Long before the Elements of Harmony were created, Equestria was ruled by Gods. Events would lead to their demise and the start of a new era. Now past mistakes will bring the darkest day in Equestria. Can Twilight and her friends with the help of a demigod stop it before it's too late?
This is the first thing I've ever written. So give it all a read and give me some good criticism!
Long ago in the land of Equestira, before even the time of Celestia’s rule, there lived a pony named Armon. Armon was just a farming pony, simply trying to live in the land. There was nothing special about him and he had no aspirations in life other than to run the farm. And one day maybe find a mare.
One day however, he found a pony on the side of the road. He wasn’t hurt, but he needed help. Armon discovered however that the pony he found was a God.
Before Celestia came into power, the land was ruled by six Gods. Elan, Mortem, Cosmos, Bore, and Savas. Each ruled a particular aspect of power with Elan, the Goddess of Life, being the overall ruler. But Mortem, the God of death, was angry at the other Gods. He felt that the other Gods were given luxury jobs and that he was cursed to be always working while the others did almost nothing.
Mortem wished to become the new ruler of the Gods with his best friend Savas, the God of war, at his side to rule the mortal world. But Savas, loyal to the other Gods, choose to refuse and to tell Elan of Mortem’s plan. Mortem however stopped Savas and casted him into the mortal world, trapping him there.
Savas, realizing that in the mortal he would be unable to stop Mortem, tried to recruit the help of Armon. But Armon refused, stating that he was nothing but a farm pony and he would be of no help.
However Luz, Armon’s life long friend, overheard their conversation and volunteered to go in Armon’s place. Seeing that she was adamant in going, Armon accepted the task in helping Savas. Luz however, against Armon’s wishes, tagged along to help.
Their journey was a long and difficult one. Armon had to accept and beat every test the Gods designed to create a new God from the mortal world. However, at the final test, Mortem interfered and killed Luz. Armon saddened by this wished to trade his life to give Luz her’s back. Elise, seeing that Armon was so quick to give up his life for a friend, gave Armon her power.
With Elise’s power, Armon became a demigod. Seeking to stop Mortem, and to have his revenge for killing Luz, Armon sought out Mortem to end him.
Their fight lasted for three days with no clear winner. On the third day however, Armon realized that Mortem couldn’t be defeated. With the power of the dead behind him, Mortem could never be defeated in battle. With no other choice, Armon had to seal Mortem away.
Using his demigod powers, Armon created a door between Mortem’s world of Tartarus and the mortal world. To make sure that Mortem could never leave, he sealed the door trapping him within with Mortem.
Before he sealed the door, Armon split his powers into the five elements from the Gods he got powers from to ensure peace in the world. Saying goodbye to the world, Armon sealed the door to Tartarus.
“And that Twilight, is where the Elements come from.” said Celestia.
Celestia and Twilight was sitting in the tearoom of the Canterlot Castle. While normally Celestia was extremely busy with her duties, she always set aside at least one day to talk to her student. Sometimes Luna would join them but she was usually asleep.
On that particular day, Twilight was researching on the Elements only to find that there was no written record on where they came from. Curious, she asked Celestia to see if she knew.
“Wow, that was one of the most incredible stories I’ve ever heard!” said Twilight. “But princess, there’s something I don’t understand.”
“Oh, what’s that Twilight?” asked Celestia.
“If Armon only made five of the Elements of Harmony, where did my element one come from?” asked Twilight.
Celestia only sat in silence to her question. For the first time in a long time, she had no answer to Twilight’s questions. Where did the sixth element come from?
“You know Twilight, I actually don’t know.” said a voice.
Celestia never even considered where that sixth element came from. Sure Twilight’s spark of friendship created it’s physical form, but where did that power come from? The only pony that can make the elements was Armon. But he’s been long dead. He gave up his immortality to make the elements. But it was the only real explanation on how the new element was created.
Twilight was starting to get a little worried. For the last ten minutes since she asked her question, Celestia has just been sitting there staring off into space. It wasn’t until Celestia’s concentration on the tea cup she was holding onto with her magic slipped and the cup dropped and broke did she finally respond.
“He’s alive.” Celestia said. “Who’s alive Princess?” said Twilight. “Armon, he somehow kept his immortality.” Celestia finally looked Twilight in the eyes with worry, “Twilight, I need you to summon the other elements immediately.”
Twilight normally would ask why she would need to gather her friends, but the tone of her teachers voice told her that it was better to quickly do her task. Acting as quickly as possible, Twilight made her way back to Ponyville to get her friends. After a few hours, they returned to the castle running into the throne room.
“We’re here princess. But what’s the emergency?” Twilight asked. Celestia sat in her throne for a few minutes silently. Wondering if what she was about to do was the right thing. If Armon is alive, does he want to come back? Will Mortem somehow also somehow come back? Will he even want cooperate? All these questions plagued her mind while she sat in silence. Twilight and her friends patiently sat there for as long as possible, Rainbow Dash however soon ran out of her small amount of patience and asked the princess, “Princess? Hello!”
Celestia snapped out of her daydream, finally noticing Twilight and her friends in the throne room. “My Little Ponies, as you know you all bear the Elements of Harmony. However, before you there was me, my sister and the creator that wielded them in the past. That creator is currently trapped in Tartarus. However, I believe with the elements we can bring him back to our world. Please, I need your help.” said Celestia.
Twilight was somewhat shocked at the request. Not the request itself but the way her mentor said it. It was almost like begging or pleading. Before she could think anymore however Applejack beat her to talking to the princess first.
“Princess, just what the hay is goin’ on here? Who’s this Armon fella?” said Applejack.
“Armon was a dear friend of mine before I became a princess. He sacrificed himself to save all of equestria and gave me the title of princess.” said Celestia.
“By the sound of it, he must be a take no crap badass.” said Rainbow Dash.
“Actually no, he was quite gentle in nature and sweet. And he was so-” Celestia stopped herself blushing while doing so.
“Princess, by the sound of it, we’re just bringing back your coltfriend.” said Rarity.
“Well no, we were close but. Well it doesn’t matter, the point is it’s imperative that we bring him here.” said Celestia.
“But why? Other than to bring back a friend, there seems to be no point in bringing him back. Otherwise, we would've done it ages ago.” said Twilight.
Celestia stared at Twilight and her friends for a short time before taking a sigh and speaking. “I believe that Equestria may be under it’s greatest threat yet.” said Celestia.
“From who? This Armon fella?” said Applejack.
“No, as I have explained to Twilight, the elements came from the old Gods of Equestria. However, when the elements were created only five of the six gods had their powers turned into elements. The last belonged to Mortem, the God of death, and he was sealed in Tartarus with Armon. Twilight has made me realize that now that there is six elements, something happened to Mortem. We must bring Armon here to find out what happened.” said Celestia.
Twilight and her friends looked at each other before turning back to Celestia. “What do we do?” asked Fluttershy.
Celestia stood from her throne and began to walk towards them. “I need you to help me open a gate to Tartarus. We’ll then bring Armon from that world into ours.” said Celestia.
Twilight and her friends positioned themselves as per Celestia’s instructions with her standing in between Twilight and Applejack. After gathering magic into the elements and into Celestia’s horn, each fired a beam into the center of the circle they formed. Celestia’s beam of magic turned from it’s yellow color to a red color.
The portal then opened darkening the room around them. Until a figure was pulled through. Celestia quickly closed the portal to prevent anything else from slipping through. Before the portal was fully closed however, the figure suddenly rushed towards Fluttershy.
The figure was a pony in rags, a makeshift knife made out of stone in his hoof up against Fluttershy’s throat. Her face was in a state of panic, unable to even make a sound.
The pony had an angry look on his face, believing the creature in front of him a threat. Before he could do the finishing blow however, he heard a voice.
“Armon, please don’t.”
The pony’s eyes went wide and slowly turned, releasing Fluttershy from his grip leaving her paralyzed in fear on the ground. In front of him he saw someone he never thought her would ever see again. Someone that he both appreciated and despised.
“Luz?” said Armon.
Before Armon could say anything else, he was stuck in the side of the head by Applejack. Knocking him to the floor. Before slipping from consciousness he took one last look at his old friend. “Funny, I remember her mane being pink” Armon thought to himself before slipping into unconsciousness.
Armon awoke with a start, his head pounding in pain. Usually he had his usual dreams about home, Luz or about his adventure with her. Where those creatures came from is a mystery.
“Wait, this isn’t my home.” thought Armon. Armon took a look around, his normal home was just made out of rock and hellfire. This was a nicely furnished room. Was a demon trying to trick him?
Armon stepped out of bed to check the floor. Not yet believing that this wasn’t some illusion, he was careful to touch the floor. When nothing happened he carefully got out of bed and walked around. The curtains were drawn darkening the room. Armon walked over to them to remove them and end this charade. He took a grip on the curtains and pulled them off the wall, enveloping the room in bright light.
For a moment he was expecting to see the usual magma and hellfire and brimstone that he’s been seeing for a thousand years. After being blinded by the light for a minute he looked out the window. Instead he saw a garden with little creatures playing around. In the center of the garden was a statue of a strange looking creature. It looked like it was a bunch of other creatures combined into some weird super one.
“Where am I? Either Kalmite is trying to kill me again, or........no it’s impossible.” said Armon.
