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To my readers...213 words

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

A Firm Explanation

In the Everfree Forest, the element bearers, now accompanied by Zasalamel, treaded through a path they themselves carved in hopes of quelling the issue regarding the shards collected by the cloaked man. After they continued their journey from their campsite ever since this morning, Zasalamel explained the occurence of both the shards he collects and the very means of his existence.

Twilight was beyond interested in all of this information, more about Zasalamel himself despite the utter significance of the items he holds "So, you mean to tell me that you're an immortal? This is all so new to me! So the humans HAVE studied magic in the past back then after all! I've never thought I would be able to acquire such knowledge like this pertaining to history lost in time!"

Rarity walked alongside Zasalamel with curious eyes "Aside from yourself, you mean to tell us that the very luminous shards you're holding in your cloak happened to be a part of the sword known as Soul Edge? Why would you bother to collect them knowing they're tainted with an evil power?"

Zasalamel kept his hardened gaze forward as he explained himself while walking "You've answered your own question...even if they're separated from the sword itself, the shards of Soul Edge manifest copious amounts of power. If someone, or in your case somepony, stumbles upon one of them on random chance and comes into contact with it, the shard will react and infect the host and slowly sap away at their very essence in exchange for power. In other words, your very life would be forfeit if you've held onto it for so long..."

This made the element bearers fall ill when he mentioned the last sentence. Fluttershy, who trotted at the back of the group, stood completely still with widened eyes. She almost fell over in a stiffened position if not for Applejack trotting over and standing her up with comforting hooves "But..." They all paid rapt attention to the cloaked man when he wasn't finished "One who knows the full capabilities of Soul Edge also knows that the sword collects the souls of those it slays, restoring power to the host. There was tale of an azure knight who once wielded the dreaded blade and laid waste to each of his enemies, but he was then quelled by the only blade that could rival, if not topple Soul Edge's power..."

Twilight interrupted with a awed whisper "Soul Calibur..." Everypony and Zasalamel stopped in their tracks and focused their attention to the lavender bookworm when she uttered her words.

The cloaked man gave a curt nod to Twilight's answer "You've indeed read the book I've disposed of the other day..."

Twilight chuckled and blushed with a small grin "Well, I've read it about two times straight. It was a very interesting book to have stumbled upon my library like this! To think it would house so much impressive facts on what occured before Equestria, I was happy to have come across it!"

Zasalamel quietly groaned at this and continued his pace. While she commended his race on their acheivements, she was only half-right about how impressive the human race itself was in a whole with what they have accomplished. He remembered those days with a heavy heart, though he managed the strength to see it through as simpler times to the common being thanks to the countless years he spent wandering the earth "Regardless, it was a mistake that needed to be corrected...I should count myself lucky that none of your village's citizens decided to look into it."

Twilight replied sheepishly "To be truthful, one of our residents actually noticed you a few years back while searching for his loved one and derived it from the book." Her expression was then curious "Why did you choose to hide in secrecy wherever you roamed about? I haven't seen a noted record of your appearance aside from what the book had to offer in detail."

Rainbow chimed in "Yeah. We already know that you're immortal and stuff, but why were you in hiding this whole time? Wouldn't it have been better for you to just adapt to our culture?"

Zasalamel turned to Rainbow Dash "I want you to take the time and listen to yourself talk..." The cyan pegasus shot a quizzical look at his words "How can one such as myself simply adapt to your culture, let alone blend in easily?" He looked ahead as he continued "I am what remains of a race that destroyed itself, and that which you ponies have adapted from in terms of social life and technological advances...But aside from that, if somepony catches wind of my eternal life, they'll consider me a deity of sorts. Not to mention, your ruler, your Princess Celestia, can easily view me as a threat..."

Twilight was perplexed upon Zasalamel bringing up the princess in a negative fashion "What makes you say that? Are you powerful? Or were you responsible for something big in the past?"

Zasalamel shook his head "Not responsible, but I've witnessed many a feat that could easily fill that of your library alone..." He looked up as he walked "The humans you look so highly of cannot be considered a race to learn from entirely. As I mentioned before, they have destroyed themselves in the past with what they have acquired in terms of knowledge and scarcity. In my time, before our race flourished, there were massive wars with hopes of conquest at the cost of the many lives caught in the line of fire. Some fought for peace, others for personal gain. A certain few merely enjoyed the carnage as if it were a sort of game..."

Pinkie shook her head with a sad frown "Some men just wanna watch the world burn..."

Zasalamel nodded "And some almost managed to get their wish when Soul Edge was well-known to the world. But while it was popular to the masses, so was Soul Calibur as well...I was one of many who were given the duty to guard it."

Twilight wished she could keep track of all that Zasalamel had said in her notebook, but she was lost in what he shared with her and her friends "Have you used Soul Calibur before? To counter Soul Edge?"

Zasalamel shook his head and kept silent. She shouldn't know about his life, but only what he had witnessed "That was for other experienced warriors to handle. I've wandered about in my time cursing the eternal life that was given to me, only to realize the possibility of observing how my race would prosper in the later years. In time, the two swords had vanished in the depths of time, and with their passings I figured that the human race would better themselves with their advances..." His expression darkened with a disapproved frown "...But I was wrong...even as they have advanced, the humans soon caught wind of the swords' existences and sought them with every resource they found both useful and disposable for their cause. They were driven by greed and pride to get what they wanted, and it wasn't long until they've fallen back on old traditions and broke into another slew of wars."

