//------------------------------//
// An Ancient Hero Returns 
// Story: Twin Blades 
// by Craigulus Twinblade 
//------------------------------//

	Ashes, fire, and ruins. These things have been the most common components of Craig's nightmares, but he could never, ever get used to it. One night it would be a dying Ponyville, the next night it was a burning Canterlot, and then the next night it was just a giant mountain of dead soldiers. These dreams seemed to posses everything that was evil and destructive, this means that sanity was definitely not included. Tonight would be a dream where he simply could not move and was forced to watch the princesses, the Mane six, and even himself get tortured by endless amounts of sharp objects. Knives, swords, daggers, rusty nails, everything sharp. The last thing the human saw was a knife flying toward his left eye. He felt the fear overtake him. He couldn't fight it, he just braced for impact and tensed every muscle in his body preparing for the bloody pain he was about to endure.

Our hero burst back into reality with a gasp, relieved that the dream world had been left behind for now.

"Dear Galaxia!" Our hero shouted to the all-powerful deity in the recesses of his mind. "Why must you let this centaur toy with my visions, and my dreams!? I can hardly catch any sort of sleep when these nightmares are getting worse and worse and I can't do anything about it!"

After a minute of expecting a response, Craigulus Twinblade merely sighed and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling, figuring that he would have an easier time resting in a changed position. Turning over his pillow to avoid resting his head in a pool of cold sweat,  he closes his eyes and drops his head back onto the soft, feather-filled mound of comfort.

"I should really get back to sleep." he whispered to himself.

Little did he know, sleep would continue to elude him. The ears of the human began to perk as he heard a faint tapping noise outside of his chamber door, growing louder and louder as time moved on. Craigulus tensed up as memories of certain video games crawled into his head.

"This is very Amnesia-like." he thought nervously.

The tapping became more and more audible, but it wasn't tapping upon his chamber door, no, it was tapping on the floor of the hallway.

"Footsteps." he concluded. "Must be the night watch."

Breathing a sigh of relief before his eyes closed, Craig saw the shadow of the the guard in the light protruding from the crack in his door. This was no pony, as the shadow quickly came and went as the unknown assailant passed.

"Dammit! Where in the blue blazes is Celestia!? I swear i'm going to find her-.....and-.....kill-...."

Craigulus's heart stopped. That was an Australian accent.

"Oh dear gods." was the only thing that came to mind.

"Is that.... Jebediah!? He is going to kill Celestia! I have to save her!"

The footsteps began to grow quieter as the whispers went with it. Craigulus listened closely as he slowly rose from his bed and grabbed all his weapons, including the knives which he brought with him to Equestria in the first place.

"You never know when you'll need a little extra weaponry." Craigulus whispered to himself frantically. "I should probably catch him off-guard too, I just have to get close to him somehow."

Then it dawned on our hero.

"Lunar Eclipse! I should hover close to him under the cover of night! That way i'll surely be able to dispatch him without any trouble."

He powered up quickly but discreetly, trying to keep himself quiet. If he gave himself away, he would have to preemptively strike him. It is best not to give a warrior who has been around since Starswirl's time a chance at a fair fight. The fighting style could very well be completely different and other-worldly.

Our hero gently transitioned into his Lunar form and gently opened the door of his chamber, looking down the hallway as the figure of the Australian shrunk. Gently flapping his wings, he began to hover his way to Jebediah. He was adorned with an interesting set of clothing consisting of a white t-shirt with a light brown vest over top of it. His shorts were Khakis and he wore sandals on his feet.

"I really should wait until I get to a more open area." Craig thought. "Just in case a stand-off does happen."

For what seemed like hours, Jebediah had been pursued by our hero. Almost every single hallway had been passed through, every single stair climbed, and every single floor walked upon. Finally, Starswirl's old student stopped abruptly at the side of the dining hall's table.

"Did you really think you were being sneaky, mate?"

Jebediah K. Mundy immediately turned and threw some sort of curved object at Craigulus. Our lunar eclipsed hero had no time to react before the object clipped his right wing. A shock of violent pain ripped through Craigulus as he found that trying to stay airborne became much harder than before. Trying to regain steady flight with his injured wing, he had the same object that clipped his right wing before, clip his left wing and, with a shock of pain, he crashed to the floor with a loud thud. 

"Cause you weren't." Jeb finished with a soft, almost sinister tone and caught the object out of the air with hardly any effort.