At the end of his sentence a knock came to the door to the room he was in. Armon’s instincts kicked in and looked for something, anything to use as a weapon. Deciding the metal bar that was once the curtain holder as the best thing, he picked it up ready to use it as a spear.
When no answer came to the door a creature opened it and stepped inside. It was tall with a white color. At the top of it’s head was a set of flowing hair of different colors. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to be swayed by something that looked pretty. He made that mistake once before and that wasn’t going to happen again. Standing ready to strike, he was standing in his ready stance to go for one of its legs.
“Hello Armon.” said the Creature.
That voice. It was the same as the one from his dream. It belonged to an old friend of his, from before his time as a prisoner. No it was impossible, she was in her own world and he was stuck in hell. But she seemed so real. Kalmite has to be behind this, he’s the only one in Tartarus that has used illusion spells to try to kill him.
“While I understand why you’re so ready to fight, there’s no need Armon. Your safe.” said the creature. After finishing it’s sentence it started to walk towards Armon. Armon didn’t care what words it said, he wasn’t going to die. Or if he was, he wasn’t going to go down as a fool. When the white creature was close enough, Armon was ready to strike.
But he was unable to move. A purple aura surrounded him, making him still except for his head. “Well played, you got Nelsim to help you as well.” thought Armon. The white creature walked up to Armon and stared at him. Armon closed his eyes waiting for the end. After a few seconds nothing happened. He refused to open his eyes though, he wanted to see the mental image of his home before he died and he wasn’t going to give Kalmite and Nelsim the satisfaction.
Celestia stared at Armon for a few minutes. He was completely different from the last time she saw him. He acted to feral, but his refusal to look at her made him seem as he’s given up. Was he wanting to die?
Celestia kneeled down to Armon’s level and stared at his face. He seemed so at peace. He was ready to die. Celestia came closer and wrapped a leg around Armon, pulling him into a hug.
Armon’s eyes shot open. He wasn’t dead? And he was getting a hug? He almost forgot what it was like to be hugged, it hasn’t happened for nine-hundred years. Why was he being hugged though? Everything has been wanting to kill him since he got to Tartarus. Unless this was real.
The purple aura around Armon faded and he collapsed on the ground, still in Celestia’s hug. Tears started to well up in his eyes. He reached out and returned the hug. If this was a trick, just for this few seconds of happiness would be well worth the price of death. But death never came, so he just held as hard as he could and cried.
Celestia smiled knowing that she had her friend back. When he started to cry she knew that he accepted that this was real. She looked to Twilight standing in the corner in an invisibility field and nodded to her. Understanding what she meant, Twilight teleported out of the room. Leaving the two ponies in their reunion.
After a tearful reunion, Armon and Celestia walked around the halls of the castle. Nothing was said as they walked past the murals on the wall. After seeing one in particular, Armon stopped. On the mural was a picture of him surrounded by the elements of harmony. Celestia stared at the mural with him before finally breaking the silence. “Do you remember that day?”
Armon nodded. How could he forget? It was the last day he was here. And the first in Tartarus, something he’ll never forget. He would continue to look at the mural but his stalkers were annoying him to no end. Taking his eyes off the mural he looked down the hall the way he came just in time to see a curly purple tail disappear behind a pillar.
“You can come out now. You six aren’t fooling anyone.” said Armon. After a moment, six ponies walked out towards Armon. Living in Tartarus hadn’t made him stupid. Not to mention the fact the pink one made some sort of spring noise every time she did her bouncing.
After everyone came to Armon, Celestia cleared her throat grabbing everyone but Armon’s attention. “My little ponies, this is Armon. Creator of the Elements of Harmony and a personal friend.”
Twilight was the first to walk up to Armon. “Well a friend of the Princess will be a friend of mine, hello Armon.” said Twilight as she took out her hoof for a hoofshake. Armon just stared at her hoof for a while, not remembering why she was holding out her hoof. After a few awkward seconds though, Armon finally remember about hoofshakes and took her hoof.
After Twilight, the rest of her friends introduced themselves. The white one named Rarity in particular interested Armon, he could smell the scent of a dragon on her. Much heavier than on the purple one named Twilight. The last time he had a full conversation with someone was with a dragon that was waiting to be reborn hundreds of years ago.
Celestia noticed Armon’s hard time to be social with everyone there. Of course she understood. He had been trapped in Tartarus alone for a thousand years. The fact that he even still had his sanity, even if what appeared to be a fraction of it was no short of a miracle let alone his social skills. But she noticed something, Armon hadn’t stopped looking at Twilight since she introduced herself.
After their introductions, they made their way out into the garden. Taking a seat in a picnic area next to the statue of Discord. Food was brought to everyone in the form of salads, sandwiches and hay fries.
Armon just stared at the food in front of him though. The last time he had something like this to eat, the food was rotten. Literally. But seeing and smelling the almost forgotten food in front of him brought him back. The staff there stared at Armon, waiting to see if he approved of the food. After a few moments, he took a hay fry and took a bite.
The euphoria of forgotten taste overwhelmed him for a moment. He had forgotten what the food his species was supposed to eat tasted like. After finishing his fry, he fiercely started to eat in a rude fashion. The site while amusing to some of them like Celestia an Rainbow Dash, absolutely disgusted Rarity and Applejack. When finished with the meal, everyone asked Armon questions.
“So Armon, where were you born?” asked Twilight. “I was born near James City.” replied Armon. Twilight was surprised. He was born near a city long gone. He was a living relic and could tell her so much of life for them back then. She couldn’t wait to ask.
After an awkward minute of silence, Celestia spoke. “Armon, do you need a moment?” Armon looked relieved beyond belief and quickly got up from the picnic table and went over to the statue. “What’s with him?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow!” said Twilight. “No I mean it, what’s with him. He’s acting so weird. He can’t even hold a conversation.” said Rainbow Dash. “Well think about it Rainbow, he’s been stuck alone in Tartarus for a long time. Of course he’ll be socially awkward.” said Twilight. “You know I can hear you from here right?!?” yelled Armon making Twilight blush in embarrassment.
Armon had had enough. He was brought here for a reason and he was tired of being played around like this. Marching back to his seat he looked at Celestia and asked, “Why did you bring me here?”
Celestia thought over her answer carefully. If she worded it wrong, Armon might become hostile and demand to leave. If she was able to pull her plan off, not only would Equestria be safe but Armon might become happy again.
“Armon, do you remember the day you created the Elements of Harmony?” after Armon nodded Celestia continued, “Then I must ask, what happened to Mortem? We have a sixth element now and Mortem held that power. Did something happen?”
Armon stared at Celestia for a few moments. She brought him here to ask a question? Not to see an old friend? She left him in that hellhole for so long and she could of brought him back anytime? Anger took hold on Armon, remembering why he despised Celestia.
Getting up from his seat he walked over to Celestia and stared into her eyes. After a moment, he slapped her across the face and ran. The table was stunned for a moment before everybody but Fluttershy ran after Armon. Fluttershy was about to help Celestia with her bruse but Celestia refused her help.
Twilight was on a manhunt, or ponyhunt. The thought of Celestia angered her beyond measure and she was determined to make Armon pay for what he did. The girls had split up to find Armon to cover more ground. Twilight decided to try to search nearer to the garden and expand from there.
After hours of searching no one was able to find him. Even Rainbow Dash couldn’t find him from the sky. The next best idea they had was to wait for him to hopefully return. Celestia has asked the girls to forgive him but Twilight couldn’t accept it.
They decided to call it in for a night and hope he would turn up tomorrow. Twilight couldn’t sleep however. Why did he slap her? The question played in her mind over and over again. For the life of her she couldn’t come up with one single answer. Frustrated that she couldn’t solve the question, she slipped out of bed to take a walk.
As she walked the question just wouldn’t go away. Before she knew it, she had lost track of where she was going and wandered around aimlessly. Finally looking up, she saw him.
Armon was sitting next to the pond underneath Luna’s tower. Twilight was angry and happy at the same time. She found him and was ready to pound him senseless. She marched over to him ready to take a swing before he could run away again. When she reached him she stopped.
Armon had tears running down his face as he stared at the pond. Twilight’s intention to hit him instantly melted away. She could never hit someone that was hurt. She sat beside Armon waiting for him to talk to her. After what seemed like hours though, the silence made Twilight lose her mind and want to talk to him. Maybe find out why he did what he did.
“Are you alright?” asked Twilight. Armon was content to not answer but something told him that it wasn’t a good idea to be alone anymore. “I don’t know.” said Armon. He really didn’t know. One part of him was happy to be back in the mortal world but the other was still angry on the fact Luz took so long to bring him back when she had the power to do so.
“Is there anything I can do?” asked Twilight. Armon considered the question before he decided that there was something that needed to be answered. “What’s Luz like?” asked Armon.
Twilight was somewhat surprised by the question. She was expecting him to ask who she was or what has happened in the thousand years he’s been gone. But immediately he wanted to know about his friend? “Well, she’s amazing is the best answer I can give to that. She’s kind, gentle, sweet, she’s like a second mother to me.” said Twilight.
Armon sat and thought over the answer she gave him. He was expecting her to be described as a ruler type. Selfish but keeps up appearances. But instead, she’s just the same as ever. It brought a smile to Armons face to know that after a thousand years, her friends was still the same. Unlike him.
