[Twilight POV]
This is it…. The Mane Six are reunited and all the princesses are here as well. Thanks to Geoffrey, King of Griffinstien, we now have absolute permission to enter the Divine Temple and ask the 12 Divines to restore Discord. The first part of that plan is to find the Divine Temple. Luckily, Celestia knows the way and, since Khronos will be more fierce and more dangerous after our near-death experiences with him (not to mention my niece’s destructive entrance), we all must stay together as one. Golden, Zeus, and the rest of our friends remain at the city to formulate new plans and strategies to counter Khronos’ new rising army as well as gathering necessary supplies and preparations. 23 minutes had passed as we trot the stone staircase known as the Thousand Stair, which it literally have 1,000 stone steps. I kept losing counts as I tried to see if the temple is in our sight. No temple but Celestia states we’re almost there.
“Are we there yet? My hooves hurts…!” groaned Pinkie as she ceased her usual hopping and start trotting slowly.
“Oh come on, Pinkie! We went through worst!” Rainbow Dash boasted as her encouragement to Pinkie. Dash got her hooves aches so she began hovering as Celestia doesn’t want her flying ahead as it’s disrespecting the Thousand Steps of the Divine Temple.
“You’re right. I’m sure Maud will be amazed by the stone job!” smiled Pinkie.
“I’m sure she will be.” I smiled. Pinkie told me that Marble was sold away in the same position I was going to with that monster Scar but Limestone and Maud save her and the slaves thanks to Limestone’s temper and Maud’s indescribable strength and digging skills. Khronos was stated to be an unpredictable tactical war genius and he is but he also stoop low enough to manipulate Trixie into wielding the Alicorn Amulet and used her as a double agent against us. He even unleashed Sombra by eradicating Crystal Empire and the Crystal Heart. Apple Bloom told us that one of his men stated he’s conquering Equestrian to remove potential threat to the Unknown Land but what threat is he looking for? Why causing all this war? Has---
“Why can’t the other come to this temple?” Apple Jack interrupted my train of thought with a question I didn’t think of asking.
“Only the Royal Alicorns and the Mane Six can enter the Temple.” answered Luna. I guess Flurry Heart can’t come since she’s too young.
“So it’s holy?” asked Rarity in a confident tone.
“Yes it is.” said Celestia.
“But why I’m coming here?” asked Sunset. She has a point; Sunset is the member of Mane Six in the pocket dimension of Equestria City, not of our Equestria, plus she lost the right of being a Princess due of her lust of becoming the Alicorn.
“All in due time.” That’s all Celestia can say as she ceased trotting then used her magic to clear away the fog bank and reveal the Divine Temple before us. “We’re here.” said Celestia with a smile.
“A-Amazing!!!” I gasped in awe. Temple aside, I saw its environment that surrounds the Divine Temple. It’s so beautiful, as if it’s a small part of the Heaven; garden filled with rare flowers we never seen before, and the Divine Temple is made of navy-blue marbles with large doors made of the same material as the Crystal Hearts and there are 12 pillars surrounding it. We were all in awe.
“Whoa….” muttered Rainbow Dash.
“So….beautiful…!” said Apple Jack as she trot toward the garden.
“You took the word right out of my mouth!” exclaimed Rarity as she touched the pillar.
“We should take a photo!!” squealed Pinkie as she brought out her camera but Celestia dart at her and yelled so fierce that Pinkie immediately cower down and dropped her camera.
“NO!!! Nopony must know of the Temple’s locations or its secrets!!!” she yelled.
“S-So-Sorry….” quivered Pinkie in fear then Celestia realized how she behave and grew sad as she stood up.
“My apology… It’s just….It holds very precious memory and I don’t want anypony ruin this holy sanctuary.
“Tia…. We need to hurry if we want their help.” Luna reminded her.
