You see all of this? This is the Empire that we’ve struggled for so long to make. Our lives, our loved ones, and our culture were destroyed when the Trickster began his conquest, as he sought to take everything from us that we held dear. We rebuilt from all of that, and that Renascence still stands is a great monument to our struggle against his tyranny. You see many people, conversing happily in the mornings. Children happily playing in the streets and attending to their chores. A clear blue sky that says more about our accomplishments than any book can ever tell you. This is what we fight for. This is what we must preserve.

-The Protectors, General Tiraen, 1507 RY

Sehyia happily walked alongside Rarity and Fancypants, deep in conversation, as Kandro followed behind them with Tehin, who was now carrying a single roll of Canterlotian fabric, a most pristine purple linen that he wished to bring home to his family. Such was the first beginnings of trade between the Empire and Equestria.

“So, is your capital city anywhere near as grandiose as ours?” Fancypants asked.

“Oh, certainly,” Sehyia said. “Perhaps even more so. The walls stand as high as the highest tower within Canterlot’s castle, and the Capital Spire that sits at the heart of the city, where the royal family resides, towers far above the city itself. It’s a magnificent sight. You should visit sometime... well, after our current situation at hand has been dealt with.”

“Situation?” he asked, raising a brow over his monocled eye. “Ah, I assume that would be something I’d be better off not knowing... royal business and all that. Not discounting Rarity’s position, of course, which she had kindly filled me on just this past month.”

Rarity giggled. “Yes, it is quite the important position, indeed. Ah, let’s stop here! I’d love to show you some of Canterlot’s finest cuisine.”

“Of course,” Rarity said, handing a small yellow slip to the bouncer outside, who glanced at it once and nodded gruffly, unhooking the red rope blocking off their entrance into the establishment. “Now, please come along! I’m sure you’ll just love the salad here. The hay is perfectly seasoned, and—”

“Humans can’t really eat hay... or flowers, for that matter. Well, I think it’s more accurate to say humans can eat flowers, but... you know, not the kind that ponies eat.”

Sehyia sighed. “You’ll have to ask Artim about it in-depth then, when he has free time. But for the most part is that... yes, we can eat flowers. No, they don’t taste good, nor do they seem as appetizing to us as they do to ponies.”

“Oh...” Rarity said, nodding in agreement. “Very well! I am sure you can at least consume leafy greens, yes?” she asked hopefully. “Well, we have dressings to go with it, and I’m sure you can also eat eggs?”

“We can eat greens and eggs,” Sehyia confirmed as she walked alongside Rarity. A group of Canterlotian stallions were equally whispering amongst themselves, jabbing a hoof towards their direction only to cut their discussion short the moment Tehin stepped in through the door. At that moment, every pony in the room had their jaws drop in sheer amazement at his size.

Tehin laughed, causing some of the ponies to shy away in surprise. “Ah, it seems the reactions are the same here as they are back home... although it’s a bit more of the surprised part here and less of the children being curious as to how I managed to grow so tall.”

“You are, by far, the largest acquaintance I have ever made,” Fancypants said, bringing out his coinpurse only for Rarity to put a hoof on his shoulder and shake her head. “Are you sure, Rarity? I mean, you did pay the last time you visited...”

“Oh, of course, darling. I insist,” Rarity persisted. “Especially when we have such important guests to attend to... I’m sure you’d rather not exhaust your funds before our day is over, hmm?”

Fancypants smiled. “Well... I guess I can’t argue with that. Please, go on.”

“Thank you,” Rarity said soothingly, pulling out a gold-trimmed card stamped with the seal of the Equestrian Crown on it from her purse and presented it to the clerk at the desk. “Table for five, please.”

“As you wish, my lady,” the clerk said, dropping the card into the register next to him and clapped his hooves. In the blink of an eye, a waiter appeared from the back room, immaculately groomed and wearing a tuxedo as he bowed to them. “Please, follow the waiter. He will find a table for you and your guests.”

“Fantastic!” Rarity cheered, waving a hoof for the group to move forward and enter the dining area. “Ah, Sehyia, please, you must tell me how humans keep their manes in check. I see that yours just flows so well, and it seems to be such a natural fit for you! What style do you call that?”

“Well... it’s a... ponytail...” Sehyia said, giggling. “It’s not hard to see why we called it that.”

“Oh, how quaint! To think that you’d even have a manestyle named after us is so... interesting! I can see that some males of your kind don’t take well to tending after their manes, though,” she said, looking pointedly at Tehin, whose unruly hair had been tied into a simple knot at the back of his head.

“If it so pleases you, my explanation for that is that I am a warrior, Lady Rarity. I have no time for such superficial concerns such as my hair. All that matters is that it remains out of the way during battle so as to not obstruct my vision.”

“Well, I’m sure if your hair wasn’t so unkempt, you wouldn’t have to end up tying it into a knot,” Rarity mused on. “In any case, I can only imagine how horrid it must be trying to keep up appearances in a place that you’ve all described to be so dry. Aside from many hats, what else should I expect to pack, considering that your kind seem to wear clothes as a cultural standard? I know about the fabrics, but I’m more interested in what kind of clothes I should be packing.”

“Well, we usually tend to wear light garb,” Kandro explained. “Nothing frilly or overdone, as the sand will usually tarnish the cloth in short order. Utility is your best bet in this case. You should also take the fact that we’ll be moving constantly into consideration.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” Rarity said, letting Fancypants pull out a seat for her at their table as Kandro did the same for Sehyia. “Oh, my. I see that humans also follow the convention of seating the ladies first?”

“Undoubtedly not a coincidence,” Tehin said, thankful that the seats’ luxuriousness came with the addition of increased size. “We did learn many things from the Paragon and Protector during the span of the Reformation Era, ones which I believe that we inherited from ponies, actually.”

“Ah, it pleases me to know that visiting your lands won’t be as jarring as it is for griffon lands,” Rarity said, looking to Fancypants. “You’ve visited the Griffon Kingdom before, have you not?”

“Indeed I have,” Fancypants said. “They’re rather... brusque in their conversations towards foreigners. The tact it requires to properly negotiate with them is a special talent. It pleases me that possible future relations between Equestrians and humans will not be as unpleasant.”