“Can I ask you a question?” asked Twilight. Armon nodded. “Why did you hit Celestia?” asked Twilight. Armon was confused as to who Celestia was before he remembered what time he’s in. In the old Equestrian tongue, Luz meant sun. Celestia must be the new translation for it. “It’s not important anymore.” said Armon.
Twilight was about to ask more but she knew that prying would just drive him away and accept the answer for now. “Your turn.” said Twilight. Armon instantly asked what happened since he’s been gone. Twilight filled him in with every detail she could muster. From Luna and Nightmare moon to Discord’s rise and fall to more recent events like the Royal Wedding.
Armon was surprised at how much happened while he was away. He had been expecting the land to be peaceful again after everything he did. He wasn’t upset about it though, after all Luz stopped them all and apparently the mare next to him.
“My turn now. If you don’t mind me asking, what was it like? You know, in Tartarus?” asked Twilight. She had only gone to the gate to Tartarus a few times, most recently to return Cerberus to it. She had never actually been in it.
Armon was about to leave but there was something about the mare next to her that riveted him on the ground. “Have you ever woke up one day and wanted to die?” asked Armon. Twilight was somewhat aghast at the question but she answered no. “It’s like living in a existance where you can only wish you could because you’re in pain but you can't.” said Armon.
Twilight was somewhat disturbed by his answer. Not at him but the fact he was so quick to know the answer. He must of had a horrible existence for him to wish to know what it was like to die. “If you wanted to die so badly, why didn’t you just? Well, you know.” asked Twilight.
“Kill myself?” finished Armon. Twilight was ashamed after he finished but he was right. “I thought about it hundreds of times. But I could never do that to Luz. If she did ever somehow get to me in Tartarus, I could never just leave her.” said Armon.
Twilight was somewhat happy with his answer. He was a caring soul. He voluntarily sacrificed his life and lived an existence of misery just so Celestia wouldn’t be sad. Any anger she had for Armon was instantly gone.
“My turn now.” said Armon. “Who are you exactly? Luz seems to talk to you a lot.” Twilight had forgotten to mention her mentor pupil relationship with Celestia. “Oh well I’m her personal student.”
So for hours, they asked each other questions. Spanning from their personal lives to events that happened while Armon was gone until Twilight noticed the sun starting to rise. She got up and stood in front of him holding out her hoof. “So, are you ready to come back?” asked Twilight?
Armon took her hoof and stood up. They then walked back inside ready to start Armon’s first day back in the mortal world.
The day started out as good as it could. After explaining what could be explained to Twilight’s friends, as well as Celestia’s forgiveness, Armon apologised and the group moved on from what happened yesterday. Right now there were more pressing matters to attend to. Like finally finding out where the sixth element came from.
The group sat in the royal library in the quietest section they could find. After gathering around a table normally used for reading and studying, the group was interested in hearing Armon’s answer as to where the newer element came from.
“As you know, the original elements were made from the powers given to me by the gods. All I did was transfer them into a physical form. When I trapped Mortem and myself in Tartarus, we originally went our separate ways-” said Armon.
“Wait, you mean Mortem just left you there? No fighting or anything?” interrupted Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow please, don’t interrupt.” said Twilight. Armon held a hoof up to Twilight, “It’s alright Twilight, we did have a few exchanges but eventually he realized it was a waste of time. Killing me wouldn’t break him out of Tartarus.” said Armon.
“After about thirty or so years though, Mortem just showed up again. At first I thought he had come to kill me, but he actually was seeking friendship.” said Armon.
“He wanted to be friends? You would think he would want nothing to do with you.” said Rarity.
“Your right Rarity, I was as surprised as you when he asked me. But after a while I understood why. With nothing but demons and other unintelligent creatures in Tartarus, I was the only one that could even give him companionship. Quite frankly, I could’ve used it too. So I agreed and we became friends.” said Armon
“But that still doesn’t explain where the element came from, by wat’ you said Mortem could only give you his power unless he gave it to you.” said Applejack.
“You’re almost right Applejack, I was given the God’s powers as a gift. And that is the only way to get them. After twenty years, age caught up with me. Mortem would of course stay alive since he was immortal, but I gave my morality up when I created the elements. So he offered to give me immortality.” said Armon.
“Give immortality? But that’s not even possible. Ponies have searched for centuries for that power and no one has ever come close, not even Starswirl.” said Twilight.
“I won’t argue that, I’ve been gone. But he did give me immortality. His plan actually was quite ingenious. He would put his soul into my body to share, that way I become immortal and he continues to exist, even if only in my mind.” said Armon
“You mean you have a voice in your head too? Neat, I thought I was the only one.” said Pinkie Pie. Armon was slightly disturbed by this pony, even more so by what she just said. But everypony else didn’t seem to think twice about it. Was something like that normal for this pink pony to say?
“No, it didn’t exactly work out. As it turns out, memories are tied to our bodies. When he came into mine, he lost the memory of our friendship. He thought I stole his soul and started to hate me. Remember what I said to you before Twilight, about what I thought about when I woke up?” said Armon.
Twilight nodded, she hadn’t told her friends yet about everything they said yet in their nightlong conversation. She didn’t feel like they should know just yet. What was important was to learn about where her element came from.
“Well, he was the one telling me that. I guess he was hoping he could take over my body if I did what he told. I never listened though. But it did take a toll on me.” said Armon.
“But, that still doesn’t explain about Twilight’s element.” said Fluttershy.
“Actually it does. When his soul came into my body, so did his powers. I chose though to hang onto them. I was hoping with my immortality back, Luz would be able to get to me somehow. But as she told me, the elements wouldn’t have been enough. So I was stuck there no matter what. One day, I just couldn’t take Mortem talking. Telling me to do things to myself in anger. I just took his power and sent it away, hoping he would just be quiet.” said Armon.
With the full story revealed, Twilight mulled over the information given. It all did make sense. But there was one thing that was still troubling her.
“Armon if I may ask, why did you attack Fluttershy when we brought you through the portal?” asked Twilight.
Armon sat in his chair silently. He dreaded Twilight asking about that. He was hoping to reveal his problem to Luz but there was no way Twilight wasn’t going to get an answer. “Remember when I said that I pulled Armon’s powers out? Well I still kept some to keep my immortality and some of his powers. Turns out that was enough for him say inside, just a little quieter. When I was pulled through, he told me to strike. He was afraid of dying as much as me and I’m not invincible, just immortal.” Armon looked across the round table towards Fluttershy. “I never did get the chance to say sorry about that. Can you please forgive me?” asked Armon.
Fluttershy blushed a little at Armon’s sincerity, “Oh, of course I forgive you.” said Fluttershy.
With all the questions answered, the group could finally move on. There was nothing to worry about. “Well now that that’s done, what will you do Armon?” asked Twilight.
Armon sat there thinking, he had never had the chance to think about what he’s going to be doing now that he’s back in the mortal world. “I suppose I could try to restart. Maybe make another farm. Right now though, I just need a place to stay.” said Armon.
“You are more than welcome to stay here Armon.” said Celestia
“I appreciate your offer Luz but, no offence but I’d prefer to be somewhere smaller. This castle is nice but, it’s a little too much for me.” said Armon.
Celestia smiled and turned to Twilight, “Twilight, would it be alright if Armon came back with you to Ponyville?” asked Celestia.
Twilight immediately smiled at the thought and said yes.
“Then it’s settled. Armon, you’ll move to Ponyville and stay with Twilight for the time being.” said Celestia.
Armon got up and walked over to Twilight. He gave a bow before saying, “I appreciate your hospitality Twilight. I won’t be a nuisance.”
The ponies walked out of the study area and began the preperations for Armon’s residence to Ponyville. Armon was given a small fund of bits from the royal treasury to give him a start and some clothes for when he needed them. He refused to have his ragged robes taken away, it meant a lot to him after all. The group then got onto the express train back to Ponyville after giving Celestia a goodbye, Armon giving her a long hug and saying a somewhat tearful goodbye to each other.
Deep inside the Canterlot Castle vault, the elements of harmony sat in their protective case. As Armon got further and further away from the case, the Element of magic suddenly started to glow before fading to a dark glow. Slowly starting to fill with black smoke starting with a small spot.
The train ride to Ponyville was somewhat of a hectic time for Armon. Shortly after getting on the train, Pinkie Pie took it upon herself to throw a “Welcome back to our World” party in the dining cart. It was the most fun that Armon had for as long as he could remember. But eventually all the sugar and other foods he wasn’t yet used to made him spend the night in the bathroom. He was used to eating rotten food of his species usual diet and meat from whatever he could find.
Finally the train arrived in Ponyville. All the ponies here fascinated Armon. There was a pony with strange eyes flying around, a strange pony with a blue colored mane and purple glasses and a particularly interesting pony sitting it a strange way on a bench at the station. Of course, he hadn’t seen so many ponies in such a long time he had forgotten how interesting they could be.
It was decided that Armon would live at Twilight’s place since she was the only one with extra space, her basement. After bidding her friends farewell, Armon and Twilight made their way to her treehouse library. After walking their way through town seeing more ponies along the way, they finally made their way to the front door. Stepping inside, they find Spike dusting the shelves.