Fluttershy teared up from hearing about the human nature "Th-That's awful! Why would they do such horrible things for the sake of weaponry?"

Applejack had her jaw dropped from Zasalamel's explanation "Land sakes...an' t' think our history on how Equestria was made seemed jus' as bad!"

Rarity grimaced at the image of what had transpired in the past "Barbarians! And YOU'RE one of them!?"

Zasalamel was unphased at the element bearer's reactions, in fact he anticipated it. Their expressions were nothing new to those that held morals to high regard despite knowing how harsh the world itself can be. But then he grunted upon Rarity's remark "You would label me as those that wish unending despair? Perhaps my explanation on the human race as a whole was not fully detailed, but there are those that wished otherwise of what occured back then...But their pleas fell on deaf ears, and they themselves were lost in the heat of battle."

Rainbow Dash hovered next to Zasalamel "But there had to have been like some kind of warriors that would fight for what was right! Right?"

Zasalamel closed his eyes for a brief moment "Yes...but their resolve was no match for the greed of a worldwide populace..." He opened his eyes "And with how the chaos had escalated, it wasn't long until they've brought a cataclysm to this world, rendering it almost uninhabitable with those lucky enough to survive the massive bloodshed..."

Twilight was devastated with the dark story, but then she wondered "What happened from there? What became of those that survived?"

The cloaked man noticed a flicker of light while the group progressed and spoke "That can wait. We're nearing one of the forest's exits."

Twilight pouted when she realized that Zasalamel wanted to hold off on his information, but then noticed their distance from the exit and smiled "Well, at least we won't deal with the forest's wild monsters from here..."

Rarity gave a sigh of relief "Finally! It's not right for anypony to linger about here for so long! Though, I must say I've never thought we would venture THIS far into the Everfree Forest to spot another possible exit! We must be getting better at exploration by the passing days!"

Applejack chuckled "Ah agree with ya there. This is pretty new with how far we've gotten! Anypony here wonder where it might lead to?"

Fluttershy looked around "Hopefully we'll be near a town...I wouldn't want our trip to be too dangerous."

Pinkie nodded "Yeah! And besides, that's how most RPGs work! First a really hard dungeon, and then a safe, cozy town afterwards!" Everypony stopped and looked at the party pony, and she only grinned obliviously at them all.

Twilight looked at Zasalamel "But what should we do about you, Zasalamel? Nopony other than those in Ponyville know about you. Do you think it would be safe to wander into the next town out in the open?"

Zasalamel nodded to Twilight "I can work my way around it. I've learned many skills in my time, including the arts of stealth and espionage...It's all a matter of finding the next shard and hoping it doesn't get into the wrong hands..."

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in his face while she hovered "Yeah, the term you're looking for is hooves, buddy! And I wouldn't worry about walking around in the open for a worthy cause! So what if a few ponies stare at you? Big whoop! You're gonna be saving their flanks and they'll know who to thank once all this stuff with Soul Edge blows over! Besides, how badly would anypony else react to seeing a new face like yours?
_____

Many ponies in Ponyville whimpered and shuddered at the sight of Astaroth walking with the CMC while carrying a huge haul of body parts form what he had acquired from the timberwolves, skulls included, and quickly shied away from him if they got too close. The dark golem grinned to himself not only for their fear, but for what he has obtained from the forest. He knew exactly what to do with them once he reaches Scootaloo's home.

Sweetie Belle turned to Scootaloo with worry "Scootaloo, everypony's staring. What do we do?"

Scootaloo looked around and figured it was best to steel herself and make sure nopony was staring "Alright, everypony! Nothing to see here! Astaroth's just had a rough day is all!" Her words went unheard as the residents in range continued to stare fearfully at Astaroth. The orange filly's bravado gradually fell 'Horseapples! I can't let them stare at us while we're heading home! Unless...' She looked up at Astaroth "Hey, Astaroth! Why don't we head on over to the park so you can do whatever it is you're wanting to do there? It'll save you the trouble of walking too far with all that stuff in your arms!"

Astaroth glared down at Scootaloo with a raised eyebrow, but considered her idea when he began to feel fatigue in his body from exerting so much energy on the timberwolves. It was as if his strength had atropied during his time being buried underground despite his immense figure. He grunted "Lead the way and make it quick..."

Scootaloo nodded with a smile and the group trip to the park. Applebloom looked around and noticed that the folks around them went back to their daily routine, yet were apprehensive of Astaroth despite the widening distance. It would take them a while to get used to the dark golem's destructive personality. The yellow filly gave a sigh 'This is probably gonna be hard for everypony t' accept Astaroth bein' here, an' Ah don't blame 'em...' She turned to see Scootaloo looking happy, and somehow managed a small smile 'But at least Scoots is happy...that counts fer somethin', right?' She thought to herself as she walked with the group. It was indeed going to be hard for her and everypony else to cope with what has now befallen onto their humble town.

Applebloom could only hope for the best...

End of Chapter 22

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