimed a soldier entirely and his motor skills switched to auto-pilot, his legs suddenly moving on their own. He turned and began to run, but suddenly stopped before the same monster that had just been behind him.

“No. There is no escape.”

The cries of agony and horror could be heard echoing through the halls of the Crystal Castle as Cadance stood in her brilliant diamond and dragonscale armor. Sweat poured from her body as she stood watching the door, her armor rattling as her body resonated with the fear that coursed through her. Gritting her teeth in an attempt to stop her chattering jaw, Cadance stood at the ready for whatever would burst through the door to her throne room.

Suddenly, a noise. Footsteps? Cadance focused, her sight zeroing in on the door, her horn glowing with magic ready to open fire on the intruder. The sound continued. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump... It was as if the intruder was running at full-speed down the hallway leading to the room... No... Those weren't footsteps... Those were the sporadic beats of her own heart.

“Do you fear me, Cadance?” A sinister voice from behind her petrified her in her place as Cadance's blood suddenly ran cold. Her pupils the size of grains of sand, she slowly looked to each side, witnessing the flowing shadow emanating from behind her. She then turned her gaze, trembling to the point that her armor sounded as though it would break, over her shoulder to bare witness to the creature that had appeared behind her and defeated all of her guards.

Nothing. Nothing was there but her throne and the tapestries behind it on the quartz walls. Somewhat relieved of the fear she had felt, Cadance breathed heavily and smiled before turning back around and being met by a tall, shadowy form. Her scream suddenly muffled by a wave of shadow that sent her screeching backwards across the floor, Cadance suddenly brought herself out of some of the fear she felt, standing defiantly against the being before her.

“What do you want?” She shouted with a quivering voice, “Why have you done this to my kingdom, why have you harmed my people?”

“Your power, Cadance. I want your power. A simple answer, don't you agree? And a simple price to pay for keeping your sanity.”

“My sanity?” Cadance became filled with anger that overpowered some more of her fear, “You stand there after harming so many of my friends and then say that I can keep my sanity if I give you my power? Are you stupid?”

“Harsh words, princess. Bear this in mind, though: If your sanity is not in tact after what little damage I've done thus far, then what awaits you may mean your end.”

“There's nothing more you can do to me that would make me any more furious or sad! Nothing!”

“I and two other fools like yourself beg to differ.” Extending a claw and withdrawing two orbs from his shroud, Terror allowed the two familiar ponies to float between him and Cadance, watching with pleasure as her eyes widened in surprise. “So you do recognize them... Oh, of course you do. How could you forget the King that made a mockery of your power... Or the stallion you love?”

“I'll destroy you!” Filled with fury and a will to avenge her beloved that had been reduced to nothing more than a shivering mass of fear, Cadance tore through the air with her horn ablaze, her aim focused towards cleaving the abominable specter in two. Batted away by the back of Terror's claw, Cadance slammed against the floor harshly and slid across the room before jumping back up and rushing back towards him, her eyes overflowing with tears of rage. “You'll pay for this!”

“Your resistance is amusing.” A second swipe from Terror sent three slashes clean through Cadance's armor and cut her front left leg, causing her to flinch and pause for a second and allowing Terror to bat her away with a spinning backhand with his other talon. “Do you honestly believe that you can defeat me, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? You, who strive for harmony. You, who are the Master of Love. You, who are the upholder of tenderness... You are not bred for war, Cadance...”

The pony spread her wings and flew forth in fury with another roar, this time having her face caught in Terror's claw. “...And even the horror of war yields to Terror.” Two glowing eyes pierced into Cadance's psyche, pausing her struggle.

Opening her eyes, Cadance found herself in Canterlot. However, she found herself walking, not in control of her own movements. Her mind moved quickly, trying to figure out what was happening, but her body moved on its own as she walked down the main road of Canterlot.

Something seemed off, though. As Cadance witnessed herself look around, she could see that every pony in the city seemed to be glaring at her or moving away. Ponies nearby argued and fought, something of a pandemonium compared to her normal world where she would fix things. And she did try to fix the fighting, but her body could not move. Witnessing hatred with no power to absolve it hurt her deeply as she could not force herself to turn and lift a hoof to help.

She watched herself continue to the castle, entering and immediately being spotted by Celestia.

“How dare you enter my castle.”

“Aunt Celestia, I-”

“Shut your mouth. Leave.” Cadance became shocked at her aunt's bitterness.

“But...”

“I told you to stop talking!” Celestia's eyes glowed bright golden as an aura overcame her and enveloped her as she slowly rose up from the floor. “You have no right to be here, you filth! Leave my presence and leave my lands! You are not welcome here!”

Crying, uncertain if it was her or her body causing the tears, Cadance felt herself turn and run out the door with sobs. As she ran, Luna passed by her, snarling and grimacing at her very appearance. She continued to flee from Celestia through the city, ponies all around her spouting hateful remarks and throwing random objects at her until she finally reached the border of the city and left.

She traveled to Ponyville, thinking that Twilight and her friends would help her. She was greeted by ponies heading inside with frowns and shutters closing on windows as she passed by buildings. She reached the library where she stepped inside, Twilight standing in the middle with her friends.

“What do you want?” The mulberry unicorn growled.

“Twilight, I'm not happy... Please, will you help me?”

“And why would I ever do that?”

“Twilight, please? Don't you remember?” Cadance watched herself beginning a familiar dance, “Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake! Clap your hooves and-”

“Stop. Get out.”

“What? But Twilight, please, I-!”

“She said 'get out.'” Spike stood up angrily.

“Yeah, why would she want to help you anyway?” A cyan pegasus flew up to her and shoved her backwards towards the door.

“Please... Applejack-”

“Ah'm not gonna defend ya. You know that perfectly well.”

“Rarity?”

“Hmph!” The white unicorn raised her head and looked away.

“Please... Pinkie... Pinkie Pie... Won't you?”

“As if! I wouldn't help you even if you paid me with all the cupcakes in the world!”

“But... But I'm your friend, aren't I?”

“You're no friend of mine!” The pink pony shouted back.

“Nor mine.”

“Mine neither.”

“Nope.”

“Never.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Just get out, Cadance.” Twilight ended the train of hate, “Nopony wants you here. Nopony likes you. Just leave and don't come back.”

The harshness in Twilight's words mixed with her glare forced more tears from Cadance's eyes as she turned and ran out the door. As she ran, she noticed through her blurred vision a white stallion with a silver mane and tail standing with not a disgusted look, but a surprised one as she ran by... Odd...

Unable to think straight and think of the anomaly, Cadance continued to be filled with sorrow as she watched herself run, watching the world, only for a split second, seem to flicker. She could hear a voice behind her, though only faint... What did it say? It was obviously a male voice... “Wait?” Is that what it said..?

Regardless, Cadance could not turn herself, nor could she stop the next scene. A skip seemed to occur from the time she closed her eyes to the time she opened them again, though she thought it to occur within nothing more than a second. She stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the world around Ponyville and Canterlot.

“If everyone hates me...” She heard herself start through tears of rage, “...Then I'll give them a reason to do so!”

She watched, unable to stop the horror, as she witnessed herself destroying Ponyville, Canterlot, and even the Crystal Empire. Ponies ran for their lives, but she let none escape. Her mane flowing a dyed red and her laughter evil and terrifying, Cadance decimated all who stood in her path... Even Twilight, Celestia, and Shining Armor. Watching them fall before her drove her sadness over the edge. She could no longer cry, for she had run dry of tears. She instead curled up and moaned sadly.

“No... No, please... Don't hate me...” Drooling and crying, her eyes now blank and looking out to nothing, Cadance dangled from Terror's claw with all resistance drained from her and replaced with trembling despair.

“Five seconds. Better than I had expected. But you are still nothing special.” Terror dropped the Alicorn on the floor and held his talon out, allowing the tendrils to shoot forth and claim Cadance's color and cutie mark. He then encased her within an orb and drew the three orbs back under his cloak before turning and walking to the highest tower of the Castle to make his decree to his new underlings.

Upon his arrival at the top of the tower, he stepped out onto the balcony, his corporeal cloak flaring wildly in the winds of the arctic north. He then took in a deep breath, excited to try out the voice-amplification magic of Alicorns, and allowed his words to ring out in a decree augmented by black, rose, and now blue magic.

“My little crystal ponies... I am afraid that your leader has met an unfortunate turn of events...” Ponies opened their doors and stepped out into the snowfall, gazing up in confusion and shock at the shade on the Princess' balcony. “From here on out, I shall be your resident ruler.” The chatter of the questioning masses below drew a smile upon Terror's face. “And unless you wish to end up like this-” Terror withdrew the orbs of Shining Armor and Cadance from his cloak, hovering them in front of him for the ponies to see, hearing their shocked reactions echo through the city, “-Then you will comply to my demands and my laws. But do not worry your little heads, my loyal subjects...” Terror reclaimed the orbs with his cloak and smiled a large, toothy grin, “Soon, you will have more than enough like you to share your despair. Soon, all of the citizens of Equestria shall be subjects of mine, just as you are now. No one will make me a liar. This, I assure you.”

Leaving the ponies outside to talk and share their shocked concerns with each other, Terror turned and walked back into the Crystal Castle – his castle – with a smile. However, soon after he entered, he remembered the anomaly in the vision he forced upon Cadance. The anomaly that took the form of a white unicorn stallion with flame-striped marks on his face, a necklace, and silver hair. That was not a pony generated for the vision, nor were his attempts at stopping Cadance as she fled from Twilight. That was not a pony of Cadance's memory...

“It seems I am not the only user of Psi in this world.” Terror walked to his new throne and sat down within it. Resting his face upon his hand, he looked out blankly. “Who was that pony who was able to enter my telepathy...”

He shrugged away the thought. It did not matter. One lone being similar to himself would never pose a threat to him at this point, and he would be even less of a non-existent bother once the next phase of Terror's plan was complete.

“Chrysalis... I await your arrival here...”

Around the Crystal Empire, a new shield generated. A black, rose, and blue shield that coated the entirety of the land in a shadow and blocked the snow once more. The aura of Cadance's love power would be the bait, this much Terror knew, and the shape shifting magic of the Changelings would be his prize once the Queen of their kind made her appearance at his doorstep.

Outside the castle, a scribe furiously wrote everything he heard upon a parchment and used his magic to teleport the message to Celestia. At this point, with his Princess and Prince gone, he knew that only the ruler of Equestria herself, or perhaps the Elements of Harmony, could stand a chance at saving the world.

Elsewhere, within the border of a swampy forest, Brimstone opened his eyes and shook his head.

“Gah! Man, I was able to trace it that time and react but still lost it! Whoever's using all of that Psi used a lot of energy that time...” Since he had gotten closer, Brimstone had been able to tap into the Psi and determine that it was telepathic, so he was able to enter it through the Infinity as well, but the source was still much too far away for him to do anything useful within the exchange.

“That girl seemed really upset...” Brimstone said to himself as he stood up, “If I was closer, I would have been able to figure out why... Oh well.”

The white unicorn continued his walk towards the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.

Chapter Ten - Convergence

CHAPTER 10 - CONVERGENCE

“To the controller of the light of day, Princess Celestia, the monarch of the night, Princess Luna, the lord of pandemonium, Discord, and the wielders of the Elements of Harmony; The Crystal Empire hereby cries out for you to come to our defense in this solemn hour. Our leaders, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and the Commander of the Crystal Army, Shining Armor have both been defeated in battle and taken captive by a shadowy being who decimated the entirety of our defending army. The Crystal Heart has been shattered under his power, the barrier around the lands now runs a virulent mixture of black, blue, and red. I beg to you all to send help immediately.” - Rich Text, Crystal Castle Scribe

Pausing in shock after she finished reading the scroll aloud, Twilight Sparkle suddenly became overcome with grief.

“My brother and Cadance are...”

“Now, nothing's certain yet.” Applejack quickly placed an assuring hoof over Twilight's shoulder, “He just said they were taken captive. Nothin' more. They could be just fine.”

“I sure hope so...”

The group gathered quietly around and sat for a few moments before Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

“Well,” She said with frustration filling her voice, “When are we gonna go kick this guy's butt?”

“Hold on, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity spoke up, “You should at least be kind enough to give Twilight a minute to breathe.”

“No,” Twilight stood up, “She's right. We need to get a move-on. The quicker we take this guy down, the quicker we save my brother and Cadance.”

“So what's the plan?” The rainbow pegasus flew up into the air next to Twilight and hovered anxiously over her, fire in her voice, “We just get the Elements and go Medusa on him, right?”

“I don't think that it's going to be that simple,” Twilight replied, “He shattered the Crystal Heart. That item was practically as powerful as the Elements of Harmony. If this being could overcome that magic, then we can't be so sure that he won't defeat ours as well.”

“Like he'd be able to do that! Discord couldn't even handle them!”

“I know, Rainbow, but whoever this is, he obviously sounds like he has much more knowledge on how to combat powerful artificial magic. He might be capable of things that Discord is not.”

“Then what are we gonna do?”

Twilight thought for a moment. Then looked around at the group and spoke.

“We'll head to Canterlot. We'll speak to the Princesses and Discord directly on the situation and make plans to take back the Empire. We'll need to figure out a way through that barrier, though.”

Twilight continued to gather ideas from the group. Outside, Fluttershy struggled to move the chicken coop back into place. Whereas Rainbow Dash had been able to move the thing with ease, the weaker yellow mare had much more of an issue in manipulating the awkward and heavy object.

“Oh...” She groaned, “I wish she had put it down closer to the pen...” Fluttershy got in front of the coop and pushed with her front legs as hard as she could, the coop moving a few inches before she could not move it further. She sighed and looked around at the chickens. “Don't worry, I'll get it back there sooner or later. I might have to get somepony to help me with it when they finish fixing other things around town.”

She flew around to the back of the coop and attempted to pull by flying backwards with her wings. She managed to move it about a foot before stopping again. She landed on the ground with a thud, her wings exhausted, and looked over her shoulder at the pen that was about twenty feet away before sighing again.

“Excuse me.” An unfamiliar voice from behind caused Fluttershy to jump and dart around to the other side of the coop. Peeking back over, the yellow Pegasus was met by a surprised stare from a silver-haired, white-maned unicorn stallion. She lifted her head slightly over the top of the coop to get a better look at him, taking note of his necklace and the peculiar black flame stripes on his face. “Oh,” the stallion said, “I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you like that!”

“It's... It's fine...” Fluttershy shrunk slightly behind the coop. The chickens around the coop looked at the white stallion curiously before slowly making their way towards him and gathering around him in a circle. Paying it no mind, the stallion continued to direct his speaking towards Fluttershy.

“I'm sorry to intrude upon your uh...” He looked around at the chickens, “Farm, here. But you see, I have a bit of a problem and was hoping that maybe you could help me out?”

“Oh... Okay...” Fluttershy looked up from the chickens, back at the stallion's blue eyes.

“Ah, wonderful. You see, I... Uh... You don't have to keep hiding behind that coop, you know.” At this, Fluttershy let out a slight whimper and shrunk back behind the coop. The stallion smiled gently. “I'm not going to do anything bad, I promise you.” The stallion sat down calmly on the grass and looked at Fluttershy with a warm visage. “I'm not a bad guy, I'm just a bit lost.”

“Okay...” Fluttershy moved out from behind the coop slowly and fearful of the stallion before her who seemed to emanate an odd feeling. Not a bad one, not sinister or scary like she had felt before the storm hit earlier, but one that seemed... Off in comparison to other ponies that she had met. That was another question she had in her mind: Who was this pony? She had never seen a pony like this before – a unicorn with a masculine build, a male pony with such lengthy hair, a pony with silver hair other than Lyra... And never had she seen a pony with no other stripes but two in the shape of flames on their face.

“I like your chickens,” the stallion spoke up, snapping Fluttershy out of her thought and stopping her slow steps out from behind the coop, “There were lots of chickens back where I came from. Never this friendly, though.”

“Oh... Yes,” Fluttershy replied with a small smile, “I raised them from eggs, so I suppose I've worn off on them a little...”

“Oh? You like taking care of animals?” Fluttershy nodded her head with a smile at this, “That's very nice of you. I love animals too. They tend to not have a problem with me, either.”

“That's neat. Most ponies have a tendency to scare the poor things away.”

“Haha, yes, I've noticed that others tend to be frightening to the animals. I always thought of myself as something of an oddity when it came to that. The animals never really minded my presence.” The stallion looked back at Fluttershy with a smile, “I'm Brimstone, by the way.”

“I'm Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy!” Another voice called out from the cottage. The group within began to exit the cottage, filing out quickly, ready to inform the yellow pegasus of their plan to head to Canterlot. “Fluttershy, where did you go-” Rainbow Dash looked out at the pen, the coop now moved back into place with an abundance of animals gathered around an unfamiliar pony in the middle of the pen.

“Huh?” Applejack began as she saw the sight, “Who's that? Never seen him around here before.”

In the pen, Brimstone laughed and played with a large sum of animals as Fluttershy led more of them over to him.

“...And this one's Angel, my bunny.” Fluttershy flew over with a white rabbit in her embrace, the critter looking a bit displeased as she sat him down. He looked up at the white stallion quizzically.

“Well hello, Angel.” Brimstone knelt down before the rabbit with a smile as a blue bird landed on his head. The rabbit, seeming to be pleased by just the stallion's presence, hopped over to the white unicorn and took his hoof into his hand, shaking it with a smile.

“Oh! Wow, you must really have an affinity for animals. I've never seen Angel open up to anyone so fast.”

“I've never seen a rabbit shake my hand, either.”

“Your what?”

“Uh, nothing.” Brimstone looked over and noticed a group of 4 ponies and a wingless dragon. “Huh? Are they friends of yours?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy flew over to the group and hovered in front of them. “Everyone, come over here, this is Brimstone.”

“Who?” Twilight asked as the group stood in place.

“Brimstone! I just met him. He said he was lost and randomly showed up here. He's a nice pony. He even gets along with Angel!” The group looked past Fluttershy at the white stallion, who was lying on his back and tossing the bunny in the air and catching him playfully, all of the animals seeming to laugh with him happily as he did so.

“Uh... Are you sure?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at the sight.

“What do you mean?”

“That rabbit probably only likes him because they're both jerks.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at her yellow friend as she drifted backwards.

“No! He's actually a very kind pony!” Fluttershy, taken aback by Rainbow Dash's statement, looked over at Twilight, who seemed to have been thinking curiously the entire time. “You don't think he looks mean, do you?”

“It seems a little convenient...” Twilight began, rubbing her chin with her hoof, “It's a bit suspicious...”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“Think about it... First the storm happens that blows away half of Ponyville, then we get those letters about the Crystal Empire, and then this mysterious guy shows up...”

“She does have a point, Fluttershy.” Spike's voice drew the group's attention before Applejack made an observation.

“The critters sure do seem to like him. Animals tend to have a natural way of judgin' ponies for who they are. Ah think that ah might be leanin' towards their judgment on this one.” As Applejack finished saying this, Brimstone caught Angel again, the rabbit laughing a squeaky giggle in his embrace, and looked over at the group with a wave and smile. “He does seem like a right-nice feller.”

“Even so... I'd keep an eye on him.” Twilight continued her suspicious statement, “We don't know anything about him yet. We should still probably talk to him a bit, though.”

As Fluttershy turned to fly back to him, Twilight stopped her.

“Hang on, Fluttershy. You need to stay back for a moment and read these.” She passed over two scrolls to the yellow pegasus before the group moved on to the pen, Fluttershy sitting down on the grass to read.

As they neared the pen, Rainbow Dash shot out ahead and hovered over the white unicorn.

“So, 'Brimstone,' if that's what your name actually is... Who are you working for?” She grabbed the unicorn by the amulet around his neck and pulled him up, coming eye-to-eye with his shocked sight. “Some hired thugs? Are you a mercenary? An assassin? Maybe you're just a diversion for the guy screwing things up up north? That's it, isn't it! You just want us to not aid the Crystal Empire, well I've got news for you, mister, that ain't gonna-”

“Can you let go of my necklace, please?” Brimstone looked down at the firm hold on his necklace with a look of pure displeasure. “You can grab my hair or something.. I just don't like people touching my necklace.”

“Oh, really?” Rainbow Dash tightened her grip, “Now I'm really suspicious. And what's a 'people?'”

“Please let go.”

“And why should I?”

Brimstone's eyes began to shine slightly before a voice behind Rainbow Dash made her lose her grip and drop him on the ground.

“Leave the guy alone! We don't even know if he did anything!” Twilight's irked voice calmed slightly before she walked over to Brimstone, who sat on the ground with a crowd of animals gathering around him. “I'm sorry,” she began, “We're all just a little bit on-edge right now. I'm Twilight Sparkle, the librarian here in Ponyville. You've already met Fluttershy, but these are hers and my friends, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.” Brimstone smiled at the mulberry unicorn and stood up on all fours. “Fluttershy already told you who I was.”

“Huh? You heard that from way over here?”

“Oh, yeah, I did. I have good hearing.”

Twilight looked at Brimstone in slight confusion. They had been almost whispering to each other with how quiet they were talking, and this stallion heard that from over 40 feet away?

“Yes, well, I'm glad to see a new face here in Ponyville. It's always nice to see someone with an affinity for animals like Fluttershy.”

“Oh, yes. I love animals. Always have.”

“Right, well I'm sorry to say that we cannot stay here for long. There is important business that my friends and I need to tend to, so please feel free to enjoy your stay in the town.”

“Oh, wait!”

“Yes?”

“I got side-tracked by all of these animals. I actually wanted to ask a question.”

“Ask away.”

“Okay, don't laugh at me, here... Is there a... Um... Portal anywhere near here?”

“Huh? Why do you need one?”

“Oh, so there is? Okay good.” Brimstone breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected her to look at him crazy, but figured that there might be some hope since everything in the land seemed to be somewhat magical and inexplicable anyway. “I need it to get somewhere. Somewhere... far away.”

“Uh huh... Exactly how far?”

“Um...” Brimstone rubbed his head for a moment, “Another universe?” Twilight looked at him dumbfoundedly and then snickered before bursting into laughter. “I guess that one's a 'no' then.”

“That's funny, Brimstone. There's no such thing as inter-universal travel. I should know, I've read all of the theories and attempts to perform it. But hey, it's nice to know that I'm not the only pony that knows about it.”

“Okay, then is there anyone who can help me find or make one?”

“You're interesting, you know that?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow, “I think the Princess would like to meet you.”

“What?”

“Uh... Twilight...” Applejack called the unicorn over to whisper something, but Twilight knew it wouldn't work since Brimstone's hearing was so acute.

“Um... One moment, please.” She nodded to Brimstone before turning around and walking to Applejack, creating a raspberry-tinted orb around the group. Brimstone looked at the barrier in confusion, walking up to it and examining it as the group inside chatted.

“Whadya think you're doin' invitin' him to see the Princess?”

“Look, as soon as he mentioned needing a portal, I knew he was up to something. He has to be up to something. Just look at him!” Twilight gestured down to the white unicorn as he tapped the barrier at the ground curiously, “He's trying to eavesdrop on us even right now. He's obviously a spy or something. I had my doubts before, but he's too good to be normal. The Princess will definitely want to see him. She'll know what to do.”

“Alright. Ah hope you know what yer doin'.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash interjected, “'Cause he certainly doesn't sit right with me.”

Twilight dissipated the barrier and Brimstone jumped back.

“We would like it very much if you came with us to Canterlot to see Princess Celestia. She might be able to help you.”

“Oh? Good. I could really use some.”

“I'm sure you could.” The group turned as Fluttershy approached them with the scrolls re-rolled.

“I just read the letters. Oh, it's terrible, what are we going to-” Dash flew behind Fluttershy and covered Fluttershy's mouth quickly before she could speak anymore.

“Um... is something wrong?” Brimstone looked up at Fluttershy with some concern.

“No, no!” Twilight frantically gestured to get Brimstone's attention, “Nothing's wrong, we just need to get a move-on to Canterlot before nightfall.”

“It's not even noon, though.”

“Well.. We still have to get Pinkie Pie! I'm sure she'll love to meet you as well. We have to get her and get on the train to Canterlot. It's going to be quite a trip! Need to go! Let's go!”

“Um... Alright...” Brimstone curiously followed the five ponies and dragon down the road towards Ponyville.

Chapter Eleven - Succubus

CHAPTER 11 – SUCCUBUS

“M-m-m-more tea, Lord Terror?” A crystal stallion butler, formerly a servant under Cadance and Shining Armor, struggled to hold up a tray on his back as he shook violently in fear before the massive shadow on the throne.

“Hmmmm... Yes, I shall partake.” Terror took the kettle of tea from the tray and opened his shadowy mouth, downing the boiling pot instantly. This proved to be too much for the pony to witness, for he fainted. Terror watched the pony collapse on the floor clumsily and spill tea across the floor, then let out a booming laugh as he set the kettle down.

Some time passed, about an hour or so. Terror rested his head against his hand, listening to the nearby clock as each tick seemed to get louder and louder. Tapping his fingers in unison to the ticking, Terror found some alleviation to his boredom, though this did not last long. He grunted and stood up.

“Do you think maybe I failed to power my barrier with enough of Cadance's magic?” Terror queried a guard nearby as he walked past. The injured guard shook fearfully, attempting to hold his statuesque, attentive position as Terror neared him. The shadow stopped in front of him and looked down upon him, the guard sweating profusely. “Well?” The guard didn't respond. Not verbally, anyway. He simply collapsed on the floor in unconsciousness. Terror looked around at the other guards lining the walls. “What about you?” Silence responded once more.

“I ask... But I should be aware already that none of you will disagree with me.” The shadow turned and walked down the hall and out of the castle. Stepping into the snow-covered land was enough to instantly draw the attention of all of the crystal ponies who were outside at the time. The shadow stepped slowly across the stone as he walked the length of the main road. He looked to each side of him and began to think up random ideas before a hollow slam against the barrier was heard above.

Looking up, Terror caught the sight of shadows outside of the barrier slamming into the tri-colored dome. Terror smiled, pleased that his plan had finally worked. Raising his hand up to the air, the specter released a tri-colored pulse into the air that caused the barrier to suddenly shudder and fail, opening up to the outside world. The snow was absent this time, no longer present due to the clouds having moved on, but in its place was a swarm of insect-like ponies that swooped down to the ground all around the Crystal Empire, landing harshly on the ground and surrounding the terrified crystal ponies. As an army built up before Terror, a larger changeling slammed to the ground before him on all fours, raising her head and peering at him from under tatty cerulean hair. She adjusted her dark crown and sneered at the shade.

“How foolish of you to open your barrier to me.”

“How foolish of you to enter.”

“Funny. I must commend you, though. To have taken care of Shining and that wretched Cadance, you must be quite talented.”

“You flatter me.”

“Oh, but it's so true. You managed to not only get rid of them, but you use their powers and their castle for your own. How devilish. I have an offer to make to you. You obviously have a large sum of power. Join me, join my forces and serve as my right hoof. I will make sure you become even more powerful.”

“That's quite an interesting proposition from someone that fell to a power as pathetic as love. You, make me stronger? Funny.”

“Watch your tongue, pleb! I will state this ultimatum only once more. Join me or your newly-conquered land will be sucked dry of the love you've coated it in. I promise this.”

“No. But I will give you this proposition: Join me, surrender your powers to me, and I shall be kind to you.”

“How ridiculous. And if I should resist?”

“I'm certain you know the answer to that.”

“I've seen through my scrying pool just what you're capable of, shadow. Your scare-tactics will not work on me. I've lived in torment all my life. There is not a single thing you can do that will mentally harm me at this point.”

“Very well, then. Physical it is.”

“Fool!” Chrysalis lunged forth at the shadow, “I will crush you under my hoof!”

Terror dodged to the side of a kick, jumped over a spinning slash from the Queen's horn, and burst into a cloud of smoke before reappearing a few feet away.

“Running, coward?”