“Right. Let us enter now.” she said. Using her magic, she opens the door and we stroll through the entrance, entering the temple. We noticed the wall filled with descriptions and images of the 12 Divines. There’s Kyubi The Divine of Hunts, a nine-tailed vixen-like deity who sports great beauty but her role involves the thrill of the hunts and it shows that the Kaninus devours their enemies as tribute and blessing to Kyubi. Apple Jack muttered “that explains their habit”. The next one is a Neko named Arisca the Divine of Beauty. She is equally as beautiful as Kyubi but her role involves the beauty of nature and its people itself. The third image is the Griffin known as Güasabara the Divine of War and the fourth is a Great Dragon named Drake the Divine of Fortune (guess that’s why the Smoke Dragon guards the treasure and Spike gets very greedy with gems, even if he never heard of Drake). There are many others with unique purpose and how our traditions separates from other creatures. So much to learn here but we have more pressing matter to deal with. During the way, I noticed a room filled with healing herbs of all kinds. Amazing, Zecora will be thrill if she’s allowed to enter here. We arrived at the room known as the Fountain of Balance and Order, which it’s a large fountain with 12 orbs on each corners, about 10 inches apart from each other and the water are still and reflects in a mirror-like property. As we enters, Apple Jack noticed something.
“Hey, look! An image of Celestia and Luna!” said AJ. We all looked and saw the image of Celestia and Luna, circling around each other in a Yin-Yang pattern but in the center was a larger Alicorn with the crystal green coat and stretches her hooves around the sisters as if she’s hugging them and an even bigger Alicorn stood behind her and his whole body is like a galaxy.
“I wonder who are these Alicorns in the image?” wondered AJ as she squint her eyes for better sight.
“T-They look bigger then Celestia and Luna…” said Fluttershy.
“That;s Cosmo and Nova…..our parents.” Celestia gave a soft smile and I was surprised that Celestia and Luna’s parents are way bigger then normal Alicorns. We finally enter the Fountain of Balance and Order then a powerful, reverberating voice of a female being echoes through the room.
“Who enters the Holy Chamber?” she asked as a bright sphere float above the fountain and brighten the room with its beauty yet powerful light.
“I, Celestia, and the Mane Six.” Celestia answered.
“I see…..You have return. What is it, that you seek?” she asked.
“I requested to have an audition with the rest of the Divine.” Celestia replied.
“And for what cause? Of the war? Or your friend, Discord?” asked the voice and Celestia lower her head.
“Please mother….. You know the reason.” she answered softly. The sphere produced a powerful light and nearly blind us.
As we recovered, all 12—or rather 11 Divines appears before us and we saw Cosmo and Nova, the former is the voice spoken to us.
“It is good to see you again, my daughter. And Luna….I’m glad you’re back.” smiled Cosmo.
“I’m glad to see you too, mother. And father.” smiled Celestia.
“H-Hello….M-Mom….D-Daddy….” I can see Luna is getting choke up and her eyes are filled with tears, she even cower down as if she’s afraid they’re going to ground her for the things she cause as Nightmare Moon.
“Do not be frighten, Luna. We know you didn’t meant to hurt your sister or your subjects.” said Nova in a calm, fatherly tone.
“As Celestia forgiven you, so did we.” smiled Cosmo in a mother caring tone and Luna beamed with a smile and wiped her tears. “Oh, speaking of which, Celestia. Have you found the new Princess of the Sun?” she asked.
“I am not certain for sure, but we will solve that later. I need your help to bring Discord back to life.” she declared our reason of our presence. Suddenly all the Divines minus Nova and Cosmo began an outburst of argument between each others.
“That fool!??! I see no reason to do so!!” scoffed Kyubi as she fold her arms and looked away with a snarl.
“He is a part of the Balance, I’m sure they have a very good reason to ask such a thing.” defended Arisca.
“YES!!!” shouted Luna, a habit she still didn’t drop it.
