//------------------------------// // Chapter 23: Prometheus // Story: The Khronos empire // by Cyrusquest //------------------------------// Chapter 23: Prometheus At the next day, the news of Khronos' defeat at the hoof of Mane Six struck powerful fear to all the Khronian but didn't hesitated to retaliate. However, Khronos' grandson, Oliver, who now bestow his grandfather's powers and ascend into Prometheus, had returned to the Khronos HQ within the Griffinstone Train Station and prevented them from departing as he gathered the generals and discusses the situation. "I had called you all here for this short notice because I wanted to discuss a very delicate matter at hoof." began Prometheus. "I am declaring that the war between Khronians and Equestrian to be....aborted! And send all of our soldiers back to the homeland of Keuriseu!" he declared and all the generals were taken aback of his declaration. "With all due respect..... That request is out of the question! Even if we do abort this operation, you want us to surrender to our enemy?!!?" asked General #1. "NO!! I wanted to end this bloodshed that cause us greatly, even the death of Khronos himself!!" stated Prometheus as he stood up. "We're wasting time then!! We must strike as soon as possible!! Not make a peace treaty!" scowled General #2. "Your Majesty, even what you said is true, it's not possible for us. You're asking that we should abandoned everything we worked so hard to achieved." said General #3 honestly. Noticing that Prometheus and the generals are continuing the debates of either resume Khronos' conquest or form a peace-treaty, Kat decided to leave for she cannot bare to hear more arguments. As she head to the barracks, she bumped into Trixie. "Oh sorry, Trixie." Kat apologized. "No need to apologize to The Great and Powerful Trixie!" smiled Trixie then noticed Kat just left from the war room. "Um.... How's it going in there?" she asked. "Well, I guess they are not going to be convinced to end the war against the Equestrian and what to do after that." sighed Kat with worried expression. "No need to worry. Trixie is sure that they will do the right thing." said Trixie with confident gesture. "Yeah, you're right. See you in the barracks." said Kat as she trot away. [Trixie POV] I cannot believed this "Prometheus" wants to end this war without killing the Mane Six or their allies! He's a coward and Trixie cannot accept that Khronos chosen him. Ugh, no matter. I, the Great and Powerful Trixie must find the way to convince the Khronos Empire to avenge Khronos and the fallen soldiers, also to frame Prometheus. As Trixie trots to the nearest mountain, muttering to herself, Trixie finally got an idea!! Trixies should kill the Generals and add something else to the mix, yeah....that should do! But Trixie might get suspicious-- no...... Trixie must make a perfect plan! [Normal POV] Meanwhile, within the war room.... "I agreed to your plans!" said Prometheus. "Surely you don't mean we have to free the slaves and give back their lands?" asked General #3 with hesitation. "No, I said we should cease this meaningless battle, not return them every single lands and freeing slaves!!" stated General #4, who agrees to end the war but not freeing the slaves as the loss of soldiers and civilians reduces the needs to rebuild the cities. "Yes, that way we won't lose anything in process but the slaves will have to be treated equally as Khronians." said Prometheus. "WHAT?!!?" exclaimed the Generals and began arguing again. "This is insane!!" yelled General #1. "SILENCE!!!!!! All I want is to prevent any conflicts that is yet to come! I'm not saying to free them, I'm saying to live equally, slave and master." said Prometheus. *I wish I could do more, but I guess this is what I can do for now.* "Then let us leave to discuss this with the Council. In any case, we don't hold the power to make that decision nor do you Prometheus. For you may be the new Divine of Science, but not anointed as our kind." glared General #2. "Very well. Commander!" Prometheus called out one of the Khronos soldier and he came in near. "Tell the troops to withdraw from the--" *BA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!