“I suppose you could call it that.”

“Worthless.” Chrysalis looked back at her army. “Attack, my changelings! Claim their love and this empire!”

“I'm afraid I cannot allow you to do that to my property, Chrysalis.”

“And you think that you can stop me? Get him!” A mass of changelings surged forth at Terror and enveloped him, latching on and digging their fangs into his form. “How weak. You didn't even try to move. You know just how powerless you are against me, don't you?”

The Queen scowled at Terror as he began laughing from under the changeling coating.

“Making your lackeys fight for you is just as bad, you roach. Do you honestly think that your underlings could pose a threat to me?”

“I told you to watch your tongue!” The Queen rushed forth again, but was blown back with the changelings as Terror released a rose-tinted shockwave. Chrysalis sat up in surprise. “You... You can use Shining Armor's power on your own? How?”

“Oh? Now that is simply hilarious. You thought I was forcing him to use his powers?” Terror began laughing hysterically. “How naïve of you, Chrysalis! To think that I would risk having a pony turn their powers against me... Just how much of me did you even spy upon through that scrying pool of yours?”

“I witnessed you crush Cadance's mind and that was all I needed to see to know how to defeat you!” The Queen burst forth once more and was swatted away by a backhand from Terror.

“Oh? So you failed to see just what kind of power I had stolen beforehand?”

“You had stolen powers already?” The insectoid queen sat up and peered at Terror. The shadow smiled.

“Feast your eyes, my Queen, upon these fine delicacies...” Terror withdrew the three orbs from his shroud containing the trembling forms of Shining Armor, Cadance, and Sombra. “A king, a prince, and even an Alicorn princess... All of their powers are mine. And soon, so shall yours.”

The Queen growled and stood up, then began laughing.

“Nice try, shadow. Your intimidation will not work on me. Look around you. I've already won in the short time we've spoken.” Terror looked around at his surroundings.

Homes burned, buildings were collapsed and destroyed, the roads shattered and the crystals cracked. Crystal ponies laid about randomly in the wreckage or were beaten by changelings who took on the forms of their prey. All the while as Terror took in the sight, the Queen laughed.

“All that you worked so hard for is destroyed! Everything is gone now, you worthless shadow! And it will all end with your demise!” The Queen stopped her laughter as Terror began to chuckle, then became confused as his chuckle grew into a maniacal laughter. “Just what do you think about this is so funny? Your Empire is destroyed!”

“Who cares about a few buildings and ponies? I DON'T BREAK.” Terror disappeared and reappeared before Chrysalis, his claw reaching out before she could react and grasping her by the face, lifting her into the air as she struggled furiously to escape.

“Release me!”

“I'll tell you something, though, Queen Chrysalis...” Terror held the Queen in his talon as dozens of Changelings latched onto his form in an attempt to rescue their monarch, “Your exoskeleton might make you look tough on the outside and your words might make you sound tough within... But I know all too well that you are nothing more than a big bluffer.” Terror's red eyes glowed intensely as his gaze pierced into Chrysalis' mind.

The Queen awoke within a gray orb. She glanced to both sides and noticed that she was aligned with the orbs containing Shining Armor, Cadance, and King Sombra. She attempted to stand up and free herself, but the orb proved to be quite impenetrable. She then looked out at her surroundings. What she saw shocked her.

“What is this!” Her voice echoed out through the orb and across the empire where the bodies of changelings polluted the city. Smashed chitin and green slime coated the stone walkways of the Crystal Empire. The sight was too much for Chrysalis to take. She turned away and bit down on her tongue in an attempt to wake herself from the nightmare... But no awakening blessed her.

“Finally awake?” A familiar voice near her caused her to turn and look back upon the towering figure of Terror.

“What is this? What have you done to my children?”

“It seems that you did not lie. My powers truly had no affect on your mind. You are the first to not be affected. Not that you resisted, but it was simply impossible to infiltrate that bug brain of yours.”

“Let me out of here!” Chrysalis slammed about in the orb, causing no affect.

“You'll find escape from that orb to be quite impossible. I suggest you stop struggling. Take in the sight. Magnificent, isn't it?” Chrysalis stopped and peered over her shoulder at the abominable sight of many of her species smashed and killed in multiple ways all throughout the city. She quickly turned back around and slammed against her prison violently in an attempt to attack Terror in any way she could. “I told you to STOP STRUGGLING!”

The prison suddenly shrunk and became something of a coating on the outside of Chrysalis' body, hindering her movement entirely and changing her view to the city that she did not wish to see. Her attempts at closing her eyes became impossible as well, the coating holding her eyelids open.

“It's a shame, really. Your brain is so entirely odd that I could not take the easy route with you. Up until this point things had been simple: Infiltrate their mind, give them a lucid vision of their worst fear, wait for their psyche to collapse, put the dream in auto-pilot, then strip them of their powers and imprison them. But you, heh, you just couldn't let me claim you so simply. Let's go for a walk.”

The Queen, unable to talk or resist, felt herself lift off of the ground with the orbs next to her and hover next to Terror as they traveled down the steps of the Crystal Castle and into the road. She was turned forcefully and made to view the sight of all of her kind maimed and crushed violently as the train of orbs moved through the city.

“You claimed my property, I claim yours. Equivalent exchange. Where I come from, it's a law of nature. I think it only fair to be a law of your nature too, yes? Back to what I was saying before, you just could not allow me to do things simply with you. I said I would do things physically, and here we are.”

Terror stopped and looked up at a signpost, then turned Chrysalis to gaze upon the object. The Queen felt tears well up in her eyes at the sight: The entire pole upon which the post was made had been impaled through some twenty Changelings and then set back into place. Unable to let her tears escape her eyes due to the form-fitting barrier, Chrysalis begged in her mind for the nightmare to end.

“Do you like that one, Chrysalis? Rather artistic, don't you think? I call it: 'You Should Have Listened to Me.' Quite a marvelous display. Anyway, as I was saying before, I did things physically. You can tell by all of this, I'm sure-” Terror turned Chrysalis as they continued walking, forcing her to look upon the crushed and destroyed corpses of her precious subjects, “-That I did not lie. I couldn't collapse your mind with a dream...” Terror turned and raised Chrysalis to eye-level with him, forcing her to look into his petrifying eyes, “...So I just made your worst nightmare a reality.”

“Yours was rather typical, even though you thought yourself to be so auspicious in comparison to others.” The shadow continued as he dragged the orbs and Chrysalis behind him, “You're nothing special. You're just another foolish pony who thinks that they can stop anything with their foolish magic. You think that you can claim things for yourself with your unnatural power. Then when a reality such as myself enters the scene, you have no one and nothing to protect you.” Terror turned and knelt down to Chrysalis, “Nothing.” He stood back up and turned, pulling the chain behind him.

“But,” he continued, “I must thank you for finally showing up and curing my boredom. I was planning on dividing my empire in two and forcing the two halves to fight to the death.” The group turned the corner of a large building at the end of the main street, forcing Chrysalis to look upon the most horrifying scene she had ever witnessed. “I'm glad that I had your army to use for that instead.”

The field that had been green with patches of melting snow now sat dyed various shades of red and yellowed by the fluid that bore life into the changelings. Bodies and green guts were strewn about randomly, smashed bodies of insects laid all about the field. Chrysalis could not turn her gaze away, nor would Terror turn her.

“All I had to say was 'Fight to the death or your Queen dies,' and they killed each other. They tore themselves apart in hopes that I would free you. They died for you, their Mother, who was powerless to defend them. You are worthless as a leader, and as a parent, you know that?”

Terror slowly turned back and turned Chrysalis to face him. Her visage was still locked in the angry form it had taken during her attempted escape, but tears squeezed between her chitin and the barrier.

“What is this? Do you weep for your fallen children? Are you sad that they are all gone because of your inability to face me?” Terror extended a talon and the barrier dispersed from around Chrysalis, who fell to the ground sobbing.

“You're a monster... A monster...”

“No. I am reality. It's time for this world to wake up from its foolish dream and see the truth. The truth that the world is a sad and vile place. The truth that no world can exist without sacrifice.” Chrysalis, no longer able to retaliate, laid upon the cold, green-stained stone and wept for her offspring. “Was it worth it, Chrysalis? To use your shape-shifting powers to change your brain into a structure that I could not invade? Was it worth it to not have your psyche crushed by a false reality rather than the truth? This is what happens to those who are insolent to me. You are not clever.” Terror extended a talon and allowed the tendrils to envelop Chrysalis and steal her colors and powers for him, then encased her in a gray orb, drawing her back beneath his cloak.

He looked around the city momentarily before scoffing.

“Your kind truly caused a mockery of my recently-earned reward, roach. They're dieing in cages now because of what your bugs did to them. You've caused the downfall of not just your changelings, but the crystal race of ponies as well with your actions today. I hope you're pleased with yourself.” Terror turned and began walking towards the border of the Crystal Empire, releasing a black, green, rose, and blue shockwave behind him that caused the cracked Crystal Castle to shatter and collapse. “You've soiled the Crystal Empire with your filthy green blood. And I don't even have anyone to clean it up. Now I have to exert more energy to travel again. You keep making my day worse, Chrysalis.”

The shadow exited the border of the Crystal Empire and began his trek south-west.

Chapter Twelve - Laughter

CHAPTER 12 – LAUGHTER

“Ah reckon she's gone inside now that the rain's stopped.”

“Well, let us head in and see if the Cakes require any assistance in cleaning up anything while we are here.”

The group entered a large building seeming to be composed of candy and gingerbread, with Brimstone lagging behind as he couldn't help but examine the building curiously.

“Brimstone,” Twilight's voice shouted from inside, “You're welcome to come in as well.”

“Oh! Right.” The white stallion snapped out of his trance-like staring at the candy-emulating walls and entered the building. A middle-aged couple worked furiously to clean up a huge mess inside of the building. Pastries and sweets were splattered and scattered all about the room inside and coated the walls. The windows had been blown out by the hurricane-force winds, so everything inside of the structure was, as expected, misplaced.

“Oh dear!” Rarity exclaimed, “It seems as though Sugercube Corner was hit even harder than my boutique!”

“Yes, we were hit pretty hard by that storm.” The stallion lifted up the brim of his hat and glanced over, pausing from his sweeping to look at the white and silver unicorn. “Who's your friend? I haven't seen him around here before.”

“Oh, this is Brimstone,” Twilight stepped over next to the white unicorn, “We're taking him with us to head to Canterlot. We've actually come here to get Pinkie. Is she upstairs?”

“Playing with the kids. You know Pinkie, even when her house gets wrecked she's as lively as ever.”

“Right. I'll go get her. Everypony else, could you help the cakes out a bit?” The others nodded as Twilight made turned and made her way up the steps. As everypony grabbed something to sweep the floor with, Brimstone continued sitting in place, lost in thought.

I swear I felt some more Psi pass by just a while ago... It was a lot weaker, but I can tell that it's coming from just about the same location north of here... It's telepathic, so maybe whoever was using it had something to do with that mare I saw running away crying? I might be able to get some help getting to the next universe if I get to whoever was using the Psi. That's how the orange man sent me here in the first place anyway, so it makes sense. Hm... But how am I going to do that without making these ponies even more suspicious of me? They're already keeping secrets from me. It's obvious that they don't trust me. The last thing I need right now is them turning on me with that weird power of theirs. Twilight seems to be the most astute with figuring things out like this, so I need to worry about her the most. Maybe if I-

“Brimstone.”

“Huh!” The white stallion looked up from the floor, his concentration broken. Spike was standing in front of him.

“Can you give us some help with this over here? We can't move it.” Spike gestured over to an overturned counter made of some kind of heavy wood and stone that bore a display case filled with destroyed cakes.

“Uh, sure, here.” Brimstone's eyes glowed briefly as he reached a hoof out and made a quick gesture. The stone in the counter complied with him and caused the object to flip back into place. “There you go.” His eyes dimmed and he began to ponder again before realizing that everyone in the room was staring at him with shocked expressions. “What?”

“Your... Your eyes...” Rarity spoke with surprise, “They... They...”

“Alright, Sombra!” Rainbow Dash tackled Brimstone before he could react and pinned him to the ground. The white unicorn lay on his back in confusion as the rainbow-maned pegasus began shouting at him. “Thought you could pull a fast-one on us, huh? Thought you'd sneak by and act nice in that form just so you could get to Celestia and attack her?”

“What?”

“Don't play dumb!”

“I seriously don't understand why you're so angry right now.” The unicorn squirmed slightly under the pegasus, turning his head and wincing as she began shouting in his face again.

“After all you did, do you actually think I'd not be angry?”

“Rainbow Dash, stop yelling at me please.”

“Like you have any right to tell me what to do!”

“Get off of me.”

“Rainbow, ah think you should listen to him-”

“Zip it, Applejack! This guy thinks he can just waltz in here and try to act nice after almost killing us? I don't think so!”

“I'm only going to tell you one more time, get off of me.”

“And just what are you gonna do it I don't?”

Brimstone's eyes suddenly glowed again and Rainbow Dash felt her body move on its own accord, then fly across the room into a pile of flour sacks, landing with a muffled thud and poof of white powder. The silver-maned unicorn stood up and cracked his neck a few times.

“You had me laying in a really awkward position. That wasn't comfortable on my neck.”

“What's going on down here?” Twilight's voice turned everyone's attention.

“Brimstone is actually Sombra!” Rainbow Dash jumped up, covered in flour, pointing dramatically at Brimstone from across the room.

“What?”

“His eyes glowed just like Sombra's when he used magic! And when I called him out on it, he threw me across the room!”

“It's true, Rainbow Dash did get blown into a bunch of flour sacks.” Mrs. Cake spoke up, shaken by the quick turn of events.

“I don't even know who Sombra is,” Brimstone stated, shaking his head in confusion, “How could I possibly be the guy?”

“Why would you throw Rainbow Dash across the room if the accusation did not bother you?” Rarity's condescending tone irked Brimstone slightly, who cut his eyes at the white mare.

“He told Rainbow Dash to get off'a him twice.” Applejack replied quickly, “She didn't listen and he threw her off of him. I'd've done the same myself.”

“That doesn't explain why his horn didn't glow when he used magic, though!” Rainbow Dash's angry tone spouted from across the room again as she shook flour off of her coat.

“Look, it's obvious that you all don't like me since you jumped on the first thing that happened, so I'll just leave. I'm used to it.” Brimstone turned to walk out the door but suddenly felt himself raise into the air, enveloped by a raspberry orb. “What are you doing?” Brimstone asked in shock.

“I don't know if you're innocent or not,” Twilight began, “But all of the events that have happened now plus your arrival plus your behavior require me to take safety measures against you. I'm sorry.”

“Are you nuts?” Brimstone's tone of voice changed to a more angry state, “I didn't even do anything! Let me out of here!”

“You're not making yourself look much more innocent by doing all of that angry struggling. Just be patient, I'll let you out when we get to the Princess. She'll know what to do about you.”

“I already know what to do about me!” Brimstone slammed into the orb with his shoulder, to no avail. “Just let me leave! I'll figure out my problem without your help if it bugs you so much!”

“If you're claustrophobic I can make the bubble bigger, it seems like you might be a bit anxious because of it-”

“I'm anxious because you put me in this thing for no reason!” Brimstone slammed into the bubble again, “This isn't fair in any way at all!”

“I can't help that.”

“Yes you can! What makes you think I'm guilty of anything?”

“I've known my friends longer than I've known you. I'm sorry, but I have to trust them.”

“Yeah? Well can you trust your magic to hold me?”

“Ha!” Spike's voice cut into the conversation, “Twilight's the best at magic. There's no way you could out-do her!”

“Oh?” Brimstone's eyes began to glow, “Well let's see how well your 'magic' works against this!” Releasing a wave of yellow energy, Brimstone witnessed the magic bubble shatter against the force of the Psi shockwave. Falling to the ground and landing on his feet, Brimstone turned and ran out the door before the surprised ponies inside could react. “So long, suckers!”

Rushing to get away before he was caught again, Brimstone darted down the road. Before he made it twenty feet from Sugarcube Corner, however, a large raspberry-tinted wall sprouted up in front of him and he ran head-first into it. Falling on his rear, Brimstone felt himself scooped up into another barrier, a much thicker one, and raised into the air. He slammed his hooves against the barrier as he turned and faced the mulberry unicorn walking towards him.

“Seriously?” He shouted.

“Yes, seriously. Now you've made yourself look even worse. Whoever is running amok up north can break powerful magic barriers too. You just made yourself a prime suspect.”

“Uh, Twilight?” Applejack tapped the unicorn's shoulder.

“What?”

“Ah don't think this guy's the problem. Here.” Applejack handed over a letter that had arrived from Princess Celestia just as Brimstone had ran from the building. Twilight unfurled the letter and began to read.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

“The situation has become more dire. We are in need of immediate assistance. Queen Chrysalis and her army of Changelings arrived mere moments ago with the intention of taking down the newly-conquered empire, but the shadow defeated her and annihilated her army single-handedly. He seems to bear the ability to absorb other powers as well, for he destroyed the Crystal Castle using a combination of King Sombra's, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's, Prince Shining Armor's, and Queen Chrysalis' powers. He is heading southward to the Unicorn Mountain Range. Please prep your defenses at Canterlot and Cloudsdale. Send aid to our Crystal Empire ASAP, I do not know how long the remaining survivors here can last in the cold.” - Rich Text, Crystal Castle Scribe

“It seems as though we've got the wrong culprit.” Rarity stated as she walked up from behind.

“That's what I was trying to tell you all!” Brimstone's muffled voice rang out from the bubble.

“I knew Brimstone couldn't have done something so awful...” Fluttershy spoke up, “The animals knew it too...”

“Brimstone came from the south, and whoever is causing such an issue is heading south from up north...” Twilight thought for a moment, “We'll talk it over with the Princess.”

“Can I come out now?” Brimstone groaned.

“No, you'll stay in there until we get to Canterlot. Don't try to break out, either. I'll just make the bubble even thicker.”

“Fine...”

A sudden burst from the doorway of Sugarcube Corner caught the group's attention as confetti and streamers launched from the opening. A pink pony blasted out of the building with a cart in tow.

“I heard there was somepony new in town so I had to get my welcome wagon!” The pink pony ran up to the bubble housing Brimstone, who looked down at the flippant pony curiously.

“Pinkie, we don't have time for this-”

“Welcome welcome welcome! A fine welcome to you! Welcome welcome welcome, we say 'How do you do?' Welcome welcome welcome, we say 'Hip-hip, hooray!' Welcome welcome welcome to Ponyville to-day~!” The song and dance ended with the wagon sprouting a cannon and launching a mass of goo at the orb, within which Brimstone's eyes widened before the entire orb was nailed by a large sum of cake batter. “Oops!” Pinkie Pie laughed, “I guess I forgot to switch the cake batter and confetti... Again!”

“Ah feel like you do that on purpose...” Applejack narrowed her eyes at the inappropriate gesture of welcoming someone at such a time. Everyone turned to the sound of laughing and clapping from inside the bubble. As the goo slid off slowly, Brimstone could be seen wiping tears from his eyes as he calmed himself from his guffawing.

“I like this one! She's a whole lot more fun that you all, sticking me in bubbles and what-not.” Brimstone crossed his front legs over his chest as he gave a stern look to the group. Pinkie darted over to the bubble and began chatting with Brimstone about random matters as Twilight moaned in irritation.

“This is gonna be a long trip...”

“Hurk!” Spike's cheeks bloated again before he burped out a green flame containing another letter.

“Oh great...” Twilight caught the letter and opened it.

“From the inverted desk of Discord, King of Chaos, Orderer of Disorder, Protector of Pandemonium, Master of Madness...” Twilight skipped about fifty more titles, “...I hereby issue this turn of events – Your God of Chaos, in his first official act of utilizing his powers for good, shall thwart the evil of the being who is wreaking such delightful havoc in the north. Discord shall face him head-on and stop his reign of terror.”

“Oh, man!” Rainbow Dash jumped in excitedly, “This is gonna be over quick! Discord's gonna wreck this guy-” Spike coughed up another letter, which Twilight took and read.

“The light of madness has left my life... I live in the clutch of order... Fold my clothes... File my papers... I have no chaos left.”

“That doesn't sound good at all...”

“What happened?” Rainbow Dash shouted in surprise, “He lost within seconds of starting? What did that guy do?” Spike choked up another letter, holding his stomach in pain at the rapid mailing.

“Geeze!” Twilight caught and began reading the letter.

“Foolish little ponies. Give in to your fears. The doubts you have are real. The nightmares you had last night shall soon become reality. Bare no question in your mind of whom shall fall next, for my next target is your Princess of the Night. Nopony can stop me. Your Elements of Harmony are nothing. You are nothing. Equestria shall soon belong to Terror.”

“We need to get to Canterlot. Now. Let's go.” Twilight shuddered, rolling the letter and tucking it into her saddlebag as the group rushed towards the train station.

Chapter Thirteen - Avatars

CHAPTER 13 – AVATARS

TWELVE MINUTES AFTER THE FALL OF CHRYSALIS

Terror's spectral form drifted along the landscape, the grass beneath his figure dieing as he passed over. At this point, he bared so much magical power that he had a harsh time maintaining it, so it seeped from his being subconsciously. He drifted along, plotting his next course of action.

The Elements of Harmony could still pose a threat at this point. However, they are still barred from their wielders by a great distance. If I get to Canterlot before they do, then I will be able to claim one of the three super powers' abilities for my own, which should be enough to overcome those trinkets. Ah, but there's the matter of Discord. He will make things difficult if I have to face him alongside Celestia and Luna. Father... What would you have me do?

A silver explosion occurred a few feet in front of the shadow, clearing a huge area of dirt and grass. In the epicenter stood a draconic creature with the parts of multiple animals within its form.

“Ah, so I finally meet the one who's caused such wonderful chaos!” Discord stepped down an invisible flight of stairs as Terror simply watched with an irritated stare. “A few pointers, though – You're not supposed to kill the victims. You're supposed to make them an entertainment for you.”

“I'll be sure to keep that in the mind when I do things in the future.”

“Nope, nope, nope!” Discord wagged a finger at Terror, “I'm afraid there will be no chance of redemption. You see, I've made a bit of a pact with my former enemies. I've changed my ways slightly.”

“That's laughable.”

“That's the truth.” Discord took a sitting position, snapping his fingers and causing a throne to appear under him. Reaching into the ground, he pulled a bag of chips from the dirt, and began grabbing handfuls of chocolate milk from it and eating the liquid. “You see,” he continued, “They've taught me something quite valuable. Friendship. You can't get that by doing what you're doing, oh no no no.”

“I am well aware of that.”

“Oh, good! That means I don't have to try describing it to you. Ponies always have trouble following me when I get descriptive. Then again, you're no pony. What are you, anyway?” Discord disappeared and the reappeared, wrapped slightly around Terror with a quizically-cocked eyebrow. “You certainly aren't Equine. You're no griffon. You look more like an ape. Are you a human?” Terror swatted at the draconequus, who disappeared in a pop of brightly-colored magic and reappeared a few feet away on a cloud. “Oh... Looks like I might have hit a nerve with that last suggestion.”

“Do you even know what a human is?”

Discord scoffed, “Of course I know. I'm a member of the most ancient race of Equestria. The Alicorns might have kept knowledge of humans secret from the other races, but I know full-well what a homo-sapien is. I've met them before, even.”

“I'm not a human. Don't you ever call me that.”

“Oh?” Discord snapped his fingers, the world changing around the two, all colors melting away and leaving nothing but white all around. “Come now, Terror, you must have a reason for this.” Discord snapped his fingers again, Terror found himself lying on a cot with Discord sitting in a chair next to him, writing on a clipboard. “Tell me what's on your mind. I promise I'll help you out. I'm an expert with this kind of thing.”

“Do not toy with me, draconequus. I know that you have come here to stop me.”

“Fine, fine. So serious.” Discord snapped his fingers again, the world changing back to where they were, though the ground was above them and they instead stood on the bottom of clouds. “Let's just cut to the chase then, shall we?”

“I honestly had wanted to claim your powers last. I knew you were going to be irritating to me.”

“Such harsh words! And I haven't even done anything yet!”

“Can you please just go back and send Luna after me instead...”

“Now you're hurting my feelings. Am I not good enough for you?” Discord warped his eyes into large, watery globes, pouting his lower lip.

“If you're going to be annoying like this, then perhaps you'll be kind enough to just hand over your powers?”

“Now where's the fun in that? Tell you what: We'll play a game. A game of riddles! Sounds fun, right?”

“No.”

“If I win, you give me all of your powers back. If you win, I'll give you mine. How's that sound? If one of us is caught cheating in any way, we forfeit our powers. If either of us call the other out for cheating but they were not, then the accuser forfeits their powers.”

“Dreadful.”

“That's the spirit! I'll go first.”

“Of course you will.”

“Now then, what is in my pocket?”

“That's not even a riddle, you snake.”

“It's perplexing just like a riddle! I make the rules! Now give me the right answer or I'll take those powers!” Discord dug into his side, creating a pocket for himself. “What's inside of my pocket?”

“Your hand. Give me the powers.”

“Correct! But no. You need to ask me a riddle.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“Give me a riddle or you lose by default! Play the game!”

“I never even agreed to this.”

“You've forced a bunch of ponies to do things that they didn't want to do. Now you have to do the same. Give me a riddle.”

“What has a face and hands but isn't a man?”

“A clock. What walks on all fours in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening?”

“A human. This is stupid. Just give me the powers.”

“Keep playing along, Terror. You wouldn't want to lose your powers, would you?” Discord snapped his fingers and created another throne to sit upon, grabbing a handful of cloud and eating it. “This is getting fun.”

Terror groaned, “My first is in water but not in the sea. My second in ice but never in steam. My third is in mountains but not on the land, my fourth is in fingers but not in a hand. I crush all who stand before me, my existence is truth. All who live fear my passing. What am I?”

Discord stared curiously at Terror for a moment before snapping his fingers and smiling. “Time! Excellent. My turn. I turn polar bears white and will make you cry. I force colts to bathe and fillies to brush their manes. I make celebrities look foolish, and the foolish look like celebrities. I turn pancakes brown and can turn your frown upside-down! What am I?”

A vision of a dieing woman with black hair and blue eyes flashed through Terror's mind. He shuddered slightly and went cold for a moment. Discord noticed this, raising an eyebrow at the sight. Before the draconequus could question him, however, Terror spoke up.

“My mother.”

“Well then... But you still haven't won yet! Next riddle!”

“This is pointless.” Terror composed himself and began speaking, “You know that we are both equal in strength. All you're doing with this petty game is stalling me. What's to keep me from just ignoring you and taking Luna's powers?”

“If you haven't noticed, my silly shadowy friend, we aren't in Equestria anymore. This is a different pocket universe I've created with my magic to make sure you do not escape. You might have powers that belong to quite impressive ponies, but your magic isn't omnipotent like my own.”

“That doesn't explain why I cannot just steal your power and use it to leave.”

“My specific power is to create rules for 'games.' Follow the rules of the game and the game will let you leave. If you refuse to play, you lose and must forfeit what was wagered.”

“I never agreed to it.”

“By giving me a riddle you did.”

“Fine. The music stops, a stick drops, a mare dies. What happened?”

“The mare was a blindfolded tightrope walker. Her cue to step onto the platform was music stopping. The music stopped too soon and-” Discord created a balloon in his hand a squished it until it popped. “What has no beginning, no end, and no middle?”

“A doughnut. What has a ring but no finger?”

“A telephone. What do you call a fish with no eyes?”

“You're a fool if you think I'm going to make that ridiculous noise.”

“Do it or you lose!”

“A fsh. Ugh. If a chicken tells you that all chickens are liars, is it telling the truth?”

