Chapter 23
Falling into Place
The CMC made it to the park with Astaroth following behind with his body parts. When they reached it, the many ponies old and young took notice of the dark golem and screamed before they made themselves scarce from the park.
Applebloom groaned "This is jus' so plum stupid! Everypony's afraid o' Astaroth no matter what we say!"
Astaroth scoffed "It's better that way. At least now they know I'm not one to be trifled with!" He found a wide area of grass and dropped his luggage. The dark golem stretched his arms before he decied to kneel down and sort through each part he collected in the Everfree Forest.
Sweetie Belle tilted her head "Um, Astaroth? What exactly are you going to do with all of those..." She shuddered and winced at the sight "...body parts?"
Astaroth casted a glare on Sweetie Belle "None of your business...Now let me work!" He went back to sorting his findings and stopped with a hum in thought 'Rope would be useless for this kind of material...' He then took one of the timberwolves' heads and one of their arms and began smashing them together. The fillies flinched at his sudden action, but were impressed to see that the head's maw was able to hold the arm. Astaroth grinned to himself and went to do the same with the other parts.
Scootaloo watched with curious eyes "Well, it's good to know you're occupied for the time being..." She looked around to see many passing ponies stare at Astaroth and sighed "This is becoming a bother with how they just can't take their eyes off of him!"
Applebloom pointed a hoof at Scootaloo "There! Ya see? We gotta do somethin' 'bout this, Scoots!"
Scootaloo shot back in frustration "Well how can I direct everypony's attention away from a giant monster, huh!? You got any ideas?" She narrowed her eyes at Applebloom.
The yellow filly was taken aback by Scootaloo's sudden frustration and stood tall "Look, Ah know y'all want Astaroth t' be yer guardian, but there ain't nothin' 'round here t' make 'im look good!"
Scootaloo looked at the dark golem working and muttered "Maybe if he didn't bring back the timberwolves, we could've told everypony he was making sure they didn't reach Ponyville..."
Sweetie Belle turned to Scootaloo "You know that timberwolves barely leave the forest at all, right? That wouldn't make any sense!"
Scootaloo facehoofed with a scowl "Well I don't have much to work with at the moment!" She paused in her position before she perked up "Unless..." The orange filly turned to the library "That book I found!!"
Applebloom raised her eyebrow "What book, Scoots?"
Scootaloo turned to Applebloom with a smile "The one book I found a couple days ago! Before we first dug up Astaroth!!" Astaroth ceased his work when he heard Scootaloo "I think I remember leaving it on the counter before left, though. Can't believe I didn't pick it up!" She looked at Applebloom and Sweetie Belle "Can you girls watch Astaroth for me while I go and get it?"
Applebloom nodded "Sure thing, Scoots! Maybe that book has somethin' helpful fer us!"
Sweetie gave Astaroth an unsure glance "Kind of ironic to think he's your guardian while we're watching him."
Astaroth growled and stopped his work as he glared at the three fillies "I am not the runt's guardian! I never agreed to such a thing!!"
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were apprehensive, but Scootaloo waved a hoof "Yeah, yeah, you're big and scary! We get that!" She smiled at the dark golem "I'll be right back, Astaroth! I think I have something you might like!" Astaroth growled as he went back to work while Scootaloo made a gallop for Ponyville library.
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At the library, Spike was reading a book called 'How to woo a mare in 10 steps' while his pet phoenix Peewee snuggled up next to him. There was not much to clean or keep track of since ponies barely visit the library now and then. Spike gave a sigh while his pet looked up at him with a quizzical glance "I wonder if Twilight and the others found that Zasalamel guy yet! Maybe they got lucky in their search." He turned to his pet "What do you think, Peewee?" His only response was a happy chirp from the little phoenix. Spike then patted his head "I'll take that as a yes from you!"
The purple dragon jumped when the door to the library flew open to reveal Scootaloo looking around "It's gotta be around here somewhere..." She made for the bookcases and tried to scan the title on the book's spines "C'mon, where is it?" She muttered to herself.
Spike shot a confused glance at the orange filly and closed his book as he hopped from his chair and approached Scootaloo "Hang on, Scootaloo! What's the rush?"
Scootaloo turned to see Spike and grinned sheepishly "Oh, hey, Spike! Is Twilight around? I'm kinda looking for a book!"