“Oh, I agree. Now let’s see...” Rarity said, taking off her summer hat and opening up the menu in front of her. “Salads... salads... oh, I suggest you all try the fruit medley salad. It’s probably the best bet considering almost all the other dishes seem to contain flowers in them.”

“Three fruit medleys, then?” the waiter asked, having been patiently waiting for their orders after he’d finished guiding them to their table. “And what will you and the lady be having today, Lord Fancypants?”

“Two of the bouquet salad, please, with extra rose chips on top today, if you don’t mind. And that’ll be our order for today”

“Of course,” the waiter said, taking their menus from the table and stacking them on his back before trotting off in the direction of the kitchen, passing by numerous tables of ponies whispering to each other in excitement, ready to bring up such an interesting piece of gossip at their next gatherings.

“This gathering is proving to be much more interesting than I thought it would be,” Kandro said, experienced in the matters of the upper echelon of the Imperial Court, where gossip worked the exact same way. “I assume you chose such a high-visibility location for a reason?”

“Oh, very astute, Prince Kandro,” she said, stressing the word to any pony within earshot. “Yes, I have to confess, I did do this to... start some rumors over your visit. You being a prince from another nation, after all... that’s quite the tempting deal, especially once trade between us begins. Who you know is very important in the fashion business.”

“I hadn’t expected to be dining with a prince, of all things,” Fancypants said. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. Had I known that we were going to be in the presence of royalty...” he continued, giving an irritated glance at Rarity, who merely gave an awkward smile and shrunk into her seat. “...I would have made sure that we would have dined at somewhere less... noticeable.”

“And you made it a show to mention that he was a prince...” Tehin said quietly. “...unexpected, but not wholly malicious. Such initiative on her part is impressive, but I fear that our visit is only temporary, or at least for now. Your intended goal may not have the effect you wanted.”

“But it’s enough to let the ponies know that there exists another civilization beyond that of the griffons, if Fancypants’ reaction towards us means anything. Are you not well-versed in other nations besides the Kingdom?” Kandro said.

“Well, the maps aren’t particularly updated, and we only amended it to include what the griffons had given us. Aside from that, there’s the frozen north, where the dragons reside, and Zebrica, which lies to the east. We had simply assumed that there was not much to search for in the lands west, given the conditions.”

“Across the Blackridge Mountains, yes. Seems that no one, not even the ponies, are willing to traverse across it.” The waiter soon returned with their meals, along with another staff member: the manager, from what it seemed.

“Greetings, my lord and lady,” the manager said, bowing his head at Fancypants and Rarity. “I trust everything has been to your liking?” He waved the waiter forward to place their meals in front of them.

“Excellent!” the manager replied happily. “Then I hope you all enjoy your meal. Lord, lady, and Your Majesty...” he said, making his exit with the waiter as they both bowed and left them to their meal.

“Well, they caught on fast...” Kandro said, grabbing his fork and digging into the plate of fruit and greens on his plate. “Forks... how do ponies use forks, exactly?”

“We... use it like you do, really,” Rarity said, levitating hers with magic and poking into her flower salad with a dainty jab. “See? Like so.” She took a bite of her sunflower, giving a pleased sigh at how scrumptious it was.

“Do all such meals for the higher rungs of pony society go like this?” Tehin asked, holding the fork between his finger and thumb, having been made to pony size instead of his. “The atmosphere in here is quite... stifling. Enough so that the first thing Reugas would have done is storm out of the building with a very improper show of language to find the nearest pub.”

“It’s quite pleasing, though, isn’t it? I think Artim would like it in here,” Sehyia said. “It’s like a library. He would feel right at home.”

“Or he would,” Kandro said, pausing to chew on a piece of orange. “If it wasn’t for all the stares that we’ve been getting, that is. I would imagine that attention seems to be the last thing you want to draw to yourself here.”

“You are very true, Your Majesty,” Fancypants said. “The Canterlot elite have very peculiar tastes and mannerisms... I feel that with your visit and status, they may very well be forced into rethinking their standards. I do not know if you have met our prince yet, but most of them tend to act like him. It’s not very pleasing to have to deal with such ruffians, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Ah, yes, Prince Blueblood...” Kandro said, frowning at the thought of his conversation with him. It certainly could have taken a turn for the worse had Princess Celestia not been present to keep him in check. “I have spoken with him... and I know exactly what you are getting at.”

“Yes. To have a prince, of all ponies, acting like that is such a sham for all of us in Equestria.” He floated over a glass of wine, taking a sip from it before clearing his throat to continue. “He and I have been at odds on many matters in the Equestrian day court... he has more clout than you think.”

“Which is why a prince such as yourself is a breath of fresh air,” Rarity added, taking a sip of wine herself, only to nearly have it all spill out through her nose as she saw Tehin down his glass in a single gulp. “Oh, dear, you remind me so much of my Rainbow Dash. She would have no qualm of doing such a thing, even when surrounded by more sophisticated ponies.”

“Rainbow Dash...” Tehin said, nodding as he recalled the mare’s appearance. “Perhaps I should challenge her to a drinking contest. How well can ponies hold their liquor?”

“Well, Dash is quite the drinker, especially for her chosen beverage: apple cider. For other things like wine, I’m not sure. I’ve never found her drinking any.”

“Another interesting thing about ponies to keep in mind, it seems. The love of alcohol seems to be universal among—” Tehin began, only to be interrupted by a massive flash of energy coming from right next to their table. “Get down, my liege!” he said, knocking Kandro off his chair and onto the floor as Sehyia jumped out of hers, drawing her sword towards the glowing sphere.

White turned to purple and then suddenly vanished, leaving behind a confused arcanist on the ground to catch his breath. “...Artim?” Sehyia asked. “What in the name of the ancestors are you doing?”

“...huh? Oh, hello, Sehyia. As you can see...” he said, rolling off of his back and slapping the dust off his robes as he got onto his feet. “...I seem to have managed to successfully complete a teleportation spell! I studied straight through the night and pored over dozens of books within the library, and it’s rather straightforward. Problem is, though, is that it relies upon magical reserves which I’m afraid that I can barely supply.”