“Chickens can't talk! Ha! Good one. Let's see you answer this one: A pony is traveling and comes to a fork in the road with an elderly stallion standing between the two paths. One path leads to a village of truths, the village that the pony wishes to go to. The other route heads to a village of liars. He asks the elderly stallion if he is from the village of truths, the stallion says 'yes.' He then asks if the stallion is telling the truth, and the stallion says 'yes' again. How can he be sure with just one more question?”

“He asks the stallion to take him back to his village. If he's lying, they'll still go to the village of truths. How simple. How about this: If you look, you cannot see me. If you see me, you see nothing else. I can make anything that you want happen, but everything returns to normal later. What am I?”

“Your imagination, of course!”

The two continued to exchange riddles for hours, both getting harder and harder until they both proclaimed themselves to each be at their final riddle.

“Alright,” Discord began, “There are three words in the English language that end in '-gry.' Hungry is one, angry is another. What is the third? Everyone uses the word every day, everyone knows what it means, and everyone knows what it stands for.”

“You gave the answer. 'What.' What is the third.”

“Sharp! Let's see what you can muster then.” At this, Terror grinned slightly.

“I call you out for cheating.” Discord, having been drinking a glass of chocolate milk, spat the liquid out in surprise before leaning forward in his throne with a smile.

“Oh? This should be good. Explain.”

“You have the power to read minds, Discord. Did you think I was unaware of that? The riddle is this: Are you cheating?”

“That's not even a riddle,” Discord stated with a nervous laugh, “You need to give me something-”

“It's perplexing like a riddle.”

Discord destroyed his throne with a snap of his fingers and began sweating, thinking furiously. Rubbing his chin, he stared at Terror with fury, angry that the specter had read him so quickly.

“Careful, Discord. Lie and the game evicts you. Tell the truth and it does the same.”

Discord's sweating increased. No one had ever caught onto him like that. Now his own game world bared down on him with immense pressure.

“Answer quick, Discord. Your powers rely upon it.”

“You... You trickster! You deceived me!”

“You've deceived a bunch of ponies into things that they didn't want to do. It's your turn. Answer the riddle, Discord.”

The draconequus held his head in confusion. If I admit that I was using my power the entire time... He'll win... I'll have caused more problems for Equestria... But if I say I didn't I'll still lose... How did I let myself play into this...

“It seems you are afraid to admit it... You were cheating the entire time. Invading the privacy of my mind. Did you think I wouldn't notice? The old proverb 'Two wrongs don't make a right' is quite true this time. You thought cheating in a game you devised would steal my powers away and save Equestria.”

“Hush.”

“Frustrated, Discord? Sad that you cannot save your friends? Sad that you will not be able to overthrow Twilight Sparkle in the future when she ascends to the throne?”

“No I... Wait... How did you know that?”

“I read your mind, obviously.”

“Then... Then you cheated as well! You cheated and tried to make a fool of me in my own game!”

“No, I did not make a fool of you. But you just did it to yourself.”

The world melted around the two and reverted to its normal state, the two falling to the ground. Discord hit the earth with a clumsy crash, Terror landed on his feet. The lord of chaos stood up and snapped his fingers, but nothing happened.

“What! What happened?”

“You locked away your powers by rule of the game. Now you are powerless to stop me.”

“But... But you cheated and I called you out on it, then you lied! You read my mind and lied about it but then won! How?”

“I did read your mind. Not in the game, though. From the moment you appeared, I infiltrated your mind and found out everything there was to know about your innermost thoughts in just a single second. All I had to do from that point was bait you into becoming frantic so that you wouldn't think properly. It was hard to do, I admit. I'm assuming that since force seemed to not be working, you came to try and outsmart me?”

Terror extended a claw and allowed the tendrils to sprout from his shroud, shooting forth at Discord, who dodged them and flew into the air with his wings.

“I might not have my powers, but you're not going to have them either!”

“Fool. Do you honestly think that you can be disobedient at this point?”

The tendrils shot upward at a much faster pace than Discord could ever hope to fly, tangled around him, and slammed him to the ground. They then wrapped over him entirely before dragging back and draining the color from his body. The lord of chaos laid on the ground in a sluggish, motionless state, staring blankly into space.

“Never before have I met someone that would allow their own power to be their undoing. How absurd. You truly are an avatar of madness.” Terror enveloped Discord in a gray orb and knelt in front of the depressed draconequus. “I will be nice to you, though. You sent out a letter about a minute ago, though it seemed much longer to me due to us being in that fake world, that detailed how you were going to defend Equestria. What say I take a note for you and send out a new letter?” Terror snapped his fingers and a pen and paper appeared before him. He took them into his hands and wrote what Discord mumbled sadly.

“The light of madness has left my life... I live in the clutch of order... Fold my clothes... File my papers... I have no chaos left...”

“Ooh... How delightfully depressing,” Terror stated as he wrote with a fiendish smile, “I will send it to Celestia right away.” Terror snapped his fingers again and the letter disappeared. He then thought for a moment before snapping them again and summoning a new sheet of paper, writing something, and sending it to Celestia again. He then stood up and claimed Discord's orb with his shroud, then changed his direction, walking towards Canterlot.

“Come, Discord. With your power now no longer a concern, I don't have to beat around the bush. I can simply claim what I deserve.” As he walked, the vision of the dieing woman found itself lodged in his mind. He held his head in slight pain as his trek continued.

Chapter Fourteen - Peak

CHAPTER 14 – PEAK

The train to Canterlot had left a few minutes ago. The group of ponies on-board sat anxiously as they traveled across the rails towards the capital of Equestria. Looking out the window, Twilight tried to concentrate and clear her mind of all of the clutter that had filled it, gazing out at the mountains as the rails neared a huge gorge.

“Hey,” A muffled voice could be heard behind her. Twilight continued to focus on staring out, ignoring the voice. “Hey. Hey. Hey Twilight. Hey. Hey. Twilight Sparkle. Hey you. You there. Hey. Hey Twilight! Twilight! Twi-light!” The voice continued to grate against Twilight's mind before she finally turned and shouted.

“What?” She faced a white unicorn trapped in a thick raspberry orb.

“I need to pee,” Brimstone replied, “Do I just go in here or...”

“Are you kidding?”

“No I really need to go.” Brimstone squirmed uncomfortably in the orb, “Does the orb get rid of it?”

“No! Don't pee in the orb!”

“Then you gotta let me out so I can use the bathroom!”

“There aren't any bathrooms on the train. You'll have to wait.”

“I'm gonna be floating in this orb by the time we get to Canterlot.”

“That's gross.”

“I can't help it! When you gotta go, you gotta go!”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“Well, you can let me out of the orb, then I'll go between the cars and pee off the side of the tracks while the train's moving. No one will ever know.”

“That's disgusting!”

“My bladder doesn't care right now.”

“Look, if I let you out, you're just gonna run off.”

“Twilight there's nowhere I can run.” Brimstone pointed out the window. The train was heading over a lengthy gorge. “If I jump off the train then I'm just gonna fall to my death. You don't think I'm stupid, do you? Now come on, I need to pee really bad.”

“Ugh.” Twilight groaned before standing up. “Fine. No funny business, though. Got it?”

“Got it.”

The mulberry unicorn stood up and aimed her horn, the rest of the group watching carefully as Twilight released Brimstone from the orb. The white unicorn fell to the floor and landed on his feet.

“Go pee and come right back. Actually-” Twilight looked over at Rainbow Dash, “-You go with him.”

“What!” The rainbow pegasus cried in shock, “Why do I have to go help the guy pee?”

“If he tries to make a break for it then you're the only one fast enough to catch him.”

“I don't wanna watch him pee!”

“I don't think I want her watching me pee either...” Brimstone added.

“All this talk about pee kinda makes me have to go too...” Spike spoke up.

“Look,” Twilight stopped everyone, “Just go stand by the door or something while he goes. Nothing difficult. Don't look at him.”

“As if I'd do that!”

“I wouldn't be surprised if you did.” Brimstone stated with a snicker.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on. From the moment you met me you haven't been able to keep your hooves off of me.”

“What! No! It's not like I-”

“Go pee!” Twilight roared. Brimstone quickly rushed to the door with Rainbow Dash in tow.

Stepping out between the cars, the white unicorn looked off of the edge of the tracks, feeling the wind blow through his mane. He stared down at the bottom of the gorge below, feeling himself get somewhat dizzy.

“Woah...”

“Well?” Rainbow Dash spoke up from the doorway, “Are you gonna go, or what?”

Brimstone thought for a moment and then nodded, looking up from the gorge below and then relieving himself.

“Ah... That's much better.”

“Guys are so gross sometimes.”

“You're just jealous that you can't pee off the side of a moving train.”

“As if I'd even want to!”

“Hey. Hey Rainbow Dash.”

“What?”

“Bye.” Brimstone suddenly lunged off of the side of the train and into the gorge below.

“What the-!”

“What happened?” Twilight's voice shouted from inside.

“He just jumped off!”

“Well don't just stand there! Catch him!”

Rainbow Dash dove off the side of the track, looking into the darkness of the chasm below as the train continued overhead. The white unicorn was nowhere to be found. As she continued into the chasm, she heard a noise from the side, then turned and shot forth at it, slamming into an object softer than the surrounding rock and pinning it to the ground again.

“Woah!” Brimstone's voice pierced the darkness, “I didn't think you'd have the nerve to jump in after me!”

“I should have guessed you would have been crazy enough to do that.”

“Yeah and I should have known you were too attracted to me to let me run from you.”

“Shut up!” Rainbow Dash stepped off of Brimstone, looking away with irritation and a blushing face. “Now come on, we need to get back to the train before it gets too far away.”

“Nah. I'm gonna go this way instead.” Brimstone turned and began to walk away towards a cave before feeling something holding his tail. He turned back around to see Rainbow Dash biting down on his lengthy silver hairs and holding him in place.

“No you don't!” She growled through her teeth, “You're not going anywhere. Now come here and let me take you back up to the train!”

“I don't wanna get stuck back inside of that cramped bubble. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that thing is?”

“Do you have any idea how much I don't care?”

“Why are you being so mean to me?” Brimstone's sudden change of tone surprised the cyan pegasus.

“Do you really not remember?”

“I don't even know who you're accusing me of being. Sombra? Who is that?”

Rainbow Dash let go of Brimstone's tail and stared at him with some confusion. Before that point, she hadn't noticed how sincere Brimstone was in his lack of knowledge. She felt then that he was telling the truth, but couldn't disobey Twilight.

“Look,” She sighed, “Let me take you back up to the train. I'll tell you everything when we get there. There's a lot going on now and we're all a little nuts, so I'm sorry for being so rough at first.”

“That's another thing. You kept talking about stuff that happened that I have no clue about. Maybe if you'd let me in, I could help-” A loud noise above caught the attention of the two. The train appeared to have been stopped forcefully, the wheels on the steam engine grinding as it was held in place. “What's happening up there?”

“I don't know. Come on, we need to get up there!”

Rainbow Dash bit down on Brimstone's tail before he could react and flew upwards with the shocked unicorn. Upon reaching the platform between two cars, she dropped the unicorn and entered the car.

“What's going on? Why'd the train stop?”

“I don't know,” Twilight replied, “It happened so suddenly... Did you get Brimstone?”

“Yeah, yeah. I'm here.” The white unicorn walked into the car and suddenly stopped, feeling a wave of Psi similar to what he felt before pass through the car from the front. The intensity of the power and the wavelength of the energy assured him that this was the same user. He immediately charged forward towards the front of the car before being tackled by Applejack and held down by a pile of ponies.

“Oh no you don't!” Twilight stated, “You're not jumping out again! Not right now!”

“Get off! You don't understand! I've felt this power already! There's someone like me nearby!”

“What?” Twilight asked. Suddenly, her eyes widened as a familiar sense of dread filled her. The same fear she felt in the nightmare she had the night prior filled her, her legs shaking beneath her.

“Twi?” Applejack asked, noticing her friend in shock, “You alright? Twi? Twilight!” The orange pony jumped up and rushed over to the mulberry unicorn, taking her by the shoulders and jostling her slightly. “Twilight! Snap out've it!”

“I... I...” Twilight stood paralyzed for a moment, then her eyes shot over to the door at the front of the car. The rest of the group lay piled about randomly near the door and Brimstone was nowhere to be seen.

“Goodness!” Rarity shouted in surprise as she sat up, “I had no idea he was that strong!”

“Great!” Rainbow Dash shouted in irritation, “There he goes running again! I'll go get him.”

Rushing past her friends and into the space between their car and the one in front of it, Rainbow Dash peered ahead through the doors and noticed that Brimstone was not in any of the cars ahead. She then flew up above and caught the sight of him running along the top of them. How he got up there so fast, she was not certain, but she couldn't think of that at the moment, flying forward and catching up to him quickly, tackling him and holding him down against the cold metal of the roof of the third car.

“Get off, Rainbow Dash! I don't have time to play with you right now!”

“Get back to the car, then!”

“No! I need to figure out who this is! It's important!”

“I'm not letting you run off again!”

The two continued to struggle for a few seconds before Brimstone finally had enough. His eyes took on the same blue glow as before and the metal around him bent up and wrapped around Rainbow Dash, locking her in place on top of the roof. Passengers inside of the train looked up through the new hole in the roof curiously as the trapped pegasus began shouting at Brimstone.

“Hey! Let me go! Get back here, where are you going?”

“I'll let you go in a bit!” Brimstone shouted as he jumped to the next car, “I just need to figure out who is-” A massive shadowy figure erupted up from under the train, towering over Brimstone. Instinctively, the white unicorn took a defensive stance before the shadow as it opened its red eyes.

“You...” The shadow's voice boomed out over the chasm, “The pony that invaded my work...”

“So you are the one that used that telepathy. Judging by your appearance, it wasn't for anything good. Why was that mare crying?”

“It does not concern you. I can tell, though, that you will be a nuisance to me if I do not dispose of you right now.”

“I should have figured that the one guy I find that's like me would be evil. Wait a minute... I bet you're the reason the ponies here are trying to keep me stuck in a bubble!”

“Astute. You're not as thick as you make yourself look.”

“I have my moments.”

“Regardless, I cannot allow you to pose a threat to my work again. You almost ruined my vision for Cadance. You will not do it again.”

“Oh yeah? And just what do you think you can do to stop me?”

“More than you can do to go against me, Eiza Borealis.”

“What?” Brimstone widened his eyes in shock, backing up a pace, “How did you figure out who I was without me telling you?”

“It's very easy for me to read the mind of another psychic being. Much easier than it is for me to read the mind of one of these disgusting magical things.”

“Hey. They're not disgusting. They don't deserve that kind of treatment.”

“Interesting choice of words coming from a man that's been held hostage by six of them for the past half-hour.”

“I've seen how nice they are to each other. You have no right to take that happiness away!”

“And you have no right to command me. Hm... I can see familiar beings in your thoughts. Those six are the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Excellent. I'll take out two birds with one stone.” The specter held out a claw and snapped his fingers, a silver shine coating the train and rocking it to the right violently.

“What are you-”

“Goodbye, Eiza.” The train tilted completely and Brimstone found himself falling backwards, the train upside-down and falling over top of him. Looking up to where the shadow had been, Brimstone saw that the specter had vanished.

His mind running at maximum speed, Brimstone watched the world slow as he concentrated, taking in his surroundings with an echoing pulse of Psi that reflected and image of the entire gorge back to him instantly from all angles. He knew what to do. Aiming his Psi downward, Brimstone caused a chain composed of rock to shoot up and wrap around him quickly, then pull him at a much-faster pace. As he made contact with the ground on all fours, he used his Psi to shatter the ground, softening the blow enough for his raw strength to keep him from being injured.

He then turned his attention upward and took a deep breath and exhaled as the train neared a distance of 100 yards from the bottom of the chasm. Rainbow Dash's screams could be heard echoing all about, the terrified cries of the passengers within resonating with hers and her friends in their own car as the train continued to fall.

Focusing, Brimstone opened his eyes and allowed the blue hue to envelop his vision, then felt the metal within the train come into the grasp of his Geokinesis as he caught the train in a blanket of Psi. Exerting himself greatly, he knew that he was too tired from not eating much to raise both the train and himself back up to the tracks high above, so he allowed the train to roll over and land softly on the ground in front of him at the bottom of the chasm.

Rainbow Dash, awestruck by the power of the white unicorn, forgot that she was bound by the iron roofing and jumped in surprise as it unraveled from around her. Still trying to piece together what happened, Rainbow Dash suddenly became filled with surprise as she witnessed Brimstone collapse to the ground before her and pass out. She quickly rushed to his aid as the passengers on the train filed out into the gorge.

“What happened?” Fluttershy approached quickly from behind.

“Brimstone saved us.”

“He did?”

“Yeah, but he definitely overdid it. He needs help.”

“What's wrong with him?” Twilight and the others approached quickly.

“He might have hurt himself.” Rainbow Dash looked down as a trickle of blood ran from Brimstone's nostril, “Okay yeah, he hurt himself.”

“Hang on,” Twilight knelt down, “I think I can do something.”

Enveloping Brimstone in a different raspberry glow, Twilight raised the white unicorn from the ground and attempted to heal him, but found it to not work.

“Is it working?” Rarity asked.

“No, I... It doesn't seem like it is... I don't understand...”

“What's wrong?”

“It's like his body is completely rejecting the magic... I've never seen anything like this...”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Rainbow Dash shot frantically, “Why won't it work? What kind of pony can't accept magic?”

“I don't know...”

The white unicorn was slowly lowered to the ground, resting his head in the embrace of a yellow pegasus as he continued to sleep.

Chapter Fifteen - Infinity

CHAPTER 15 – INFINITY

“Ugh...” Eiza sat up from his laying position on the gray floor. He rubbed his head, suddenly jumping at the feeling of a hand rather than a hoof. He quickly held his hands out in front of him, looking down at his attire. The robes he had become accustomed to were there. He stood up and walked to a wall in the square room, tapping it and watching a portion of the surface take on a mirror-like sheen. He looked at his reflection, the one of himself that he remembered from a day ago before becoming a pony, and sighed.

“I don't like this place, Eiza.” The silver-haired man turned and faced a black silhouette of a male figure that looked back at him from over the center of a large hole on the floor. “Everything is unnatural. Intangible. Nothing makes sense.”

“You're floating over a hole in the floor as if there were no gravity. You think that makes sense?”

“No, but this is a fake world where I can do whatever I please. Not reality. Those beings can do things that do not use Psi.”

“I know that. It's magic.”

“That's a horrible excuse. Magic is a term used by people who cannot explain scientific truths.”

“So? We're in a different universe. Who's to say that magic isn't real here?”

“I still don't like it.”

“Mokushiroku, did you bring me in here for any useful reason or are you just using me as a vent for your griping?”

“I was getting to that. That shadow that threw you off of the tracks with the train a few minutes ago. He's an Emata like you.”

“What? No he's not. He's made of shadows... Or clouds... Something.”

“No, he's a Photomancer. He bends the light so that he looks that way. It's an intimidation tactic.”

“Okay. How does any of this affect me?”

“You noticed that the bubble you were in couldn't be broken by you.”

“It broke when I used Psi-”

“Shut up. I have been inside of your mind taking notes on things since the moment you arrived in this universe. I've noticed two things: One – The magic here is actually natural in this universe, whereas it is not natural in ours. It is able to coexist with Psi, but not occupy the same area. The two forces repel each other like same-poled magnets.”

“And what's the second thing?”

“The second thing I've noticed is in regards to what the orange man told you before throwing you into this universe. He said that he would put you in a place and universe that he deemed fit. He got the place right.”

“So I'm meant to be a horse?”

“No, you are not meant to be a horse. I read some of the orange man's thoughts before he threw you into that portal. He intended for you to arrive on a planet called 'Earth.' This is indeed Earth, but the timeline is incorrect. This is some time in the future. I think.”

“And why do you think that?”

“The orange man had a layout in his mind that I caught before he threw you into the portal. This world has the same layout. The same continents, the same creatures – but no humans. What this means is that the humans here, like the humans on Monaris, screwed up. But unlike on Monaris, their kind was run straight into the ground. By what, I don't know, but I do know that something happened to them. I know this because I caught some of that Emata's memories as well. He was asked a question shortly before he came to the train: 'Are you a human?' It seems that the humans he knew were vile as well, because he did not take kindly to being called one.”

“Did you catch anything else from him? Like... What he's done to irritate all of these ponies so much?”

“No. But I did steal some knowledge from that unicorn. Twilight Sparkle? Apparently that Emata has been running amok in the northern region of this world. He's stolen powers from a few ponies already, as well as something called a 'draconequus.'”

“That doesn't make sense... How can he steal magic if you say that Psi and magic can't exist in the same place?”

“His DNA is strange. It allows both to inhabit his body. However, it appears that he does not use them both at once. He either uses magic or Psi. He appears to be proficient with both. However, the reason that these ponies have such a huge issue with him is that their magic is useless. All he has to do is create a thin Psi membrane over himself, which he does at all times with that spectral shroud of his, and magic does nothing to him. Then if he wants to use magic all he does is turn the shroud into a cloud of black magic stolen from one of the ponies he has attacked.”

“And they don't even know this, do they?”

“No. The ponies have no clue. They apparently do have Psi present in the world, though. They have a few devices that can harness artificial Psi. Those are considered the most powerful magical items on this planet. They are unaware that the items aren't magical at all, but no other magic can stand before them because Psi doesn't follow the same principles.”

“So the shadow guy who's causing all of the problems just has to be hit by one of the objects, then? That seems like a simple fix.”

“Again, no. I looked into Twilight's head quite a bit since she seemed like an intelligent individual. Apparently the objects they rely on the most are a set of six devices called the 'Elements of Harmony.' They don't work for squat if they're used alone, but together they can bestow artificial Photokinesis and Geokinesis on the wielders. The only problem is that they're garbage. Artifacts left behind by the humans before they went extinct. The Psi output seems impressive, but it is nothing in the face of even just a slightly-skilled Emata.”

“So the ponies are at the mercy of this guy?”

“Pretty much. And he doesn't seem to be offering much of it. He's quite a devil.”

“That's no good.” Eiza turned and stepped up unto the wall, walking up until he stepped onto the ceiling, standing unhindered by gravity. “I don't want this world to get destroyed.”

“Why? It's not like it's any problem of yours. You'll just be sent to another universe eventually anyway.”

“I've seen the kindness that the ponies here have. They're simple, much simpler than the humans and Emata from Monaris. They live in a simple, carefree, innocent world. To have a member of my kind trying to take that away from them is disgusting. It makes Emata look bad.”

“So you're going after him, then?”

“Yup. I can't let him pervert this world with evil. And besides that, he threw me off of a moving train into a thousand-foot gorge. I didn't exactly enjoy that.” Eiza turned and looked down at Mokushiroku, then smiled.

“Before you go, I would suggest you make your first plan of action into finding something to eat. You almost killed yourself trying to stop that train from falling. You're going to need to refuel if you want to face that specter.”

“Right-o. I'll have this settled soon.” Eiza stepped into the scrying pool in the middle of the ceiling and sunk in slowly.

“Until we meet again, Eiza Borealis.”

Chapter Sixteen - Siege

CHAPTER 16 – SIEGE

“This way, your majesty.” The guard captain lead a dark blue Alicorn through a hallway that dug deep beneath Canterlot. The dark blue Alicorn, her hair no longer the flowing form it had taken during the night, yawned deeply, fighting to stay awake.

“For what reason must we travel with such haste to the gem caverns?”

“A safety measure, my lady. The threat to Equestria has announced that he has set his sights on you next.”

“Preposterous. He thinks himself capable of overpowering us now? What gives him such gall to think he can attack us next?”

“Word has arrived that he has already defeated Discord, my lady.”

“What?” Luna stopped in her tracks, “This must be a mistake...”

“Afraid not, your highness. It was a letter directly from Discord that announced his defeat. This was followed by a letter from the attacker himself which declared that he would be coming for you next.” The guard turned and the two began walking again, “You must rest before you can hope to defend yourself against him, so we will be keeping you in hiding until then.”

“And what of our sister?”

“Princess Celestia rules during the day. The Sun maintains her power so long as it is up, so she can hold the villain back for now. However, if you can get some rest before then and recharge just a little, your powers would help immeasurably. Until then, we shall do all we can to defend you. Just stay in the shadows of the caverns here until then, my princess.” The guard turned to Luna as they reached the entrance to the caverns that connected to the hallway. “I swear upon my life that nothing shall harm you, Princess Luna.” The guard bowed to the dark blue Alicorn.

“No, never swear thine life for us.”

“Princess?”

“No life is worth more than another. It is our duty to protect each other. Sacrifice solves nothing. Defend us, but do not cast away thine life for us, my captain.”

“As you wish, your majesty.” The guard turned and walked at a brisk pace back down the hallway. Luna watched him disappear around a corner before turning and heading into the shimmering cave system.

She had not been in the caverns for over a thousand years. She had forgotten how beautiful the reflective surfaces were, even in the darkness. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the shadows as she walked deeper into the cavern. Finally, after walking about for some time, she came to a small enclave that had a series of small light crystals jutting from the walls. Their gentle glow illuminated the area enough for Luna to see easier, and so she decided that this would be the place to rest. She lay down upon the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

“How long do you think it will take for him to reach Canterlot?” Celestia sat on her throne patiently and with a calm demeanor as her guards stood in file before her. A lieutenant stood before her explaining the situation.

“He will most certainly be here within the hour,” the armored pegasus stated, “But we won't be certain of his arrival until we feel a breach in the barrier around the city.”

“I trust your judgment, my lieutenant. Make sure that the forces are ready along the borders. See to it that all of the civilians are inside before Terror's arrival.”

“Understood.” The pegasus turned and the mass of troops filed out of the throne room, leaving Celestia by herself.

“Twilight, I hope you get here soon. I cannot guard the Elements forever.”

Minutes went by like hours as Celestia waited on the throne. After what felt like an eternity in the silent city, a letter appeared in a puff of green flame before the white Alicorn. Unraveling the tattered, torn sheet of paper, Celestia began reading.

“Dear Princess Celestia – Our arrival in Canterlot is faced with delay. We were attacked by a sinister being on our train trip to the city, who cast our train off of the rails and into the gorge outside of Canterlot. We are currently tasked with leading ourselves and the passengers out of the gorge before we can make it to your aid.”

“Oh no... This isn't good...” Celestia continued reading.

“I also bear news of great importance. We have come into contact with a stallion calling himself 'Brimstone.' He is an incredibly powerful wielder of magic, however his methods of using it have raised suspicion among us. It was our initial plan to bring him to you so that you could determine what to do about him. He has been quite a bother thus far. However, we are thankful for his presence, for if he had not been with us, the train would have fallen to the bottom of the chasm and killed all of us. He is currently in a comatose state. When we next see you, we will need your help reviving him. - Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle”

“This is most certainly not good news...” Celestia re-rolled the scroll and set it on the table beside her throne, then quickly exited the room and made her way to the battlements. The captain of the guard was just then making his way onto the battlements as the Princess stepped out. “My captain, is Luna safe?”

“Indeed, your majesty. The Princess is under Canterlot resting as we speak.”

“Good. I need you to do something, it is a matter of great importance.”

“What is it, your majesty?”

“Twilight Sparkle and her friends have fallen into the gorge outside of Canterlot. I need you to send a rescue squad down there to get them and the other passengers of the Ponyville Express out safely. Time is of the essence.”

“Understood.” The captain turned and shouted a few orders to the guards on the battlements as Celestia turned and took a few steps back into the castle.

Where is Terror... I know he has to be around already... It wouldn't make sense for him to slowly make his way to the barrier if he had already taken Discord's powers... Wait... Celestia suddenly froze, her body going cold. She looked back at the captain.

“Captain!”

“Princess?”

“What does the barrier around Canterlot encompass?”

“Everything around the city, your majesty.”