Craig jumped to his feet and drew his blades. "What are you doing here, Jeb!?" Craig asked, shifting himself into a battle stance. 

"Oh, so you know who I am? Tell me, Craigulus Twinblade, did Celestia tell you about me?" The Aussie let out a small, aggravating chuckle. “Or was it the visions from the sword’s that gave it away? Either way, both scenarios make sense to me, mate!”

Craig launched himself at Jeb, swords raised. When he got to Jeb and brought his swords down upon his head, he had already vanished, thus striking the stone floor beneath where the Aussie's feet once stood. "You're too slow, mate!" Jeb taunted him. Craig turned to face Jeb once more. He was on the other side or the dining hall. “He must be able to use teleportation magic! I'm gonna need to be careful.” Craig thought to himself. 

Our hero needed to be quick to hit Jeb. Spreading his wings again, he burst towards Jeb at lightning fast velocities. The Australian threw two more objects at Craig, clipping his wings yet again. The winged human hit the ground but quickly recovered and began to swing his weapons fiercely in Jebediah’s direction, but he was gone again. It seemed that he had teleported once more, but this time he hadn't gone far because he immediately, and without warning, kicked Craigulus Twinblade in the back. The winged human, who felt his spine bend unnaturally, stumbled and turned again. 

"Fight with some bravery and fairness, you coward!" Craig screamed at Jeb, clenching his fists. 

"Why? I didn't come here for a fight. I came here to as-" 

"To assassinate princess Celestia!" Craig interrupted. 

"What?" Jeb asked. 

Charging up magic, Craig fired a beam at Jeb. Jeb drew his weapon off his back hastily and deflected the spell away. The magic beam hit the dinner table and destroyed it in a fiery explosion. 

"Are you trying to kill me, mate?!" Jeb threw his arms in the air in disbelief. 

Ignoring Jebediah’s comment, he fired two more beams in Jebs direction, but again, the fedora wearing Aussie deflected both beams away. This time they blew out a few windows. Jeb just stared at Craig shocked. 

"I'll take that as a yes." Putting his weapon back on his back, he bolted towards Craig, throwing those same objects that started this whole brawl. Craig also began to advance frighteningly towards Jeb. Dodging the objects was no problem this time but they went straight back to Jeb. When he finally was within range, Craig thrust the twin blades down on Jeb, but he blocked them with the objects. They were more visible to the winged hero now, as he began to see that the objects were boomerang's studded with small razor sharp blades on the edges. Craig kept slashing at Jeb, and Jeb kept blocking every strike with perfect timing and precision. Until eventually Jeb jerked forward and kicked Craig in the stomach. Craig fell to the ground again, this time he felt like he was about to throw up. 

“Well. I knew this wouldn't be easy. Craig thought. But I didn't think it would be this difficult either.”  Rising to his feet, he charged at Jeb once more. 

"I don't think its smart to attack a armed foe while unarmed, don’t you think so, mate?" Jeb laughed. Confused, Craig stopped. 

"What?" Craig almost whispered, narrowing his eyes and staring at Jebediah in confusion. Jeb simply began smiling in a sinister manner. 

"Well, you don’t really have these anymore now do you?" Jeb held up the twin blades. "Now then, can you take me to princess Celestia? I need to talk to her." 

Craigulus Twinblade just stood there, mouth agape, not having a single clue as to how Jebediah stole his weapons. It must have happened so quickly! Wondering at what point he could have seen a blur or even so much as felt his weapons get taken straight out of his fists, Our hero snapped out of it and re-focused himself to deal with the task at hand. Craigulus looked around the room for something he could use as a weapon; it was at this point that he remembered. 

“My pocket knives!” He reached into his pockets and grabbed his knives. 

Jeb lowered the twin blades. "Do you always carry weapons in two's?" Jeb mockingly asked. Suddenly the sword with the blue gem lit up. "Of course he does!" said a familiar voice. 

Jeb dropped the sword and took a step back, obviously shaken by the voice of the other half of Starswirl’s apprentice duo. "What in the world?!" Jeb asked, mouth agape and eyes wide open. 

Craig wasted no time to attack. He couldn't get too close, so he ran forward and threw one of his knives at Jeb with ferocity in his scream. The blade soared through the air, spinning until it stopped inside Jebediah’s chest. The ancient Australian staggered backwards from the impact of the hit. Blood almost instantly began to pour from the wound. Gripping the knife, he pulled it out of the wound. 