“So you can’t cast the spell consistently?” Kandro asked, knocking off Tehin’s hand pinning him against the ground and sitting upright. “How did you manage to find us?”

“To answer your questions: no, and I found you all by sort of... honing in on your magical signatures, if you would. It’s amazing, you know: almost every single being here has their own brand of magical essence, and humans are notably different from ponies because... well, to describe it in colors, we’re more ‘red’ than the ponies’, which is more ‘blue’. Undoubtedly something to do with our combat magic, I believe. Oh, is that food? I’m famished,” Artim ended, picking up Kandro plate of salad and scarfing it all down unceremoniously before stopping mid-chew in thought. “...is this fruit? It’s quite good.”

“Yes, it’s fruit... how long has it been since you’ve eaten?” Sehyia asked the mummy-faced mage.

“Hmm?” Artim asked, swallowing the rest of the food. “Oh, um... I think yesterday morning.”

“You do know they sent catering to us, right? They had food for breakfast,” Sehyia said, sheathing her blade and sitting down as a waiter brought out another seat for their new guest. “Thank you, waiter, that will be all. Sit down, Artim.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” he said. “I was wondering what that thumping noise was. I just chalked it off to my mind throbbing since I had pulled an all-night study session. Now, this isn’t the first time, mind you; I’ve pulled such things before, just not with such... unpredictable results. This was my first time casting the spell, actually.”

“You do realize teleportation is a powerful spell, don’t you?” Rarity said. “Twilight is a rare exception of a unicorn who can do so consecutively. You must be a powerful magic user if managed to pull off such a feat.”

“Is that so?” Artim said, pulling out a small notepad and tiny quill to write with. “...teleportation is uncommon, even amongst unicorns... pony librarians are woefully inadequate when it comes to knowledge of proper archiving and book caretaking... note to self: bring back samples of Equestrian magic...”

“Did you speak with anyone before you casted your spell?” Kandro asked. “I’d rather not had back to the castle now to find out that you’ve left a crater where your room used to be.”

“Well, I’m sure Reugas or Yhimit would be the first to know...” Sehyia said.

“Artim? What the fuck are you doing in here, you crazy basta—hmm?” Reugas said, pushing open the door to Artim’s quarters quietly. “He’s not here. Artim? Are you here?” he called out, looking underneath the bed and uprighting fallen shelves. “Ugh, what a mess.”

The room was in a complete state of disarray; aside from the table in which Artim kept most of his study materials from the night before, books littered the floor, with several pyramids of magical study textbooks and reports stacked around the bed. Papers covered the ground like snow, across every inch of the room save for the center: that was where a small scorch mark and the wisps of black smoke rose, the aftermath of a recently-casted spell.

“Aw, damn it,” Reugas said, kneeling over the smoldering circle and rubbing his fingers against it. “Did he just go and blow himself up?” He walked to the far end of the room and onto the balcony, where he could see the archery range he’d been practicing at before he’d seen a bright flash coming from Artim’s room, prompting his visit. “Where did you go, arcanist...?”

“Sir!” A pair of pegasus guards floated up in front of him. “Is there any trouble? We noticed the flash of light from the training grounds down the range. Is anyone hurt?”

“No one’s hurt,” Reugas said, scratching the back of his head. “But there used to be someone here. Someone who is now mysteriously absent.” He nodded over his shoulder. “Judging by the looks of it, my friend has casted a spell that somehow either killed him or thrown him somewhere that isn’t here.”

“I see, sir,” the lead guard responded. “Would you like us to put out a notice for him?”

“That would be nice. Should also bring this up to the Paragon and Protector...” When he received blank looks, he sighed. “...the princesses. It would probably be a good idea to let them know about this. As for me... well, I guess I have a manhunt to carry out.”

“Of course, sir, as you wish. We’ll notify the princesses immediately.” They saluted and immediately shot away, heading for the largest spire within the castle grounds, close to where the throne room was situated at. Reugas turned around, trading his resplendent view of Canterlot’s valley for Artim’s crime scene. “You know, it would be a lot easier to track you if you didn’t just up and disappear...”

A pair of taps on the nearby door drew his attention away from a pile of papers at his feet, and he saw Yhimit standing there, tilting his head questioningly at the spectacle. Reugas merely shrugged at him, and picked up several papers and gleaned them all over. “Teleportation spells...? Figures that he would want to try it as soon as possible...”

Yhimit, still in his trademark mask and hood and looking exactly the same as he did the previous night, simply strolled inside and began picking up the notes and paper, stacking them in order on the table as Reugas continued to read over the bits of spell theory that Artim had managed to splice together.

Then the sound of hoofs clopping against stone faintly grew, and then a squad of unicorn guards stormed inside, waving their horns around in blueish glow as they scanned the area. “Out of the way! We’re here to investigate this location!” one of them, clad in purple armor, shouted.

“Calm yourself, Captain Armor,” Luna’s voice called from outside. “We are merely here to investigate the disappearance of one of our guests.” She entered with regal flourish, and Yhimit immediately bowed to her. Reugas, however, was not so quick to do so.

“Normally, we would have,” Luna admitted, brushing her hoof against the dark stain on the carpeted ground. “But human magic is... unique. It has a signature that we were not tuned to expect. There are traces of magic here, and we can use it to find him... but I hadn’t expected any of you to delve into our archives so... fervently.”

“But you can track him, right? Gods, I hope hasn’t shot himself halfway to griffon lands by now or anything,” Reugas said, holding up one of the papers to Luna’s eyes. “See, here: he said he was going to use something or someone as a focus for the spell. If the idiot had any sense in him, he would have most likely picked one of us to do it; he’s too unfamiliar with pony magic to do anything otherwise.”

“I agree,” Celestia said, trotting in behind her sister and giving her own grimace at the state of the room. “I see that Artim certainly has a preference for books and studying, much like my faithful student does.”

“Yes, we can find him,” Luna replied. “This will take but a moment...” Copying the guards, her own horn lighted itself with a deep blue magic, reaching out and brushing over the mark on the floor as her eyes closed in concentration. “Yes... I can sense him... he has gone to... to... the city...”