“Luan, let me do the talking.” whispered Celestia and she understood. “I know that it seems odd to ask such thing from you. In the beginning, he was very cruel, a troublemaker and wants to disrupt the balance for fun, and he is just as bad as a person could be but through the Mane 6, he learned about friendship, honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness and joy, thus he changed his way of thinking and behavior but yet maintain his duty.” she explained.
“It seems you had developed a bond for him.” said Nova, now speaking in a gentle, authority tone.
“Yes.” she answered.
“Does she speak for all?” Nova asked us and we all said:
“Yes!”
“It’s seems very interesting this case.” said Cosmo. Time passed around us as the Divine debates on whether or not should they bring Discord back because the Divine can take the responsibility of other Divine until they find a replacement. I just hope they bring Discord back. I began to gaze around and see anything interesting to kill the boredom as my friends already chat each other about the restoration they need to plan if we win as Khronos really destroyed so many city and temples. I then spotted a wall the shows all 12 Divines but again, I should say 11 because one of them is missing, especially on the image. Judging the missing image, it was purposely ruined by some cutting stone tool of sort, judging its scratch-like pattern. There is a writing on top but sadly, I can’t read it. Sunset noticed the image as well and we ponder on who was the 12th Divine.
“I-I don’t want to be rude but...” Fluttershy interrupted the Divines and they all glanced at her. “…are you going to bring Discord back or not? Please….just tell me…” quivered Fluttershy as she has the urge to cry again.
“I approved that we shall bring Discord back to the living.” said Nova.
“Seconded!” smiled Cosmo.
“I accept the approval as well.” said Güasabara.
“Discord must live once more!!” said the rest of the Divine.
“Some of us….are still concern about this….but we stand by truth and redemption.” add Kyubi, who finally agrees despite her early statement.
“Then it’s settled. Discord shall live once more. He will return on the next Full Moon.” announced Cosmo
“Thank you.” bowed Celestia.
“Uh, Mister Nova? Lord? Overseer—Uh, can ah make another request?” Apple Jack asked nervously.
“Yes?” asked Nova.
“Could you put an end to this war?” she asked a very important request but….
“I cannot do that.” that is Nova’s answer.
“WHY?!?!” exclaimed Apple Jack, dumbfounded.
“Yeah, why!? ‘Cause you don’t want to???” asked Pinkie with a frown.
“Because it falls into your hooves to end this war, for you wield the Power of Harmony. So, in the way, it can still be solve without us intervening.” explained Güasabara.
“Guess that makes sense.” smiled Sunset as it was a bit obvious. Though Apple Jack was hoping the war can be end without more blood shed or so we cannot fight Khronos directly since he’s too powerful and unpredictable. I, however, has a very important question to ask.
“I have another question: Who is the missing Divine? The #12?” I asked, pointing at the destroyed image of the 12th Divine with unreadable sentence.
“That is a good question.” wondered Rarity as she quickly re-count the Divine and saw there’s only 11.
“His name was Voskin, the Divine of Knowledge and Science.” answered Arisca.
“Voskin?!” gasped Cadence.
#Flashback#
"You could say I survived a force transformation to Alicorn. You see, my master was Voskin Prince of Science and Power and he was planning to absorb my people's lifeforce to gain enough power--"
"You killed him? Hmph, what to expect from the likes of you."
#End flashback#
“IS HIS APPRENTICE KING KHRONOS??!??!” Cadence burst out, nearly startling us and confused us of her question and attitude. She waited impatiently then asked again but softly. “Is he?” The Divine exchanges glances and Cosmo gave a troubled nod.
“Yes.” she said.
“WHAT?!?!?!?” we, excluding Cadence, exclaimed in shock. No wonder Khronos is too powerful and smart, Voskin must’ve past his torch to Khronos!!! He has the power of the Divine!!!
“Did all of you knew that he was planning this all along!??!?!” argued Luna.
“Yes, for a very long time, but just as Güasabara stated, the Mane 6 can defeat Khronos.” Arisca reassured us with hope.