"Good shot, mate." Jeb complimented Craig as as he fell to the ground. He didn't even seem to show pain or shock, which to Craig, was extremely unnatural and in a way, frightening as well. 
Just before Jebediah hit the ground, Craig heard the doors crash against the walls as they had been swung open with force. Looking back at the entrance, both of the heroes saw princess Celestia and Luna run through the doorway. 

"Craigulus Twinblade, what is the meaning of this!?" Celestia asked in annoyance as she looking around the destroyed dining hall. Craig pointed at Jeb. "He is the meaning of this!" He explained, still panting from the fight he had just had.

Jeb, still coughing up blood, weakly got to his knees and placed his hand over his wound. His hand began to glow. Looking up he let out a sigh. "G'day Celestia, I'm back!" He re-introduced himself between coughs. 

Celestia gasped, her eyes were as wide as Luna’s moon. "J-Jeb? Y-your back!?" Celestia stammered. She turned her attention to Craig. "Craigulus, help him up and take him to the medical wing." 

Jeb, having recovered began to walk towards the group. "No, it’s okay Celestia. I'm fine. Nothing a little healing magic can't fix." Jeb winked and grinned, moments before being stopped by an overly-cautious Craig. 

"Stay away from her! I will not allow you to assassinate princess Celestia!" Our hero grabbed the mysterious Aussie by his white t-shirt. 

Luna's eyes became wide with surprise and horror. "Assassinate!?" Luna gasped. 

Jeb let out an annoyed sigh, "This nonsense, again!?" Jeb spoke while beginning to pace around walking in a circle. "Now why the hell would I assassinate a princess!?" Jeb asked, throwing his arms in the air. 

"Same reason you assassinated the King of the Griffins!" Our hero boomed as he let lunar eclipse form subside.

Jeb stopped in his tracks. "That wasn't an assassination!" he objected as he began advancing toward Craigulus with a fiery attitude and a stomp in his step.

Celestia stepped in between the two feuding heroes. "Enough!" She yelled, stomping one hoof on the ground. "Craigulus please, go back to bed. Tomorrow we continue your training. Jeb, come with me, we have much to discuss. I want you to come with us too, Luna!" 

Celestia began to walk to the doors. Jebediah followed her, but then stopped, turned around, and held one of the twin blades out to Craig. "I believe this is yours. The other is over there." He pointed to the sword on the ground. Craig ripped the sword out of Jeb's hand. "So I noticed." Craig mumbled as he walked towards the second blade. 

Jeb walked out the door leaving Craig alone in the dining hall. Picking up the sword, Our hero sighed. "Well, this has been an interesting night." Without hesitation, Craigulus spoke to Sir Canter. “Sir Canter? I just want to thank you for distracting him. I heard your voice answering his question about me carrying the twin blades around all the time.” Our hero's voice was filled with utmost gratitude.

With the gem flickering as the soul spoke, Sir Canter replied with a tiresome tone. “It’s no problem at all, he tends to overreact when he is surprised. I mean, I knew he wouldn't have known I was trapped in this damned thing. You need sleep though, master Craigulus.”

Craigulus acknowledged the old commander’s advice and began climbing the stairs to his chamber. Tomorrow was going to be a new day, a day when he would finally be able to sort things out and get more information out of this other human that dared to walk into his legend. It was obvious that this fedora-wearing, aggravating, over-confident Australian boy was just being an idiot, because Craig knew that he is the strongest and best warrior in Equestrian history. It just has to be that way, because that is part of his destiny!

…..right?





The next morning went as it normally did. The morning routine, as usual, included a rejuvenating bath, a brutal shaving which did not include shaving cream, and after freshening up came the morning magic studying and small scale practice. Small scale practicing was meant for inside smaller spaces and the magic would include charging up power, creating energy orbs and absorbing them, self-harm which would lead to practicing healing magic, and conducting magic through the twin blades. If there was time, Craigulus would be able to quickly converse with Sir Canter and focus on the memories of the ancient swords. Today was one of those days.

"Sir Canter?" Craig began, "Can you explain to me where Jebediah came from? Like, how did he come to Equestria? Has he ever talked about that with you?"

Craigulus had to wait a few moments to get a response. The feeling of contemplation was so obvious coming from the previous commander of the Equestrian forces. The set of human ears perked as Sir Canter inhaled to speak. 