* Suddenly the entire base got impacted by a massive rainbow beam from the sky and it erupted in a massive field of flames. Kat ran outside and witness the destruction of the base then she looked up to see 6 silhouetted figures who quickly vanished. She galloped across the ruins filled with burned corpse and arrived where the war room was but all the general died. Only Prometheus survived but was knocked out unconscious. She kneel down and grabbed his head. "Oliver?? OLIVER!! PLEASE WAKE UP!!!" she shook him then took his helmet off. "DON'T DIE!!" she plead as she shed tears. Prometheus began to stir and finally woke up without injuries and began to cough. "*kof kof kof* W-What happen?!" asked Prometheus as he stood up. "I-I dunno! I just saw a r-rainbow beam that took out the base and I saw six ponies in the sky. You don't think they betrayed us?!" she asked. "No that's impossible!! I told them that I will end the war!!" declined Prometheus. "THE MANE SIX!! THEY AMBUSHED ME!!!" cried out Trixie as she arrived with broken armors, her mane are messed up and she is bleeding. "Prometheus!! Trixie thought you said that they won't attack us!! They want peace, yet they want to kill us-- wait.... How come you are not dead and the generals are?" she questioned him. "Trixie, you know that Oliver is a Divine now. He can't die that easily." Kat reminded her. "Oh really? Then how come you're not dead nor the troops who are loyal to Oliver, while some of the Khronos Soldiers are dead?!" she asked. "The beam was targeting the base. If they do want to kill us all, they should've continue attacking all of us!" argued one of the soldiers from Oliver's unit. Trixie trotted sluggishly and hoof-pointed at Prometheus. "Trixie think you planned with the enemy to destroy the empire from the inside!!! Well?!?!" she asked. "Trixie, you are insane!!! That Alicorn Amulet is twisting your mind!!! Why would I want to betray my own people??!" argued Prometheus. Everypony stares at Prometheus and Kat and her friends grew very uneasy. "Hypocrite!! You say that and yet, YOU HELP THEM KILL OUR KING!!!" she yelled. "Khronos was NOT your King, Trixie!! You were hired to be his double agent!! You are Equestrian, not Khronian! Plus, I loved my grandfather!!! He gave me this helmet!!" argued Prometheus. "Yes!! We weren't part of the battles! We came after Twilight subdued Khronos!" Kat joined in. "REALLY!?!? Then how come you have his powers!? You did the Forced Ascension!? WELL!?!?" she yelled with her eyes glowing demonic red. "NO!!! KHRONOS BESTOW HIS GIFT TO ME THROUGH THE ORIGINAL ASCENSION!! THE DIVINES CHOSEN ME TO BE HIS REPLACEMENT!!!" yelled Prometheus. "SO YOU DID TOOK HIS POWER!! YOU TRAITOR!!!" she lifted her revolver with her magic and aimed at Oliver. Some of the soldiers began to question Prometheus' role and 2/3 of the Khronos Army rose their weapons at Kat and Prometheus while Frank and others shield them. "THE TRAITORS MUST DIE!!!" shouted the soldiers. "LET'S END IT!!!" yelled the others "No, he's not a traitor!!" yelled Frank. "Yeah, right!!!" scoffed one. "There's no way Oliver would do that!! He loved his people!!" argued the others. "OPEN FIRE!!!" They all start shooting at Prometheus and his loyal friends. Prometheus stomped his front hooves and projected a powerful barrier that withstood all their bullets until they ran out of ammos and he glared at Trixie. "My grandfather made a grave mistake of enlisting you, Trixie! The same mistake he made with Chrystalis !" frowned Prometheus as he expanded the barrier and forced the bullets to ricocheted back, forcing every Khronians to duck down for covers then he teleported everypony to the mountain nears Griffin Kingdom. Trixie rose up and turned to everypony. "SEND OUT THE WORD THAT OLIVER SHARD IS THE TRAITOR TO THE EMPIRE OF KHRONOS!! ANY UNIT WHO ENCOUNTERED HIM ARE ORDER TO SHOOT TO KILL INCLUDING HIS FOLLOWERS!!" she ordered with a maniacal grin and eyes flaring with demonic powers. "Yes ma'am!!" obliged the radio ops as they send the messages. Trixie began to chuckle evilly, for she can now have revenge on the Mane Six and take over the kingdoms. #Meanwhile in the Mane Six's tent# It was nocturnal and Rarity was busy staring herself with the hoofmirror, with her eyes fixed on her horn. Everypony were resting and relaxing as they are still exhausted from their titanic battle against Khronos. Some of them, such as Pinkie and Fluttershy, were asleep while Apple Jack was stroking her hind legs, still disturbed of Khronos' claimed of