“Does it block the entrance to the caves in the mountain?” The guard stood in shock at this. “Captain?” A sudden explosion deep beneath the surface of Canterlot rocked the city. Celestia braced herself as the floor slowly stopped shaking. “Get to the mines, now! Luna is-”

An explosion on the ground in the middle of Canterlot released two clouds, a black shadow and dark violet mass that erupted into the air and slowly fell to the ground, both taking forms as they crushed the stone road beneath them. The black shroud took the form of Terror, standing with his menacing grin as the violet aura before him spun about, the skies above darkening as Nightmare Moon erupted from the epicenter.

“Plebeian fool! You dare disturb my rest? You know not who you deal with!”

“I had not expected you to awaken so... Explosively, Luna.”

“You!” Celestia shouted from the castle, amplifying her voice with magic, “You've made a grave mistake coming here, Terror!”

“On the contrary, Celestia, I've made the perfect choice. Smooth move leaving every orifice of the cave open for me, by the way. You made it much easier than I'd hoped.”

“You will not get away with what you have done!” Nightmare Moon surged forward, encompassed by magic, and crashed into Terror. The two clouds dozed through multiple buildings in the city, rubble flying about randomly, before they separated again. Terror once again landed on his feet, reforming a short distance from Nightmare Moon.

“So violent, Luna. You're certainly not a morning person, or rather, an afternoon one.”

“Shut your mouth! You have no right to talk here after all that you have done to my subjects!” The dark cerulean Alicorn's horn glowed a bright cobalt before a wave of magic surged forward at Terror. The specter smiled and snapped his fingers, the cobalt magic being stopped by a silver brick wall.

“At this point, I don't even have to rely on my own powers to overcome yours. Discord's magic is strong enough to outdo it with ease.”

A violet cloud erupted from around the wall and took the form of three shadowbolts, all striking Terror directly at once and sending him flying back before he dispersed into a cloud and enveloped the three ethereal pegasi. His head peaked up from the top of the black cloud as the ponies within struggled to escape.

“Calm yourself, Luna. It's less painful for both of us if you do.”

“Fool!” The violet cloud erupted from Terror's shroud, causing him to reel backwards before catching his balance. The violet cloud retook the form of Nightmare Moon in front of the specter. “If you think I would allow you to take my kingdom and harm my subjects without punishment, you have another thing coming!” The dark Alicorn shot forth at Terror, the two continuing their clash.

Inside of the castle, Celestia scurried to quickly send the party out to gather up Twilight and her friends before she would begin to aid her sister.

“Get going, quickly! Disperse the barrier around Canterlot so that you may move about quicker. We won't be needing it at this point anyway since Terror is already within the city limits. Make haste!” A group of ten pegasi saluted the Princess and linked themselves to a large chariot, pulling it into the air with them as a group of unicorns dispersed the magic shield around the city. Outside, Terror, locked in a clash with Nightmare Moon, looked up at the sky as the barrier cleared. He smiled.

“Perfect.” Terror gripped Nightmare Moon's hooves in his claws, spun around, and hurled her into a nearby building. He then lifted a claw into the air and released a pulse of energy that echoed and bounded off of the mountains for a great distance. After a few moments, Nightmare Moon erupted from the rubble and a massive amount of soldiers began to surround Terror, Celestia lowering to the ground beside her transformed sister.

“It's over. You're completely surrounded and outnumbered.”

“True, but you are outmatched.”

“And what makes you think that?”

Terror smirked as a roar was heard in the distance. A massive dragon coated in thick stone appeared over the Unicorn Mountain Range, flying towards the capital city.

“What is this?” Nightmare shouted, looking back at the massive dragon.

“Make your choice, regal sisters. Choose to fight me and have your guards lose their lives at the hands of that ancient dragon, or slay the beast and have your guards fall to me instead.”

Celestia growled in frustration as the dragon neared in the distance.

“You have no chance to survive. Make your time.”

“All units, focus on the dragon! Luna and I will handle Terror!” Celestia's voice rang out over the city, all soldiers quickly moving towards the border of Canterlot as the two sisters stood before Terror.

“Excellent. I can have fun with the two of you before I steal your powers away.”

The white Alicorn fired a golden beam of magic at Terror, who snapped his fingers. A blue-tinted hole and orange-tinted hole opened up in the air in front of him, the golden magic entering the blue and firing back at Celestia through the orange. She gasped before her own magic nailed her, sending her reeling backwards into a nearby building.

“I must admit, as much as Discord irritated me, his magic is quite amusing.”

Terror dodged a cobalt beam before snapping his fingers again, causing the gravity around Nightmare Moon to disperse entirely. Confused, she found herself floating upwards. She dispersed into a cloud of violet and began moving towards Terror, who snapped his fingers again, amplifying the gravity to four-times the normal amount around the cloud, which slammed into the ground. Reverting to her equine form, Nightmare Moon struggled to pull herself up under the hefty force.

“You wretched fiend!” She shouted with strained breaths, “You dare make a mockery of me with this?”

“Come now, Luna, it could be much worse.” Terror snapped his fingers again and watched as the buildings around Nightmare Moon suddenly uplifted, enveloped by silver magic, and slammed into the violet Alicorn from all angles. “Be glad I'm not an imbecile like Discord. I could have had you in a tutu before I crushed you just now.”

A sudden beam of golden magic hit Terror directly from the side. Sliding across the ground on his feet, Terror steadied himself and looked over at Celestia.

“Feeling left out?”

“You will not bring harm to anyone else within my kingdom!”

“Princess of the Sun. So very bold. But at heart you are still just a scared little pony.”

“Quiet!” Celestia fired a beam of golden magic at Terror, who caught the ray in his claw and crushed it. Celestia's eyes widened, for no one had ever overpowered her magic in such a way. She watched as an orb exited Terror's shroud, one filled with a familiar face.

“You failed to save your niece. You didn't even try to warn her. You knew I was there. You knew from the nightmare you had last night that I was near her. But you refused to believe that I existed. A being from the primordial world upon which you founded Equestria.”

“No... Silence!” Another beam shot forth from Celestia and was this time swatted away by Terror.

“You never told the world of the race that lived here before you. The race that created Discord and was driven into the ground by him. The race that created you in an attempt to stop him.”

Celestia let out a roar as she fired another beam of golden magic, this time it hit Terror directly, but had no affect. Not even enough of one to make him flinch.

“You never told the world about the humans. You never told them about the Emata. You never told them that magic is powerless against Psi. And even now, you refuse to believe the truth that stands before your eyes.”

Demoralized and shocked by Terror's complete invulnerability towards her magic, Celestia stood paralyzed by fear as the specter slowly moved toward her.

“No... No...” tears welled up in her eyes.

“You told no one of the dangers this world of yours was built upon, and now their combined ignorance will be the reason this world falls under my truth. The truth that a world of innocence deserves no existence. If only you had told the world of the dangers that it could face. If only you hadn't been such a fool... Maybe your world would have been prepared for me. It's all your fault that the world will fall, Celestia-” Terror slowly lifted a claw and began reaching out for Celestia, who stood locked in place, shaking gently, “And for your ignorance, you shall pay the ultimate price.”

A beam of cobalt magic hit Terror with enough force to uproot him and send him flying into a nearby building. Celestia looked over at her sister, broken and bloody from the impact of the buildings that had slammed into her, and snapped out of her fear as she rushed to her sister's aid.

“Celestia...”

“Hush, Luna. Don't talk now. Just breathe...” Celestia watched the darkness of the Nightmare form evaporate off of her younger sister's body, leaving behind a smaller, much more gentle-appearing Princess Luna.

“It hurts...”

“Shh...” Celestia looked over to her sister's leg - a broken mess. Every bone in it must have been shattered, she thought. She was surprised that Luna hadn't reacted faster.

“I'm sorry, sister... I don't think I can help you anymore...”

“Don't talk, Luna. You're going to be okay...” At this, the sapphire Alicorn collapsed onto the ground. Celestia, tears in her eyes, quickly knelt beside her, enveloping Luna in a golden glow. “Just stay calm, I'll heal you.”

“Sister... Do you remember that song you wrote a long time ago?”

“What? Which one? It's been such a long time since I've written any poetry that I...”

“That lullaby... 'Hush Now, Quiet Now.' I liked that one.”

“Oh yes... I remember it.” Celestia continued to heal Luna's wounds. The breaks in the bones were now nothing more than minor fractures, but Luna would indeed need rest, and it seemed that now Celestia's goal in battle would be to defend her.

“Could you... Sing that one for me? I always liked it when you sang... You never sing anymore...”

The white Alicorn looked down on her sister, who had closed her eyes in exhaustion. Raising the moon and taking that much damage in battle without gaining any sleep would be expected to have that affect on her.

“Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head,

Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed...

Drifting off to sleep, the exciting day behind you,

Drifting off to sleep, let the joy of dream land find you...

Hush now quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head,

Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed.”

By the end of the lullaby, Luna had fallen fast asleep beside Celestia. All of her wounds were healed, but she would be completely out of commission without resting for some time. Celestia stood up and erected a barrier around Luna to keep random objects from landing on her as she slept, then turned as a building nearby erupted.

“Insolent night-owl wench!” Terror's voice boomed over the city as his form send masses of rubble flying about the city, “I will be certain to feed your powerless husk to the dragons once I've stolen your powers!”

“Do not come near my sister...” Celestia growled, turning her furious gaze towards Terror, “Or I will kill you.”

“YOU DARE THREATEN ME?” Terror's shroud became coated in a yellow blaze that cracked the ground and split nearby buildings. His eyes glowed a livid red as his teeth became sharper and more malicious in appearance, “YOU ARE POWERLESS, CELESTIA.”

“YOU WILL NOT TAINT MY LAND ANY FURTHER!” The two charged forth at each other, magic and Psi ablaze around them, cracking the roads and splitting the city in two as they neared one another.

A massive crash upon the ground heralded the slaying of the massive dragon. Letting out a death rattle that shook the earth below, the dragon fell upon its stomach, its massive head nearly hitting the castle and crushing it. All around the body, soldiers cried out in victory.

“The dragon is down! Excellent work! I'm seeing a pay-raise in your future, boys!” The captain cheerfully exclaimed to his soldiers before remembering the battle paralleling theirs. He turned and looked to the town center as a wave of energy passed by him. “Come on, our work's not finished! We need to aid the princesses!”

The soldiers turned and quickly filed in behind the captain as they made their way to the town center. Upon reaching it, the captain turned the corner to bare witness to the end result of the fray...

Laid against the rubble in the distance, Celestia struggled to stand back upright and retaliate as Terror hit her with beam after beam of green magic.

“You remember this power all too well, do you not? Your first miserable failure against an enemy.”

“Princess Celestia!” The captain's voice caught Terror's attention. The specter turned and stopped firing magic upon the white Alicorn as a wave of soldiers overtook him.

Celestia, so sore that she could barely move, looked over to the soldiers as they continued to flail upon the shadow. Her vision blurred, she found herself too weak to call out to them and warn them of what he had done to defeat her-

A rose shockwave from the center of the group sent soldiers flying through the air. The captain caught himself on his feet and rushed back towards the specter.

“You'll pay for harming our Princess!”

“BEGONE.” Terror held his talon out and released a pulse of yellow energy that vaporized the captain as he came near. The soldiers, shocked and horrified at the power Terror held, all hesitated for a moment before the lieutenant ordered the next charge.

“No...” Celestia weakly attempted to cry out, stumbling and falling over as she tried to move towards them. She was met by the sight of a group of ponies being vaporized by another pulse of yellow energy. Tears filled her eyes as she dragged herself in the direction of the crowd, trying to get to them so that she could stop them.

“Why won't you all GIVE UP?” Terror released another pulse as a group of soldiers neared him, disintegrating the group before it could reach him. A battered soldier who had lost his front right leg from one of the shockwaves stood up, shaking and breathing heavily in an attempt to fight the pain.

“We won't let you harm our princess... We won't let you!” The soldier charged at Terror, stumbling on his three legs. His face was met by the cold grip of three talons.

“Then die a fool's death.” The crunch of bones signaled that the soldier in Terror's grip had been void of his life. The body was cast aside by the shadow as he turned his attention towards the remaining few soldiers before him. “Would anyone else like to make a fool of themselves in a vain attempt to save their precious princess?” The remaining soldiers proved to be completely demoralized by the specter before them, they replied only with fearful eyes and shaking. “Good.” Terror turned and looked at Celestia, who was still attempting to drag herself towards Terror with agonizing movements and tearful eyes.

“You fool... Two thousand years, Celestia. Two thousand years and yet you have not matured at all.” Terror approached Celestia and delivered a kick to her that sent her flying into the rubble that she once laid upon. Writhing in agony delivered by the stone making harsh contact with her sore body, Celestia calmed herself enough to look over to Terror and watch him. “Perhaps this will teach you the humility that our creator could not.”

The shadow turned and began making his way slowly towards Luna, who still lay resting peacefully under the barrier created by Celestia. The white Alicorn, too weak to move or scream, cried out weakly at the shadow as he reached Luna. Terror turned and looked at Celestia, gaining a malevolent smile upon his face.

“Do you think Luna slept well?” Celestia squirmed and fell off of the pile of rubble, gritting her teeth in pain as she looked up to see Terror's red eyes in the distance through her blurred vision. “You don't know? Well then... LET'S ASK HER.”

Terror's claw reached down and shattered the barrier, embracing Luna's head in a death-cold grip and lifting her into the air. Celestia squirmed across the ground as she wept aloud for her sister, trying as best she could to save her with the non-existent powers that remained within her. Luna flinched under Terror's grip as her weak form was held in the air.

“Do you know the best thing about her being like this, Celestia?” The white Alicorn responded with a grunt, sob, and a pull towards Terror, “I don't even have to mess with her head to get her into a weakened state at this point. But you know what? I'M GOING TO ANYWAY.”

The shadow shook Luna violently, the sapphire Alicorn opening her eyes weakly and meeting the petrifying gaze of the ethereal figure before her. Her eyes widened in shock, her weak physical state becoming even more fragile as the seconds went by. Celestia cried out in the distance as her sister shook violently in Terror's grip, unable to defend herself as the specter corrupted her mind. Finally, Luna's movements stopped entirely, her eyes fell closed. Celestia let out another agonized cry as Terror dropped her motionless sister on the ground.

“A minute was certainly too much for her. That's why I went for two. Hm... I think I might have killed her...” Terror extended a claw and allowed the tendrils to envelop and steal Luna's color, powers, and cutie mark. “Ah. She is still alive. For now, at least.” Terror looked back at Celestia, who had stopped trying to get near him. She lay in a curled ball, crying deeply. “Oh, shame, Princess Celestia. To have failed at defending your little sister. But you know what the best thing about this is? For me, anyway.” Terror reached Celestia, extending his claw and shooting forth the tendrils once again. “I don't have to make you see your worst nightmare now. It just came true.” The flowing mane of the princess stopped entirely, all color drained from her elegant form and sucked into Terror's shroud.

Two gray orbs appeared, one around Luna, the other around Celestia. Lifting them gently into the air, Terror brought them under his shroud. He stood in silence for a moment, then began laughing evilly as he realized that he had attained complete control over Equestria. No one could stop him at this point. He raised his claws to the air, one glowing golden and the other violet, and watched as the sun and moon came together in the sky, forming an eclipse in the air. He admired his work briefly, freezing the celestial bodies in place permanently.

“Now then...” He turned to the soldiers behind him, “The first order of business is to round up the citizens of Canterlot. I want them mining in that cavern under the mountain. Those gems will make a nice statue of me, don't you agree?” The shadow turned towards the castle and began walking towards the tallest spire. “Sleep well, my little sisters.”

Chapter Seventeen - Salvation

CHAPTER 17 – SALVATION

Voices entered the addled mind of the silver-haired stallion. Unable to make out what they were saying for a few seconds, he attempted to gather his thoughts quietly as he continued to rest his pounding head.

“You're saying that he uses magic without using his horn?” A male voice asked.

“Yes. Does that seem like an important detail?” Twilight's voice replied.

“Terror, the being that has attacked Canterlot, has eyes that glow when he uses his powers as well.”

“What are his powers?”

“He summoned a dragon a short while ago.”

“Is that the noise we heard?” A random female voice, probably one of the other passengers.

“He attacked Canterlot directly. We need to get you all to the castle at once if we have any hope of defeating him-” Suddenly, the entire population of ponies within the gorge seemed to scream in shock and fear as the area darkened. Brimstone opened his eyes and looked up and out to the sky.

He had never seen a solar eclipse before, though he had heard of them back on Monaris. What he saw above in the sky seemed to match the description perfectly.

“What's going on?” Twilight shouted.

“I... I don't know!” The male guard replied, “Everything was under control when we left! I don't understand what happened!”

Brimstone continued to look around in a daze, taking in his surroundings. It looked like he had been moved onto the porch section of the caboose of the train. Twilight and six of the seven of the group were all out in the gorge talking to the guards that had arrived with a large chariot. Where is...

“Everyone! Brimstone is awake!” Fluttershy's voice rang out from over Brimstone's head. He looked up and could tell that his head had been resting in her lap. “Are you alright?”

“No...”

“Oh no...” The yellow pegasus redirected her attention back at the guards, “Can you give me a washcloth or something cold, please? He's burning up.”

“You smell nice... Fluttershy...”

“Don't talk yet, you've got a terrible fever.”

“I'm hungry...”

“Oh! Excuse me,” Fluttershy directed her attention to a nearby pony, “Can you go to the dining cabin and get something for Brimstone?”

“Sure thing.” The pony rushed off.

Brimstone smiled as he looked up at Fluttershy. “You... Remind me of someone I know...”

“I do?”

“She was nice... Just like you... Pretty like you too...”

Fluttershy blushed, “I... Um... Thanks...” Brimstone's stomach growled intensely.

“Food...”

“Here's something! It's all I could find in there.” The pony returned and handed an apple over to Fluttershy.

“Oh... I hope this is enough for now...” She held the apple out to Brimstone and allowed him to attempt to bite it, though he was too weak to even make a dent in it. “Oh no... He can't eat this...”

“So chew it up and feed it to him, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash's voice shot over, “Birds do it all the time.”

“Um... I...” Fluttershy looked down at Brimstone's face, red with the heat from the fever. She then looked at the apple in her hoof and heard his stomach growl again as he let out a moan. “Okay...” Taking a bite of the apple and chewing it, the yellow pegasus prepped herself for making her lips come into contact with Brimstone's. Okay, Fluttershy. You can do this. He needs to eat... It's just like when you took care of those birds! Come on... She looked down at Brimstone's lips, Just... She bent over him, coming closer to his face, Just do it! She pressed her lips against Brimstone's and dropped the mashed apple into his mouth. The white unicorn chewed and swallowed the apple, then opened his eyes and smiled.

“How about that... You kiss just like her too...” Fluttershy felt her face go red and she looked away. Brimstone's stomach continued to growl.

“Fluttershy, bring him over to the chariot, we need to get to Canterlot.”

“But he... He's still hurt!”

“Keep feeding him when we're on the chariot, then. We've gotta go!”

“Okay...” The idea of practically kissing the white unicorn multiple times in the midst of her friends seemed more than embarrassing to her, but Fluttershy agreed and lifted Brimstone, carrying him over to the chariot and resting his head in her lap again.

“Listen up, everypony!” A guard shouted to the crowd, “We are going to keep a few of our ranks here so that you will be protected! Until further notice, we only have one chariot, so we must use it carefully! We will take the wielders of the Elements with us first, and then come back for the rest of you. Sit tight!”

Brimstone felt six more creatures, five larger than the sixth, enter the chariot and take a place next to him. He then felt Fluttershy's lips press against his again and drop more food in for him to eat. As he began chewing, he began to think about a statement that Mokushiroku told him in his subconscious. “You are not meant to be a horse.” Then why was he a horse? Why did he have this form?

“You haven't figured that out yet?” Eiza opened his eyes inside of his subconscious world, sitting up off of the wooden floor.

“What?”

“You don't get why you're a horse? You're like an open book, and yet you don't understand your own actions?”

Eiza stood up and looked at Mokushiroku. “What are you talking about?”

“All your life, you've wanted to fit in. You wished you were human. You wished, you wished, you wished. You arrive in Equestria, a land full of magical ponies, and you knew, though not consciously, that the land was full of ponies. You weren't in control of your mind due to the confusion, so you subconsciously used Biokinesis to shapeshift into a horse. It's that simple.”

“Why didn't you tell me that sooner?”

“I thought you could figure that out on your own. It was obvious that magic had nothing to do with it. The mulberry pony tried to heal you with magic but your body rejected it. It couldn't have been a magical transformation.”

“But I don't even know Biokinesis... How could I-”

“You copy powers of mine all the time, idiot. Monkey see, monkey do. You just never had a reason to use my Biokinesis powers before.”

“So... So turn me back!”

“No. You did it to yourself.”

“But I have to be in my regular form if I want to use my weapons and armor against Terror!”

“Then fix yourself. It's not my problem whether or not this world dies. It's not yours either. You're involving yourself in matters that don't matter.”

“They matter to me. And I'm gonna fix them. My kind had always striven to be loved by humanity. We always stood for what's right. For this guy to call himself an Emata and then do such unspeakable things to these innocent ponies is... It's disgusting! He's earned a one-way ticket to the edge of Gladius Magnus, and you can bet your soul that he's gonna cash it!”

“Do what you will, Eiza Borealis. I'm nothing more than a voice in the back of your head when you get like this.”

“You're darn right, you are! I'm in charge here, I'm the guy in control, and I say I'm gonna protect this world from that monster! And there's nothing you can do to stop me!”

“Just shut up and fix your body.”

Brimstone's eyes shot open as Fluttershy dropped another piece of apple in his mouth. He sat up, startling the yellow pony greatly. After swallowing the hunk of apple, he moved to the front of the chariot and shouted out to the guards.

“We need to make a detour!”

“What?” Twilight replied, “We don't have time for detours!”

“Trust me, this one is important enough to justify it.”

“Ah think you might be a bit loopy from the fever still,” Applejack stated, “Why don't you go lie down and let Fluttershy feed you some more?”

“As much as I'd like to get kissed by a pretty girl again, no.” At this, Fluttershy blushed again as Rainbow Dash began to laugh, “We need to turn around and go to a clearing in the Everfree Forest. I'll explain myself on the way.”

“What? Why the Everfree Forest?”

“It's where my stuff is.”

“What stuff?”

“My armor and clothes.”

“We can get you some armor in Canterlot.”

“No, you can't. My armor is better and yours isn't going to fit me.”

“What do you mean it isn't going to fit you? They have every size of armor you can imagine! I've seen the armory, I would know!”

“Trust me, it's not going to fit. Turn and head back to Everfree!”

The guards, with a nod, turned and began pulling the chariot through the air back towards the Everfree Forest.

“There. It was right down there.” The pegasi pulling the chariot began to lower their altitude as the chariot neared a clearing in the forest.

“Why did you leave your stuff in such a remote clearing?”

“I encountered a problem that required me to discard it here. It's where I first arrived in your land.”

“What? Where did you come from?”

“I'll tell you in a minute.” The chariot landed in the grassy clearing and Brimstone stepped out of the chariot, followed by the rest of the group on-board. Looking over, he saw the pond from when he arrived earlier. “There. I threw all of my stuff into the pond until I could fix myself.”

“Fix yourself?” Rarity asked, “What do you need to fix?”

“You'll see.” Brimstone dove into the water and waded out into the middle of the pond, feeling his belongings on his hooves. “Okay, I'm going to change back to normal. Promise you won't attack me, please.”

“What?”

“And don't you look at me!” Brimstone faced away and focused, recalling from his memory the period of time that he was arriving in Equestria. He thought hard for a moment, trying to remember single details of what he had running through his mind, then he caught sight of the mapping of his own body that he used to switch to this form.

Taking in a deep breath, Brimstone focused his energy on his cells, mapping out his body atom-by-atom. This was incredibly hard for him to do, so the fact that he did this subconsciously before was amazing to him as he began reforming the structure of the body in his mind.

After coming to a figure that completely matched the figure of his old self that he saw in his mind, Brimstone began molding his body to fit the shape, enveloping himself in blinding yellow light. The ponies nearby watched in awe as the light overtook him and shone for about a minute, then slowly dispersed.

What was left was a creature completely alien to them. Something resembling a taller, thinner gorilla with no hair on his body except for on top of his head. The features they came to know from Brimstone were still there – silver hair, blue eyes, the flame markings and the necklace – but now they were on a figure that was at least two feet taller than the rest of them, bearing no hair and standing upright.

The creature turned and faced them, his body hidden by the murky pond water from the waist-down. He gauged their reaction and then looked at himself in the reflective water. Eiza Borealis was himself again.

“Alright!” He shouted in excitement, “It worked!” He quickly reached into the water and felt his hakama, which he put on before stepping out of the pond with the rest of his clothes and armor in tow. Using his Psi, he cleaned the mud off of them instantly.

“Brimstone?” Fluttershy stepped forward, “What... What are you?”

“Ah...” Eiza smiled at the yellow pegasus, kneeling down to her. “I didn't want to make you all suspicious of me before, but I guess the jig is up. My name isn't Brimstone. Where I come from, we have first and last names. My full name is Eiza Borealis. I'm an Emata.”

“Emata?” Twilight asked, stepping forward and examining Eiza curiously, “What's an Emata?”

“We're like humans.”

“Humans!” Pinkie jumped forward, “I knew it! I knew Lyra wasn't lying!”

“Uh, yeah. We're like humans, except we can use Psychokinesis.”

“Psychokinesis... That's theoretical energy, isn't it?” Twilight queried again.

“Where I come from, it's definitely more than just theoretical. It's real. Just like your magic is.” Eiza put on his kimono and closed it in the front, then opened his blue and white armor. “In fact, where I come from, magic doesn't exist.”

“Doesn't exist?” Rainbow Dash flew forward, hovering over the ground so that she could meet Eiza eye-to-eye, “Whadya mean, 'doesn't exist?' Magic's real! Twilight uses it! You've even seen it!”

“Yeah,” Eiza clamped his armor down around his chest, “But I'm not from this universe. Twilight, you remember how I asked about the inter-universal portal?”

“Yes.”

“That's because I was forcefully thrown into this universe. I'm not meant to be in this one. I'm trying to find a portal so I can get back to the universe I was meant to be sent to.”

“So wait... You just used us to get your stuff back so you could leave us with that monster, didn't you?” Rainbow Dash grabbed the amulet around Eiza's neck and pulled him forward, this time, though, the silver metal oval in the center of the necklace popped open, revealing a picture on the inside of both sides. “What the...”

Eiza pulled away from Rainbow Dash gently and held the amulet in his hand, looking at the pictures inside. He sat down on the grass and the ponies gathered around him to see the necklace.

“The reason I told you before that I don't like people touching my necklace – that's what humans and Emata are referred to in plural, people – is that this is my most prized possession. My sister, this girl here -” Eiza pointed out a girl with red hair in the picture, “She gave me the necklace. It belonged to my mother, this woman here.” Eiza pointed at the lone woman on the opposite side of the amulet.

“Oh, I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't know...”

“It's fine. The reason I carry this around is so that the people in this amulet, my family, will always be with me.”

“Where are they now?” Spike asked. Eiza's silence was enough of an answer. “Oh... I-”

“No, it's fine. What's done is done.” Eiza paused for a moment, then continued, “I told you that I would explain myself, so I'll get started. I was born in another universe on a planet called Monaris. I had my older sister who was my best friend, and an older brother who I never met until I was sixteen years old. My brother and I were the only Emata in our family.”

“Why isn't your brother in the picture?” Twilight asked.

“I never had a picture of him. I only saw him twice.”

“Where is he now?” Eiza's silence once again answered the question. “Oh...”

“Emata on my planet were hated,” he continued, “Because of the energy we give off subconsciously without realizing it, humans disliked us. Everyone could tell who was an Emata or not just by the invisible aura we gave off. It was grating. It's a type of electricity, and humans dislike it. On the other hand, the frequency of the brainwaves we gave off was appealing to animals, so Emata have an affinity towards them.”