Spike looked away "Actually, she's not around. She and her friends are off to find this guy called Zasalamel..."
Scootaloo tilted her head "Zasalamel? Sounds like a villain from the Daring Do novels! Who is he?" She smiled
Spike shifted his eyes before he leaned in "He's this thing called a human! He came by here just yesterday and burned a book!"
Scootaloo gasped "You're kidding!" The orange filly began to wonder if Astaroth somehow knew Zasalamel before they dug him up, hoping they were friends at some point. But it was dismissed when she remembered Astaroth's appetite for destruction that she was lucky to satisfy. She shook her head "While that's cool and all, do you have the book I'm looking for? I think it's called..." She pondered before she smiled "Yeah! It was 'The Legend of Soul Edge'! Do you have it?"
Spike paused before he gave a sheepish grin of his own as he scratched the back of his head "Funny you should ask that, Scootaloo. You see..." He looked away with a wince "That was the one he burned..."
Scootaloo widened her eyes "WHAT!? Why would he burn that book!? I need it!!"
Spike raised an eyebrow "Need it for what? I don't really strike you as the reading type, Scootaloo..." He then looked serious "Besides, he burned it because he said it was something bad from his past! Zasalamel said that anypony, not even the princesses, were to know about it!"
Scootaloo gave a quizzical glance "Is it some kind of forbidden spellbook? Why would they have it around here if it's THAT bad?"
Spike crossed his arms and looked down in thought "Well, from what I gathered from Twilight, it was a book about two swords called Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. There was some notes about humans around the time they were made! Even I never thought it could be so important. But once again, why do you need it?" He looked back at Scootaloo with an inquisitive stare.
Scootaloo huffed "I made a friend the other day, and I think that book could be good for him!" She looked away with a pout "Doesn't matter since that dumb Zasalamel burned it up..." She muttered bitterly.
Spike held out a claw "With how serious he was about it, I'd say it's for the best! But that doesn't matter now. Sorry about this, Scoots."
Scootaloo shook her head "It's not your fault!" She smiled at him "Thanks for giving me the 411 about this happening, though! Now I have something else to talk about!" She then galloped out the door "See ya later, Spike!"
Spike watched Scootaloo leave in confusion "I wonder if Scoots' new friend is an avid reader of books like Twilight is..." He then shrugged as he shut the door and went back to his own book.
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When Scootaloo made it back to the park, she looked to see her friends did not move from their spot. Astaroth faced away from all three fillies as he fiddled with his collected body parts more. However, what he was making could not be seen by the ponies. Looking around, Scootaloo was happy to see everypony around them willing to ignore the group while they were in the park.
Applebloom saw Scootaloo reach them and tilted her head in confusion "Scoots? Where was the book y'all was talkin' about?"
Scootaloo sighed in defeat "It's gone...All thanks to that human named Zasalamel!"
Sweetie Belle perked up and turned to Scootaloo "You know about Zasalamel, too?"
Scootaloo shook her head "Not entirely! Spike just filled me in on the details. He's the one that burned the book I was looking for!" She then perked up "Wait a minute! How do you girls know as well?" The orange filly asked with an incredulous expression.
Applebloom replied "While we were out t' get food th' other day, Twilight came an' stopped us t' ask questions about that Zasalamel guy! Then our sisters joined her t' go find 'im!"
Scootaloo looked up in the sky "Wow...I wonder where they are right now..."
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"Fillydelphia!?"
The element bearers and Zasalamel stood on a hill to see another bustling city in the distance. Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her eyes "So after about a day of wandering in the Everfree Forest, we somehow end up near Fillydelphia of all places!? Talk about weird!"
Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash "Well, we don't have a good sense of direction while we wandered about in the forest, Rainbow Dash. And if anything, it's great to know we're near another city! Maybe we could find another one of Soul Edge's shards in there!" She beamed at the possibility.
Zasalamel shifted his stoic gaze to Twilight "Do not think this is a mere scavenger hunt, Twilight Sparkle. We're dealing with a force that could cause destruction to your world and everything in it."
Twilight drooped her ears and looked away in embarrassment "Right, sorry..."
Pinkie hopped next to the cloaked man "Awwww, but where's the fun without a little scavenger hunt?" She smiled up at him "You should really smile more, Zassy! And maybe have some fun while you're at it! It's not right for nopony to have a frown for so long!"