"I do not know. I am sorry but he never talked to me about his origins. The only thing I've ever heard of his past is that he is from Earth, and that he comes from a 'British colony' called 'Australia'. It's weird, but I have to believe him because he has only ever told lies to the enemies he has fought over the centuries."

Craig began to question him further because that last statement seemed odd. "Are you sure he has never lied? It doesn't seem possible Sir Canter, I can't believe that. I don't trust that slimy kid anyway."

Sir Canter began to chuckle. "Oh, Craigulus Twinblade. Just wait and see, the more you get to know him, the more you'll realize just how annoying the guy can be. Don't fret though, despite him having a knack for getting on pony's nerves, he can teach you a lot of things. He is thousands of years old and he is a hero. I wouldn't be surprised if he is much more skilled than you, he must have reached or at least gotten close to his full potential. You may be powerful, but you still have much training to do before you can hope to surpass him."

Craig stomped his right foot on the ground in frustration and disgust. "First it was the God King, now Jebediah is more powerful than me too!?!?!" Dammit! I swear i'm gonna freaking smash something!"

Much to our hero's shock and awe, he felt a blistering pain shoot up his arm and into his brain. The pain lasted only a few seconds, but it was a pain that seemed to combine the effects of brain-freeze and a migraine headache. Our hero collapsed to the ground and struggled to catch his breath. "What the hell?" he struggled to deliver these words.

Sir Canter began to speak at a calm, yet stern volume. "I just shocked you. Don't think for a second that I can't do anything aside from grant you the armor you use everyday. I can attack anyone who dares touch the handle of my blade. I didn't want to do that to Jebediah last night cause I knew it wasn't necessary. it was at this moment though."

Craigulus violently crawled toward the pommeled blue gem and screamed at it. From any other angle, he would've looked like he completely lost his mind. Screaming at a sword while on your hands and knees was not common, not even in Equestria.

"Are you freaking INSANE, BUD!? I think your forgetting who is in charge of you! Let me give you a hint, he is a GODS DAMMED HUMAN AND HE IS PISSED OFF AT THREE THINGS RIGHT NOW! ONE OF THESE THINGS IS YOU, AND THE NEXT THING IS A-"

"You okay, mate!?" Jebediah made his presence known as he broke up the tension in the room with a hearty, uncontrolled laugh. He was leaning against the side of the door frame, his eyes being virtually invisible under the shadow of his fedora.

"Freaking Australian." Craig finished his sentence in embarrassment and shame. The realization came to his mind that screaming at a sword on your hands and knees was definitely not normal.





Breakfast was slow and awkward, even the princesses, whom had much experience in many social endeavors across the kingdom, were afraid to speak and break the most uncomfortable silence that had come to the dining hall since that time Luna had gotten a little bit too drunk and lost control of the moon. The two heroes sat across from each other and it was the blond-haired one that was trying to avoid eye contact with the other human, and both princesses. There was something different about the dining hall though, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Wait a second, didn't this place get destroyed?

"How in Galaxia's green world did the dining hall get cleaned up after last night's debacle!?" Craigulus began to chuckle.

"I took responsibility, unlike some ponies around here. You should really get some better servants, Loonie." Jebediah poked fun at Luna's nighttime servants and her name. Luna just simply glared at the Australian agitator.

"So." Craig began with a slight hint of caution to change the subkect. "What brings you back to Equestria, Jebediah?"

Jebediah's face lit up and he smiled. Craig had instantly compared it to a kid on Christmas morning, except this kid was one of those kids he continued to be thoroughly annoyed by, also a little jealous.

"Glad you asked, mate!" Jebediah tipped his straw fedora down slightly and then reached to his feet. The next thing our hero knew, a large book was slammed onto the table. Craigulus's curiosity peeked, as he stood up to see what this book was all about. Jeb cleared his throat and began to explain.

"What you see here, is something I bought from a travelling merchant with weird, small glasses. Had a strange, mysterious tone in his voice and wore a hat that somewhat resembled a fez, but that's not the point. The point is that he had this on sale for a price that i seriously can't believe i payed for. Rumor has it that he recently set up shop in Ponyville and his featured item is an 'Alicorn Amulet' or something. I really don't think any pony would by it, it's worth 500 gold bits or something ridiculous like that, and the merchant apparently keeps saying its dangerous to possess it. Enough with the bumbling gossip though, take a look mate!"