“So that's why all of my animal friends liked you!” Fluttershy stated with a smile.

“Yeah. That's also the reason why you're all somewhere in the middle of trusting and being suspicious of me. The animal side of you wants to like me, but since you're intelligent, I'm guessing your brains are at the point where they don't enjoy Emata too much.”

“We're pretty different from animals.” Rarity said with a scoff.

“Yes,” Eiza replied, “But on my planet, horses and ponies like you all are just animals like everything else. You're not sentient. You can't talk. The animals aren't smart enough to do things like the animals here can, either. Like when Angel shook hands, er, hooves with me. Animals on my planet aren't smart enough to do that on their own.”

“Interesting...” Twilight pondered the new information.

“Ah!” Pinkie Pie screamed, “This doesn't make any sense!”

Eiza chuckled and smiled, “It didn't make much sense to me at first either. There's a ton that I had to learn in the past.”

“But wait,” Twilight spoke up, “You said you felt a similar energy to yours when we were on the train.”

“Yes. The guy causing all of the damage, Terror, he's an Emata like me.”

“Why is he so evil, though? You seem so... Well, nice.”

“I don't know.” Eiza looked off in the distance, his eyes seeming to be filled with sadness, “It's a mystery to me too. Emata are typically nice and want to love others. There were a few that I met, though, who had lost hope for finding someone to accept them. I'm thinking that this guy is thinking the same way.”

“Either way,” Rainbow Dash jumped forward, “We need to stop him. Let's get back up to Canterlot to get the Elements-”

“No,” Eiza interjected, “That isn't going to work.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Your Elements of Harmony aren't magical artifacts. I read your mind and saw them, Twilight. They bestow artificial Psychokinesis. They aren't magical at all.”

“So they're like you, then?”

“Yes and no. Magic and Psi can't occupy the same area. They clash with each other. One can overpower the other. The Elements of Harmony might be incredibly powerful against someone that has no clue what Psi is, but Terror is an Emata. He's adept, maybe even masterful, with Psi. Those items aren't going to work.”

“Then... Then we're doomed!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Doomed!” Pinkie screamed in despair.

“No, you're not.” Eiza stood up to his full height, towering over the ponies around him. “I need to get to the next universe, but it goes against my conscience to let your innocent world be tainted by a member of my own race. I can't allow it.”

“So... So you're going to help us?” Fluttershy smiled.

“Yes. But first thing's first, I need food. Protein, preferably. I don't care if it's raw or not.”

“You eat meat?” Rarity shouted in surprise, “A carnivore! Do you eat horses where you're from?”

“No... Don't get so scared, I'm not going to eat you guys...” Eiza grabbed his cloak and draped it over his shoulders. “I need some kind of animal meat, though.”

“Uh...” A guard spoke up, “We actually left while a dragon was attacking Canterlot. If you can eat dragon then there's most likely plenty of food for you up there.”

“Never had dragon meat before. Had the chance twice to eat it, but never did. Sounds delicious.” Eiza licked his lips as his stomach let out a ravenous growl, “Alright then, let's get a move-on to Canterlot! I'm starving!” The group jumped back onto the chariot and the pegasi began pulling up towards the capital.

Chapter Eighteen - Recoil

CHAPTER 18 – RECOIL

“I feel a disturbance.”

“A disturbance, my lord?”

“SILENCE, WORM!” A wave of golden magic incinerated the guard who responded to Terror's out-loud thinking. “I can't even think to myself without one of you vile creatures interrupting me. Would anyone else like to open their disgusting traps?” Terror glared out from atop Celestia's throne at the guards lining the walls of the room who stood in place, sweat pouring from their faces. They did not respond. “Good. Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted... Something does not feel right...” Terror sat back in the throne and rested his head on his hand. Closing his eyes and allowing his shadow magic to seep away from him and venture through the hall and outside, upwards into the sky, and sprout a pair of eyes.

“Ah...” he stated, “It appears that the wielders are not dead after all...” Looking south towards the Everfree Forest, Terror could see a chariot pulled by five pegasi. Inside of it were six ponies – the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, a dragon, and... “What is that thing...”

“We'll be at Canterlot in a few minutes,” Twilight huddled everyone together, “What's the plan?”

“Simple,” Eiza replied, “I eat some of that dragon to get my strength back, you guys cover me.”

“No, I mean after that.”

“Oh. You guys wait outside while I take Terror down.”

“You can't be serious. That's your plan?”

“Hey, I'm not one to be careful about things. Strategy's a pain in the butt.”

“What are we supposed to do while you're fighting Terror?” Rainbow Dash asked, “What if there's guards down there or something?”

“I don't know. You've all fought before, right? Just fight them off until I beat Terror.”

“How are we supposed to be certain that you'll even beat the guy?”

“You'd better not doubt me. I'm your only hope, silly.”

“Okay,” Twilight cut in, “I have a plan. Pinkie. You distract anything that tries to attack Eiza while he eats. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, you're the front-line fighters. Rarity, Spike, and I will stay back close to Eiza while Fluttershy stays high overhead and points out oncoming enemies.”

“You're preparing a bit too much,” Eiza stated with a raised eyebrow, “I'm pretty sure there aren't going to be any enemies.”

“We need to be prepared.”

“Oh, come on, Twilight. Terror disposes of everyone he doesn't need, and he doesn't need anyone. He's most certainly not going to have a bunch of guards defending him.”

The chariot, now a few hundred feet from Canterlot, suddenly began evasive maneuvers to dodge oncoming green magic. Swerving out of the way, Eiza braced himself on the chariot.

“What's goin' on?” Applejack shouted.

“Nevermind, Twilight, I guess you were right on this one!”

“We're going to make a rough landing!” One of the guards shouted back, “We'll touch down as close as we can get to that dragon's body! We'll try to give you some cover while you head in its direction!”

“Got it!” Twilight replied, “Everyone, get ready!”

The chariot neared the ground as it came close to the body of an enormous dragon, then the guards landed the object and screeched to a halt. Eiza bounded from the chariot and took a few strides before stopping in front of a huge army of shadowy insect-like creatures.

“What are these things? Bugs?”

“Changelings! But... Different...”

“They're made of shadows!” Rainbow Dash shouted, smashing through a large sum of the insect creatures, “Come on, lets keep moving!”

The group and guards continued through the army of shadowy creatures, punching and kicking a path through them until arriving at the corpse of the dragon. Eiza knelt down in front of the dragon's ribs.

“Hurry up and eat!” Twilight shouted back, “We don't have much time here!”

“Thank you for your sacrifice to me, noble creature.” Eiza peeled back a few scales on the monster and chomped down upon its hide, ripping ravenously at its body. In his half-starved state, the flesh was delicious, and so he had no trouble eating the chewy hide and muscle fibers of the dragon. Minutes passed by, the ponies battling furiously as the silver-haired man continued to feast.

“How much more are you gonna eat?” Rainbow Dash shouted back at Eiza as she kicked through two more shadows, “These things won't stop coming!”

“There's a whole group of them coming around the corner up north!” Fluttershy shouted from above, “And the east! Oh! The west too! Oh no... They have us surrounded!”

“Eiza, hurry it up!”

More minutes dragged by as the Emata continued to ravenously devour sustenance from the dragon's body. However, the ponies guarding him were becoming tired, whereas the shadows fighting them continued to swarm from all sides.

“Eiza you need to-” Rainbow Dash was cut off by a wave of green magic hitting her directly, sending her flying backwards and injuring her wing.

“Rainbow!” Applejack shouted in surprise before being hit as well.

“No!” Twilight rushed forward and stepped in front of the two, firing magic at the shadows as they came near. Rarity jumped forward and erected a barrier in front of the them as the shadows continued to encircle them.

“Dang it!” Rainbow Dash shouted, holding her wing in pain, “This isn't how I wanted this to go down!”

“Me neither,” Applejack added, “It's not fair at all.”

Rarity continued to strain against the multiple strikes upon the barrier before finally she could no longer hold it, dispersing the magic. Twilight gasped as a wall of magical attacks surged forth at the ponies...

A massive wall of yellow energy recoiled from behind the group, blowing away the green magic and dispersing the entirety of the shadows. Pinkie Pie, having been quickly enveloped by the shadows from the start, appeared some distance down the road as the shadows disappeared and dropped her, confused at her travel down the area. Twilight turned and looked back at Eiza, who lowered his hand.

“I'm full,” he said, licking dragon blood from his lips, “Everyone stay out here. I'll have this over soon.”

“Be careful,” Twilight replied, “He's dangerous.”

“So am I.” Eiza turned and began walking towards the castle.

“Eiza, wait!” Fluttershy jumped forward and took hold of the bottom of his hakama. Eiza looked down at the yellow pegasus.

“What is it, Fluttershy?”

“Please...” She began with teary eyes, “Don't die.”

“What?” Eiza chuckled, kneeling down in front of the pegasus. He placed a hand on top of her head. “Who says I'm gonna die?”

“I just don't want to see someone as nice as you get hurt... Please don't die, Eiza...”

Finding himself to be filled with a new resolve, Eiza stood up, his expression becoming more stern. He turned towards the double doors of the castle and took a few steps.

“Don't any of you worry about me...” He began. He looked back over his shoulder, stopping his steps towards the doors for a moment, “I'm invincible.”

Chapter Nineteen - Protector

CHAPTER 19 – PROTECTOR

The large double doors flew open with a kick. The shadow guards inside, those in the form of unicorns, pegasi, and changelings looked towards the door in surprise as Eiza stepped into the midst of the massive spire. With a smirk, the Emata took a readied stance in the middle of the large group that charged at him. Spinning under a blast of magic that missed and hit a shadow behind him, Eiza lunged forth and punched the shadow changeling, dispersing it into the air.

From behind, a pegasus latched onto Eiza and began choking him. The silver-haired man retaliated by throwing the shadow over his head and to the floor where it dispersed upon impact. He then turned and headed for the spiral steps along the wall of the tower. Racing up the staircase, Eiza dodged and recoiled against multiple shadows before reaching a platform that ran along the side of the tower. There, five more shadows rushed forth at him.

The Emata grabbed a punch from a shadow pegasus, spinning and slamming the shade into an oncoming blast of green magic. He then rushed forward and kicked through the shadow unicorn that had fired the beam, turned and blocked a kick from a nearby unicorn, and recoiled with a tackle that charged into the unicorn and two changelings behind them, sending them toppling over the edge of the railing and crashing to the floor below.

Eiza continued up the next set of steps to the next platform, where two changeling shadows merged together into a large diamond dog that rushed forth at him. Using his Geokinesis, Eiza gripped a nearby stone pillar, broke it off, spun, and slammed the pillar through the spectral diamond dog, then aimed and threw the pillar up at the level above him across the room where it hit and dispersed three more shadows.

Heading past the next level and reaching the level above that, Eiza was attacked by a large mob of pegasi that slammed him through the wall and out into the open air high above Canterlot. They then released him, dispersing as they did so so that he could not grab onto them, but Eiza used his Geokinesis to catch himself by jutting a rock out of the wall below him. He then used the rock to launch himself up to where the next level was, then slammed through the wall and rolled onto the floor.

Dodging a quick attack from a shadowy minotaur, Eiza jumped backwards and prepped himself.

“What is this?” Eiza chuckled, “A minotaur? Really?”

“If you laugh at me,” The shadowy minotaur lowered himself, “Then I wrath at you!” The beast rushed forward at Eiza, who caught the monster's horns in his hands and stopped it in it's tacks, holding it in place. “When somepony tries to block, show them that you rock!” The minotaur threw its head upward, tossing Eiza in the air. The silver-haired man caught himself against the ceiling on his feet, then rocketed downward and punched through the shadowy minotaur before catching himself in a handstand and rolling back to his feet.

Running up the next flight of stairs, Eiza came face to face with a shadowy griffon that smirked at Eiza.

“Come on, dweeb. Do you really think you stand a chance?”

“Dweeb? What are you, twelve?”

“Shut it!” The griffon lunged forth at Eiza, who quickly retaliated with a spinning kick that dispersed the cloud. However, it quickly reformed into three pegasi in lightning-adorned uniforms that shot forth at Eiza from three angles.

Rolling out of the way, Eiza used his Geokinesis to bind the three Shadowbolts to the floor and send the entire section of floor falling to the floor below that, and the floor below that, and the floor below that. Eiza then turned and rushed up the next set of steps.

Stepping up onto the next platform, a large machine faced Eiza with two shadowy figures beside it wearing straw boater hats.

“Well lookie what we've got here, brother of mine!”

“Looks like we're gonna go from crushing apples into cider-” The mustached figure began, flipping a switch on the machine, “-To crushing bodies into 'whine!'” The two began laughing manically as the machine, with immense vacuum suction, began slowly pulling Eiza into it.

Grimacing, Eiza looked at the machine and realized that it wasn't composed of metal. He then looked over at the stone railing and used his Geokinesis to break off a large chunk of the rock and throw it into the machine, jamming it and causing it to explode, dispersing the shadows.

“By the way,” he stated to the dispersing shadows as they slowly scattered into the air, “That pun really 'sucked.'”

The Emata rushed up the staircase and was met by three dragons about his height, who, upon looking at him, began laughing.

“Looks like we got ourselves a new pee-wee!” The dragon in the front stated.

The two dragons beside him both breathed fire at Eiza, who created a shield from the floor that blocked the flames. He then launched the rock forward at the three dragons, dispersing their forms into the air. He jumped the gap and continued up the steps to the next floor.

A bizarre sight met him, one of a pony that looked like Pinkie Pie but with her hair straightened, surrounded by various random objects from a stack of rocks to a sack of flour.

“'Ey! Get outta 'ere, you! Pinkie don't need no friends, got it?” The rocks shouted at Eiza.

“I... What?”

“You heard him!” The sack of flour shouted with a distinct french accent, “Turn around and go away!”

“Get outta here!” Pinkie shouted, jumping forward at Eiza. In an attempt to peacefully pacify Pinkie, Eiza tried to knock her out with a blow to the back of the neck, but was instead met by her exploding into a cloud of shadow alongside the rocks and other inanimate objects.

“Should've known that was fake.” Eiza sighed as he headed to the next level.

Upon stepping onto the final platform, he heard maniacal laughter. A shadowy unicorn with a wizard's hat and star-pocked cloak stood before him with a red amulet around her neck.

“Well, well!” She shouted, “Looks like we have a new challenger against the greatest equine who's ever lived! Bow down to the Great and Powerful Trixie!” A blast of red magic surged towards Eiza, who jumped out of the way and rushed forward at the shadow.

Smirking, Trixie teleported behind Eiza in a flash of red and blasted him directly from behind with magic, sending him falling on his face. Rolling over, Eiza jumped up and out of the way of a second surge of red magic, running in a semi-circle around Trixie before jumping off of the ledge and onto the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, causing it to spin.

“Ha!” the Shadow Trixie scoffed, “You make this too easy!” Another red blast of magic surged at the chandelier and hit it at the connector on the ceiling, causing the entire object to disconnect from the ceiling and fly forward due to momentum, straight at Trixie. “Uh oh...”

The chandelier crashed into the shadow violently, causing Trixie to erupt into a cloud of shadow and reform into the shape of an Alicorn with a flowing mane.

“Eiza Borealis!” the Shadow Celestia roared with glowing red eyes, “You have failed to complete your duties, and so shall be sent back to kindergarten!”

“No! I didn't... Wait...” The Alicorn fired a red beam at Eiza, who caught the blast in his hand and spun, throwing the magic at the ceiling and causing it to collapse on the shadow princess.

Eiza cracked his neck and stretched before opening the door ahead and rushing into the top level of the tower.

Chapter Twenty - Reposession

CHAPTER 20 - REPOSESSION

Stepping into the circular room, Eiza felt the same energy from before pass by him. The room was grandiose, opulent with red carpets, tapestries, and a few stained glass windows that allowed the light to shine in from the eclipsed sky. In the center of the room, sitting in a throne at the end of the largest red carpet was the specter that Eiza had fought to reach.

Terror clapped his hands slowly a few times in amusement. “That was quite entertaining. You have done well.” Sitting at the top of the pedestal upon which the throne was placed, Terror looked down upon Eiza with an evil smile. “It's good to see you back in your true state.”

“You know why I'm here.”

“Is it because I threw you into the gorge?”

“Well, yes. I didn't take too kindly to that. However, I cannot allow you to make our kind look so bad anymore.”

“Excuse me? Make us look bad? There isn't a single thing I could do that could make the Emata look bad. Nothing will make us look even remotely evil in comparison to what the other races did to us.”

“Wrong. Emata are a race of love, of true tolerance. All we had ever wanted was love, right? So what makes you think killing all of these innocent creatures will make us attain that?”

“Idiot. Innocence is a term used by fools. There is no such thing.”

“There is such a thing.”

“No, Eiza Borealis, there is not. In this multiverse, there is no such thing as innocence. There is only ignorance. And ignorance must be punished.”

“Not so long as I live.”

“Do you honestly think you can stop me at this point, boy?”

“No. No I don't think I can defeat you.” Eiza smiled, “I know I can defeat you. I have to.”

“You? Defeat me?” Terror stood from the throne and jumped into the air, slamming down on the floor in front of Eiza, who took a readied stance. “All by yourself?” Terror waved his hand in front of Eiza, “You are nothing. And I shall destroy you... WITHIN THE BLINK OF AN EYE!” Terror snapped his fingers and the walls of the tower around the two fell open, making the floor much larger under the eclipsed sky.

Eiza bounded backwards as Terror released a green blast of magic.

“It's a little bit annoying, honestly. I had planned on all of you coming at me at once. That's why I so strategically placed each of the wielder's fears in the critical path. But you just had to go and screw it up.” Terror fired another beam of magic at Eiza, who dodged out of the way, allowing the beam to part the clouds around them. “I haven't read you enough to know what your greatest fear is, Eiza...”

“My fears are irrelevant.”

“You say that, but are you telling the truth?” Terror fired another green ray at Eiza, who dodged out of the way, coming face to face with the shadow as it appeared before him. Eiza jumped backward as the specter laughed. “Still running, Emata?”

“I'll stop running when you stop using stolen goods against me.”

“They are my powers. I will use them as I please!” Terror fired another green ray at Eiza. This time, however, the man caught the blast in his right hand, spun about, and threw the blast back at Terror. “What-!” The shadow was hit directly by the blast, which shuttered through his body and appeared to peel a figure from him slightly. The vision of the dieing woman flashed through his mind again as he staggered to keep his balance, forcing the magic and the figure to stay within his body.

Steadying himself, he looked up at Eiza with a scowl. “Clever, Emata. But it won't work a second time!” Terror surged forward at Eiza.

“Wow, they're really going at it up there...” Rainbow Dash stated as she stared up at the top of the tower, watching surges of green energy fly out into the sky. Twilight continued to apply a bandage to Dash's wing as she looked over at Fluttershy.

The yellow pegasus was intently watching the sky with tears in her eyes, obviously scared about the outcome of the battle.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight called out to her. The yellow pegasus quickly turned and looked over to her, “Don't worry so much. Eiza can handle himself.”

“How do you know that?” Applejack asked, “He doesn't seem to be usin' his powers up there.”

“Remember what he said right before he kicked open the door?”

Applejack thought for a moment. I'm invincible.

“Yeah, so what? He was just tryin' to keep us from worrying.”

“Yeah. He was. But you felt it too, right?”

“Felt what?”

“When he said that... Didn't you get this feeling that he really couldn't be defeated?”

“I... Well, yeah...”

“Then there's nothing to worry about. I'm sure he'll be fine.” Twilight smiled as she continued to apply the bandages to Rainbow Dash's wing.

“Sheesh, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Before you met the guy you were scared to death that Terror was gonna wipe us out. How come you're so lax now?”

Twilight thought for a moment, then stopped applying the bandages. “You know...” She began, “I think I've come to a conclusion. It's a bit dark... But it's true. If Eiza can't beat Terror, then we have no chance at stopping him. Zero. We'll all be killed.”

“Uh...” Rarity shuddered, “Yes, that is rather dark...”

“So,” Twilight continued, finishing the dressing of Rainbow Dash's wound, “There is no point in worrying, right? Either we believe in Eiza, believe that he can save us, or we live uncomfortably until this is over. If he wins, that's wonderful, it means we can live our lives out to the fullest and repair the damages done to Equestria. We can go on like this never happened. But if he loses... Wouldn't you have rather had hope for a better tomorrow instead of living in fear up until your fate?”

The group sat in silence, taking in Twilight's words. Fluttershy broke the silence after a few minutes.

“I... I'm not afraid...” The group looked over to her, watching tears stream down her face, “I'm not afraid that he'll lose... But you said that you felt something when he told you he was invincible. You felt that he wasn't lying, as if there were no doubts in your mind... Did you forget what he said just before that?”

“What?” Twilight said, thinking back. Be careful, Eiza. He's dangerous.

So am I.

Twilight suddenly felt a sense of dread hit her. Eiza wasn't lying when he said that, either. Her nightmare flashed through her mind again, forcing her to hold her forehead in pain.

“He said that he was dangerous... And he didn't lie...” Fluttershy began crying harder, “I told him not to die. I didn't mean physically, I meant that I didn't want him, the good part of him, to die in a fight to save us...”

“Fluttershy...”

An explosion on the top of the tower drew the attention of the group, who faced upwards. A figure flew through the air and slammed into a lower building of the castle, crashing through the roof.

Eiza shook his head like a wet dog, sitting up in the rubble. “That hurt...”

“You still think that you can win. Laughable.” Terror crashed to the floor in front of Eiza and lunged forward at him. Eiza turned and began darting through the halls with Terror in hot pursuit, breaking and shattering walls as he continued his rampage towards the silver-haired man.

The two rounded a corner and entered a long hallway adorned with multiple detailed stained-glass windows and tapestries along a red carpet. It's at the end of this hall, whatever it is. I can feel the Psi. Eiza continued charging down the carpet, making it a short distance from the throne at the end before a beam of green magic slammed into his back and sent him flying into the throne, shattering it.

“I see what you did there... Trying to get me close to the Elements of Harmony so that you could use them against me. In case you were unaware, they don't work unless you're a wielder.”

Eiza stood up from the rubble behind the pedestal that the throne once sat on. He looked down at a large chest decorated with gold, then opened it. Inside were five necklaces and a tiara, each bearing a symbol that Eiza remembered seeing on the six ponies' flanks. The amount of Psi he felt emanating from them confirmed to him that they were indeed the Elements of Harmony.

“Put the chest down and face me, Eiza. The Elements will not work without their masters. You are not one of them.” Terror continued towards the pedestal, glaring at Eiza as he fiddled with the tiara. “Face me, coward!” Terror fired a beam of green magic at Eiza, who turned and held out the tiara with Twilight's cutie mark upon it. The green magic directly hit the tiara and absorbed into it, releasing a large amount of Psi alongside it. “What?”

“Huh. I didn't think that was going to happen. I wanted it to fire Psi at you.”

“Fool. I've told you already, those will do nothing without their wielders! Now die!” Terror held out his hand and fired another ray of green magic at Eiza, who dodged and held the tiara out again, this time focusing his Psi into the tiara. The green magic that was absorbed suddenly shot out with amplified force at Terror, hitting him directly.

The shadow leaned forward, bracing himself against the blast as an orb suddenly tore from his shroud alongside an abundance of green energy. The magic poured through the orb, shattering it and entering the body of black and white insectoid creature that hit the floor and slid a few feet before its colors returned, turning its body gray. Terror looked back in shock, Eiza did the same, then the shadow turned towards Eiza in fury.

“You worthless peon! I will have your head for this, Borealis!” Terror fired a violet ray of magic at Eiza, who held the tiara again. This time, though, the magic simply deflected off of it.

“Aw man... I should've guessed that wouldn't work.” A second blast of violet magic caused Eiza to dive and roll out of the way. “What happened, Terror? Where's the green at?”

“Shut your mouth!” Another blast of violet magic flew at Eiza, who held up an amulet bearing a balloon. The magic entered it and Psi exited.

“These things are neat!” Eiza said with a laugh, “They hold magic or Psi energy! Cool!”

“Your baubles mean nothing!” Another wave of violet flew at Eiza, who jumped out of the way again.

“I think I've got these things understood. They're some kind of special mechanical device. I've never seen anything like this before... Heh, Metzger would have loved to see these things.” Terror responded with a roar and another violet wave that Eiza absorbed into the amulet. “Yup, looks like I've got it correct. It can hold basically a limitless amount of Psi or magic, but not both at once. I wonder how it works...”

“I'll tear you apart!” Terror hurled another wave of violet magic at Eiza, who absorbed it again and laughed hysterically.

“Man this thing is great! I don't even have to move now!”

“You imbecile!” Terror fired a massive blast of golden magic at Eiza, who attempted to absorb the magic into the amulet. However, the blast instead threw him backwards and into the wall behind him.

“Ow... Maybe not...” Eiza popped himself out of the niche formed by the impact and looked at the amulet again. “I guess it can only hold one kind of magic at once too. Oh well.” Eiza allowed his Psi to flow into the Element of Laughter again and aimed the device at Terror, watching a massive violet ray fly forth and hit the specter directly. Another orb peeled out of his shroud and flew back, shattering and releasing an Alicorn that colored from the magic before hitting the ground beside the insect creature.

Terror keeled over for a few seconds, breathing heavily before standing up again. “YOU INSOLENT WRETCH!” Terror released a blue wave at Eiza, who erected a Psi shield to deflect the attack around him.

“What happened?” Spike asked as the group rushed to the building housing the throne room.

“Eiza got thrown into the building like a ragdoll and Terror jumped in after him!” Rainbow Dash stated as she ran, “He's getting the snot beat out of him!”

The group stopped as the back wall of the throne room erupted outwards near them. Standing in the middle behind a yellow shield of energy was Eiza, holding the Element of Laughter.

“Eiza!” Pinkie Pie jumped forward, “What are you doing with my necklace?”

“Pinkie?” Eiza glanced over before being blown away by a blue blast of magic. Smashing into a statue in the garden, Eiza stood up and looked around at his surroundings. Topiary, huge hedges, flowers, and statues of random creatures adorned the area. “Interesting...”

“Eiza look out!” The Emata looked back in time to see another blast of blue energy flying at him, which he jumped to the side of before lifting a statue with Psi and hurling it at Terror. The specter caught the object in his talons and crushed it.

“Step forward and parish!” Terror rushed forward at Eiza, who hurled another statue at the shadow. The rock shattered against his form, causing him to stagger back momentarily. Eiza glanced over to the group of ponies and threw the Element of Laughter to Pinkie.

“Would you kindly get to your Elements, please? I have an idea that requires them.” Eiza was hit by a blast of blue magic and sent flying backwards into a hedge.

“Everypony go!”Twilight shouted, “Get to your Elements!” The group rushed through the hole in the wall and Twilight immediately caught sight of two bodies lying on the floor a short distance away. “L... Luna?” She mumbled in shock, “Princess Luna!” She quickly rushed over to the side of the dark sapphire Alicorn.

Kneeling down and holding the Alicorn's head in her front hooves, Twilight jostled the princess for a few moments, attempting to get her to open her eyes. “Luna! Luna wake up!”

“Twilight!” Rarity called out to her, “She needs to rest. I'm sure she's been through a horrible turn of events recently.”

“We can't just leave her here!” The group staggered as a massive shockwave resonated through the castle walls. “I'm going to pull her outside.”

“What about Chrysalis?” Fluttershy asked concernedly.

“You can't be serious,” Rainbow Dash spouted, “After everything she did to us?”

“No, she's right.” Twilight replied, “It would be wrong to leave her here to die. She's just as much a victim as the rest.”

Lifting the two bodies with magic, Twilight carried them out with the rest of the group. Setting the two down outside in the garden, now void of the two combatants, Twilight looked over as Spike neared her with the Element of Magic. She placed the tiara on her head and looked over as a shockwave surged forth from the opposite side of the garden maze.