Zasalamel scoffed "When you've lived to see what I have, there isn't much to smile about..."
Pinkie hopped onto Zasalamel's back "But there's plenty to smile about! Like the sky, the flowers on the ground, having friends at your side, all that!" She kept her smile, but it left to see Zasalamel's expression unchanged "How do you function?" Pinkie asked in disbelief.
Zasalamel gently set Pinkie down "Enough games. We have to go..." He turned to the distant city of Fillydelphia and squinted his eyes "Who knows what could happen if we're to actually find a shard there..."
Twilight nodded "Zasalamel's right, everypony! We better get moving if we're gonna save Equestria!" The group then began to trot towards Fillydelphia without a moment to lose.
Rarity smiled "I'm glad we're able to go near a city after traversing through that dreadful forest! Which reminds me..." She turned to Zasalamel with a small glare "Was it necessary to kill all of those beasts back there for us to see?"
Zasalamel did not look at Rarity while the group was walking "Answer me this, Element of Generosity...Would you rather live or die?"
Rarity huffed "Why, you've just answered your own question, darling! But what is that supposed to-"
Zasalamel interrupted "I'll ask again...Would you rather live...or die?" His tone sounded more grave and serious.
Rarity detected his tone and she softened her expression as she thought over the situation of life and death between a dangerous creature "W-Well, when you put it like that..." She winced at the thought of the term 'kill or be killed'.
Rainbow Dash turned to the cloaked man while she hovered "Why would you even ask her that question when you did the damage? And besides, aren't you immortal? As in 'cannot die at all'?"
Zasalamel narrowed his eyes "Be that as it may, I do not desire to be mortally wounded by a bloodthirsty beast. I do not need to be chastised for my actions when they are deemed necessary..."
Fluttershy looked a little miffed "Even if they were mean and scary, you didn't have to-...have to-..." She looked away in fright as she gulped "...kill them..." She whispered reluctantly.
Zasalamel looked at Fluttershy "As expected from the Element of Kindess herself...But as I've said before, it was necessary to defend myself. I am not well-versed in dealing with animals like yourself, especially when they have full intentions on ending your own life. Do you see where I stand now?"
Fluttershy averted her eyes from Zasalamel, but she muttered "I-I suppose so..." She looked down in sadness and defeat. The timid mare still mourned the loss for the monsters of the forest, even if Zasalamel was in the right.
Twilight looked at the group "We can't even be talking about this when there are shards to be found! It already happened and there isn't much else we can do about it! Let's just move forward so we can find the next shards!"
Zasalamel nodded "A good head on your shoulders, Twilight Sparkle...At least you know to focus on the matter at hand..." Rainbow Dash shot a look as he sighed in exasperation "Hoof..." Zasalamel noticed the cyan pegasus give a satisfied smile.
Applejack looked ahead at the city coming into view "How can we even be sure that there might be one o' them shards in Fillydelphia?"
Zasalamel felt a wave of energy and he dug into his cloak as he pulled out one of the shards as it began to glow "Does this answer your question..."
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Raphael held the shard in his hand as he smirked "We're getting closer by the minute..." He tucked it away in his armor as he turned back to Amy and Trixie "Pick up the pace, you two. We're almost here..."
Trixie noticed the city in the distance and scoffed "Fillydelphia!? Trixie was just there last week performing some of her shows!! Why are we going back there?" She asked in an annoyed tone.
It was only outmatched by Raphael's irritation towards the showmare as he shot her a look "One of the shards is there. We're going back to claim it whether you like it or not!"
Trixie huffed and glared back at Raphael "And Trixie is supposed to trust your intuition on finding these shards? Just what is their purpose for our goal of creating a new world?"
Raphael turned his head away and walked "I don't have to tell you anything, you mewling wretch..." He spoke in a tone of pure disdain towards Trixie.
Trixie's glare intensified "How DARE you!?" Her horn glowed "Trixie thinks that she should-" A soft touch on her shoulder ceased her advance and she turned to see Amy shake her head while looking concerned. Clearly, she cared more about the showmare than Raphael, given his utter loathing towards Trixie. Amy and Trixie then followed Raphael as they neared towards Fillydelphia to find the next shard.
End of Chapter 23