“But why?! So many ponies, Griffins, Kaninu, Neko, almost all the kingdoms are conquered and killed because of him!!!” demanded Rarity.
“Not to mention he destroyed my kingdom, my husband and brought back Sombra at maximum powers!! He conquered almost all Equestria!!” argued Cadence then Sunset dart in front of them and held up her hooves.
“Hey, calm down! Respect the Divine!” she said, not wanting to anger the Divines and reject the request.
“We don’t control the decisions every person make and chosen. We control the blessing and punishment of the choice they make. For I am War, my duty is to maintain order!” said Güasabara as he stood up strong and firm.
“I-I see….Forgive our outburst…” apologized Rarity as she bow her head.
“……I’m just….. I lost my whole subjects, my husband and the Crystal Heart….It’s too much to get over it…” My sister-in-law apologized as well.
“We all understand how you feel but there are things that no mortal will understand. We will send the Power of Harmony to you when the time is right.” said Cosmo.
“Ahem…. We will take our leave but…before we do, I want to introduce Sunset Shimmer.” announced Celestia and Sunset steps forward, confused but bowed the Divines before her. “My replacement.” she added—Wait, what?!?!
“Wait, WHAT!?!??!” exclaimed Sunset in shock as she took a step to the side.
“My search is done.” smiled Celestia and we all cheered for her.
“B-But….I-I don’t deserve this, Princess Celestia!!” cried Sunset, her eyes are bursting with tears. “I-I disrespected your wishes, I was consumed with hunger of powers, I stole the Equestria Crown and cause chaos in the alternate dimension!! I was exile there!!! Remember?!?” she cried.
“Yes but you were able to repent your actions, you formed the Mane 6 known as Rainbow Rocks and help many people in needs. You even save our worlds from merging to non-existence. You have deem yourself worthy to become the Princess of the Sun.” smiled Celestia as she gave Sunset a tearful hug. If you think I be jealous, I’m not. I’m very happy for Sunset because it’s her dream, a dream she almost destroy it herself.
“We are glad to see the new Princess of the Sun. You have chosen wisely, my daughter.” smiled Cosmo.
“But it’ll have to wait, for there is a war coming in two days.” said Celestia as she break a hug and we all march out of the room with Sunset while Celestia and Luna are having private conversation with their parents and the Divines.
“I’m so happy for you, Sunset. My best friend from Equestria High is going to be the new Princess of the Sun!” I glee.
“Totally awesome!! How does it feel, Sunset?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“It was too….too suddenly. At the same time, I feel scared but also….I feel AWESOME!! My dream is coming true!!!” cried Sunset as she let her tears flows and we hugged her.
“Shy! Are you happy!? Discord is coming back in the next Full Moon!!” squealed Pinkie Pie.
“Yes!” squeaked Fluttershy with tears of joy.
“B-But if I’m going to become Princess of the Sun….that means I have to say good-bye to Rainbow Rocks gang… They’re gonna miss me…” sniffed Sunset. I know how she feels. The Mane Six’s Human doubles are just like us but with extended persona and Sunset spends so much time with them and they were the best band ever.
“Don’t worry, you’ll visit them.” I patted her back. Yeah, I cannot risk paying them a visit because I accidently met my double and it cause chaos….Speaking of which, how can we repair the Crystal Mirror? Well first thing first, we need to defeat Khronos and prevent the world from suffering total world wide tyranny. If the Divine of War states we can beat him, then we know Khronos is not invincible as himself! Once we—Wait, I heard the doors opening from the entrance. Who is coming here? There aren’t any more Alicorns so we all head to the entrance and face the visitors. They….They are Khronos Soldiers!!!!!
“How dare you enter the Divine Temple!!!” I yelled as we all take battle stance.
“Yeah, can’t you guys leave us alon----Hey, wait a second! I know you two!! You’re the prisoners from Griffinstein!!! How did you two survive?!?!?” asked Rainbow Dash in shock.