“Spike, we have a visitor.” said Twilight. Spike stepped down off the ladder he was on to dust the high shelves to greet his lifelong friend. “Hey Twilight. Who’s this?” asked Spike as he gestered to Armon. “Spike, this is Armon. Armon, this is Spike. He’s my little brother.” said Twilight. Armon wondered how a dragon could possibly be related to a pony, but he decided to ask later. Armon held out his hoof for a hoofshake. Spike took his hoof and gave a strong handshake.
Armon noticed a smell coming off of Spike and started to sniff. He could smell Rarity’s sent all over him. “So this is the dragon I was smelling.” thought Armon. Spike was extremely weirded out by Armon’s sudden need to sniff him. “Uh, Armon. What are you doing?” asked Spike.
Armon realized what he was doing and quickly reeled back. “Oh, sorry.” Armon said as he blushed. Twilight laughed at Armon’s embarrassment and turned back to Spike. “Spike, Armon’s going to be staying with us for a while. Can you go downstairs and set up a bed for him?” asked Twilight. “Sure Twilight.” said Spike. Spike led Armon downstairs to the basement. After some moving, they cleared a space for Armon to sleep and pulled out a folding bed for him to use. When everything was done Armon took a seat on the bed. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed, but it was better than sleeping on rocks like he had for so long.
“Spike, I must ask. What is Rarity to you?” asked Armon. Spike was taken aback at Armon’s question. There was no way he could've figured it out so quickly! “Wh, what do you mean?” spike asked nervously. “Well I can smell Rarity’s sent all over you. The only other sent on you that’s strong is Twilight’s but that’s obvious. Is there a reason why you spend so much time with her?” asked Armon. Spike was getting even more nervous. He knew Armon for only an hour and already he knew his deepest darkest secret. “Well, I go over to her boutique a lot. Yeah, that’s it! I help out there a lot for jewels!” said Spike. Armon was amused by Spike’s answer. It was pretty obvious as to why he was doing it, but he decided to humor him since it was obvious that Spike wasn’t ready yet. He may had not seen the seeds of love in a really long time, but he wasn’t stupid.
After setting up his bed and getting his sleeping area ready, Armon and Spike made their way upstairs into the library. Twilight was sitting at her regular reading spot, nose deep in a book about the early equestrian life. She was dead set on asking Armon as many questions as possible and she needed to gather as many as she could from these books.
Armon was glad to have a place to sleep but now he needed something to occupy his time. A thousand years of constantly trying to stay alive kept his mind busy but now he has nothing to do. Since he was a celery farmer before everything with Mortem happened, he thought Applejack’s farm would the the perfect place to ask for a job. After telling Twilight and Spike where he was going, he bid them farewell and set off to try to find Applejack’s farm on his own.
Finding the farm was in itself a nightmare for Armon. Ponyville wasn’t the largest town in Equestria but it was certainly big. He didn’t have a clue as to where Applejack’s farm could be. He spent the day trying to find it but after a few hours he finally managed to find some apple trees. “Oh thank God!” thought Armon.
After a few minutes of walking at the edge of the orchard, Armon finally saw the barnhouse in the distance. After trekking across a field he found Applejack sitting on her house’s front porch with an elderly pony that he learned would be Granny Smith.
“Howdy there Armon. Didn’t expect you to come round here? What can I do ya for?” asked Applejack. Armon explained how he needed something to occupy his time now that he was going to be a resident of Ponyville. Applejack at first said no since they could barely afford keeping the land and paying for home expenses let alone a worker. But Armon offered to work for free. He didn’t need money, he just needed something to occupy his time. Applejack at first didn’t want to accept Armon’s offer, but Granny Smith offered to instead give Armon a free lunch every day to pay for his work. They all agreed and Armon got his job.
After a quick introduction of Armon to Granny Smith on where he came from and what happened since he came back, Applejack and Armon went out to the orchard to teach Armon how to properly applebuck.
“Alright Armon, the key to good applebuckin is to first shift yer’ weight to your front hooves,” said Applejack as she put her weight in her front hooves and readied her back hooves to strike the tree, “then ya just shift all yer’ weight into your back hooves.” At that Applejack delivered a hard hit on the tree trunk, knocking lots of apples into baskets laid under the tree.
Armon followed her advice, but his first attempt accidently put a dent into the tree’s trunk. “Oh, sorry. I guess that was too much.” said Armon. Applejack was surprised, the only pony she’s seen to ever make a dent like that was her big brother Big Mac. But he’s twice the size of Armon! “Uh that’s okay Armon. Say do you think you could hit that thicker trunk over there?” asked Applejack. Armon turned to where Applejack was pointing to only to see a huge apple tree. It was thirty feet tall and held hundreds of apples. It was the largest tree in the orchard, it was also the hardest to buck. Only Big Mac could get them down but it took him at least half an hour to do it.
Armon strolled to the tree and readied for an apple buck. Following Applejacks advice he kicked the tree as hard as he could. He delivered a mighty kick to the tree trunk that shook the entire tree. While it didn’t leave a dent like last time, almost a quarter of the apples dropped out of the tree. In just one hit, he did what would take Big Mac over ten minutes to do. “Sweet Celestia, just how strong is he?” thought Applejack.
After bucking the big tree and having Armon learn how to control his bucking, Applejack and Armon moved swiftly through the Orchard. They were getting more done in a day than what was possible before in a week. Applejack had to take breaks every now and then but Armon just kept going. It was like he had unlimited strength and stamina.
Applejack tried to slow him down a little by placing him in a separate part of the orchard to buck so she could get them lunch. But when she came back with the daffodil sandwiches and lemonade, he had already bucked a quarter of the orchard section she left him in.
Armon was on a rush that he didn’t want to stop. He hadn’t done something as this fun since the last time he tended to his own farm. He kept bucking as fast and as hard as he could. He was told to clear the section of the orchard Applejack showed him and he was going to try. He didn’t even notice that Applejack had already returned with their lunch.
Finally relaxing, Applejack and Armon took a longer lunch that she normally would of since they were so far ahead. “Ya know Armon I gotta ask, how are ya so crazy strong? Ya managed to do a weeks worth of work in just a few minutes.” said Applejack. Armon took a look at the orchard. She was right. He did so much in so little time, but he hadn’t even noticed. He was having so much fun doing what he loved he hadn't noticed the sheer number of trees he bucked.
“Well I guess that’s from my time in Tartarus. You don’t stay there for a long time without building some muscle.” said Armon. Applejack was somewhat convinced but something was off. Big Mac is huge and in some places bulging with muscles. Armon however just looked like an average pony and yet he’s stronger. But beggars can’t be choosers so Applejack just took her good fortune in Armon.
Deciding that the day was pretty much done since they bucked half of the entire orchard, Applejack bid Armon a farewell. Armon walked back to the library, had dinner with Twilight and Spike and went to his first night of sleep in his new life.
Deep in the vault of Canterlot, the darkness inside Twilights element consumed the jewel. It was a much darker color than normal. As it finished the last bright spot on the piece, it slowly started to seep into Applejacks element. The process started again and the element started to turn it’s color.
Life was going great in Ponyville. Armon had a great job he loved, he had friends for the first time in centuries and he was truly happy. Over the weeks he had gotten one on one time with almost everyone like he did Applejack his first day. He hadn’t gotten to know Rarity or Pinkie Pie very much yet but he was planning to visit both soon. He was actually thinking about stopping by Rarity’s place that day.
Armon, after doing his shower and other bathroom duties, went upstairs to Twilight and Spike enjoying their breakfast. After a quick hello, he went into the kitchen to make himself something to eat. He chose just a bowl of corn flake cereal since he didn’t want to bother Spike to make more of the breakfast he made.
After preparing his meal he came back to the main room of the library where the eating table was. Spike was just about to finish his breakfast of grapefruit and a side of rubies. “Hey Twilight, do you need me today? I was hoping I could go to Rarity’s place and help out today.” said Spike.
“Sure Spike, I was planning on spending the day researching more on Armon’s time anyway.” said Twilight. Spike was excited to hear this happy news. He hadn’t seen Rarity since she came back with Armon from Canterlot. He was dying to see her.
“Actually Spike, can you hold on a minute? I was planning on seeing Rarity today as well.” said Armon. He was planning on getting to know Rarity better and see what it was that she did. “Sure Armon, just hurry up. I wanna get there as soon as possible.” Armon laughed at Spike’s eagerness but he understood why. Spike was in love with Rarity and he understood what it was like to be around someone you cared about. Even if the type of love he’s experienced was different from Spikes.
After finishing up their breakfast and getting ready, Armon and Spike set out to Rarity’s boutique. Along the way they passed by stands offering goods for bits and other houses. They even passed by a strange pony getting into a big blue box. Armon could've sworn that the box disappeared when he turned back, but he thought that it was probably just some unicorn doing magic.
“You know Spike, you never did answer my question from a couple of weeks ago.” said Armon. Spike almost stopped in his tracks. He thought he was in the clear from that question. “Wh, what do you mean?” asked Spike. He was hoping he could avoid answering Armon since he wanted to keep his secret. “I mean that question I asked you. What is Rarity to you?” asked Armon.