killing her mother as they struggled to get some shut eyes. Rainbow Dash, despited her reduced vitality and injuries, was on guard duty for the city. "I know I'm healed but I still felt that this isn't my original horn...." muttered Rarity as she stroke her horn then lower her hoofmirror as she recalled the pain. "Such unbearable pain...." she said. "You're not feeling ghost-pain, right?" asked Twilight, slightly getting up from her sleeping bag. "A little..." she said as she snuggled back into her sleeping bag. "Don't worry, Rarity. These pains will go away...eventually..." said AJ in depressed. "So much for healing 100%...." she sighed. "Are you okay?" asked Twilight. "I'll live......like Ah always do..." said AJ as she stood up and head outside. "Ah gonna check Apple Bloom." she said. "O-Okay. Say hi for Apple Bloom for me." she said. "I will..." she trotted away. "She's acting a bit odd, don't you think Twilight?" asked Rarity. "Yeah, I wanna know but I think I should give her more time to open up, so we can discuss about it." said Twilight. "I suppose we should give her some time to clear her mind. I'm glad that Oliver is going to put an end to this stupid war. "Hmm-mm.." nodded Twilight as she tucked in. "He is rather cute, don'tcha think?" asked Rarity as she placed one hoof for her cheek to rest on, giving a cheeky smile. "D-Duh.....I-I guess..." giggled Twilight a bit. "Oh, you think so too?" she smiled. "Well, I rather not talk about that, beside I like to keep focus in the task in hoof and I'm still waiting for Flash to come back. I-I mean I finally found him in this camp after I thought he died and now he left on a Recon mission with the Skyslayers." explained Twilight. "Hehehe... wow Twilight." sighed Rarity happily. "I hope I find Him!" she said. "You could pick some of the stallions in this city. About that stallion from Stalliongrad?" asked Twilight as she hoof-pointed outside. "Oh Twilight!!" giggled Rarity. "No.....no...pleassee.....don't hurt me!! S-Somepony.....heeeelp me......NO!! NOT MY FAMILY!!" cried Pinkie Pie as she sleep-talk, sweating and trembling in fear as she tossed and turned. "Oh dear! Let's check if they're okay." said Rarity as she get out of her bag and approached Pinkie and Flutershy. "No.....Khronos.....he can't be alive...... *whimpering and crying* No! Don't take Discord away from me!!" quivered Flutershy as she breathe heavily. "Shhh... it's okay. Calm down." said Twilight as she sat near them. "Don't worry, Khronos can't hurt you, he's gone." she said. Within Pinkie Pie's dream, she is standing in the middle of a place filled with dead corpses of the soldiers she fought alongside with, the sky turned blood-red and Khronos stood before her on bipedal. He's in the Final Ascension state after absorbing Chrystalis, Flurryheart and Sunset. "I'm coming for you!!" hissed Khronos as he conjured brass knuckles then charged toward her. Suddenly Pinkie Pie woke up screaming and panicking, Rarity tried to calm her down but Pinkie accidentally struck her, knocking her back with a small blood in her lips. "GET AWAY GET AWAY GET AWAY!!!" she panicked in fear. "Pinkie, Pie, settle down! Nopony is going to hurt you!" Rarity wiped her blood off and reasoned with her while trying to calm her down. "Is....Is...just a nightmare?!? Don't let him get near me!!!" Pinkie said with her breath heave heavily and rapidly then somepony hugged her. It was Maudd Pie and, shockingly, she is expressing sadness and worry. "Shh......It's okay. I won't let nopony hurt you, Pinkie. I promised." said Maud with caring tone and Pinkie hugged her sister as she began to cry. "I'm glad you're around." smiled Rarity. I heard Pinkie screaming so I came over quickly. I guess what they say is true, of having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in war." said Maud. "Yeah..." said Rarity as Pinkie kept crying. "Guess that means she's going to need help, huh?" "Yes." she replied. #Other side of Refugee Camp# [Sweetie Belle POV] My friends and I saw when Mane Six returned from the battle. They looked very happy but exhausted too. I noticed that they had battle wounds which it got healed. Well, that's cool! Still....it was scary hearing all guns firing and seeing dead bodies all over the place. "Hey, Sweetie Belle! Aren't you going to join us?" asked Scootaloo. "Oh yeah, I'm coming! But by the