“Yeah, the Griffin Sargent just order the soldiers to kill all prisoners. What, did you roll over and evade the shots?” asked Pinkie.
“Come on, spill it out you two!!” demanded Apple Jack. However, I noticed that, damaged armor aside, they look extremely pale and can hardly stand on four hooves.
“P-Please…..Sanctuary….” panted the Khronos Soldier as he’s at the brink of fainting.
“Please……Help us….” plead a female soldier, sniper class by the look of her armor.
“Why should we?” scoffed AJ.
“The Divines….g-guide us….here….” That was his answer before both of them fainted.
“We gotta help them!!” gasped Fluttershy.
“R-Right!” I said. I said it hesitantly because I don’t trust them but we aren’t heartless like Khronos. Am I mad? Yes… Still we must help them because…I’m the Princess of Friendship and my friends are the Elements of Honesty, Joy, Loyalty, Generosity and Kindness while Cadence is the Princess of Love. We carried them to the said room that has all the healing herbs. Good thing Zecora taught us how to make healing potions during the time prior to my Alicorn ascension. I told the girls what to do while AJ and I carried them to some sort of beds. Sunset used her fire magic to heat up some water while Rarity and Pinkie gather some herbs so Fluttershy can prepare them.
“Uhhh….are you….the one called…..Twilight Sparkle?” asked the soldier.
“Maybe…” I answer distrustfully.
“I’m s-so….sorry for destroying…your…home…” he answered. He must’ve meant Ponyville and Canterlot. I almost forgotten about my home…
“I will be considering it. For now, stay alive.” I said as I grabbed a bowl of warm water, grab a small towel, soak it in and place it on his head so it’ll calm his illness. AJ does the same with the sniper. 5 minutes later….
“Here, Twilight.” said Fluttershy as she brought the remedy.
“Thank you.” I took it and make the soldier drink it slowly.
“*gulp, gulp, gasp* T-Thank you, princess…” he said.
“Y-You’re welcome.” I stuttered. Never a Khronos soldier address me so respectfully. Apple Jack gave the sniper her remedy as well.
“*gulp, gasp…* Thank you.” she said then hold the bowl back before AJ give her more. “You have every reason to hate us….and we don’t blame you…..and yet….you helped us…. Guess the story of the Equestria were true…” she said with tone of guilt.
“What are your name?” asked Apple Jack.
“Kat. He’s Oliver.” she answered before she drink more of the remedy. We heard footsteps coming from behind us then we turn around to see…Cosmo!! We all stopped from what we were doing and bowed down.
“You may rise. I see you two have finally arrive. Oliver. Kat. I am Cosmo, The Divine of Life.” she smiled at the Khronos Soldiers. Thanks to the remedy, they have the strength to at least stand up.
“I-I am so honor to be here…. In your presence that is.” he bowed with his right hoof on his chest.
“Are you the one who guide us here?” asked Kat as she bowed as well.
“Yes.” Cosmo said as she slightly tilt her head and smiled.
“Why us? Why guide us to your holy home, knowing that we destroyed so many life you cherish so much…” said Oliver with heavy guilt on his face. Oliver makes a good question: why Cosmo, Divine of Life and mother of Celestia and Luna, lead two surviving Khronos Soldiers to the Divine Temple?
“You seek to end this war and restore balance, no?” she asked. Wait….what does she meant by that?
“Huh? What do you mean ‘restore balance’?” asked Oliver, whose legs began to shake and kneel down to save his strength. “Are you saying--?”
“Your King is no longer fit to become a Divine. Thus, he is still an outcast.” answered Cosmo.
“No longer fit!??!” gasped Oliver and Kat was shocked as well.
“I think this war is proof enough.” smiled Cosmo. She has a point there. Khronos, waging war on the entire Equestria in search of a make-believe threat for the good of his people and abusing the powers of Divine goes against everything the Divine stands for.