Spike was afraid Armon would remember that question. In his moment of panic, he couldn’t think of a single thing to get out of answering Armon’s question. Admitting defeat, he sighed. “I’ll admit it, I love her. Since the first moment I saw her, I wanted her to me mine. I think constantly about being with her and I want to make her happy. I even gave up this huge ruby I was going to eat just because she liked it.” said Spike.
Armon was warmed by Spikes answer. He unfortunately never got the chance to experience what Spike is experiencing, but he was glad for him. Spike was going to experience the joys of love and he chose a great pony to experience it with. The only question now is whether or not Rarity would return Spikes feelings. Now that Armon thought about it, today was the perfect day to find out.
After a few minutes of walking, Spike and Armon finally reached the boutique. Spike actually ran the rest of the way when the boutique came into sight. Once again Armon laughed at Spike’s enthusiasm. Spike knocked on Rarity’s front door and awaited her answer. When Armon reached the front door, Rarity answered the door. “Spike, Armon how nice to see you. I suppose you’re here to help me around here Spike?”
Spike quickly nodded and ran inside when Rarity ushered him in. Armon followed closely behind Spike inside the boutique. Inside was fabric’s and pony mannequins with dresses on them along with Rarity’s furniture, the most noticeable one being a fainting couch in the corner. “Rarity must be doing great in her business if she has this much furniture.
Spike was already doing work around the boutique to help Rarity. He had helped out enough times to know what needed to be done without Rarity telling him. Rarity was working on another dress for a client. The dress was onyx colored with white sapphires encrusting the dress in various places. Armon was impressed with the intricate design Rarity made with the fabric. The town he lived in before he got stuck in Tartarus never had anybody wearing things like the dress Rarity was making.
“Impressive dress Rarity. I like the contrasting colors you’re using with the sapphires.” said Armon. “Well thank you Armon. My client wanted a black dress but I thought it needed some ompf in it.” said Rarity, “Armon, could you be a dear and help me hold some of the dress together? I ran out of pins and I could really use some help.”
“No problem Rarity.” said Armon. He held at points where Rarity requested and helped out where he could. Armon was doing exactly what he was hoping to do. He was getting to know Rarity better and helping her was a bonus. But he still had to ask her the question what was peaking his interest since his walk with Spike, what did Rarity think of Spike?
“Rarity can I ask you a question?” asked Armon. “Why of course darling. What is it?” asked Rarity. “What do you think of Spike?” asked Armon. “Well, I’d say Spike is just a darling. He’s so kind and sweet and he’s just the most charming gentledrake. He helps me without even asking for anything in return. And he’s just so cute. I call him my Spikey Wikey.” said Rarity.
Armon was glad to hear praise for Spike, but she didn’t exactly answer his question. “Well he sounds great but, is there anything else to him?” asked Armon. “Why whatever do you mean? What more is there to say about Spike? He’s one of my best friends.” said Rarity. “That’s exactly what I mean, is that all he is to you Rarity? A friend?” asked Armo.
“Oh well, Spike is the sweetest gentledrake. And I know about his little crush. But I know he really doesn’t love me.” said Rarity. “Rarity what are you talking about? Spike doesn’t have just a crush on you, he’s in love with you.” said Armon. “Now Armon, he’s just a baby dragon. He’ll eventually grow out of his crush and find someone else to love. It’ll pass sooner or later.” said Rarity. “Rarity I don’t think you know exactly what’s going on. Spike doesn’t just have a crush for you. He’s in love with you for real. On the way here he even told me that he would do anything to make you happy.” said Armon.
“Oh well that’s sweet, but I still think it’s just his little crush. Eventually he’ll just realize he’s being a good friend and find interest in somepony or some dragon.” said Rarity. Armon was amazed, Rarity truly didn’t believe that Spike was in love with her. Heck, Spike gave up something he would probably never get the chance to eat for his entire life just so she could be happy with that fire ruby.
“Okay Rarity, suppose Spike just has a crush on you. But let me ask you this, have you been in relationships with stallions?” asked Armon. “Well I have been in several, but they didn’t last long. Most was more interested in getting into bed if you know what I mean.” said Rarity. “Okay, have they also helped you around your boutique? asked Armon. “Well yes several did, but they mostly wanted to get on my good side to get in the bedroom.” said Rarity.
“Then let me ask you this, have they ever did things for you just to make you happy. For nothing in return?” asked Armon. “What do you mean?” asked Rarity. “Well look at Spike, he does so much to help you around this boutique. I saw him carry a huge crate across here while you were busy with your dress and he almost broke his back doing it. He even gave you that fire ruby, a birthday present, just to see you smile. Have you ever met a stallion to do that for you?” asked Armon.
Rarity thought about it for a few moments. True sometimes the stallions of her past did help out, but like she said they just did it to try to get on her good side so they would go into the bedroom. Spike has been the only one to ever do all of what she asked for nothing. Now that she thought about it, since Spike started helping her out, it has become a lot easier running this place. And now that she thought about it even more. She was happiest when Spike was by her side helping her with her dresses. Maybe Spike did have more than just a crush on her.
Before she could answer Armon’s question though, Spike came into the dress making room. “Rarity all your chores are done. Is there anything else you can use me for?” asked Spike. “Uh, no Spike thank you. You can go back to Twilight now, it is getting late.” said Rarity. “I guess I better get going too. Think about what I said Rarity.” said Armon as he walked towards the door with Spike.
Before Spike and Armon could step out the door though, Rarity called out. “Spike, could you stay behind for a minute?” asked Rarity. “Sure, I’ll see you later Armon.” said Spike as he walked back to Rarity. Armon stepped outside the door and turned to close it behind him. He took a quick glance at Rarity and noticed a warm smile on her as Spike came to her. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say Rarity was going to have a very interesting talk with Spike. “Good for you Spike.” thought Armon as he shut the door and walked towards the library.
Rarity was nervous. She had never done what she was about to do. Normally it was stallions that were trying to get to Rarity, she never sought out anyone. But Armon’s words made her realize that Spike really was just the person she had wanted in a significant other. “Spike I was wondering, are you going to be busy in the next few days?” asked Rarity.
“No, other than helping Twilight at the library I don’t have anything on my plate. Do you need me to come back and help you some more?” asked Spike. “No it’s not that, I just thought that maybe you would enjoy taking a lunch with me. You’ve been working so hard for me and I must find a way to repay you.” said Rarity. Spike blushed at Rarity’s request but didn’t want to accept her offer of payment. “Oh, there’s no need Rarity. Just a thank you is fine enough for me.” said Spike.
“No no, I simply must repay you for all the help you give me. How about we call it a date?” said Rarity. Spike couldn’t believe what he heard. Did Rarity just ask him out on a date? No, she said they’d call it a date. It wasn’t an actual date. “I don’t know Rarity. I don’t wanna bother you with your schedule.” said Spike. “Nonsense, going out with you would be a pleasure.” said Rarity. Spike was awestruck, now she wanted to go out with me? This is crazy. “Rarity, are you asking me out on a date?” asked Spike. Rarity blushed as his question but quickly pulled herself together. “Yes Spike, I’m asking you out on a date. Lunch for two at the park. What do you say?” asked Rarity.
Spike couldn't believe it. She asked him out! He had been dreaming about this for a long time and now it was finally happening! “Yeah! I mean, yeah it sounds like fun. How about the day after tomorrow?” asked Spike. “That sounds divine darling. The day after tomorrow it is.” said Rarity. After settling their date, Rarity gave spike a quick kiss on the cheek and sent him on his way. After Spike left she thought more on what Armon said and decided that he was right. Spike really was in love with her. She wasn’t fully sure on her feelings on him but she knew her date with him would decide it. She was actually getting excited.
After her thinking about her upcoming date, she closed her shop and got ready for dinner and bed. While she was doing that, Spike was walking around Ponyville daydreaming about his upcoming date. He was so excited. Armon meanwhile was answering more questions that Twilight had for him on old Equestrian living. Ending their day on happy notes.
Inside the vault of Canterlot Castle, Luna was going over her personal book collection. She normally would just go out to the royal library to store her books but she didn’t want her sister to find them. Especially since these books were of the more sensual nature. Her sister finding them would just embarrass her to death. While she was putting her books away and selecting books for her to read later she heard a noise. It was coming from the Elements of Harmony case. Did a rat get into the vault again? She walked over to the case and opened it to check. The site inside horrified her. Each of the elements had turned a dark color and had a crack across all but one. The one without a crack was almost black in color with a pulsating purple light coming from inside while the rest looked like they were dead.
Luna was about to get her sister to see if something was wrong when the element of magic glowed an intense light. The light blinded Luna temporarily. When she regained her sight she saw a black mass in front of her. It was smoke like in it’s form and it looked menacing. Just taking a look at it made her realize it was evil. But before Luna could react, the mass overtook her and wrapped her in it’s smoke body. Luna struggled to break free but it was useless. The black mass then squeezed Luna until she cried out in pain. At that moment the black mass plunged into her mouth and forced it’s way into her insides. She struggled but after a while she went limp. Whatever was forcing it’s way inside her was clouding her mind and she couldn’t do anything about it.