“You mean Canterlot?” Shining Armor asked. “I’ll send guards to find him immediately...”

“No! Hold on...” Luna said, her brow creasing in frustration. “I can... see... other things. He used a teleportation spell, so I can, for a moment, scry where he is... he is with the Element of Generosity... Rarity, and... the prince and his companions.”

“Yeah, they said they would be visiting the town today,” Reugas noted, rubbing his chin. “So the bastard used the prince as a focus. I could have sworn that arcanists were supposed to limit the use of magic to simply themselves and not others. If I’m right, I’ll beat the crap out of him later. For now, I guess the most important thing is: are they unharmed?”

“Fantastic! Let’s just go grab them before we—” He stopped and his eyes went wide; the hair on the back of his head stood up straight, and an ill feeling settled in his stomach. Meeting eyes with Yhimit, it seemed that the disciple felt the same, for the Masked Terror’s first reaction was to immediately draw his swords.

“That feeling... like it’s suddenly gotten cold, and there’s something’s breathing down your neck. Something ancient. Something deadly,” Reugas said, tilting his head into the air as he clenched his right fist, and subconsciously drifted his left to his bow. “I’ve felt this before... as every human has. There are intruders about. Dangerous ones. Lock down the castle, now.”

Shining Armor and the guards looked to Celestia for an answer. “...shall we, Your Majesty?”

“...yes. Put the whole castle and city on lockdown. I want all exits watched,” Celestia said. “How sure are you of this threat, Reugas?”

Reugas pulled his bow out and notched an arrow into the string, as Yhimit twirled his swords as he idled about. “With all due respect, Paragon, this is not a new thing for us... ever since the Trickster has begun leaking his energies, we’ve become rather keen at detecting when his soldiers are about to show up... and now is no less different.”

“You mean he is going to invade?” Celestia immediately asked, as Shining Armor and his squad quickly exited the room, shouting to any guard within earshot to raise alert.

“No, he won’t invade. This is more of a... side-effect of his seals weakening. But I guess it would make sense that he would be aware that we’ve come to you for help. Nothing can escape his gaze it seems,” Reugas said, waving at Yhimit. “Come, Yhimit. We need to find our prince. Princesses, if you so would, please take to immediately locking down this castle with magic, if you can.”

“I assume it should help, assuming that you two are still able to fight and cast magic as readily as the books say you could. As for the beasts, you should do well to know that they are powerful... and that they can turn up anywhere.”

“Oh, no,” Luna said, holding a hoof to her mouth. “I... we must prepare for this as soon as possible. If this is true, then we must muster our forces to send aid to the Empire as soon as possible.”

“I doubt that will be needed, Your Majesty,” Reugas said, observing Yhimit as he laid one of his swords down upon the table and began scratching out a message on a blank piece of parchment. “...is that so? Well, I guess this means that the threat can be easily contained, after all.”

“Has the threat already been found?” Celestia asked, as Luna’s horn continued to glow, spread across the entire room and into the castle grounds beyond as she began to seek out pockets of chaotic magic.

“No... but Yhimit tells me that, supposedly, magical studies conducted by the arcanists and scholars at Lherren show that your lands are... resilient against chaotic energies,” Reugas said, reading off Yhimit’s message as he wrote it out. “He... says it has something to do with the harmony of the lands. Prevents the Trickster from sending his minions in wholesale like he does with ours.”

“How does he know this?” Celestia asked, giving Yhimit a curious glance as she continued to press her question. “It seems that not even you, Reugas, seems to know this. How come he does?”

“I have my doubts as to the validity of his claims, but Yhimit is, by far, our second best scholar when Artim is not around. He is a disciple, a warrior of both body and mind: as such, his calling brings him to places where spiritual and intellectual enlightenment can be attained... both of which can be found at Lherren, and their archives of knowledge are extensive.”

Another pegasus guard flew in through the window, taking off his helmet before bowing before the princesses. “Your Majesties! We already have patrols in the air and scouting across the city, though we have found no traces of any danger so far.”

“Very good. Keep up your patrols until I notify you otherwise,” Celestia said, before the guard saluted and dropped his helmet back on, dashing out the window again and blowing up a plume of papers in his wake. “Then, go now, humans. Find your—”

Reugas made no reply, instead firing his bow and quickly notching in another arrow in rapid succession. Two shots. Three. Four. Five. And a final sixth one before he finally stopped as Yhimit took notice of Reugas’ attack and turned himself around, only to find a beast laying dead at the doorway, three arrows stuck within each eye socket.

So fast had it occurred that in the time it took for Celestia to turn around and look at the floor, the beast was already dead. “How... did you react with such speed?”

“Training. And perhaps a bit of magic on the side,” Reugas said, checking his quiver and smiling at his ample reserves of ammunition. “Our use of magic is more focused than yours. Enhances our reflexes, and for my more sword-oriented companions, their strength. And if I may, Paragon, welcome you to the sight of your first chaos beast in many years.”

They looked on with disgusted curiosity as the beast’s body began to turn to cinders, flames engulfing its form until it had burned itself into nothing, leaving no trace that it had ever walked upon the earth.

“Agreed. That feeling that I had earlier was fleeting, though... I cannot sense the presence of anymore at the moment. You should be careful, lest they sneak into the castle grounds unopposed.”

“Then I will take up the defense of the castle. Stay with my sister as she continues scrying, and—”

“—and I have found them!” Luna cried out. “Gather yourselves, humans. I shall take you to them immediately. They are at the Cloudspire, in the heart of downtown Canterlot, and they are still oblivious to the events that have just occurred.”

“...er, is something wrong, darling?” Rarity asked, dropping a pile of bits on their table’s check and eyeing them worryingly. “You all seem to be on edge, even more than I am when I’m about to attend a high-end fashion show.”

“Hmm? Oh, there’s... nothing wrong,” Sehyia assured her, smiling awkwardly and nodding. “Just... a little chilly, that’s all.”

“But the sun is quite clear in the sky, and it’s quite warm,” Fancypants gave in response. “Are you sure you are not just feeling ill? Even if it does seem to be all of you?”