"I think you should know a bit more about Khronos." Cadence began and Oliver and Kat listened. "Khronos told me that Voskin was planning to absorb his entire people to gain enough power to get his revenge on the Divines but Khronos killed him and absorbed his powers..." Cosmo then continues Cadence's revelation.
"To pass the torch, the Divine must perform a ritual to transfer the power of Divine into the successor. However, Khronos absorbs the Power of Divine from Voskin in his dying breath. The process, known as Forced Ascension, cause Khronos to become a twisted, derange version of an Alicorn. That's why he remains in his armors at all time." explained Cosmo.
"So that's why he never show his face to his people..." muttered Kat.
"I see... Then what is that you want from me? Y-You're not asking me to kill my King?!?!" asked Oliver, who seems to dislike the idea. We all looked at Cosmo and await for her answer.
"No." she answered then Celestia, Luna and the Divines came in to join the group. "You shall be his replacement, as the new Divine of Science and Knowledge!" she declared.
"WHAT!??!" we all exclaimed as well as Kat.
"ME?!?! From all the people of Equestria, why choose me???" Oliver asked dumbfounded.
"You had all succeeded in every aspect to become an Alicorn of Science." answered Nova.
"And Knowledge must be use for helping others, not to destroy others..... It's a shame for what Khronos have become..." said Cosmo in a sad way. For some reason, I felt pity for Khronos; abusing knowledge and science into use of war all because he grew paranoid of some threat we know nothing of. Still, I cannot believed what I've witnessed: Two new Divines in one day? This is something so incredible and this is why they were confidents? Who knows....
"I...accept this responsibility." said Oliver as he kneel down.
"We are glad to hear that. But the Mane Six must defeat Khronos then we will perform the ritual for you and Sunset."
stated Cosmo before the 11 Divine left the room minus Celestia and Luna. Kat trotted over to Oliver and gave him a playful jab.
"Wow.... 'The Divine of Science and Knowledge'... I'm so proud of you, Oliver!!" smiled Kat as she hugged Oliver.
"Yeah... What really caught me off guard that Khronos is actually an outcast of this holy temple..." Oliver admitted.
"It's true. That's why he caught all of us off-guard because all the historical scrolls that mentions Voskin and Khronos were removed by the Divines and we didn't know there's a city in the Unknown Land." said Celestia.
"I guess this means you're the good guy now.... And....apology accepted." I smiled.
"Yeah..... But now I'm worry about how hard it is to break the news to King Khronos." said Oliver.
"He'll probably explode into a fit of rage like he did last time when we ruined his victory by escaping in his air fortress." said Luna.
"Wow, this is AMAZING!!! Right, girls?!? We should toooootally make a par-ty after we beat Khronos!! WHEEEEE!!" squealed Pinkie with a big wide smile as she hopped around with joy then brought out her iconic Pinkie Cannon and fired confetti in the air.
"Let's not get too confident now, dear. We must be prepare for this fight." said Rarity.
"Ah reckon that you have some sort of strategy, right sugar cake?" Apple Jack asked me and I gave a smile of confident.
"I have some ideas." I said and they all cheered with hype, even Oliver and Kat agrees to help and provide us info about the Khronos Army's tactics and stations. Before we can discuss it, we first head back down to inform King Geoffrey the good news. We head out with high hopes and our new allies, and descends down from the Thousand Steps until we almost reach to the castle when...
"Look! Lookie lookie! Look over there!!" cheered Pinkie.
"What is it, Pinkie?" I looked at where she's hoof-pointing and I saw what I didn't expect to see: Neko, Griffins, Kaninu, Ponies (earthbound, pegasus and unicorns), Dragons, Zebras and the Alicorn survivors from the conquered empires awaits our arrivals. My heart is overwhelming with hope, courage and determination. I frowned and display my fearless grin.
"Till all are one."
To be continue...