“My power...” Terror hurled a golden ball of magic at Eiza, who jumped out of the way. “Shall not...” He followed up with a second orb that erupted close to Eiza, but still did not manage to hit him. “Be retaken!” Terror fired a massive golden beam from the palm of his hand at Eiza, who considered moving, then remembered that his armor was still present. He held his arm in front of his face defensively as the beam made contact with him.

Watching the magic deflect off of his arm, Eiza smirked, but then quickly became shocked as the metal began to melt off of him. He quickly dove out of the way of the magic and watched it incinerate a path into the maze.

“That's... How did you melt my armor?” Eiza shouted as he got back on his feet.

“Logic has no place here, Borealis. Magic knows no sense. Your impregnable armor cannot withstand magic who's power rivals the Sun!” Terror fired a wave of golden magic at Eiza, who began to move before witnessing a polychromatic beam surge forth from over his head, overpowering the golden attack and hitting Terror directly, sending him flying backwards through the air.

The Emata turned around to look at where the beam had come from, and was met by the group of ponies, armed with their Elements.

“Wow, those things really can do some damage.”

“How did you get Chrysalis and Princess Luna away from Terror?” Twilight stepped forward.

“By tampering with your Elements.”

“Tampering how?”

“They suck up magic like a sponge. They attune themselves once they do, though, so once they absorb one kind of magic they can't absorb another. And I had to re-replace the magic with Psi once I did that, because the magic forced all of the Psi out.”

“So how did that free the Princess and Queen?”

“If you fire the magic back at him and hit him with it, it shoves the source of the magic out of his body. The Element replenishes the magic or Psi that's in it, so you can use the magic again. It can't hold both at once, though.”

“You figured that out that fast?”

“I have a quick brain.”

An explosion of golden energy from behind the hedges blew back plants and statues as Terror stood up, furious. Gazing upon the six ponies beside Eiza, he grimaced.

“To think... You call yourself an Emata, but you stand allied with these abominations of nature? You're no better than they are.”

“The only abomination in this universe is you.” Eiza turned and faced Terror completely, “The order here, as far as I am aware, was completely peaceful until you came along. You're the one disturbing nature, not the equines.”

“Your verbal diarrhea is getting on my nerves, Borealis. You need to learn your place!” Terror fired off another golden beam, this one intercepted quickly by Rainbow Dash, causing the magic to suck into the lightning-bolt amulet on her neck. She hovered in the air, glaring at the shadow.

“I don't think so, shadow-man! If you think I'm gonna let you harm my friend, you've got another thing coming!” Rainbow Dash surged forth, “I've been waiting to do this all day!”

Terror braced himself as Rainbow Dash continue to fly forward, accelerating drastically in an instant. A huge shockwave of multiple colors suddenly erupted from a point in the air in front of Terror as Rainbow Dash collided with the specter, flying forward through the air with him at hypersonic speed.

“Interesting, Rainbow Dash...” Terror whispered to the pony as she continued to push him through the air, “Such speed is of use to me.” A rose-tinted orb suddenly expanded from Terror, causing the rainbow pegasus to recoil off of the barrier and fly backwards. A golden aura caught her and rapidly threw her back at the shadow. Before she could react, Rainbow Dash found herself in the clutch of Terror's talons.

“Element of Loyalty... You are far too headstrong. Let's see what fears you have hidden in that ignorant pony brain of yours...” Squirming, Rainbow Dash attempted to get out of Terror's grip, but suddenly found herself locked in a stare with his piercing red gaze.

The rainbow mare sat up in her bed, looking out towards the window. She stood up, feeling an urge to look out, one that forced her legs to move on their own accord. Walking to the window, she felt as if time was slowing. Upon finally reaching the window after what felt like an hour, she looked out upon the outside world beneath her cloud home...

“Wrong choice, Terror!” Eiza's voice echoed throughout the world and shattered the vision.

Rainbow Dash suddenly snapped out of her daze as the shadow dropped her on the ground. Reeling back in pain, the specter growled and looked up at Eiza, who had finally caught up to the two.

“You dare interrupt my work a second time?” Terror lifted his claw again and fired the golden beam of magic. Rainbow Dash instantly reacted from the side and activated the Element of Loyalty, releasing a ray of solar magic upon Terror, burning him intensely. With a painful roar, an orb tore itself from his shroud and flew back, the golden magic crashing through the gray ball and recoloring Celestia's unconscious body as it fell before being caught in raspberry magic.

“How many is that now? Three?” Eiza chuckled, “You should stop relying on that magic. Fight me with your true power.”

“Never!” Terror released a rose-tinted shockwave that scattered the group, blowing them back into bushes. “This world will fall at the hands of the powers meant to protect it! There is a message to be sent through this. I will not allow you to destroy all that I have trained for for two millenia!”

“Hey Terror!” The shadow looked over at a pony wearing a leather hat, “Show me what good that trainin's done for ya!”

“Arrogant orange harlot!” Terror released another shockwave, which was quickly absorbed by Applejack's element. “Your Element is nothing!” As he released another shockwave, Applejack activated the Element, which shot forth a beam of rose-colored magic that impaled the expanding sphere and lanced the specter directly, forcing a gray orb out of the back of his shroud.

Terror caught himself as he was pushed backward, watching as Shining Armor was recolored by his lost magic. Looking forward with a growl, Terror fired off a blue beam of magic that was intercepted by Rarity and fired directly back, blowing out an orb containing Cadance.

Struggling to stand properly and breathing heavily, Terror glared up at the ponies and Emata surrounding him. This cannot be happening. They've almost completely drained my magic... Everything I do gets stolen... With an enraged roar, Terror released a shockwave of yellow energy that forced the ponies backward. Eiza stood his ground against the wave of Psi.

“Finally using Psi?”

Terror snapped his fingers before the ponies could react, throwing silver magic into the ground and causing multiple monsters composed of rock and dirt to form from the ground, all rushing forward at the ponies.

Bracing themselves fearfully for the oncoming impact, the ponies opened their eyes and witnessed the monsters struggling against an invisible force to strike the mares, but could not overcome the power holding them back.

“What is this? Kill them! Do it, you fools!”

“You couldn't have possibly made a worse decision.” Eiza's voice caught the specter's attention. He looked over at the silver-haired man, who's eyes glowed a gentle blue as he stood still, his arms crossed over his chest.

“This is impossible! How can you overcome Discord's magic?”

“Are you sure you're an Emata like me?”

“Do not toy with me!” Terror caused another mass of earth to upturn and surge forth at Eiza with an animalistic form. The result was the same. Alongside the other earthen creatures frozen in place, the new ones met the same issue. “What trickery is this?”

“You didn't read my mind, either. Otherwise you would have known from the start.”

“You're a Geomancer. I already knew this.”

“Yes. I am. But you obviously didn't know just how skilled I was.”

“Your skill in Geokinesis is not of my concern, you coprolite.”

“Ha. Funny. But it's actually much more of a concern than you could ever imagine.”

“You can overcome my magic if I use it on the ground, so what? I'll just manipulate something else-”

“There's a ton of uranium in the ground on this planet for some reason. I still don't know why. But uranium is a fun element to work with. Do you know what happens when you split an atom, Terror?”

“Even if I said I did, you'd explain it.”

“A few things. Number one: A chain reaction occurs. It is difficult to contain and very dangerous. Normally. But I can contain it with Psi. Number two: You get two smaller, less massive elements. Number three: Energy is released, en masse, in the form of Photons and kinetic energy. Heat and light.”

“Yes, yes. Nuclear fission. Is there a point to what you're wasting my time by telling me?”

“Basically, I'm going to split that atom of uranium by your feet there and blow your shadowy butt to kingdom-come.”

“You what-” Eiza snapped his fingers and the air illuminated to the point that the nighttime sky emulated the day. Contained inside of a yellow sphere, an explosion occurred that shook the air and ground for miles as the protons and neutrons of the uranium atom were fissured by Psi from Eiza. Caught in the sphere was Terror, who was at the mercy of the explosive power.

After a few seconds, the explosion stopped, leaving the orb full of smoke. Eiza released his focus on the orb and watched the smoke quickly spread into the air. What remained stunned him. An evil chuckle greeted him.

“Is that the best you can do?”

Eiza sighed after calming himself. “I should have known your magic would protect you.”

“What!” Rainbow Dash jumped up, “How did you survive that?”

Terror peered up at Eiza. “It seems that I cannot use my Psi just yet with you, Borealis. You're a level beyond the Geomancer I knew in the past.”

“I'm not one to toot my own horn but I'm pretty sure I'm more than just a single level higher.”

“It does not matter. You could be a thousand times more powerful than any Geomancer and still be weaker than me.”

“You keep saying that, but there you stand with under half of your stolen magic remaining. You're losing foot.”

“Do not mock me, worm!” Terror created a silver ethereal mass of rock over Eiza that fell upon him. The man jumped sideways, his strength allowing him to easily clear a distance away from the crashing magic stone. Instantly after his evasive maneuver, a barrage of silver lightning hit him directly.

Though his body was more attuned to withstand electricity, a natural ability of Emata, the pain of the unnatural magical lightning proved to be searing and impossibly horrible to him. Screaming in pain as the lightning continued to bombard him, but unwilling to pass out, Eiza gritted his teeth and glared up at the shadow as it walked closer to him, laughing maniacally.

“All it takes is the correct ammunition and no opponent can stand before you. In this case I had to bind Discord's strange magic to my will, but I think that using his power in a more predictable way is more efficient. Don't you agree?” Terror's question was met by another agonized cry from Eiza, who lay pinned to the ground by the magical plasma as it barraged his body relentlessly. Wracked with spasms, Eiza found himself fading out of consciousness. “What a shame, Eiza Borealis. To die like this after you had sworn to defend these disgusting ponies. I will take great pleasure in killing these six once your life is void.”

Filled with frustration and rage at Terror's words, Eiza pushed himself, forcing his sore body to fight against the physical agony placed upon it by the unrelenting electrical cascade. Growling and gritting his teeth, becoming more attuned to the pain and more resilient, Eiza slowly got to his feet and continued to glare at Terror with fury.

“I should have expected the Emata's advanced adaptive ability to make you resilient to my pain. Let's see just how much punishment you can take!” Focusing more energy into the lightning, the silver glowed brighter and forced Eiza to the ground again, causing him to let out another cry of agony. This is it... I'm gonna die... How worthless of me...

A shadow dove in front of the lightning, shielding Eiza from the bombardment and taking the entirety of the silver magic into its body. Absorbing a massive charge of the magical volts into its body as it passed through the center of the ray, the yellow pegasus managed to capture lightning inside of the amulet around her neck as well before she hit the ground with a clumsy thud. Terror stopped the barrage and glanced over at Fluttershy as she lay unconscious on the ground. Eiza stopped breathing out of surprise, turning his head to look at Fluttershy with widened eyes.

“Idiot. You thought you stood a chance?” Terror turned towards the yellow pegasus and began stepping toward her slowly. Eiza, filled with anxiety and an urge to protect Fluttershy, begged for his body to move. His hopes were in vain. “Did you honestly think that you could save this man, yellow pegasus? Did you really think that your kind action would solve anything? Now there are two casualties on your side rather than one. Fool.” Terror stopped as he reached her, looming over the yellow pegasus' body menacingly as Eiza gritted his teeth and struggled to make his sore muscles move. “But you cannot even hear me. I'm speaking to deaf, unconscious ears. When you awaken, you will see just how foolish your actions were when you look upon the body of the man you tried to save.” Terror turned and faced Eiza again, taking a step before hearing movement behind him.

“You...” the specter turned in surprise at the voice of Fluttershy, coming into direct view of her petrifying Stare, “Leave... My friends... Alone!” A silver ray of magic erupted from the Element of Kindness, hitting Terror directly before he could react. The chaotic magic of Discord, mixed with the inadvertent Psi ability of Fluttershy's Stare, reacted in an inharmonious symphony that pierced through Terror, exiting him with two orbs rather than one – an orb containing Discord, the other containing King Sombra.

Terror let out a cry of fury and despair as the orbs ruptured, the bodies were recolored, and the two unconscious beings taken into a gentle raspberry magic, carried to the sidelines beside Twilight and the other elements. Shocked, Terror looked down at his hands.

“You...” The air began to vibrate around the area, the atmosphere thickening and condensing, “You worthless lymph-tinted maggot...” The ground cracked, bits of rock raising into the air as electricity danced about carelessly, “You will pay... YOU WILL PAY!” Terror turned his gaze to the yellow pony, his teeth now fangs sharper than razors and his grimace a scowl that pierced the soul. His eyes brighter than a furnace and his body shining as a mixture of darkness and yellow energy, Terror turned and reached down to Fluttershy with a massive talon, gripping the weak and unstable pegasus in his hand, squeezing her with immense force that allowed for her to only cry out in pain.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight fired a magical beam at Terror, which ricochet off of the yellow aura surrounding him. The shadow turned his gaze at the flock of ponies advancing on him in fury, then released a powerful wave of Psi at them, blowing them back into the rock and rubble left over by the creatures created before. The ponies, unconscious, could no longer help their friend.

“You dared to defy a God, Fluttershy?” Terror growled as he squeezed the yellow pony tighter, causing her to let out another pained yelp, “YOU DARED TO DEFY MY POWER?”

“Flutter... Fluttershy... No...” Eiza, forcing his hand to reach up for the yellow pegasus, felt tears stream down his face as his body still refused to cooperate.

“YOU ARE NOTHING, YOU YELLOW WRETCH! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BY STEALING THE MAGIC BACK FROM ME! YOU CHOSE THE WORST ROUTE! NOW YOU WILL KNOW MY UNHINDERED POWER!” Terror continued to squeeze the yellow pegasus, who whimpered weakly in his grip as he snarled upon her.

“Fluttershy...” Eiza managed to raise his voice to an audible level, one that caught Terror's attention. He turned and faced the paralyzed Emata, then changed his fang-ridden scowl into a malevolent smile.

“Look here, Element of Kindness. Look upon the man who you could not save, and who cannot save you. Before I crush your mind, is there anything that you would like to say to him?” Fluttershy, focusing all of her remaining strength to look at Eiza without blurred vision, saw his weeping eyes and smiled to him.

“Don't you worry about me...” She gasped weakly to continue as Eiza's eyes widened, “I'm invincible.”

Terror turned Fluttershy to him, his gaze piercing her soul. Eiza let out a cry of torment as he watched Fluttershy's body begin to spasm and shake violently in Terror's grip. The yellow pegasus, unable to move or save herself, continued to shake violently for three minutes before she began to foam at the mouth, her eyes rolling back into her head. Eiza, completely stunned, continued to stare blankly in disbelief at what had just occurred. Terror turned and threw Fluttershy's unconscious body into a shrub, facing Eiza.

“Three minutes. She lasted three seconds. Too much? Too bad.” Terror slowly walked to Eiza, the sun and moon above slowly beginning to move away from each other. “You didn't even try to save her. You are worthless!” Terror kicked Eiza, sending him flying backwards and landing on the ground a fair distance away. Turning his vision upward, he looked forward and was met by a blank, lifeless stare from Fluttershy, who lay just next to him, having fallen from the shrub. “I wanted to use less potent power, magical power, to enslave this world. I am somewhat nice in that sense. But you could not allow me to do that. You had to continue trifling with me. You stole the shackles from me.”

Terror knelt down to Eiza, who continued to stare into Fluttershy's eyes, and whispered harshly to him. “I am a God, Eiza. You think that you could defy a God? You, who would help such worthless beings? You, who cannot even save his friends? You, who killed your own family...” Eiza's irises shrunk in shock at Terror's statement. Seeing this, Terror smiled. “Oh yes, Eiza. I know all about you. How you caused the death of the entirety of your friends and family. I've read it all out of your head now.”

Terror turned and walked a few paces away. “Once I'm through with this world... I'll kill your precious Ailain next.”

A sudden fury filled Eiza. No. No... No! He took the friends I made here from me... He will not take Ailain from me! Eiza, entirely numb, stood up to his full height with a growl. Snarling in fury, taking on a primal stature, Eiza glared forward at Terror.

“Good, Eiza. Stand up and die like a man.” Terror turned and faced the Emata with an evil smile. Eiza held out his hand towards the ground as a yellow glow enveloped him, the glow reached to the ground as his eyes began to glow a bright blue, the ground responded by sprouting a black sword split down the middle by red. Eiza grabbed the handle and threw it up over his shoulder, resting it there as he scowled viciously at the specter before him.

“How animalistic of you, Eiza Borealis. To become so infuriated with me that you would enter a berserk state... Do you hate me that much?” Eiza responded with a roar augmented by his Psi that shook the ground beneath them. “It seems that words are no longer a commodity for you and I... You've thrown civility out the window entirely. So be it. Die like an animal instead of an Emata!”

Surging forth, two massive auras of yellow energy colliding violently; A silver-haired man, his face a huge and blood-thirsty smile, and a pitch-black specter with glowing red eyes came forth and began a battle that shook the earth.

Chapter Twenty-One - Awakening

CHAPTER 21 – AWAKENING

Resounding violently across the destroyed buildings and landscape of Canterlot, Eiza's blade and Terror's claws clashed with explosive force. Matching the specter blow-for-blow, Eiza's stamina did not fade. His eyes continued to glow an interminable blue, adding to his demonic visage as he continued to lash out at the specter.

“You are the weakest swordsman I have faced to date, Borealis.” Terror dodged one of Eiza's swift slices, lashing out and slicing three trenched gashes across Eiza's chest, cleaving away his armor and kimono. Startled by the attack, Eiza took a step backwards to balance himself as his chestplate and kimono fell away, then smiled again and surged forth with a roar, swinging his greatsword with a single hand.

“Your actions are futile, Eiza. I can read your every move.” Terror sliced Eiza across the chest again, this time not phasing the man in the slightest as he continued to flip and spin and slice at the shadow. “Why will you not fall?” Terror punched at Eiza, who blocked with his sword, spinning around the blade and kicking Terror in the stomach.

Catching himself after being sent through the air a short distance, the specter steadied himself and looked up as Eiza's blade cleaved through the air. Moving out of the way just in time, Terror was left with a deep cut from his shoulder to his waist rather than being bisected. “I've not felt pain like this in a long time...” Terror held his hand over his wound, bringing it to his face a short while after and gazing upon the blood there. Eiza rushed forward and attempted another slice before Terror gripped him by the head and lifted him into the air.

Struggling violently, Eiza grabbed the talons around his head and squirmed furiously to get away. Glaring at the specter, he was met by the glowing gaze of Terror, which pierced his mind.

A vision of the man in orange casting him through the portal. Then, the man in orange reaching into the air and seeming to pull a massive meteor from the sky, which collided with Monaris on a magnitude unlike any other event before it. The world was left dead and barren, all because Eiza failed to stop the man.

Eiza snapped out of the mental assault and gripped Terror's arm violently. Surprised at the resilience of the man, Terror failed to react in time before the berserk Emata tore two large hunks of bloody flesh from his arm. Terror released his grip in a cry of pain, dropping the silver-haired man on the ground.

“Impressive, Eiza... You broke my attack just four seconds in...” Eiza jumped forth with maniacal laughter, lashing out at Terror with his blade again. The shadow blocked the attacks with his razor-sharp claws, backing up as the assault continued. “Your energy knows no bounds, it seems.”

This was true, something that Terror noted of Eiza. Each strike from the man before him seemed to become more powerful rather than weaken, the muscles on his body appearing to bulge and grow with each strike. At the rate that Eiza was enhancing his strength through rage and Psi, Terror was uncertain if he would hold out for much longer.

“Cease your madness, ape!” Terror parried a lash from the greatsword and gripped Eiza's face again, piercing his mind a second time.

Eiza found himself exiting the cave of Balsanel just as he had done so long ago, but this time earlier than before. Screams of the city's people rang out as he rushed into the town square. There, the man that had destroyed the city before, his golden saber in hand, mercilessly cleaved through the people like butter. The man looked back at him and smiled, holding his hand out to him in a silent request for him to join. Rather than attacking him as he had done before, Eiza joined the attacker in the violent genocide of the citizens of Balsanel, their pleading voices meaning nothing to him as he struck them all down...

Eiza roared again and kicked Terror away. The shadow caught himself and looked upon Eiza. That assault had visibly affected the man, for now he stood uncertain. His eyes held a hint of fear.

“It took you fifteen seconds to break that one. Getting weaker?”

The berserker responded with a howl and charge towards Terror. The two began exchanging blows once more.

“You are making this much more difficult than it needs to be. Do you have any idea how hard it is to use Biokinesis in the midst of battle?” Terror struck Eiza's chest with his palm, delivering a massive shock to his body that sent him flying back. He wiggled his talons as electricity danced from them for a second afterward. “It's hard to be a self-sufficient being. I haven't had enough practice yet.”

Blind and deaf with fury, Eiza jumped forth through the air at Terror, who caught him by the neck and slammed him into the ground with enough force to shatter the rock. The berserk man squirmed and struggled furiously as he was held down. Terror's gaze pierced him again.

Three children, a young boy with black hair and two twin girls, younger than the boy, stood around a dead woman lying in a bed. As they wept, the boy looked back and up to Eiza.

“Daddy... You'll take care of us, right?”

A wave of yellow Psi surged from Eiza, throwing Terror high into the air. The specter landed on his feet a distance away as the man stood up, his rage waning and his thoughts becoming his enemy.

“That one appeared to have made you quite frantic, Eiza. You struggled to get out of that one as soon as you could.”

“Shut... Up...” Eiza's breathing became harder. He realized at that moment that he had already completely exhausted the energy gained from the dragon meat, and had probably used up a substantial amount of autophagy at that point as well.

“No more rage?” Eiza collapsed to one knee, his breathing still harsh. “I told you that you could not win. I am a God. You are still just a naïve Emata.”

“If naivety means being a good person, one who dies for a just cause... Then yeah. I'm a naïve Emata.” Eiza looked up at Terror, defiance and fire in his eyes as he forced his trembling, weak body to stand up, “But I'm still a better being than you'll ever be.”

“You are so arrogant that it's painful for me to even be near you.”

“Says the guy calling himself a God.”

“The right to be a God goes to those who have the ability to be one. That right is now mine.”

“No one as foul as you deserves such power.”

“I'm done listening to you. You can hardly stand.” Terror looked at the Emata before him who shook violently as his muscles began to fail him. “You are no longer relevant here.” The specter approached Eiza, who was unable to move due to his muscles being locked.

Looks like I'm done, then. This time's for real. I'm sorry, everyone... I'm so, so sorry...

“What are you doing, moron?” Eiza opened his eyes and found himself inside of the gray room, facing Mokushiroku as he hovered over the black pit. “This is why I told you to leave it be.”

“I never was good at following orders.”

“This much is obvious.”

Eiza smiled at Mokushiroku. “Well... Since I'm here...” The silhouette smiled at Eiza as the man stood up in front of him. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

The silhouette's smile grew at Eiza, for he knew the request that would follow all too well.

“Say it.”

Eiza became filled with rage, hatred towards the shadow that he saw in the scrying pool above, hatred towards the man that had caused so much pain and agony for the creatures of Equestria. He cried aloud and let his voice ring through his subconscious. “Kill him, Mokushiroku...” He growled in enmity towards Terror, “Kill him! I want him dead!”

The silhouette smiled devilishly and sunk into the pit slowly. “IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WISH...”

A moment passed, one of pure silence... Then, a massive wave of black tar erupted from the pit and surged upward through the scrying pool as an unrelenting reversed waterfall. Every drop of the liquid filled Eiza with dread and despair. Dread that was the knowledge that he had been forced to use the monster to win the battle. He prayed that the ponies would not fear him afterward.

Terror stopped a few feet from Eiza as the flame stripes on the man's face began to glow a virulent red. His shadow began to boil as a liquid, enveloping his legs and slowly seeping upward, coating his body slowly as he growled.

“What...” Terror watched curiously as the liquid coated Eiza's body entirely and changed him into a black silhouette of what he once was. After a moment, the new form began to shudder, a set of jagged quills erupting from his left forearm, then his right. Terror stepped back a few paces as the event continued.

The figure's legs warped, taking lizard-like shapes as the toes rearranged into four massive claws. Upon the larger knee of each leg, a fanged mouth tore open and revealed a reptilian eye that glared at Terror with rage. Eiza's tassets became skeletal, resembling demonic skulls as the fluid took shape over them.

Arching its back, the spine of the figure pulled and tore itself from the body and extended like a lengthy spiked tail attached at the base to the being's shoulder blades. The shoulder blades themselves sprouted a pair of spikes on each side, the outermost spikes both erupting outward further as a pair of large batlike wings.

The creature's abdomen sunk in, the ribs erupting from the flesh and becoming jagged as the sunken stomach grew jagged fangs along the edge, shaping it into a large mouth. The creature's shoulders sprouted spines and spikes that added to the already formidable size of the being. Another reptilian eye opened upon the creature's chest and gazed out at the area, scanning wildly.

Finally, the head warped and elongated outward, three large spikes in the back which began a series of quills that continued into the flowing tail-like spine. The head became tri-sectioned, a pitch-black gap on each side of the head took the place of where the eyes would be. The sections seemed to be latched together with numerous fangs. After these formed, a long, curved horn sprouted from each side of the beast's face and framed the length of both sides.

After the transformation completed, the creature stood quietly, hunched over and in a completely static, statuesque manner.

Twilight's eyes opened slowly as she regained consciousness next to a large shrub. She raised her head slowly and glanced around, noting where everyone was. She looked up and out to Terror... Then suddenly became filled with complete shock and horror. The being from her nightmare the night prior stood before her.

A dream unlike any she had had before, odd, but never had anything been so terrifying to her. The world of Equestria, the entire planet in space, with no other bodies around it. In place of the stars that she would have expected, the world seemed to glow a gentle green. A figure faded into view behind it – the same creature that now stood before the specter – and took the world into a single claw, crushing it. She had no method of explaining it, thinking it to be nothing special, but now for that creature to be here... She feared the world was in danger.

As Twilight continued to shake from afar, unable to move, Terror stood silently before the monster. After a minute of examination, he finally spoke up.

“What are you, Borealis?” The creature turned it's head suddenly, two glowing red orbs erupting into existence from within the pits of its head. It took a step forward, the sections of its head opening to reveal a mass of wriggling tendrils as it let out a roar the tore the land asunder and blew Terror backwards. The specter landed a far distance from the monster, caught highly off-guard by the immense release of energy, and braced himself as the beast continued its deafening howl.

After the monster ceased its initial battle cry, all of the ponies but Fluttershy awoke in a start. The monster extended his right claw to the side, reaching in the general direction of Eiza's discarded greatsword. The large sword lifted from the ground and shot forth to its hand, and the beast caught it, then swung outward again, causing an enormous amount of earth to be shattered and destroyed by wind pressure alone as the blade exploded, its form being replaced by yellow energy.

“What is that thing?” Applejack cried out to the others as the wind surged past them.

“I never thought that I would see anything creepier than Terror...” Rainbow Dash shuddered at the sight of the spine wiggling freely from the monster's back.

“It's... It's...” Twilight struggled to speak, overcome by fear, “It's Eiza...”

“What?” Rarity exclaimed, “That can't be Eiza!”

“He said he was a dangerous person...” Twilight felt tears well up in her eyes, completely overwhelmed by the horror she felt, “He didn't lie... He didn't lie about being invincible... He just never elaborated...” Twilight held her head and began crying. “Terror wasn't the danger to Equestria that I had predicted in my dream... Eiza was... Eiza's going to destroy the world...”

“This form of yours means nothing! Nothing! I'll crush you all the same!” Terror shot a massive bolt of lightning at the creature, who did not flinch as the electricity surged through it. The monster began taking steps towards Terror. “Don't come near me! Die! Die, I say! Die!” Terror launched volley after volley or electricity and Psi attacks at the monster, all to no avail. The beast continued to walk casually towards the shadow, gurgling passively as it took each step.