“There is... trouble brewing,” Tehin said, picking up his staff. “Stand back, little ponies, I shall deal with this.”

“Five beasts. And one of them just died...” Artim continued, smirking at Kandro’s gaping expression. “Surprised? It’s a little trick I’ve picked up recently... like trying to pick out a single drop of water in the middle of a rainstorm. Took many months to perfect it, but I can tell how many of them there are within this city. There are five.”

“And one of them... is right there...” Sehyia said, grinding metal echoing across the deathly silent room as she drew her blade in response to the materializing beast in front of them.

“What... is... that...?” Rarity said, her hooves failing to respond as Sehyia and Tehin stepped in front of her.

“Something that won’t be living for long,” Tehin said, slamming the tip of his staff into the ground with a thud in challenge to the beast’s malicious gaze. “Not the first we’ve fought... but they are ferocious, nonetheless. And completely merciless. We will deal with this one.”

Sure enough, three more pools of dark energy began to coalesce on the floor, appearing in tandem with a bright blue flash of energy as Princess Luna appeared with Reugas and Yhimit. “ATTENTION: CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT!” Luna shouted with her Royal Canterlot voice. “I BESEECH YOU ALL TO SEEK SHELTER AND PROTECTION IMMEDIATELY! LOCATE THE NEAREST GUARD AND STAY AWAY FROM THIS BUILDING UNTIL THEN!”

Taking the cue to flee, ponies began to scream and run in earnest as they all flew, jumped out of the first story windows, or stormed out of the front door as they began clearing out from their tables in the restaurant and kitchen in droves. All of them avoided the humans and the beasts as they stood in a faceoff, gauging each other’s reactions before deciding to strike.

“...you actually brought that giant stick of yours into town?” Reugas whispered to Tehin.

“Stop chatting and get them already, you fools!” Artim said, taking the initiative by holding his hands together and conjuring a fireball, then unleashing its pyrokinetic fury against the closest beast to his right. The beast countered by bringing up its meaty arm to block the projectile, detonating it without much harm to himself as the flames only hissed off of its resilient skin.

“I... what should we do?!” Rarity asked Kandro, who had his blade drawn and stabbed into the ground as he crouched behind the table with them.

“Just... let them handle it. I’d get myself involved, but I’m sure they wouldn’t like that.”

“Agreed, my liege, just stay back here and we’ll do all the work,” Reugas said, rolling back across the table and joining him, letting loose several arrows as the rest of the Pillars went to work. “Just try not to get yourself killed. That goes double for you ponies. Keep your heads down; don’t want an incident on our hands here.”

“No, surprisingly, there’s not.” He put his hand, glowing with purple energy, into the air and surrounded himself with an aura. “They’re... these ones are weaker, somehow. See, that one’s arm is already starting to fall off...”

“Then let us finish this quickly!” Tehin shouted, meeting one of the beasts mid-charge and slamming the butt of his staff into his face, before twirling around and delivering a blow to its stomach. The beast howled with pain until he brought his staff up and sent it crashing straight into the ceiling, waiting until it had smashed back into the ground before delivering a killing blow straight to its head.

Yhimit and Sehyia split off to Tehin’s left and right, respectively, and to take on the remaining unoccupied beasts, as Artim began to be backed off of his towards the table which Kandro and Reugas now hid behind.

“Don’t get your mane in a bunch, I got this,” Reugas said, pulling out a bulb-tipped arrow and firing it directly at the beast’s face. Instead of burrowing itself in like a regular arrow, however, it burst open upon contact, pasting the beast’s eyes with a blinding substance that only served to work against it when its hand became stuck to its face when it tried to wipe it off.

“Many thanks, Reugas!” Artim said, coiling back and forming a raging sphere of concentrated fire magic in his hands, charging it with no small amount of strain in his voice before he shot it forward, exploding the beast’s upper torso into oblivion before its lower body clumsily fell over.

“How dreadful,” Fancypants commented in a haze, so engrossed by the body’s fading presence that his monocle fell off.

“Hey, now, what’d I say about keeping your head down?” Reugas said, tapping the stallion on his head and moving him back next to Rarity.

The sound of blades piercing through flesh remained audible for the remainder of the fight, as remaining two beasts stood off against Yhimit and Sehyia. Tehin fell back to the table, relegating himself to defense and staying out of the way of the two sword-wielders’ more free-form fighting styles, while Artim stood by, eyes unblinking as he analyzed the fights with discerning eyes.

Sehyia’s form and blade began to shimmer with the telltale blue glow of her combat magic, and she dashed forward in a sprint that closed the distance between her and her target within the blink of an eye. Every strike by the beast only hit air or smashed into the ground as she continuously circled around it, hacking away at its vulnerable and critical spots, the blur left by her movements making it seem as if she were dancing around it.

Yhimit, however, shared no such grace in his strikes. Every swing was meant to be fast and brutal, striking as quickly and efficiently as possible as he dodged every strike and countered with one of his own. The beast was lacerated with dozens of double strikes over its entire body from his paired blades, and it wasn’t long before he’d whittled the beast’s normally impressive stamina down to nothing, and with a synchronized strike to its back, knocked the beast flat onto its stomach.

Black ichor dripped off of both Sehyia and Yhimit’s blades, as they both positioned themselves to deliver their final blows.

Sehyia gave a sideways strike to the back of the beast’s knee, knocking it off balance and forcing it to kneel on the ground, appearing next to its head with her sword ready to decapitate...

Yhimit jumped onto the back of the creature, twirling his swords into an underhand grasp and prepared to plunge them into its neck...

And both struck simultaneously, piercing the empty restaurant’s halls with the screams of dying demons once more as the thuds of flailing limbs and fidgety bodies were silenced by the rush of burning corpses and stench of viscous blood.

Rarity and Fancypants, although shellshocked, managed to pull themselves out of their stupor long enough to turn their gawking expressions at Princess Luna, who stood stone-faced and showing no signs of being as fazed as they were.

“...see, that wasn’t so bad,” Reugas said. “Just foot soldiers, that’s all.”