After a few minutes, all of the mass was inside Luna and she dropped to the floor. A few seconds of silence passed by before she coughed and opened her eyes. Her normal night blue eyes changed to red. Luna got up and dusted herself off. After checking to see if she was in one piece, she let out an evil laugh. Whatever drove itself into her body had taken over. And now she had no control. In what was left of her mind she could do nothing but watch as whatever took over her body laughed. The only thing that she could think of also frightened her, what could be so evil and powerful that even she couldn’t stop it?
When Armon came home from Rarity’s, Armon was asked by Twilight to spend the next day answering what she promised would be the last of her questions. Normally Armon wouldn’t mind answering her questions, but the amount she asked him was just so many. Every day she asked question after question. After a while, Armon just decided to hope that she would stop asking after a while.
Armon was fast asleep having a dream. Though the dream was more like a nightmare. He dreamed that horrible voice he hoped he put behind him long ago. It was laughing at him with it’s evil tone and insane smile. Armon didn’t want to see him again after everything that happened. It reminded him of his mistake. But there was nothing he could do about it now and just sat there staring at the laughing maniac.
Armon awoke with a sweat. Just dreaming about that voice was enough to make him nervous. But he had to put it behind him and get ready to spend the day with Twilight. He hadn’t spent any one on one time with her since that night in Canterlot. He was either getting to know everypony else or she was busy with a study that Celestia wanted her to do.
Armon washed up and went upstairs. He was greeted by Twilight but Spike was missing. It turned out he was already up and planning for his date tomorrow. Armon was amused but he was happy for Spike. He finally got the date he always wanted and most probably he’d get the mare as well. Armon kinda envied him in a way, he had never got to get to know a mare and fall in love.
But there’s no changing that now. Now all that mattered to him was his new friends, his personal life like finding a mare could wait a little while. He had a long time after all, he was immortal. After getting his now usual bowl of cereal, he went out to the eating table in the main room with Twilight. She was, as usual, nose deep in a book reading about social life in old Equestria. Luckily she was about to finish it so Armon could get started in answering her questions. If history repeated itself, and by this point he was sure of it, her questions would take all day to answer.
After reading the last line of the book, Twilight shut it with a sigh. “Well, that was one of the best one yet.” said Twilight. “More books on my time again?” asked Armon. “Of course, your time is so different and fascinating to me. You lived so differently from us in almost every way.” said Twilight.
In every way? Honestly, she sometimes amused Armon. Life now wasn’t really that different from life then. The only thing that he really saw different was the fact there were showers and the language has changed since his time. But if answering Twilights questions made her happy, then he was fine with it.
After putting their dishes away the settled in a comfortable area to start their question and answering. “Alight Armon, we’ve gone over almost everything in your culture, now it’s time to finish it off with your social culture. After that we’ll be done.” said Twilight. “Well ask away Twilight.” said Armon.
“Alright, first of all are cutie marks different from your culture than they are now?” asked Twilight. “No, they’re still the same now. They reveal your true purpose in life. Yours is magic and mine is farming.” said Armon as he gestured to his scythe shaped cutie mark. “Okay, next question. What were gender roles then? From your description, it sounds like each gender did different deeds.” said Twilight. “Yes it’s true, in our culture it was expected of stallions to be the breadwinners of the family while mares took care of the home. Now a days though each gender does both roles.” said Armon.
“Okay, how did courting work then? By courting I mean getting dates.” said Twilight. Armon blushed a little at the question. “Oh well, there was no set way on doing it. You just did what came natural.” said Armon. “But there had to be some sort of procedure. Today mares or stallions ask each other out and decide whether or not they’re going to go out. Didn’t they have something like that back then?” asked Twilight.
“Well I know back then it was stallions that had to ask. Mares weren’t supposed to. But as to how they did it, I have absolutely no idea.” said Armon. “Wait, you never asked anyone out? Not even Celestia?” asked Twilight. Armon sighed, “No, I never got the chance to ask anyone out. Not even Luz. Truth be told though Twilight, I didn’t have those kinds of feelings for her.” said Armon.
“You mean you’ve never been in love your entire life?” asked Twilight. “Well I wouldn’t say that, I did have an eye out for a mare or two before. But they’re long gone now. Now I guess I’d say I don’t have much interest in anypony.” said Armon, “Why do you ask?”
Twilight blushed, “Oh, well I was just wondering. I know you and Celestia were close and just assumed. Sorry.” said Twilight. “It’s alright.” said Armon. He wondered why Twilight had blushed. Probably because we were talking about her mentor's personal life.
“What about you? You ever had anypony be yours?” asked Armon. Twilight’s blush grew in intensity at the question. “Um well, I’ve never had any special somepony.” said Twilight. Armon smiled at Twilight’s embarrassment and decided to push further. “Not even had your eye on somepony?”
Twilight looked down and away from Armon, her embarrassment growing larger. “I’ve had my eye on one.” said Twilight. “Oh yeah? Who’s the lucky pony?” asked Armon. Twilight’s blush now grew to make her look like a smaller version of Big Mac. “Um, no one.” said Twilight.
Armon laughed a little, having fun at Twilight’s expense in this exchange. “Oh come on who is it? Is it that pony Caramel? Or that pony that lives in that blue box? That black pegasus? Who is it?” asked Armon.
Twilight sheepishly looked up at Armon, “You.” said Twilight. Armon thought he heard wrong. He could've sworn that she said that she was interested in him. “Did you say me?” asked Armon. Twilight quickly averted her gaze. “Funny, it’s like she’s became Fluttershy.” thought Armon. “Why are you interested in me?” asked Armon.
“Well you're smart for one. You’re attractive. You're a good friend. You always put others before yourself. You seem to be very strong. You're gentle and kind. And most of all you always look at the bright side of life.” said Twilight.
Armon listened intently to Twilight’s answer. Being described in such a positive way made him blush a little. “I’m flattered.” said Armon. Now that he thought about it, Twilight was a pony that interested him as well. She displayed most of the qualities he found attractive. She was attractive, smart, brave, outgoing, kind and caring. A true friend.
An awkward silence came upon them as they either told or realized that they were attracted to each other. What started as a day of simple questions about quadropology turned into questions about who liked who. Armon’s face joined Twilight’s in color while each looked elsewhere wanting to avoid the other’s gaze.
Finally Armon broke the silence as he looked at Twilight and said, “You know, you're also very attractive. I wouldn’t mind being with you.” said Armon. “Dear god that was so awkward! A thousand years of mentally talking to mares and I’m horrible.” thought Armon. “Um, thank you. I think the same.” said Twilight. “Sweet Celestia, why do I have to be so socially awkward! I read books on how to talk to stallions and yet I can barely talk to him!” thought Twilight.
The awkward silence returned in full force on the two. Both unsure on how to go forward. Neither had ever gone as far as they had before. Time passed before Twilight was the one to break the silence. “Armon, can I ask you something?” asked Twilight. “Sure.” said Armon. “Have you ever kissed anypony before?” asked Twilight.
Armon flinched at the question. As embarrassing as it was, he’s never even come close to that. He has a good excuse of course but it’s still embarrassing for a stallion. “Um no, you?” asked Armon. “No.” answered Twilight, “Would you like to try it?”
Armon sat in disbelievement, Twilight the normally socially awkward individual who didn’t know the first thing about being in a relationship, was asking if he wanted to kiss her. Just a few minutes ago he started to find her attractive and now they were going to kiss? No this was going way too fast for him, he needed to stop this.
“Sure.” answered Armon. “What the heck mouth!” thought Armon. Twilight started to slowly lean in towards Armon. Armon wanted to stop her or back away but he found he wasn’t in control of his muscles. He also started to slowly lean forward against his mental will towards Twilight. Each getting closer and closer until they could feel each other’s breath in their faces.
Only an inch from each other’s lips they were about to kiss. Suddenly a loud noise disturbed them and made them turn to the source. It was Spike out of breath as he ran into the library huffing and puffing and slamming the door. After a second the door was pounded on by someone. “Spike, you better get out here right now if you know what’s good for you!” yelled a voice.
The voice belonged to Applejack. Spike had gone to Sweet Apple Acres to get some apples and other items for his date tomorrow. While there he got the hiccups and accidently burned down a part of Applejack’s orchard. Applejack chased after Spike to make him pay for burning down the orchard until he ran into the library. Now she was pounding on the door to the point of it shattering into splinters.
Armon and Twilight quickly pulled away from one another to avoid Spike noticing. Not that he would care at the moment. Armon and Twilight looked at each other awkwardly. “Um, I guess I’ll try to calm her down.” said Twilight as she got up towards the door. Armon sat there pontificating on what just happened. Were they really going to do what they were going to do?
Armon’s train of thought was interrupted by loud yelling from Applejack. He could have to think about what just happened later. Right now he had an angry farm pony to deal with.
Luna sat in her room staring at the sun. She had been waiting all day for it to go down for her plan to go into action. The first step will be to break his mind. Then his spirit. Then she’ll have the pleasure of torturing him till he begs for death. Luckily for her, he’s immortal. The thought of how long she had to do it made her laugh maniacally.
Inside the deep recesses of her mind, the real Luna watched whatever had control of her laugh. She felt sad, not for herself or for whoever the other Luna was talking about. She was sad for whatever took over her. What caused this being to have so much hatred for this unknown pony?