Jebediah turned the book around and pushed it toward Craigulus. The book seemed very well preserved.

"Huh." Craigulus began as he ran his hand over the hard-cover tome. "How can a book be so well-kept after so long? Isn't that, like, more than a thousand years?"

Luna shot her right hoof in the air and proudly shared her knowledge with her student. "Preservation magic! It is one of the rarest types of magical teachings. It was invented across the sea in the country of Cervidas. Speaking of Cervidas, a civil war happened between the Concordians and the Westerners in that country two century's ago. A lot of healing magic textbooks were destroyed in the burning of the Giant's Tree."

Craigulus's ears perked. Listening to a history lesson has always been fun. He hadn't been educated on much aside from magic since the beginning of his time in Equestria. The only history he had learned had been taught by the visions from the swords and from the book in Celestia's private library. Jeb just sat there, listening intently to what the princess of the night ranted on about.

"Well? Are you gonna tell me more?" Craigulus pleaded to quench his thirst for knowledge.

"Well don't ask me for any more information! It was my sister who told me all this, for at the time the actual events were unfolding i was banished to the moon!" Luna explained herself, eyes closed and hoofs crossed in spite of missing so much in her thousand-year absence.

Every human ear perked and every pony ear flickered to hear if Celestia would continue the story. The princess of the sun, who glowed brightly in the morning sun rays which poured through the windows, inhaled to begin the rest of the lesson.

"The world tree lies in Concordia, which is the largest city in Cervidas. Cervids have a special connection with the natural world and they worship a plethora of different gods and deities."

Celestia stopped and her smile turned to a frown. The tone of her voice went somber and dark, as did the mood of the story.

"They used to, anyway. You see, in those days there was a troubling controversy plaguing the land. The eastern half of Cervidas clung to the old ways and worshiped the gods of old. They used to call their kings 'vessels' because each new ruler would be chosen by the holy leaders to become a vessel to one of the four 'Elemental Beings'. The four were simply known as Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. Each king would be chosen to be a vessel of one of these four depending on the outcome of the tasks they were given as heirs to the throne. They even had four different crowns, each with their own style depending on which Elemental Being they were chosen to represent. Of course, all of this was largely superstition. That's what the Westerners of Cervidas proclaimed. Those Cervids wanted to follow the teachings of my mother. Those teachings are known by the commoners as the ways of 'Galaxialism'.

"Ah yes. I remember that final battle in Concordia like it was yesterday." Jebediah interrupted.

Craigulus, along with every pony else in the room, was shocked. Each princess was staring at Jeb like they just saw him kill a filly.

"Yep, I might get a lot of heat for this, but i was kind of supporting the Old Cervid ways. I didn't believe in them, i just thought it was unfair to force a new culture upon a group that has been doing the same rituals and magics for so many centuries. I didn't kill anyone in that hell storm that was the burning of the Giant's Tree, I just tried to save as many of the peasants as i could."

Celestia quickly rose to her hooves to defend the Australian fedora bearer. "You did the right thing, Jebediah. No matter who you are, you should never be deprived of everything and everyone you've ever believed in."

Jebediah then became very closed off, as if he had remembered something horrible. "Yea, I've been deprived of some pony I believed in. It isn't fun, mate."

The mood in the room became somber and dark, both princesses looked at each other with sad looks, as if they both knew they said something wrong. Craigulus Twinblade noticed this, and just as he was about to ask what they all meant by Jebediah being 'deprived of some pony', he heard Sir Canter's voice.

"Don't say a word, it will get ugly if you do. I will explain all of this later."

Craigulus listened, and instead of asking this forbidden question, he changed the subject. "Hey, are we gonna go train or sit here and let the God king prepare his forces for the siege of Equestria!? The clock is ticking, let's go!"

Celestia, Luna, and Jeb all agreed with our hero's proposal and began leaving the dining hall. As Craigulus rose to his feet and requested the armor from Sir Canter, he could not help but remain curious as to what Jebediah was referring to. It couldn't be Starswirl's death, seeing as he hated the old pony. Sir Canter was still alive.... In a way..... and he was re-acquainted with the alicorn monarchs. Why in the world did he become so closed off?

"Oh well." Our hero thought to himself. "If there is one thing i should be worrying about right now, it's learning new techniques from him."