“Perhaps in that sense, it would be true,” Artim said, again with his quill out as he recorded several more details in his notes. “I hadn’t expected such fatalities to occur so soon after our visit. It has been only a day and yet the Trickster has already found us. We are not the First’s army, Reugas: we cannot fend off an invasion like the soldiers of the Wrathmarch were as capable of staving off.”

“Nor do we number as many as they did,” Kandro interjected. “The Wrathmarch was a last resort. I do not intend for our efforts to culminate in a similar conclusion.”

The rustle of wings and the sound of stomping hooves caught up to them; Shining Armor, along with what appeared to be an entire company of royal guards, entered the Cloudspire, fanning out in trios in every direction as he ventured towards Princess Luna to survey the situation.

“I... we arrived too late, didn’t we?” he asked her, scowling at the carnage.

“Indeed,” Luna said, waving her hoof towards the humans. “It would have been a catastrophe, had these brave warriors not already been here to intercept the threat. This now gives credence towards their warnings, however.” She looked to Rarity and unruffled the frightened unicorn’s mane as best as she could. “Be calm, Rarity. Take comfort in the thought that valiant warriors will be here to protect you on your journey.”

Luna held up a hoof to stop her. “Say no more, Element of Generosity. I understand that you believe this assignment will put you far beyond your own comfort zone, for that of you and your friends. Believe me when I say that if my sister and I could take your places, we would. But the Elements have long since fallen beyond our control... so the task now lies with you. This evil is far too great to ignore.”

“I would suggest leaving as soon as possible,” Artim offered to her. “If he is already capable of striking at the heart of Equestria, there’s no telling what may happen once his seals began to wither away.”

“Of course,” Luna said. “Rarity, Prince Kandro, and company: you will leave for Ponyville within the hour. Gather your things... my sister will meet you there to see you off.”

“What the—?! So you’re tellin’ me that those dang crazy monsters just showed up in Canterlot like nothin’ and started attackin’ folks?!” Applejack asked, pulling down the brim of her hat to cover her face as she shook her head. “Shoot, I don’t even know what to say ‘bout that...”

“And Rarity was just so shaken up by whatever happened there...” Fluttershy said, wrapping a hoof around her friend as the unicorn failed to say anything beyond a mumble. “Shh, shh... it’s okay now, Rarity. Those things aren’t here anymore...”

“It’s okay, Fluttershy, I’m just... goodness, it’s still just too much to take in in such a short amount of time...” Rarity replied, shaking her head. “And Fancypants seemed adamant that he provide me with any sort of aid that I wished. If only I could have my own guard detail, but it’s already been decided that they’re already allocated to defending Equestria.”

“Seriously, I wish I was just there just so I could have kicked some serious flank!” Dash said, giving a one-two punch with her hooves into the air. “Those stupid guys are going to regret showing up in Equestria and trying to attack my friends!”

“Rainbow Dash, that is not what you will be doing,” Celestia said evenly, sitting at table in the center of Twilight’s treehouse with the rest of the Elements. “This is a very serious mission dealing with an enemy older than Discord and even myself.”

“I do not know the true details of his origins. Nopony does,” she said. “All I know is that in the beginning, by the time Luna and I had first established the beginnings of what was Equestria, we received a call for aid. A single man managed to find his way past the mountains west of Everfree Forest, and found us. He spoke of great and terrible evils plaguing his people, and Luna and I were duty-bound to assist them.”

The front door to the library opened and Princess Luna stepped inside along with the humans, the moon slowly rising behind her on the horizon. “It is time, little ponies,” she said. “Our preparations have been completed, and you all must be off now. Is Rarity still ill?”

“I am... fine... Princess Luna,” Rarity shakily replied. “I fear that this may be our most dangerous mission yet... far greater than anything we could have anticipated. So I’ve taken the liberty of putting together some basic, but sturdy, clothes for us on short notice.”

“You have?!” Pinkie asked. “I hope we all get boots, because I don’t want my hooves to hurt when we start walking around over there in the hot sand and stuff!”

“Yes... Fluttershy, have you brought the box like I told you to?” Rarity asked her friend.

“Oh, of course... it took a while, but you really hid away quite well behind your wall of cloth.” Fluttershy tapped the box right next to her, and opened the top using her wings. “Oh! There are boots in here, Pinkie...”

“You sure you made these, Rarity?” Applejack asked, pulling out a pair of plain brown workboots and eyeing them. “These seem a lot like regular workboots. I sort of thought you’d be makin’... more fancier stuff.”

“Well, I didn’t have much of a timespan to work with. I needed something that worked, and I needed it quickly. So I traded fashion for utility, or at least for the rest of you girls.” Rarity donned a silky black cloak and pulled the hood over her head. “I managed to put in some time for me, at least.”

“Wow, Rarity, you look like you’re ready for Nightmare Night!” Pinkie exclaimed, covering each of her hooves with a boot in a flash and started hopping around in them. “Wow, these things are so comfy! I could totally imagine being in these things all the time! We should totally have a Rarity-made-all-these-on-short-notice party or something! Ooh, speaking of parties, I wonder what human parties are like!”

“Loud, boisterous, and with lots of eating and drinking!” Tehin responded. “You will fit in just fine, pink one!”

Pinkie gasped and jumped on Tehin’s shoulders. “Really? Nothing like the boring old Grand Galloping Gala with all those fancy nobleponies and stuff? Just partying? And jokes and laughing and food and drinks everywhere? Can we go save the world yet? I really want to see one of these parties!”

“You and me both,” Reugas said, patting Tehin on the side of his back, being unable to reach the giant’s shoulders. “Duty comes first, however. The celebrations must wait until our task is finished.”

Applejack threw a tunic over herself and hopped into her boots, hat still intact on her head. “Shoot, these things aren’t half bad, Rarity! Might I even say that they’d be good enough to use durin’ applebuck season,” she said, checking out the finer details of her clothes. “You even put in apple embroidery on the flank! That’s some nice detail...”

“Of course, darling. How else was I to distinguish between each of your travel wear?” Rarity said, pulling a set of protective wraps over Fluttershy’s forelegs. “So long as you don’t do anything extremely uncouth with them, I expect them to last for quite a while.”

Rainbow Dash helped pull Twilight’s tail through a small opening at the end of her robes. “So will I be able to fly over there?” Dash asked. “This whole trip’s going to be a cramp in my style otherwise.”