way..... Have any of you seen Button Mash?" I asked as I sat down near the fireplace. "Ah haven't seen him-- Wait, here he comes now!" she hoof-pointed at Button Mash, who came toward us with a troubled look in his face. "Button, are you okay?" I asked. ".... I just found my mom and my brother but......Dad is hurted pretty bad. He lost his left hind hoof...." he said nervously. "That's terrible!!" exclaimed Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. "Yeah.... these months were scary..... These Khronians were so scary and so cruel. They don't care if we're innocent. They think we are a threat to their kingdom....." said Button. "I know how you feel but not all Khronians are bad. Mr. Shards had treated Fluttershy and I respectfully and hardly harm us." I told him. "Maybe but the soldiers aren't kind. In fact, I don't think the Caninu are kind either." Button added. "What do yah mean?" asked Apple Bloom. "They..... Well, Mom said they ate the Khronians so....if they are dogs, the Caninu might be hungry for more Khronains.....or they might eat us too..." Button seems very scared so I need to take his mind off the war. "Hey, Button. Wanna play GamePony? I still own you a rematch?" I asked as I held up the GamePony. "Which of all?" he asked, his spirit began to lift. "Ghost Pony Rider!!" I gave a cheeky grin. "YAY!!" he clapped his hooves with glee as he grabbed the GamePony and we start playing together. "It's been long since I haven't play video-game!!" he smiled. "Watch out those skele-pony!!" warned Skootaloo. "Hey remember how we played together in Minecraft?" I asked. "Yeah. I kept dying!" he pouted. Hehehe.... I forgotten how cute he is when he plays video-game. As we played a lot, it was time for us to go to sleep so we say good-night to each other. As my friends left.... "Well, good-night, Button." I said. "Sweetie?" he began and I looked at him. He lend him and.....he kissed my cheek!!!! OMC!!! Uh.....Good night....." he stuttered as he trotted away with his face blazing red. "Good night, Button~!" I smiled as I walked away. [Normal POV] Rainbow Dash was doing guard duty due of her paranoia that the Khronos Army might execute a surprise attack if Oliver failed. As she flew across the sky, she noticed a burst of light and spotted Prometheus and his legions. He waved at her and returned to wave then told Zanuck to get Twilight as she approached the new Divine. "Hey, Prometheus! How did the meeting with the other generals went?" asked Rainbow Dash as she hovered before him. "It's terrible. Just when we were about to meet the superiors to discuss the subjects, the base got obliterated by the Power of Harmony." said Prometheus. "That rainbow beam you Mane Six fired." said Kat. "WHAT?!?" exclaimed Rainbow Dash in shock. "B-But that's crazy!!! How can we attacked you guys when we only want peace! Plus, we never use the Element of Harmony to randomly kill ponies!! That will corrupts its powers!! Do you have any proof who did it!?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Well, I did see six ponies in the sky but they vanished before I can describe them accurately." said Kat. "Even if it wasn't the Mane Six, Trixie managed to convinced everypony that you and your friends attacked us, also accusing me that I aid you in the attack." answered Prometheus. "TRIXIE?!??! Trixie is the mistress of illusion!! I bet she used the Alicorn Amulet to create the illusions of us firing the Power of Harmony!!!" growled RD. "I knew it. The way she act, her anger, her words. It's as if she wants to continue Khronos' misguided path and she did it by killing the generals, knowing I would survive the blast. I bet she even struck herself with the same attacks to make her a victim." frowned Prometheus. "Why that backstabbing mare!!!!!" snorted Frank. "I cannot believed we recruited a black-hearted mare." said Kat. "How long she wore that amulet?" asked Rainbow Dash. "A year and 8 months." answered Prometheus. "Darn it!!! Trixie is long gone!! That is not Trixie anymore, it's the Alicorn Amulet taking over Trixie!! If you are all traitors to them, does that mean we are going to continue the war again?" asked Dash with worries. "I'm sure Oliver have a plan. Beside, I heard there are pockets of rebellions spreading throughout the world. We'll win this war, okay?" said Kat and Rainbow Dash nodded proudly. To be continue...