Each footstep became louder and louder, Terror's focus zeroing in on the action as it continued to quicken. Thud... thud... thud, thud, thud, thud, thud-thud-thud-thud-thudthudthudthud... then Terror realized after noting the sound being out of sync with the footsteps of the monster... The sound was that of his own heart.

Fear? He had thought himself to be incapable of it. After two thousand years, Terror had thought himself to have mastered it. To be invincible. In the face of this creature, he found himself completely overtaken, paralyzed, by his own namesake.

“No... No... No! I will not accept it!” The shadow forced his body to move, rushing forward at the monster, “I claimed my name because I am the Master of Fear! I am Terror, the God of this world! You cannot scare me!” The shadow stopped before the monster, which stared at him blankly, and gripped the beast's face in his talon. He pierced the monster's soul with his glowing red gaze. “FEAR ME, EIZA BOREALIS! FEAR ME!”

After a moment of nothing occurring, the monster suddenly gripped Terror by the face and peeled him away, holding him into the air off of the ground as the shadow struggled. The monster's eyes suddenly flashed brightly as it pierced Terror's soul, forcing him to relive a memory he had long forgotten.

Chapter Twenty-Two - Truth

CHAPTER 22 – TRUTH

THREE THOUSAND YEARS PRIOR – 2347 AD

“...In global news, the world government is attempting to pass a new bill that would force all Emata to relocate to a different planet located in the Andromeda galaxy. The bill has received nearly unanimous support from all but two-” A man pressed a button on the touchscreen fibers of his night shirt, shutting the hologram off. The news had been depressing to him for a long time. He wondered why he bothered to watch it each morning.

He stood up and walked to the bathroom. Upon stepping through the doorway, a scanner immediately picked up his thought processes and started the shower, heating the water to his preferred temperature. The man took off his shirt and looked over, the metal wall shifting into a mirror-like surface for him to see his black hair and blue eyes.

After showering and getting ready for work, he tapped another button on his sleeve that changed his attire into a more formal suit rather than pajamas. He walked out onto the front lawn and walked to his car, his neighbor shouted to him.

“Hey there, Lou!” The man across the fence waved to him as he opened the door. Lou looked up and smiled at the neatly-dressed man.

“Hello, Frank. How's the family?”

“Ah, the kids are still kids. My wife's still annoying. Say, how's your wife doing?”

Lou grimaced and turned his gaze to the ground. “Not too great. They still don't know what's wrong with her. It really sucks, you know? I'm a scientist for crying out loud, and yet I can't even help her out...”

“It's not your fault, Lou. You're not the only one who doesn't have a clue. Even my department has no idea what it is.”

“It's not fair, though. All that technology and they can't cure her of it... I don't get it...”

“I wouldn't worry about Eve. She's a fighter. She'll pull through it, I'm certain.” Frank smiled at Lou, which managed to reassure the man slightly as he nodded to his neighbor and sat down inside of his car.

Flipping the switch within, the driveway around the car began to glow, allowing the vehicle to lift off of the ground. Lou hated the car, as it always gave him a headache from all of the electrical charge used in the electromagnets to make it move, but Emata like him were minorities. They had no real say in what went on in the world, let alone what vehicles could be made.

“432-867 Alpha-Theta Lane.” Lou stated aloud. The car began to move on its own and hover at a rapid pace over the glowing road. One thing that Lou was thankful for was the hassle-free manner of driving. He couldn't imagine having to constantly pay attention to the road like the barbarians of 300 years prior were forced to do.

After five minutes and five hundred miles of travel, the car stopped in a parking space, allowing Lou to exit before the ground opened up and claimed the car inside of a storage unit. Lou walked to the building and stepped through the doorway, which scanned him as he did so.

“Welcome, Mister Lucifer Adams,” A female voice rang out through the nearby speaker as he continued walking, “We hope you have a pleasant day.”

“I hope so too.” He continued walking to a door, which opened upward. He stepped into the elevator and the door closed. “Floor SS-Zero.” His announcement was met by the elevator suddenly lowering down at a rapid rate. The magnetic floor of the box kept Lou secured by his shoes, keeping him from hovering during the rapid descent.

After descending through floors S-1 through S-200, the elevator slowed and stopped at floor SS-Zero, 17 miles below the surface of Earth. The door opened, and Lou was met by the typical heat of the area. Being so close to the mantle, this was to be expected, but Lou never enjoyed it. He hated heat so much that he refused to go to beaches, preferring to travel to the poles during vacations.

Stepping out onto the platform, Lou took in the sight of the massive room, noting the scientists and manual workers all diligently swarming about a trio of stasis tanks in the center of the room. As he looked at the contents of the three tanks, examining the development of the beings within, a voice caught his attention.

“You were nearly late, Adams.” Lou turned as a militarily-dressed man bearing ten stars on his uniform approached him.

“Ah, commander Michaels, good to see you too.”

The slightly-elderly man laughed heartily as he slung his arm over Lou's shoulder, walking with him. “Government's getting antsy, Lou. They want their magic.”

“Well they should've known better than to place an Emata as the head of development of something like this, then.”

“I know you've had an aversion to the MANA Project ever since its conception, Lou. I respect that, I try to give you some time to think things over when you need it.” Commander Michaels stopped and turned to Lou, taking his arm from over his shoulder. “But you need to respect that I am your superior, and what I say goes.”

“I thought we were friends, Gabe.”

“We are. I've known you since we were kids. I've known you were different. I wanted you to have your own life. I never imagined that I would be made an Executive Commander, but things happen. I have no choice but to give you orders. The last thing I need is the president jerking me around.”

“This is unnatural. Like I've said many times, I'm a man of science. Your MANA Project is complete crap, it makes no sense!”

“You're an Emata, and you want to talk about sense?”

“My powers are natural.”

“Your powers are an abomination against nature.”

“How dare you!” Lou's eyes shone a bright blue as the metal in the area bent and twisted suddenly. Gabe stood his ground while others near them jumped back in fear. Lou's breathing quickened in anger.

“Psi usage is illegal, Lou. You know better.”

“You humans have been oppressing my kind for too long. You don't even consider our point of view.”

“We do. It's just that the Emata gene is so recessive that you're among a minority. There's 15 billion humans on Earth and only 5 thousand Emata. Do you really think you can outweigh all of humanity?”

“I would think that after working my way up this cannibalistic food chain that we call a 'job system,' I would have more influence.”

“You think. You think lots of things. We pay you to think about only a few things. Think about these things -” Gabe gestured towards the stasis tanks, “- and get this project finished today.”

Lou considered trying to argue further, but grunted as he knew it was pointless. Gabe nodded with a smile, turned, and walked away. Lou turned and walked to a table with an overview of the containers. Another scientist greeted him as he approached.

“Hello, Mister Adams! I've got great news for you!”

“I doubt it.”

“Ah, come on, sir! Don't be so pessimistic! You're gonna love this news. Container one is almost completely mature. It will be ready for release today. We'll be able to taste the fruits of the MANA Project's labor!”

“Container one...” Lou looked out at the serpentine creature in the tank, then examined the statistics on the screen before him.

Specimen One was his least favorite of the three. It looked hideous. The government wanted an intimidating creature that would make Earth appear formidable within the federation again. As such, they designed an abominable creature that was made of different parts of multiple animals, resembling something akin to ancient depictions of Eastern Dragons. They called it a “Draconequus.” Lou just called it “Discord,” because nothing Lou suggested in terms of form for the creature was even taken into consideration.

“What about the other two?”

“Ah, they are still quite immature. I know you want to see them in action, sir, but you'll have to deal with Discord for now.”

“I suppose it will have to do...” Lou sighed and began work on the correct levels of nutrition for the creature, as well as studying mana levels in the container.

Hours passed, Lou decided to go on break before Discord was “born.” He wanted to see his wife more than anything else at that moment, so that he may be able to recharge his batteries. He left the laboratory and traveled up to the surface again, heading to his car and leaving for the hospital.

After entering the hospital, Lou traveled to his wife's room, entering and shutting the door quietly behind him. He shuddered as he looked at her. She may as well have been mostly machine at this point, as all of the medical treatments had led to her being kept alive with a mass of machinery in the room. Her upper body remained untouched, however, still allowing Lou to see his wife's shining black hair and marble skin.

She took note of him instantly, turning her head and looking at him with beautiful sapphire eyes. She smiled brightly at his presence. Lou walked to her and sat down, taking her hand in his own.

“Hey there... Lou...” She smiled and said through heavy breaths.

“Hey there, Eve.”

“How is... The work... Is it going well?”

“It is. We have the first specimen done. He's ready to be born today.”

“That's... good...” Eve smiled to him and looked down at her bloated stomach. “This one... Is almost... Ready as well...”

“Eve...” The weak woman looked at Lou, “I don't think you should have the baby...”

“Why not... Lou?”

“It might kill you... I really don't want to lose you...”

Eve chuckled, which lead into a coughing fit. She took her hand from her mouth and wiped the blood off of it, her smiled not fading. “Silly... You won't... Lose me...”

“What do you mean?”

“Our boy... He'll be with you... I'll be with him... We'll always be together... Lou...”

The man wiped his eyes and smiled at Eve, then they both looked at her stomach. The boy was to be an Emata, this much was certain. He was conceived nine months prior, coincidentally on the same date that Discord's first cells developed. That was two years after Lou had begun work on the MANA Project, and a year after he had married Eve. He never imagined that Eve would become so terribly ill before giving birth to his child... He knew that she would die soon.

He stayed there with Eve for an hour before she fell asleep. Then, he left and began walking out of the building. As he stepped out into the parking lot, however, an explosion below the surface shook the ground.

“What?” He said aloud, “An earthquake? That's impossible...” The artificial shocks placed between the plates in 2298 prevented plate collision and diversion, but a quake of this magnitude could be formed from nothing else. A second explosion occurred, causing the buildings to tilt around him and for him to lose his balance.

The ground erupted two miles away as a massive silver beam of energy released itself into the sky. This was followed by a large, serpentine creature with multiple different parts ascending into the sky. A flash of silver caused Discord to disappear. At least the magic worked, Lou thought.

He stood up and rushed back into the hospital. The entire interior of the building was in pandemonium as nurses and hospital workers scurried about to check on patients' health. Lou rushed towards Eve's room, but was stopped as workers surged out of the room with Eve in tow, screaming in agony.

Lou rushed alongside her, holding her hand the entire way as they neared the operating room.

Ten minutes of labor resulted in the birth of his son and the death of his wife. Having died as soon as the boy was born, Eve never said goodbye to Lou, and never named the child that now rested in his arms.

“I wish you could have grown up knowing your mother...” Lou brushed through his son's black hair. A third shift in the ground beneath the building caused the structure to tilt violently. Due to the buildings not being made to withstand earthquakes anymore, the entire structure collapsed around Lou and his child.

Defiant and unwilling to let his son be harmed after his wife had died, Lou used his Psychokinesis to clear away all debris around them and land softly on the ground. His son slept peacefully the entire time. As Lou walked out into the open, a sight shocked him.

The skies had become black on one side of his view, but were blue like the day on the other half. The ground ran wet with melted chocolate, the clouds above rained popcorn, the rivers ran upward into the sky. In the midst of the madness was a cackling serpent in the sky, who rested atop a cloud as though it were his throne. Discord laughed uncontrollably at the madness he caused.

Lou watched as multiple craft surged forth at Discord, who snapped his fingers and watched them all turn to dust. The pilots continued flying through the air, hitting clouds and rebounding off of them with great force, flying back over the horizon.

“Oh, this is completely hilarious!” Discord's voice, already developed, rang out over the world. “You all think you can do something to me!” He broke out into laughter again. “You people are fun! So much fun!”

More aircraft rushed towards the Draconequus.

The vision cut to Terror's point of view. He was a small child, looking up at his father. Lou stood examining the stasis containers of a white Alicorn and a violet one, measuring levels of Mana in each one. Terror did not understand what his father was saying, nor what the strange devices were that his father examined and fiddled with on the side. His father turned to him and smiled brightly.

Multiple visions flashed before him. Some lasting as short as a fraction of a second, others lasting as long as three. Visions of him sitting in his father's lap with him reading gilded pages out of a large book with a cross on the cover, visions of him playing with him, visions of them together as father and son.

After many flashes, the vision slowed to allow Terror to view one with more depth. One of his father teaching him about Psychology.

“See, everyone has similar fears...” Terror was certain that his father had just said his name, but he didn't hear it, “Darkness, loneliness, death, monsters, the unknown; Everyone fears them to some extent. Being able to manipulate things by those fears will make you formidable. But also, being able to stand up to those fears will make you strong as well.”

“So I should be able to do both?”

“That's right. But there's a very important thing that you need to know before you try.”

“What's that?”

“Friedrich Nietzsche once said, 'Whoever battles monsters should be careful not to become a monster too, for if you stare long enough into the Abyss, so shall the Abyss stare back into you.' If you become too powerful, you will become too weak.”

“What? That doesn't make any sense.” Lou chuckled at his son's perplexed grimace. He patted him on the shoulder and turned, opening the doors to an enormous library.

“There's a massive amount of knowledge for you here...” Again, Terror was certain that Lou said his name, “...use it to your advantage. I've gifted you with the same immortality gene that is inside of your two sisters there. It was not compatible with me. It works with you because of your Mana mutation. It truly is a wonderful marvel of science, though I really hated it at first.”

The two walked into the library.

More flashes. Terror using Psychokinesis, his father teaching him to control it further, his father fiddling with devices laid about on a table, knowledge that they were designed for use for his little sisters.

One vision lasted much longer than the rest. A vision of a glowing green orb, his father's voice audible as Terror seemed to be mesmerized by the orb.

“Never forget who you are...” Terror became somewhat irritated at the fact that he once again did not hear his name, “...this device is for you. For your sisters and you. It will be my greatest gift to you, my son.”

The vision skipped again to Terror holding his father's hand. This caught his interest – his hand was not a claw. This must have been long before he had learned Biokinesis. His father lay dieing in a bed, his skin wrinkled and aged. How long this vision had taken place since the last one, he was uncertain. At least fifty years was a good guess.

“My son...” Lou spoke, coughing harshly as he did, “I'm not long for this world. I must ask of you to continue to watch over your sisters as I've told you to. Make sure their nutrient intake is good, and their Mana supply is maintained. Continue to train your powers as well. The devices that I have created to arm the two of them with are functional as well, just make sure that they are not damaged until the two of them awaken. Heh... I still feel so proud of myself for my ability to have made those things... Items able to use Mana and Psi... If only I could have made more than one of them capable of using both at once. Oh well...”

Many more flashes passed through his mind, a transparent clock in the corner counting away the years from 2299 to 3347 while Terror witnessed himself training and studying and keeping an eye on his unborn sisters in the background.

The vision cut away again. Terror found himself looking down at a screen. The date – December 25, 3347 AD with an extra set of scrolling script that displayed “Merry Christmas!” Terror scoffed at the old scientists' attempt at adding some joy to the workplace of his father. He checked the vital levels of the nutrients and Mana in both tanks before pressing the birthing button on the screen.

The first tube labeled “Celestia” drained and opened. The white Alicorn opened her eyes and stood up, stepping out of the chamber calmly as all of the liquid fell from her. The second chamber labeled “Luna” opened shortly thereafter, and the violet Alicorn stepped out of her chamber as well.

Terror walked forward to the two with a rack in tow holding fifty objects. Among them were a large tiara and amulet, one of both given to the two Alicorns; a heart-shaped crystal, a red amulet in the shape of an Alicorn, a third tiara and amulet, a combo of five necklaces and a tiara, and a glowing green orb. Gifted with these items and thirty-five more, Terror sent Celestia and Luna to the surface through the newly-unblocked elevator shaft to defeat Discord.

The thousand-year battle against Discord proved to be incredibly taxing on the two Alicorns. A majority of the objects that were used in battle against the Draconequus were destroyed as well. However, the combo of five necklaces and tiara proved to be more than a match for Discord, turning him to stone when used against him. The two named the items “The Elements of Harmony,” due to their use in their battle against the chaotic Discord.

However, as a last-ditch effort to get the best of the two warrior beings, Discord used his magic to release a massive silver wave of energy that penetrated the minds of all creatures that remained on Earth – even Discord himself. It caused them all to forget the calamity that had befallen Earth, though some would remember small amounts every now and again.

Now filled with compassion rather than their primary instinct to destroy, Celestia and Luna bared witness to the destroyed world and took pity upon it. Using one of the fifteen remaining objects – the green orb – the two Alicorns gave new life to the world. They hid the violent creations of Humanity from their new creations, creatures that were made in their own image, and hoped that the world would never know such torment again.

In the north, however, where Terror remained in his underground lair seventeen miles below the surface, he had forgotten many of his father's peaceful teachings. He stumbled upon an old journal displaying the atrocities of the MANA Project, the gripes of the Emata about the unnatural nature of the creations, and the punishment given to the Emata for their insubordination. He became filled with anger. A memory came back to him...

What better way to take revenge than to use the worst fears of one's enemies against them?

He could not remember his original name. He remembered that it was at that point that he took the name of “Terror.” He remembered that it was at that point that he used his acquired Biokinesis to shape his hands into the claws of a monster feared by all creation. He remembered that it was at that point that he formed the plan to use the curse of the Mana bestowed upon him to steal powers from others and use it to destroy the world.

He kept a watchful eye on Earth... or, as it was now called by the new apex race above, “Equestria,” as he began his thousand years of training.

Chapter Twenty-Three - Godslayer

CHAPTER 23 – GODSLAYER

Terror's body flashed brightly as he came back to his senses, wrenching himself from the monster's clutches and flying backward. Catching himself on his feet, he raised a hand to his head as he began to ponder the vision he had just witnessed, then caught sight of his claw.

“Fear...” He held his claw before him and looked at his fingers. “What was the point?” Through the gaps in his fingers, he could see five ponies and a dragon. He focused his sight on them and lowered his hand. That's right... I wanted to scare them into knowing that their world wasn't safe... I already knew that the world wasn't safe... He looked at the monster again, which still stood still and stared at him silently. So why am I so afraid?

“Because you're a sensible being.”

“What?” Terror opened his eyes. He found himself in a gray room. In the middle was a hole directly under a large pool in the ceiling. In front of him was Eiza Borealis, in his normal state.

“Your father told you everything that you would ever need to know. Why did you forget it?”

“I didn't forget it-” Terror stopped speaking as he heard his own voice. It wasn't as he had made it in reality. He looked down and noticed the lack of shadows about him. “What did you do to me?”

“Nothing. That's what you really look and sound like.”

“What I really look like...”

“Turn around and look at the mirror.” Terror complied and watched the wall smooth out and become reflective. For the first time in a millenia, Terror saw his true self. The form that he had cast aside long ago. A white hooded sweatshirt, denim pants, sneaker shoes; lengthy black hair and shining blue eyes. He looked like a good person.

“I look so normal...”

“Everyone does.”

“Where are we?”

“In my mind. I tried to enter yours, but with Mokushiroku roaming around it's much easier to just bring others into my own head rather than enter theirs. Especially from afar. You're better at that than I am, I have to admit.”

“Why did you bring me here?”

“I wanted to see who you really were. I knew that no one could look as evil as you tried to make yourself out to be. Your eyes might glow red, but I knew they're really blue just like mine.”

“You won't stop me by doing this.”

“I know.” Eiza turned and looked down into the pit in the center of the room. “I never do. I wish I could, though. I wish that some of the times that I tried to change the people that hurt myself and my friends that it actually worked.”

“That's a foolish way to live. All you'll end up doing is hurting yourself.”

“Is that why you tried to destroy the world?” Terror stopped upon hearing this, then began to think for a few moments. Eiza spoke up again. “When inside of a mind-meld, Emata are more sensible. There are no emotional flares, which makes it easy for me to get to know the other person. See their point of view. Walk a mile in their shoes. You've really hurt those ponies, I just want to know why.”

“My first memory,” Terror spoke up from behind Eiza, “Is of me opening my eyes and sitting up on the floor of a large room. I knew instinctively where things in the room were, I knew that I loved my parents, I knew that I had done something before I had been knocked out. I stood up and walked to my father's laboratory. I don't know why I did, but I knew there was something there that I was meant to get to.

“So when I entered that room, I looked upon the desk. There was a thermal-powered storage tablet upon it. I opened it and began reading it. It said so many things about the humans. How they treated the Emata, wanted us off of Earth, wanted us all to die out. There were statistics on the MANA Project that my father was forced to work on. He was the only Emata there, the most brilliant mind on Earth, but also hated for his genetics.

“So when I read the next tidbit of info, a note left by my father, I was infuriated. The MANA Project had adverse effects on Emata. It was worse than radiation to us. That's why my mother, Eve, became so ill. She worked on the MANA Project with my father. When they started work on Discord, she was the one charged with Mana delivery, even though the head directors knew full well that she would most-likely die from it!”

“Hold on a second.” Eiza turned around and faced Terror. “How would the humans know that Mana would have adverse effects on Emata? That seems like an unreasonable accusation to me.”

“It isn't. The next tidbit of information that my father found and left in that set of notes is what proved it. He left links to all of the actual information. It read: 'Mana proves to be hazardous, even in small amounts, to humans with developed P-Lobes. Can cause severe haemophilia and deterioration of cardiac muscle tissue.' They knew that Emata would die if they were on that project, but they never told them. But! Do you know how they figured it out? How Mana would harm Emata?”

“How?”

“They took Emata captive and exposed them to Mana!” Eiza stood in surprise at Terror's declaration. “That's right, mister Borealis, they hated our kind so much that they took the ones that protested the exodus to Andromeda and threw them right in laboratories to be experimented upon. Nobody cared. Humans didn't care.”

“I can see why you hate humanity so much. I can see why you hate these magic creatures so much as well.”

“They do not deserve life, for my kind had theirs taken away.”

“That's not fair to them, though.”

“How is it not fair? How is it not fair that these creatures that were made by human hands should be treated any differently? They'll end up the same as humans.”

“They treated me with kindness while I was there.”

“Oh, please.” Terror scoffed at Eiza, “They locked you in a bubble.”

“Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity were against my imprisonment. Twilight was being a grown-up about the situation, weighing factors. Rainbow Dash was loyal to Twilight and her closest friends to the point that she wanted to remove me because I was a possible threat.”

“Six ponies being good doesn't mean that the entire Equine race is good.”

“A group of government officials being bad doesn't mean that the entire Human race is bad.”

Terror stopped and stared in shock at what Eiza said. He was completely right. In his thousand years of spiteful training, he never once stopped to consider the idea that humanity as a whole might have been on the side of the Emata. He slowly slumped to his knees and held his head, gritting his teeth as thoughts began racing through his mind. The visions flashed again. His father's kindness. His teachings. He had cast them all aside.

“Are you okay?” Eiza took a step forward in concern for the man now shaking in front of him.

“What have I done...” Terror continued holding his head. “That answer... It's so simple... Why didn't I...”

“The simplest answers are usually the ones that are overlooked.”

“Eiza... Did the ponies... Did they...”

“They weren't afraid of me. They weren't like the humans.”

“No...” Terror began shaking his head slowly. “No!” He slammed his fists on the floor of the room and slumped his head. “They couldn't possibly be... They couldn't...”

A vision entered his mind. The vision from before that he did not understand due to being so little. His father working at the stasis containers. This time, he heard what his father said.

“...gotta make sure that they turn out nice. I don't want them to be mean like the big bad humans were. Not to my little boy.” Lou turned to Terror and smiled at him.

“He... Made them nice...”

“I read a book from your memory.” Eiza's words caused Terror to look up at him, “The Holy Bible. A religious text. A few lines were good, but I feel as though your father went by that book like a blueprint for this world. 'Let us make mankind in our own image.' He went by that line when he made Celestia and Luna. He went by that line when he raised you. He made the three of you in his likeness, not visibly, but mentally. You all wanted the world to be a better place.”

“And in the end, only you seem to have gotten his message.”

“I've been through a lot, Terror. I'm wise beyond my years. I really shouldn't be, it's actually sad how much I was forced to grow up from a young age. You saw a lot of what I faced. You know that you have not been through anywhere near the same as I have. You were sheltered in a secluded hole for three thousand years.”

“Answer me something, Eiza.” Terror stood up and looked at the silver-haired man. “In that scanning of my brain, did you see my true name?” Eiza looked at Terror with some puzzlement, then shook his head. “I see.” Terror closed his eyes tightly for a moment, wishing he could remember. Then he opened them and looked at Eiza again. “That book you read. It was my father's favorite. He was a Christian.”

“I was never religious.”

“Nor was I. But my father said that it gave him hope. Hope for what, I wasn't sure for a long time. But after reading that book a few times through, I thought that perhaps he believed that some day God would descend from the heavens through some rift in reality, maybe from some other universe, and save the world. I tried to be that God. I thought I had matched his powers. I wanted to carry out my father's will.”

“No one can be a God.”

“I've come to the conclusion that it's not about power.” Terror turned and began walking around the room, staring blankly ahead. “It's not about the desire to be a God that makes you a God. It's how you live your life. It's what you do that determines if you are a God or not. And those ponies out there are far more Godlike than I'll ever be.”

“Perhaps admitting that is enough to be like God as well, then?”

“Heh. I've already fallen far from that dream, Eiza Borealis. Now then... Our kind does not belong on this planet.”

“No. No we do not.”

“Then it's time we finished this battle.” Terror looked back at Eiza with a kind smile. Eiza looked back upon him with sorrow. He closed his eyes tightly.

“If that is what you wish.”

Terror found himself back in reality, staring at the monster before him. He gasped as the monster slowly evaporated away, leaving behind Eiza, complete with his armor and clothes all mended and remade. The sword that had been in the monster's hand reformed, losing its yellow energy and taking on it's previous, solid state. Eiza took the solid sword back into his right hand.

“What?” Twilight stated aloud, “It vanished?” The ponies, still watching from the side, felt an immense wave of pressure lift from over them as the monster dispersed from Eiza's figure. Applejack, holding Fluttershy in her arms, looked up and out to the two combatants.

“Whadya reckon it means, Twi?”

“I don't know...”

“I never liked dreams.” Eiza shouted over to the group. Twilight looked up at him with a start. The silver-haired Emata smiled at them. “The bad ones never made any sense to me.” Twilight smiled upon hearing Eiza's words. The man looked back at the shadowy being before him.

“Are you ready, Eiza Borealis?”

“I'm as ready as I'll ever be.”

“I can feel that my self-sufficiency is wearing thin. I will not be able to fool around with you.”

“Understood.”

The two suddenly burst forth, surging towards each other at a rapid pace. Blade and claw clashed violently, the ground shaking gently under each stroke. The ponies could feel a difference, however. As if the resolve of one side had been lost. The power of each clash was much lower than before.

Terror landed a strike upon Eiza's armor, which repelled the strike with immense force. The specter took a step back as Eiza lashed out, carving a deep gash in the shadow's chest. Terror took another step back and dodged a few more swings before lashing out again, his claws being deflected once more by the armor on Eiza's chest. Eiza responded again by cleaving his blade through the air, upward and through Terror's flesh, releasing a spray of crimson from the shadow's waist to his shoulder.

The shade fell to one knee, his breathing heavy. Eiza lowered his blade and looked down upon him. The specter looked up upon him, watching the moon finally make its way out from in front of the sun as the light shone down upon the area behind the silver-haired man. He widened his eyes at the appearance of the man, remembering something that he had said just before.

He believed that God would descend from the heavens and save the world.

Then he remembered, as the blade passed through his body once again, seeing in Eiza's memories that he had fallen out of the sky upon his arrival in Equestria.

The shadow fell backwards, blood pouring from his ethereal figure. The sun illuminated the world once more, the skies becoming light blue. The skies above him were pure and calm, no wind, no red... Eiza stepped to a position over him that blocked out the brightness. The man looked down upon him with a calm visage.