“Flying is definitely useful,” Sehyia said. “You would be able to gain access to vantage points that would otherwise be inaccessible to us.”

“You will be clear to fly once we reach the Empire’s lands,” Artim said, entering with a pack full of scrolls on his back and shutting the door. “It is not advisable to do so as we travel through Kahir Pass. The winds above would tear you apart, so until I notify you otherwise, please remain grounded.”

Dash ignored his comment and giggled. “Dude, you really look like a mummy with your bandages and stuff, you know that? Like you just came out of a Daring Do novel or something!”

Artim rolled his eyes. “An unfortunate side effect of literally playing with fire, I’m afraid. Did you get my warning?”

“I will have a contingent of royal guards stationed here in Ponyville to keep a watchful eye out for any further incursions,” Celestia said, helping Twilight pack several books into her saddlebags for her journey. “Stay safe, all of you. And be careful. I hope that you will all return safely when this is over.”

Pinkie Pie tightened the straps around Rainbow Dash’s boots with her mouth as Rarity helped to guide the pegasus’ wings through the allotted wingspace on the tunic, and then wrapping a protective layer of thick cloth over the torso area to give it some minor protection. Twilight dropped a pair of saddlebags on Fluttershy’s back, wings permitting, and pulled on her own hood as Celestia placed her own bags on her back.

“Wow! We look like a bunch of adventurers!” Pinkie said, tapping her hoof-boots together. “We should totally dress up like this on Nightmare Night! It would be a blast!”

“We are ready to go, then?” Kandro asked, putting on his own helmet after downing a quick gulp of water from a cup that Fluttershy had been handing out to the humans. “I don’t expect our journey through Kahir Pass to take long. It is what happens afterwards that I am worried about.”

“Several days is a long time to be away from home,” Fluttershy said soothingly. “I hope nothing bad happens while we’re there...”

“What are you going to do with the Elements of Harmony, anyway?” Twilight asked. “Do you know where we’ll be going?”

“At the moment, we return to Renascence, to see if the Elements cannot shine any more clues upon the location of the Trickster’s return. When we do locate him, we move to cut him off permanently, and in the best case scenario, kill him, and if not, seal him away,” Artim said, browsing through Twilight’s shelves of alphabetically-organized books. “You are very organized.”

Twilight beamed. “Thanks, I put in my best effort to make sure everything stays that way.”

“Sense anything around here, Artim?” Sehyia asked, helping Rarity carefully position her safari hat at the best position where it wouldn’t end up ruffling her mane. “Really, Rarity, if you treat your entire mane like this, then you’ll never find a perfect spot for your hat...”

“Nothing here,” Artim said, as Rarity simply sighed and just dropped the hat on her head.

“This hat is a tad bit too small, Sehyia,” Rarity lamented. “But none of my other ones will do! They’re either too small, too big, too conforming, too non-comforming, and none are as airy as this one is!”

“How about we look for one in the Empire once we get there?” Sehyia said. “I’m sure we can find a hat that can fit your needs there?”

“And a chance to view the Empire’s fashion and fabrics? Your offer has already been accepted,” Rarity said, putting a hoof to her thigh. “If they are anything like the tabards you wear, then I may just make a name for myself in Canterlot yet... to be the first to obtain such amazing cloth!”

“Then Paragon, Protector,” Kandro said with a nod to them, and looking over the Elements of Harmony and his companions. “We shall be going now.”

“Luna shall remain here on permanent watch, while I shall return to Canterlot to prepare Equestria to deal with this new threat, Prince Kandro,” Celestia said, smiling warmly at him. “Go with our blessings. And do not fail.”

Kandro made no effort to return her smile. “For all our sakes, I hope we do not.”

“Oooooooohhhhh, my,” Fluttershy nervously squeaked out, hugging close to Rarity as they began to enter the deeper depths of the Everfree Forest. “This... is... the farthest we’ve ever been in here...”

“I concur,” Rarity said quietly. “The moonlight isn’t even getting through the trees anymore. Where are we going?”

“This is the right path,” Reugas said. “Our fight with the wolves during our arrival provided ample directional orientation for me to find our path back. See, here, our footsteps from earlier...” He waved a torch around the base of his feet. “We made a trail for ourselves, so all that’s left is to follow it back...”

“Wow, this place is creepy...” Dash said. “It’s like we stepped into a whole new place or something... some place that’s even darker than the Everfree was, and I already thought that place was pretty dark at night. I can’t even see anything outside of the torches you guys are holding...”

“Even the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters was nowhere near as dark as it is now...” Twilight noted. “Are we actually the first ponies to venture here? I don’t recall any books on this place, even in the Canterlot Royal Archives, and—”

“There it is!” Reugas shouted, pointing down the lane towards where the trees stopped and gave way to stone. “Now all that’s left is to make it back to Fort Kahir, and we can—stop.” He held up his hand and drew his bow, suddenly aware that his breath was fogging the air in front of his face. “Do you feel that...?”

“There’s... many of them,” Artim said, his hand glowing with purple energy as he directed his focus down the length of the canyon. “And they are all heading this way... wait, no! There’s seven now... six... four... two...” he trailed off, as the rumbling charge slowly made its way to their position. The group all drew their weapons and instinctively shrank away from the opening of the pass, forming a protective circle around the ponies as they waited.

“Oh... my... sweet... Celestia...” Fluttershy gasped out, cowering in terror behind Rainbow Dash. Twilight and Applejack stepped forth, the former with her horn glowing with energy, and the latter ready to deliver a solid buck to whatever got in their way.

The chaos beast, far larger than any they’d encountered so far as it easily stood at least two stories tall, lumbered out of the pass and trundled past their position without so much as a glance... until a gasp from Fluttershy managed to draw its attention. It slowly raised its hand to smash down into them...

A blur of shadows erupted from the pass and began encircling the creature. Working in tandem, the unidentified forms began shooting arrows into all its joints, forcing it to recoil in pain as a single member of their group leaped onto its back and climbed onto the back of its head, and hacked away at the base of its neck using his blade.