Armon was afraid. He was chained to a cliff restrained. Mortem was in front of him with his friends tied to stone pillars. Armon struggled against the restraints trying to break free. Mortem laughed at this attempt and levitated a knife with his magic. He walked up to Twilight with evil intent in his eyes. Twilight wept and asked Armon to help her. Armon desperately tried to break his restraints but was unfortunately unable.
Mortem approached Twilight with murderous intent slowly levitating the knife towards her throat. Twilight lost all voice in her mouth and stared at the knife. She feared for her life and begged Mortem to spare her. Armon pleaded with Mortem to kill him instead and let his friends go. Mortem smiled an evil smile before taking the blade to her throat. Twilight gave a cry out to Armon before Mortem used the blade.
Armon was mortified at watching Twilight slowly dying in front of him. Before the life left her eyes she gave one last look at Armon before slipping away. Armon broke down and cried. Mortem laughed at Armon’s misery and approached him. He forced Armon to look at him while he laughed at him. Behind Mortem, his minions approached the rest of Armon’s friends watching them die one by one. Armon was then forced again to stare at Mortems insane eyes as he laughed at him. His laugh echoing on and on into his mind.
Armon awoke in a sweat. That was a horrible nightmare. What scared Armon was how livid it was. He could actually feel the restraints on his forearms and rear legs. He went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. After that he checked the clock near his bed, it was close to him waking up anyway. He took his shower and went upstairs to join Twilight and Spike.
Upstairs he found Twilight and Spike eating a big breakfast feast. “What’s the occasion?” asked Armon. Spike made a plate for Armon while Twilight took a drink from her cup. “Spike was so excited for his date with Rarity, he wanted to make a big breakfast as a celebration.” said Twilight. Armon sat down at the table to started to eat his plate. Spike must of been extremely excited if he made all this food.
Armon felt he was going to need the energy from the food today. He was going to Sugarcube Corner today to hang out with Pinkie Pie. He knew that Pinkie was hyperactive when he met her but the amount of hyperness in her surprised him. He knew a few ponies in his time that were like Pinkie but she took it to a whole new level.
After finishing his meal and thanking Spike he got up and set out for Sugarcube Corner. Spike meanwhile finished cleaning up the dishes left by Twilight and Armon and set out for Carousel Boutique. He was extremely excited to have his first date with Rarity and nothing was going to ruin it. This was going to be the best day of his life.
Armon arrived at Sugarcube Corner. It wasn’t very busy inside with only Pinkie and Rainbow Dash inside. “Hiya Armon! Nice to see you!” said Pinkie Pie. “Hey Armon.” said Rainbow Dash. Armon walked up to the counter where both stood. “Hi girls. Nice to see you again Rainbow.” said Armon. Armon hadn’t seen Rainbow Dash since his day with her some time ago. They spent the day doing pranks on all of Ponyville. “So what are you girls talking about?” asked Armon.
“We were about to make a cake for Spike. We’re gonna celebrate him and Rarity finally tying the knot.” said Pinkie Pie. “Wanna help Armon?” asked Rainbow Dash. Armon wasn’t planning on including Rainbow in his one on one day with Pinkie, but he welcomed her nonetheless. They went into the back kitchen ready to begin making the cake for Spike.
Spike sat nervously under his tree. Today was his date with Rarity and she hadn’t shown up yet. He sat staring at the pond in front of him praying to Celestia that he wouldn’t be stood up. Just when he had given up hope, Rarity came into his vision on the other side of the lake. She waved to him and trotted around the edge of the pond towards Spike. After a minute, she finally reached him.
“Hello Spike, I’m sorry I’m late but I just couldn’t decide what to bring for our lunch. So I brought both dishes I had in mind. Your favorite gemstones and hay fries and a sapphire cupcake for you. And a salad for me.” said Rarity.Spike smiled and ran up to Rarity to give her a hug. Hard to believe just minutes ago that he was ready to give up. Now he knew this was going to be the best day ever.
Armon thought he was seeing things. For the last half hour he had helped Pinkie and Rainbow make Spikes cake. But he was seeing Pinkie with green eyes. Not like green irises but like what should've been white was green. He thought his eyes were just tricking him before he noticed that Rainbow had stopped like time stood still. Pinkie turned to him smiling and started to laugh the same maniacal laugh he heard before. This wasn’t Pinkie’s laugh, it had no joy.
“Pinkie?” asked Armon. Pinkie’s appearance slowly started to change. Slowly in front of Armon Pinkie changed from the lovable pink pony she usually was to Armon’s nightmare. In front of him stood his friend, his tormentor and his enemy. In front of him was the God of death, Mortem.
Spike was enjoying the day. He had lunch with Rarity and now he was just laying down with her relaxing. She was curled up underneath the tree Spike sat at before while he was lying against her enjoying her warmth. They chatted the day away, talking about their interests, life goals, why they liked each other. Whatever they could think of they discussed. Rarity was actually surprised that they had so many common interests.
“You know darling I did say that I didn’t want any dessert, but now I think I could go for a cupcake.” said Rarity. “I was thinking about the same thing. Wanna go to Sugarcube Corner?” asked Spike. Rarity giggled at Spike not knowing of Pinkie and Rainbow’s plan to surprise him. “Well then Spike, shall we get going?” asked Rarity. Spike got up with Rarity and started to make their way towards the bakery.
“So, how have you been Armon? It’s been over nine hundred years since we last spoke.” said Mortem. Armon angrily looked at Mortem. He thought he was rid of him a year ago and yet he’s back again. This time not as just a voice but now as an apparition. “What do you want Mortem?” asked Armon.
Mortem walked around the room studying what was inside, including Rainbow Dash. “What I can’t just talk? You never answered me once when I talked to you for all those years. I shouldn’t have to go this far to talk to my friend shouldn’t I?” said Armon.
“No, you lost that privilege when you kept telling me to kill myself. Now what do you want?” asked Armon. “Hmm, I forgot how much you were business like. Fine then I’ll keep this brief since I don’t have much time anyway. Do you remember the day you finally tore me out of your head? Well since then I’ve been looking for a purpose in what’s left in my life since you stole it. And I decided that I’m going to take away everything you hold dear. And I must say you have adapted to life in this new world very fast. So many things you already cherish, like this blue one here.” said Mortem
Mortem ran his hoof along Rainbow’s muzzle. “That’s not going to happen Mortem. I have good friends with great power. You have no one but yourself. You're weaker than you were before.” said Armon. Mortem laughed while taking his hoofs away from Rainbow. “You know I thought you might say that. So I took the year to build up some very powerful allies. You’d be surprised how many enemies Equestria has built over the years.” said Mortem.
“It doesn’t matter. Equestria has survived the worst and more. Twilight and her friends will stop whatever you have planned, and I’ll be there to help.” said Armon. Mortem grinned at the mention of Twilight. “Ah yes, that purple pony. I do must say she’s very pretty. Maybe when I win I’ll spare her and keep her as a plaything.” said Mortem. Armon started to get angry at Mortem, no one should talk to any mare about what he was going to do.
“Of course I’d get bored of her eventually. I’m sure she would be delicious for my pets when I break her.” said Mortem. Armon was furious he was close to leaping at Mortem to try to kill him, but he knew that it wasn’t the best idea. Mortem still had some of his God powers and he had no idea what he was capable of. “On second thought, maybe I’ll just have her used as a pleasure toy for my minions. I’m sure they’ll love making her scream.” said Mortem.
Armon leaped at Mortem in anger. They collided into the table with Armon leaning over Mortem and started to strangle him. Mortem just stood there laughing at Armon while he reached his hooves up to grip Armon’s, trying to pry him off.
Armon stared at Mortem gripping has hard as he could around Mortem’s neck. His anger was at an all time high. He wanted to make Mortem pay for what he said about Twilight. Most of all he wanted to just get rid of Mortem. He had been tortured by him for hundreds of years and just when he thought he was rid of him, Mortem comes back in his dreams. He just wanted him to go away.
“Armon!” shouted an echo. Where was that coming from? There wasn’t anyone else here besides Rainbow Dash and Mortem. “Armon, stop it!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Armon turned to see that Rainbow Dash was moving around again and trying to pull his hooves away. Why would she want to save Mortem? Armon heard Mortem struggling to breath underneath him. It was almost over. He turned to see Mortem again but was aghast at what he saw. In his hooves wasn’t Mortem, but Pinkie Pie.
Mortem let go immediately, causing Pinkie to roll over and fall on the floor coughing and trying to get air in her lungs. Rainbow moved to her side to try to help her while Armon backed away horrified. “No, this isn’t right. Pinkie isn’t supposed to be here, that was supposed to be Mortem.” thought Armon. Just when Rainbow was going to ask Armon why he did what he did, Armon turned and ran out the door.
He ran as fast as he could in a random direction, wanting to get away. On the way he passed Rarity and Spike as they made their way to Sugarcube Corner. Spike tried to say hi to Armon but he passed without giving him the chance. “Strange, where’s Armon in such a hurry to get to?” asked Spike.
“Oh I’m sure he’s just running to do an errand real quick. Never mind that though Spike, lets finish our date.” said Rarity. Spike smiled and continued his walk. Rarity was right, right now nothing mattered but their date. It was going great and there was absolutely nothing that was going to ruin it. They would be a couple from now on and one day they would be together forever.