“The skies are so beautiful, Eiza Borealis.”

“I know they are.” Eiza closed his eyes and exhaled, then opened them slowly.

“Don't hesitate. I deserve this.”

“I know you do.” He said this, but he still stood without moving.

“Don't feel bad for doing this, Eiza. You're saving the world. I wish that I could have done the same rather than rape its beauty as I have.”

“You did save it.”

“Don't try to make me feel better about what I did.”

“You took the innocence from the world. It was a horrible thing to do. But you have taught it a valuable lesson.”

“And what was that?”

“To never forget the past. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. This is a lesson my world learned before I came here. It's a lesson that all worlds should know.”

“Heh... I wish I had not taught such a simple lesson in such a harsh manner.”

“All knowledge comes at a price.” Eiza continued to look at the shadow as it stared up, with blue eyes, at the sky overhead. After a few moments, the specter closed its eyes.

“I am ready.” Eiza nodded and reversed his grip on the handle of his blade with both hands, holding the tip down over the shadow's chest. The ponies watched from afar in intensity and nerve-wracked anticipation as Eiza, facing away from them, slowly lifted his blade in the air.

Time seemed to slow. As everypony watched the man raising the blade slowly, holding it in the air over the defeated destroyer of Equestria, Twilight noticed something. Eiza appeared to be saying something... No, singing something. As he stopped, the blade suddenly thrust downward through the specter's chest. The group froze in shock at the event, having never witnessed an actual killing, then watched as the shadow slowly evaporated into the air, leaving nothing behind but Eiza and his sword stabbed into the dirt.

The group of ponies stared for a while. Eiza did not move, nor did they. They watched him with curiosity as he stood in a statuesque manner facing away from them, still gripping the handle tightly with both hands. Then, after a few minutes, they watched him let go of the sword, then slowly drop to one knee, then watched the second knee fall to the ground as well as he lowered his head.

Rainbow Dash was the first to approach him. She did so slowly, not sure how to comfort him at that moment. Once she reached his position, she stood behind him for a moment before speaking up.

“Eiza?” The man turned his head slightly in her direction. “Are you okay?” Eiza raised his head and turned around, looking at her with a playful smile.

“Sure am, Rainbow Dash.” The cyan pegasus smiled and the rest quickly jumped up and rushed to his side. Pinkie tackled him, jumping on top of him as the group laughed for a few moments. “Wait.” Eiza stopped and grabbed Pinkie Pie, moving her off of him and standing up. “Fluttershy.” He began walking towards the motionless body of the yellow pegasus. The rest of the group followed, filled again with extreme worry.

The man stopped in front of the yellow pegasus and knelt down before her, taking her body into his hands gently and lifting her up. He cradled her in his arms, looking at her visage with sadness as he continued to hold her motionless body in his soft embrace.

“She...” Rarity stepped forward, “Is she..?” Eiza looked back at the group, their eyes welling up with tears and their expressions filling with grief for their fallen friend. He looked back to the yellow pegasus and slowly brought his right hand up, resting her against his left arm as he brought his right hand to her face, then pressed his hand against her forehead.

A yellow filly sat alone in a corner in a school made of clouds. Around her were dead bodies and the warped sounds of laughter directed towards her. Fluttershy wept harshly at the back of the room, trying her best to blot out the taunting sounds of her name as it rang out over and over again. Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy let us all die! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy, Fluttershy...

“Fluttershy?” She opened and uncovered her eyes at a familiar voice. She turned around and was met by the sight of a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. She was in a meadow surrounded by animals and her five best friends.

“What?” She looked around, “What happened?”

“You were spacin' out there,” Applejack replied, “You feelin' alright, sugarcube?”

“I... Um...”

“Don't just sit there, silly!” Pinkie bounced over to her and took her hoof into her own, pulling her towards the group. “We're gonna be late for our pet play-date! Let's go!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash said, picking up a tortoise with a strange contraption on its back, “'Cause Tank and I have some awesome new tricks to show you all!”

“Oh!” Fluttershy smiled, “Right! Let's go then!” The group set off for the large tree in the meadow.

Fluttershy opened her eyes slowly, the light from above causing her to squint as it entered them. She looked up and saw multiple figures slowly fade into view. Her friends.

“What... What happened?”

“She's awake!” Pinkie Pie shouted, snatching her out of Eiza's arms and squeezing her tightly, “She's awake, she's awake, she's awake!”

Eiza chuckled as the ponies all embraced happily. He stood up and faced the rest of the unconscious victims of Terror's telepathic assaults. He made his way towards them, the others noticing after a few seconds and falling in behind him.

He stopped next to the violet Alicorn. Terror had really done a number on this one, too. He knelt down beside her and placed his right hand on her forehead.

The land was barren and devoid of life, craters found themselves all along the landscape. In the midst of the land, Luna found herself wailing over the dead body of her child, one that she had birthed on the moon where oxygen did not exist. She did not need it. Her child did. Her last breath did not save him.

“No... No... Come back to mommy... please! Please come back! Please...” Luna opened her eyes again and found her eyes dry of tears, the landscape had changed.

The night was young. Orange and dark-colored decorations adorned the town of Ponyville as children and rushed about in costumes. Luna looked around curiously, taking in the various sights around her. She then felt a small tug on her hair and looked down in front of her, bearing witness to a group of small fillies and colts looking up at her with adoring eyes. A small colt dressed as a pirate stepped forth and embraced her, much to her surprise. The rest followed soon after.

“Children? What are you?”

“I love you, Princess Luna!” One child said.

“We love you, Princess Luna!” The rest followed the first. The Princess of the Night looked down at the children who all held her tightly in their loving warmth, then felt her eyes overflow with tears, these of joy rather than sorrow, and returned the embrace to all of the children. Her children.

Luna opened her eyes and lifted her head. The group quickly embraced her joyfully, again to her surprise. She could not return the embrace due to her soreness, but she smiled all the same. She looked over in surprise as an odd armored ape creature walked past her to her sister and knelt down beside her. She watched curiously as it placed its right hand on her forehead, then her eyes widened in shock as Celestia's eyes opened and she looked over at Luna.

“Sister?” Celestia began, “Is that you?”

“Celestia...” Luna began to cry with her sister, unable to move to her. “Celestia I thought I was going to die...”

“Luna...” The white Alicorn struggled to pull herself toward the violet princess. Noticing this, Eiza knelt down and placed a hand over each of them, his eyes glowing a gentle shade of blue and a yellow aura surrounding the three as he utilized Biokinesis to heal their muscles enough to allow easier movement. The two ponies quickly stood up to their full heights and braced themselves against one another in a tearful reunion. Eiza stepped out of the way and smiled as he turned to the next victim.

“Wait.” A voice behind him made him stop and turn back. Celestia approached him, wiping tears from her eyes. “You must be 'Brimstone.' Thank you for saving my pupil and her friends.”

“Actually, I'm-”

“Eiza Borealis, I know.” Celestia smiled to him. “My crown allows me to read minds. Mind you, they must be like my own, so I did not read yours. I read my student, Twilight's.”

“That seems like an invasion of privacy.”

Celestia chuckled, “It has a limited number of uses. I suppose its creator didn't have time to develop this one thoroughly. Putting that aside, I want to thank you for what you have done. You had a choice to save this world. You did not have to do what you did.”

“Your kind was powerless against a member of my race. It was do or die.”

“And you burdened yourself with the possibility of failure, all for the sake of a race of ponies that were not relevant to you. We weren't important.”

“Don't say that.”

“What?”

“Don't call your kind unimportant. I have never seen a single living organism, from the smallest fly to the greatest of dragons, that was not important. Everyone and everything is important. I just wished that Terror had known that before it was too late.”

“Indeed. Such a repulsive being had to be removed from the land to save Equestria. We are thankful that you defeated him.” Eiza looked upon the tall equine with some sadness, wondering if Celestia was even aware that her own creator was the father of Terror. He kept the information to himself.

“There are more that need to be healed,” he said, “I need to tend to them.”

“Of course.”

“But,” he continued as he turned, “There is the matter of the areas already damaged by him. They may very well be beyond my power.”

“This is fine. We can handle the greater damages.”

Eiza nodded then turned, walking to the other ponies to heal them.

Chapter Twenty-Four - Epitaph

CHAPTER 24 – EPITAPH

“It was the first device that my sister and I ever used after Discord's defeat. The most powerful one that we have.” Celestia led Eiza, Luna, and the six wielders of the Elements of Harmony down a hallway of the destroyed castle. “It doesn't look like much, but its power far surpasses even the Elements of Harmony.”

“Even the Elements?” Twilight spoke up, “But all of my books said that the Elements were the most powerful magical artifacts known to the world.”

“Your authors and scribes never knew about this artifact, my faithful student.” Celestia stopped in front of a wall. Her horn glowed in a golden nimbus as the wall before her yielded to her presence, opening and collapsing into the floor and making way to another long passage down an opulent corridor.

“Impressive.” Eiza spoke up at the sight.

“My sister and I knew from the moment we used this device that it must be hidden away. We used the combined force of all remaining intact artifacts that we had, plus our own magic, to create a pocket universe for this device. Only my magic or Luna's can open this gateway to the pocket universe where we hold the device.”

The group advanced into the long hallway. The floor was something similar to glass, see-through and allowing those inside to see a warping, shifting void outside. True pandemonium.

“When we had finished the battle against Discord,” Celestia continued as they walked, “We looked at the world and saw that it was in complete ruin. Destruction, carnage, no life at all. We had used every device but one, because it had a magic-encrypted message to us that told us to not use it until the battle was over. So we used it as directed, and it opened, giving us the power to recreate the world and all of the life upon it.”

“You mean that the world was...” Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“The world was destroyed. No atmosphere, no air, no water, no life. Only Discord, Luna, and I remained. Or so I thought. I had no knowledge that Terror was alive and well. I knew from searching the lands, however, that we were not the first race to live upon the world.”

“Then...” Twilight began, “Then what was the first?”

“Humanity was the first intelligent race to live upon Equestria, but the world was called something different before we named it thus.”

“Earth.” Eiza spoke up. “It was called Earth.”

“Earth.” Celestia nodded. The group continued down the hallway. “We tried our best to destroy or hide all of the objects that humanity had created, all of the knowledge of advanced warfare. All we wanted were guards at most, nothing like an entire army. We didn't want the world to become so war-based as the humans had made it before us. We kept everything a secret from the beings we created. The Earth Ponies, the Unicorns, the Pegasi... We wanted to make them as immortals like us as well, but the device did not allow it. Only the Alicorns could be immortal, it seemed. Though, we have since figured out a way to bestow the Alicorn trait upon others.”

The group came to the end of the hallway and stopped as Luna and Celestia both stepped forward and used their magic on a section of the floor. A large block rose up, then peeled away into the ceiling, leaving a pedestal with a basketball-sized, glowing green orb upon it.

“This,” Celestia began as she lifted the orb into the air with her magic, “is the device that created Equestria. All of the life that you ponies know is the progeny of this artifact. An artifact that can create life itself. There is nothing more powerful in the known universe.”

“Thats-!” Twilight stepped forward quickly and looked upon the orb, remembering her nightmare. Equestria had been glowing just like the orb did.

“What's wrong?” Celestia asked.

“N... Nothing...” Twilight backed away.”

“You'd better use that thing before it's too late,” Eiza interjected, “Terror really did a number on the north, from what I've heard.”

“Right.” Celestia looked over to Luna, the two nodded. Using magic enhanced by the orb, they teleported the entire group, even the magic-resistant Eiza, to an icy area in the northern section of Equestria.

The Crystal Empire lay in complete ruin. Soldiers from the south attempted to help the weak and weary, cleaning the destroyed and mangled corpses of many changelings from the streets and attempting to rebuild the crystal structures all about them. Upon the arrival of Celestia and Luna, all of the able-bodied ponies turned and bowed before them. The regal sisters, with the rest of the group in tow, traveled to the center of the destroyed city.

Stopping in front of a couple of scribes attempting to piece the Crystal Heart back together, Celestia and Luna gestured for them to set the pieces down and step away. As the two scribes obliged, the Alicorns utilized their magic to activate the orb. The ponies, dragon, and lone Emata watched intently as the orb opened and released a massive wave of gentle green magic across the area.

Flesh knitted back together, buildings reformed, the Crystal Heart fused back into one piece. The Crystal Castle found its parts raising into the air and coming together, recreating the grand and imposing structure that had loomed over the land before. In the blink of an eye, the entire Crystal Empire and all of the lives lost were completely remade.

Many changelings now sat in the streets next to ponies, holding their heads in confusion. Twilight and her friends turned and faced them, the air suddenly becoming thicker. However, Eiza stepped forward without any enmity towards the insectoid creatures, walking in front of the group and facing the changelings before him with interest.

As he continued to look out at them, a larger changeling, the first body that he had freed from Terror's grip, slammed down in the midst of the insect creatures. The changelings all turned with smiles on their mandibles and rushed to her side. Though the creatures appeared formidable, seeing them in such a warm embrace towards their collective mother was still a heart-warming sight for the ponies around them.

After a moment, Chrysalis pulled her children off of her and walked forward to Eiza. Stopping in front of the man, she looked up at him and smiled.

“I must thank you, strange creature,” She said, “I do not know what you are, but you have saved myself and my world. I am in your gratitude. You are welcome in my hive any time you wish.”

“It would be a pleasure to visit your home, my queen.” Eiza bowed before the changeling sovereign, taking her hoof into his hand and planting a kiss upon it – much to Twilight and her friends' chagrin.

“Oh-ho!” The Queen giggled girlishly, “Such a charmer. You know how to act around a lady, I see. It will be a pleasure once we meet again, my dear.” Chrysalis backed away and spread her wings, raising into the air with her changeling army. “However, we must return to the hive at once. There is much recuperation to be done. Until we meet again.” The army disappeared into the air and across the horizon to the east.

The Everfree Forest and Ponyville came next, being restored to their former, non-wind-blasted glory.

The last place to be repaired was Canterlot. The dragon was not pleased once it was reborn, nor were the guards who had such pains in slaying it, but Eiza was more than willing to lead the creature away from the city and incapacitate it.

With the lands remade and reformed, the group finally came to a meeting in the throne room of Canterlot.

“Eiza Borealis,” Celestia began, walking forward to the kneeling Emata, “For your actions in saving our home, and the selflessness that went with such a choice, we award you with this:” Celestia raised her hoof to the left as a large curtain fell to the floor, revealing a massive stained-glass window of Eiza, holding his sword impaled in the ground as a massive shadowy figure was repelled around him. A truly beautiful work of art, one that brought tears and a smile to the man's eyes.

“But,” Celestia continued, “I am certain that this is not your true desire.” Celestia knelt down to Eiza's lowered level so that she could see him eye-to-eye. “Twilight has informed me that you wish to return to your home in a different universe.

“Yes, I desire this most of all.”

“I am afraid that there is no such thing as an inter-universal portal.”

“Oh...” Eiza looked down, crestfallen.

“But, we can still get you to another universe.”

“Really?”

“You remember the pocket universe made for the life-bearing device?”

“Yes. It looked like it wasn't stable at all.”

“Exactly. We can get you into the void around that universe. You may just be able to get back where you came from.”

“Alright!” Eiza jumped up to his feet, “Well, let's get going!”

Celestia nodded with a smile and led the group to the wall, opening it with her magic. She raised a wing when Eiza took a step to enter.

“Eiza Borealis. There is something I need to inform you about before you enter.”

“Yes?”

“Shattering that dimension will mean the loss of the device as well.”

“What?” Eiza replied in shock. The entire group, save for Celestia and Luna, immediately exploded into an argument. However, all were arguing against the use, rather than some for or against. Celestia stopped the angry shouting by raising a hoof.

“Is this not what you desired, Eiza? To return home?”

“Not if it means losing the device that can save your world!”

“You already saved us, Eiza. We no longer need it.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“We will not make the same mistake that we made with Terror. Next time, we will be prepared. 'If you want peace, prepare for war.' That statement is not a fallacy as Luna and I had once believed.”

Eiza sighed and looked upon Celestia with sadness. “Are you sure?”

“You've earned your ticket home, child.”

Eiza closed his eyes and lowered his head. He opened them as he felt a nudge on his leg. He could see the six ponies he had befriended all around him, all looking up at him with reassuring eyes.

“It's alright,” Twilight said, “Go ahead.”

“You'd better do it before I change my mind.” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms and looked away with teary eyes.

“Go on,” Applejack said with a smile, “Get outta here.”

“Don't bar your happiness just because of us, dear.” Rarity chuckled to the man.

Pinkie Pie let out a loud sob and embraced Eiza's leg tightly. “I'm gonna miss you so much!”

“We all will.” Fluttershy's calm voice raised Eiza's view from the floor to in front of him as he looked upon the yellow pegasus hovering in front of him. “Thank you, Eiza. Thank you for everything.” The yellow pegasus flew forward slowly and embraced him gently. He returned it and held her and the group for a few moments before letting go.

“Oh, Fluttershy, you like singing soft songs, right?” Eiza smiled to the yellow pegasus.

“Yes, how did you know?” Eiza looked at Fluttershy for a moment, a vision of Ailain singing to him passing through his mind. She truly was a lot like her.

“A lucky guess, I suppose.” Eiza pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and grabbed a chunk of rock from the wall, changing it into graphite with his power and using it to write something down. After a couple of minutes of writing, he replaced the rock and folded the paper, handing it to Fluttershy. He pressed the paper into her hoof with both hands. “This is my favorite lullaby. For you.” He stood back to his full height and stepped into the pocket dimension with the group.

“There is one more thing that I need to mention to you.” Celestia walked next to Eiza down the hall with the group. Eiza looked over to her as they continued to trek down the long hallway. “I told you that the device gave us a magic message. It said: 'To my older daughter Celestia and my younger daughter Luna: I give to you the knowledge to lead all creation. The other message is to your brother, the only one that can read it. Your message is your own, his is his. Use this device with care and use it knowing that all life is sacred. - Your Father, Lou.' It said that there was a second message within it.”

“Yes?”

“Were you ever going to tell us that Terror was our older brother?” Eiza stopped walking and looked away in embarrassment. Celestia chuckled. “I'm wise enough to figure things out, child. But it helps when Luna has the opposite crown from my own.” Eiza looked over to the violet Alicorn, who tapped on her crown with a smile.

“We can use this,” Luna began, “To view the thoughts of those not like our kind. The opposite effect of our sister's crown.”

“So you knew all along?” Eiza rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Don't be nervous, Eiza.” Celestia placed a wing over his shoulder, “We aren't mad at you. We just wanted you to know that we were aware. We are glad that you found out all of this. We're also happy that you tried to keep that painful history from us. However, Terror was, as you said, an Emata like you.” Celestia turned to him. “That means that the message for him was probably Psychokinetic, as we cannot read it. But you probably can. We would like for you to read us that message before we collapse the void.”

“Huh? Oh, sure. I can do that. I'd be happy to.”

“Excellent.” Celestia smiled and the group continued to the end of the hall. They presented the device once more, then used their magic to open a rift in the wall. There was no suction or a vacuum, much to all of the non-Alicorns' surprise. Celestia and Luna approached the device with Eiza.

“You may pick it up, Eiza.” Celestia gestured towards the orb. “As long as it isn't in that void, it will remain intact. You will need it to pass through the wall to the void, however.”

Eiza looked down at the glowing orb on the pedestal, then slowly placed his hands upon it. Almost as if it were sentient, the orb immediately changed color to yellow and raised into the air before Eiza. It then opened in a manner much different from before, and a set of strange markings appeared to Eiza but no one else. Markings that Eiza knew perfectly from his past. Giants' Script, the form of writing for over a third of his planet. He wondered how someone had known it in this universe.

Eiza scanned the message within for a moment, then gasped slightly and widened his eyes as he reached a point. He finished the message and heard Twilight's voice behind him.

“What? What did it say?” The orb slowly lowered down to the pedestal, changed to green, and closed. Eiza looked down upon it, sighed, and turned to her with a smile.

“I don't know.”

Celestia and Luna raised an eyebrow at Eiza's response, but the rest of the group seemed much more upset.

“What do you mean you don't know?” Twilight roared furiously, “We're giving you that device to destroy, and you can't even tell us what it said? You know exactly what it said! You gasped!”

“I was surprised that I didn't know it.”

“That's a bunch of malarkey! You know what it said! Why won't you tell us?”

“Does it really matter, Twilight Sparkle?” Eiza's tone caught everyone off guard. It was stern, very adult, but calm and gentle as well. “It doesn't matter what message may lie within this orb. It doesn't matter what a dead being might have told you. What matters is what you do now. You can't live your life by what an orb tells you. You've already created a wonderful world – one that I would have been outstandingly proud to have called my home. You don't need the words of some random orb to tell you that.”

Celestia and Luna nodded to Eiza with a smile, pleased with his answer. Eiza returned the smile and nod to them and turned towards the void, grasping the orb in his hands as he walked towards it. He turned and faced them with the pandemonium roaring behind him, a few in the group weeping for him as he smiled one last time to them and stepped into the madness, disappearing completely.

Celestia and Luna escorted the group from the hall and back into their solid universe, closing the wall behind them as the hallway within collapsed into the void. Twilight Sparkle grinned as she realized that her nightmare had just come true. She hated dreams.

Prologue - Trumpet

PROLOGUE - TRUMPET

A star-pocked night like any other, save for dark clouds in the far distance. Upon a balcony of the castle of Canterlot stood a dark blue Alicorn, her mane flowing gently in perpetual motion. Though the air was calm and without a stir of wind, the atmosphere seemed somewhat oppressive to her. Squinting so that she may see further into the distance as to examine the clouds so far away, Luna found herself feeling more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment.

“Luna,” a gentle voice turned Luna's attention from the horizon, “what is it that has you out here so concerned?”

“My dear sister, something seems off. We are uncertain what it is, but the clouds in the distance bear a sinister nature. We cannot take our eyes from it.”

Celestia stepped forward, her mane drained of its vivid glow and flow due to the nature of the night, attempting to examine the horizon to the best of her ability. Of course, due to the nature of her power, her visibility was next to zero at the moment due to the daylight being non-existent. The white Alicorn sighed and brought forth a smile.

“Luna, my dear,” she began, “You need not worry about a few storm clouds.”

“Storm clouds... We are not certain that these are such simple things.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You cannot tell, but we can. The clouds move not with the wind, for there is none. There hath been none all day. The clouds we see are dark, so dark that they blend in with our starlit veil to the point where even our eyes can hardly see them. They blot out the stars themselves so that their light shall not shine down upon the lands... They cast a shadow of despair upon our land. Your land, sister.”

“Don't worry your head on the matter, Luna. There is nothing to fear from a storm like that. It's just caught in a doldrum. It must be snowing quite hard up north where those clouds are. I hope Cadance and Shining Armor have prepped the shield around the Crystal Empire for such a storm.”

“'Tis no storm, sister. There is no thunder. There is no rain. 'Tis but a black cloud that blankets the north.”

“Regardless, don't concern yourself so much with a cloud. The rest of the night is your domain still, and it is still beautiful even with a dark blemish like that. Now, I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me, I need to return to my rest.”

“Sleep well, sister.”

The white Alicorn turned and began walking gracefully back to her room. Upon entering the castle from the balcony, however, she could not help but dwell on what had occurred. She said not to worry about it, she said that clouds like that mean nothing. But even though she could not see those clouds clearly, looking in the general direction of them had been enough to fill her with a familiar feeling of despair that she had not felt in a long time.

Chapter Two - Omen

CHAPTER 2 - OMEN

“Twilight... Why are you up so late..?” A purple, wingless dragon wiped sleep from his eyes as he trudged up the steps to a lookout tower in a huge tree. There, a mulberry pony stood gazing through a telescope, pointed to the north. “Twilight?” Still receiving no response, the dragon tapped with irritation on the pony's shoulder.

“Huh? Wha-! Oh, hello, Spike.”

“Why are you looking at stars? It's 3 in the morning...”

“Not stars, Spike.” Twilight turned back to the telescope and gazed through it once again, setting her sights on the massive black cloud in the north. “There's a cloud that I've been watching for a few hours now ever since I woke up earlier. I had a pretty bad dream.”

“What was it?”

“Uh...” The mulberry pony lifted her head from the eyepiece of the telescope and stood paralyzed for a moment as a vision of a planet glowing green flashed through her mind briefly. She shook her head and feigned a smile. “Don't worry about it.”

“Anyway, why are you looking at a cloud? What's so special about it?”

“It hasn't moved in hours. Hasn't even changed shape at all. No lightning, no rain, no thunder; It doesn't even look like a storm cloud.”

“What?”

“Look,” Twilight pointed to a book that was laid open, a light shining on it from a lantern hung from the ceiling, “Storm clouds that resemble this one are cumulonimbus, thunderheads. They're very tall and have lightning in them all of the time.”

“So?”

“So this one doesn't look or act like one. There's usually wind with these because of the change in atmospheric pressure that would allow a cloud of this magnitude to form but-”

“Can you speak normal, please?”

“It's not tall. It's like... Like a blanket. Here, look for yourself.” Twilight moved out of the way and the purple dragon hopped up onto the stepping stool, looking through the eyepiece. “So,” Twilight began after a few moments of allowing Spike to study the cloud, “What do you think?”

“Well... In my expert opinion...”

“Yes?”

“You're loopy from a lack of sleep.”

“Spike! This could be serious! What if it's a magical storm, or maybe there was a problem in Cloudsdale creating a proper cloud, or-”

“Or it could just be a cloud.”

“It's not 'just a cloud!' It can't be 'just a cloud!' There's something more to this!”

“There is something more to this. You let that dream of yours go to your head.”

“I did not!”

“Whatever. I'm going back to bed. You should probably get some sleep too, you're getting a bit crazy.” Spike jumped down off of the stool and trotted back down the steps to his bed. Twilight mumbled under her breath as the purple dragon continued down the steps, then turned back to the telescope and gazed through it once more.

“Just what is that thing...”

Epilogue - Curtain

EPILOGUE – CURTAIN

Days pass and Equestria is bright and shining once more. The birds sing and the sun shines, the insects chirp and the moon beams. All of the citizens of the land are free from the ideas of fear and horror, living in peace once again under a now much-more wise leadership.

Twilight raised her head from her pillow with a yawn. No nightmares. She stretched and stepped out of bed, walking down the stairs to a surprising sight. A black book with the insignia of Starswirl the Bearded, alongside a display case containing the Elements of Harmony.

“I wonder what all this is about...” The mulberry unicorn advanced towards the objects with curiosity.

In the center of a clearing in the Everfree Forest, next to a pond, a statue of a white horse with a flowing mane and black flame stripes upon his face was erected. The statue was made to face the north, looking forward with new hope. By its feet rested a plaque with the following inscription:

“Brimstone, the Guardian of Equestria, who, in our time of greatest need, stood valiantly against a threat nopony else could overcome. Wherever his journey leads, may he defend others in need for all eternity.”

The void opened once more in a flash of light. An armored man with silver hair crashed onto the pavement below him. Laying on the cold concrete for a while, he attempted to get his mind straight once again. After about ten minutes, he sat up and listened to the sounds around him. He looked around at his surroundings. Some kind of alley. The buildings to his left and right were incredibly tall, with fire escapes on the sides like he had seen long ago in Taruza city.

He stood up and looked out of the gap between the buildings, seeing objects zipping by. More massive buildings were visible in the distance, something that he found curious. He made it to the end of the alley and looked up in awe at the multitude of vehicles on the land and in the air that zipped past him at incredible speeds.

The billboards moved, pictures changing on them every other minute. Holograms in windows displayed news and entertainment. The people of the city walked as though none of the incredible sights around them were absolutely astounding, but the armored man held his head in wonder as he took in the incredible view.

“Where am I...”

Twilight's story: To be continued in My Little Pony – Friendship is Magic.

Eiza's story: To be continued in Lullaby.