The beast howled in pain, vainly trying to grasp the back of its neck as the ranger on it slashed deeper and deeper into its flesh, only for its grubby hands to grasp nothing when it finally reached him, as he’d deftly rolled over the bumbling fingers and landed directly onto its forehead. With a bellow, the beast fell over backwards as the ranger fired arrows into its eyes at point-blank range, unable to fend off the storm of arrows now flying into its body from all directions, and was dead before it even hit the ground.

WIth a crash that shook the ground, the beast took its last breath of Equestrian air, thwarted by the efforts of a five-man group of rangers. Or in Reugas’ eyes: rangers that had no reason to visit Equestria.

“Back, ranger,” he said, levelling his bow when one of his compatriots attempted to approach them. “State your name and business, by authority vested in me as a Pillar of the Obsidian Spire.”

“Ranger Reugas,” the hooded man replied. “I am Ranger Tyermos. Along with me here are my brothers, rangers all. We have come here to Equestria to find you on behalf of General Tiraen. When we encountered chaos beasts en route through Kahir Pass, we had assumed that Equestria had fallen, and doubled our efforts to find you as soon as possible. As you can see... our task had been accomplished far sooner than we had expected.”

“General Tiraen?” Kandro stepped forth, taking off his helmet and revealing his identity to the rangers. “What does he want with us?”

“We were sent to find the Pillars and, specifically, you, my liege. In your absence, the situation within the Empire has exploded: Tiraen has mustered forth the entirety of the legions, deploying full contingents as garrisons for major cities, and ordered triple patrols on every road from Fort Kahir to the capital. He now holds Fort Renot as his headquarters and requests that you return to him, with or without that which you sought out to find, immediately.”

Tyermos paused, giving a hesitant glance to his comrades, to Kandro, and then to the ponies before responding. “It came quickly, my liege. A maelstrom has manifested itself above the skies of Renascence, appearing not less than a day ago. Shortly afterwards, reports of beast attacks on the northern and eastern fringes of imperial lands have increased tenfold, and sightings across farmlands and desert have become frighteningly common.”

“Evacuated,” the ranger said. “Most of the population, or at least the ones we could save, were immediately ordered across the Roaring River to Fort Renot while the legions entered the city to combat the chaotic threat. The city is under siege, my lord. And it has been that way for the past day now.”

“Alive,” Tyermos confidently responded. “Captain Ghiraza has the entire Capital Spire locked down, and a whole company of royal guards defending the base of the steps. Divisions of soldiers are spread out across the city trying to purge the threat, but it is an endless task: they are innumerable. I had thought the talk to be just rumors... but it’s true, isn’t it, sire? That the Trickster is finally returning?”

Through their conversation, a fact soon made itself clear as the rangers behind Tyermos kept a close eye on the corpse of the chaos beast: it did not fade, burning away into wind like its lessers had. It was permanent... and perhaps a sign of the Trickster’s reawakening power.

“Not if we can still do something about it,” Reugas said, gesturing to the ponies behind him. “We have with us the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the ancient artifacts used by the Paragon of the Sun and the Protector of the Night on the Trickster once before. It is our hope that in his weakened state, we can end this problem before it spirals out of control.”

“Then this is good news. General Tiraen will want to know of this immediately. Please, esteemed Pillars and prince, let us guide you back to Fort Kahir. Will there be need for us to deploy soldiers to the land of the ponies to help quell chaotic threats?”

“No, Equestria is faring just fine.” Kandro waved them forward, and the ponies let out their held sighs of relief, grateful that their numbers had been further bolstered. “The Paragon and Protector are still very much alive. They know of our mission, but cannot aid us. They must remain to protect the peace within their own lands.”

“Praise be their constant vigilance,” Tyermos said, reverence ingrained deep within his tone. “I suppose it was too much to expect... they have their own to look after. Rangers! Prepare to move out! Ensure that body is doubly dead before we move on... I’d rather not have any surprises sneaking up on us on our way back.”

As the rangers began retrieving what arrows they could from the beast’s corpse as well as checking with their swords to see if it still lived, the Pillars and the ponies silently moved to the pass, waiting for Kandro to return to them before proceeding on. Tyermos, however, had other plans, beckoning the prince away from earshot of the others and having them turn their backs to them before speaking.

“I apologize, my liege. But I was under strict orders from General Tiraen that this particular set of news reach your ears, and your ears only.”

Tyermos’ reaction could not be told from the mask and hood that he wore; only his eyes could be seen, and they told Kandro everything that he needed to know. “What I said earlier... was a lie: the royal family is not all intact. With my condolences, Prince Kandro: Emperor Nazhrus has passed away. He died shortly before the appearance of the maelstrom, and Tiraen believes that the two events are not entirely unrelated.”

Deathly silence followed afterwards, and Kandro clenched his fist, seeking explanation for the tragedy that had befallen him. Do not dwell on decisions made in the past, but do not fail to heed their wisdom. Use the knowledge gained to ensure a better outcome in the future. That was what his father had told him the first day he’d sat in on the Imperial Court debating water allocation for irrigation around Renascence.

Perhaps if he’d acted faster, pressed the urgency of the situation—no, that would not have done well. To press the ponies to leave their homes on such short notice was nothing short of stepping over the traditions of human hospitality and what he’d grown up knowing. No, his choice was made, and the ponies had already said their farewells and gathered the support they needed to make this journey.

“I am fine, Tyermos, just... contemplating what had happened. If what you say is true... then this was inevitable. The Trickster held the life of my father in his hands... and he took it the moment he knew he could cement his foothold in this realm.” He took a deep breath, then turned to return to the waiting group, Tyermos catching up alongside him.

“Are you well, sire?” he asked worriedly. “If you require it, we can rest before we proceed any further—”

Kandro waved him off, taking the lead and directed the group into the pass. “Unneeded, ranger. My father has passed, and that means... that means that the mantle of leadership falls to me. We cannot fail, Tyermos. Our people need us now, more than ever... and the Trickster needs to be stopped. Once and for all.”

So decreed Prince Kandro, heir to the throne... now Emperor Kandro, ruler of the Renascent Empire.

Gates to Renascence

by Material Defender

V: Nightfall