They approached Sugarcube Corner ready to go inside. Spike knew that this was going to be the end of their first date and it wasn’t going to be the last. “Today was truly the best day in my life, and there is absolutely nothing that was going to stop that.” thought Spike as he and Rarity stepped inside.
“The best day ever was ruined.” thought Spike as he sat in his chair. He had been sitting there for hours now with the others in Ponyville Hospital. After he and Rarity found Pinkie and Rainbow, they got her to the hospital as soon as possible. Armon almost crushed her windpipe and she was under intensive care. For hours they all sat and waited to be allowed to see Pinkie, hoping she was alright.
“Wat’ I don’t understand is, why did Armon strangle Pinkie? asked Applejack. “I don’t know. One minute we were making a cake for Spike, the next he’s choking her.” said Rainbow Dash. All they talked about while waiting to see Pinkie was Armon and what he did. After a few hours, they were allowed to see Pinkie.
Stepping inside they found Pinkie lying in a bed. “Hiya guys!” said Pinkie Pie. Twilight and her friends were surprised by Pinkie’s happy attitude. “Pinkie are you alright?” asked Rarity. “Well sure, why wouldn’t I be?” said Pinkie. “Well you were being strangled by Armon, remember?” said Rainbow Dash. “Aw there’s no hard feelings, I’m sure he did it for a good reason.” said Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie! What is that! What possible reason could there be for somepony to choke another?” asked Twilight.
“Well, while Armon was choking me I remember him saying something about Mortem. Maybe I’m Mortem in disguise.” said Pinkie Pie. “Mortem? Why would Armon be thinkin’ about Mortem?” asked Applejack. “Well why not ask him?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Now that I think about it, where is Armon?” asked Twilight.
The girls talked about it and realized that Armon had ran off into the woods somewhere. Pinkie Pie suggested that Twilight and Rainbow Dash go looking for him. After a bit or arguing to stay, Pinkie insisted that they go. Twilight and Rainbow Dash gathered a few supplies for the trip just in case they would be in Whitetail Woods for a while.
“When we find him. What are we going to do?” asked Twilight. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m first going to punch him in the gut.” said Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, no. We’re just going to find him and bring him back. No punching.” said Twilight. “Easy Twilight, I was just kidding.” said Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight began their search in the forest. Somewhere Armon was in there. Twilight knew that Armon would probably stay in the forest since he didn’t know anywhere else in Equestria. After searching for hours though, there was no sign of him. Twilight was almost ready to give up when she reminded herself that Armon had to spend years learning how to hide to live. It wasn’t so surprising that it would be so hard to find him now that she realized that.
Armon sat on the edge of a cliff staring out at the valley below, the same thought flowing through his mind like time and time again before. Only this time he was actually considering doing what he was thinking of doing. The only reason why he held out so long was to see Luz again. Now that he did that, he thought he had nothing left anyway to live for. He thought that he was free of Mortem and he could start a new life with new friends. But now that he knows Mortem wants to not only hurt him but his new friends, he thought maybe it would be best if he just left for good.
“Go on. You want to get rid of me don’t you?” asked Mortem.
“Shut up! Just shut up!” yelled Armon.
For hours now he tried to think things rationally and try to come up with a way to try to apologize to Pinkie and the rest of his friends, but Mortem wouldn’t leave him alone. Mortem would keep encouraging him to jump or taunt him with what he was planning to do to his friends when he attacked.
Just hearing Mortem constantly talking like this only reinforced Armon’s idea of just jumping. “If I was gone Mortem would have no reason to do what he says he’s going to do.” thought Armon.
Armon stood and stared down at the valley below. Just a few steps and they would be safe. He took the first few steps to the edge. Just a few more and it would be just a quick fall and that would be it.
Armon starred one more time at the valley below. He was about to jump. He took one more moment to say goodbye to Luz and his new friends before he took the steps.
The trp down would take only seconds. As Armon closed his eyes and just waited for the end to come.
“Help!” cried a voice.
Armon opened his eyes and quickly recovered his fall. He landed into a tree to slow his descent. He had many cuts and bruises from his multiple falls and stops on branches before falling on the ground. When he landed, Armon got up and ran after the voice. Twilight was in trouble.
Twilight refused to give up searching for Armon. Even after hours of searching, they only found one clue to Armon. But it was only one of Armon’s leg bracelets he liked to wear. It wouldn’t help them in finding him.
“Twilight, I know that you really wanna find him. But we’ve been out here for hours now and we’re not even close.” said Rainbow Dash.
“I know Rainbow, but I refuse to stop looking for him. He’s our friend and he needs our help.” said Twilight.
“I know that you two are close since you guys live together and all, but lets face the facts Twilight. We’re trying to find a stallion that’s spent the last thousand years hiding and running away from creatures in Tartarus. I hate to say this Twilight, but there’s no way we’re going to find him.” said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight already knew what Rainbow was saying and agreed with her. But she didn’t care. She had to find Armon.
Their next stop was a cave on the edge of the Whitetail Woods and Everfree Forest border. Twilight casted a light spell in the form of a small ball to float into the cave. The ball floated around inside the cave until it suddenly disappeared. Twilight was surprised and wondered what could of caused the light to just turn off before a growl came from the cave.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash backed away from the cave entrance. If it was a bear or some other territorial animal, they wanted to give it space. The growl stopped, relieving the two thinking that it was just an angry animal. A black foot stepped out of the dark entrance of the cave.
As more of the creature stepped out, it was clear that it wasn’t a natural creature. It’s body was made out of complete darkness with only white areas to indicate it’s mouth and eyes. It seemed like it was constantly melting as pieces of the creature fell on the ground while it kept it’s shape.
Twilight was amazed at the creature in front of her. It was a shadow beast. Somehow a shadow beast broke out of Tartarus and got into Equestria. She also was frightened, shadow beasts are vicious and carnivorous. It stared at the two before opening it’s mouth to unleash a roar and ran after Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow took flight to try to avoid the beast, but it fired a piece of itself at her. The piece absorbed most of Rainbow’s body leaving only her head exposed causing her to crash into the ground. It started to go after it’s prey when Twilight fired a beam of magic at it. Seeing a more interesting prey, it turned towards Twilight.
Twilight tried to stop the creature with her magic, but whenever she managed to land a hit on the creature, it only reformed. Nothing she tried had any effect on it. She tried her trump card and fired the largest blast of magic she could make, trying to destroy the entire mass. Unfortunately she couldn’t gather enough magic to take the entire body of the creature and it only reformed again.
Using the last of her magic she could do nothing but back away from the beast. Backed into a corner she had no choice but to run. But before she could take the first step the creature swiped at her knocking her into a tree trunk and knocking the wind out of her.
The creature walked to her and stomped on her body, almost crushing her. She couldn't escape even if she wanted to. The creature loomed over her ready to take it’s feast. With what little breath Twilight could muster, she yelled out as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear.
“Help!”
The creature paid no mind to her yell and only opened it’s mouth ready to eat Twilight. It dived it’s mouth towards the exposed Twilight. Twilight screamed and closed her eyes to face her end.
A beam of purple energy shot out and connected with the creatures head, causing it to explode into pieces. Twilight opened her eyes and looked up to see the creature stunned while it reformed its head. Another beam shot out and hit the creature’s arm that held Twilight.
Twilight took the opportunity to escape from the creatures grip and turned towards her savor. She was surprised to see that not only was it Armon, but Armon was using magic. It was then she saw the purple haze around his eyes and the green color in his eyes, shadow magic. “Just like Sombra” thought Twilight.
The creature reformed it’s leg and finished with it’s head and turned towards it’s attacker angry that it’s kill was denied. Twilight ran towards Armon to seek protection while Armon stood his ground. The creature charged at Armon and Twilight roaring an angry roar with intent to kill.
Armon’s purple haze around his eyes intensified it’s flow. Armon stomped his hoof on the ground to bring a stone wall in front of him and Twilight, causing the creature to slam into it. Another stomp caused the stone to split down the middle and form a cone around the creature. Armon then pushed the stone cone at an incredible speed into a tree, causing the creature to burst into hundreds of pieces.
The creature reformed even angrier than before and shot a ball of itself at Armon. Armon ran towards the ball head on. Before the ball could connect, Armon slid across the ground before throwing his right hoof into the air, causing the air around his arm to rush towards the ball. The ball’s center sank inwards until it popped and sent smaller pieces everywhere.
The creature, now charging in blind anger, roared at Armon for stopping the ball. Armon stood where he was and gathered as much magic he could muster. He stomped the ground to create stone walls around the creature, trapping it. Armon then created a horizontal stone wall before using the wind to lift the wall onto the four others, trapping the creature in a box. Armon then breathed in as much as he could before throwing out a hose of fire at the stone box.
The creature inside was burning and melting trying to escape the box. Armon finishing his fire throwing then threw cold wind at the box to freeze the inside. The creature inside rapidly cooled into a solid piece of what it was made of unable to move. Armon now hearing nothing from the creature then stomped his hoof on the ground, causing all the walls to come towards each other crushing the creature and shattering it into pieces. Enough pieces were made to where it looked like black water was pouring out of the cracks of the box.
Armon relaxed his magic and the haze faded from his eyes and returned his eyes to their normal white and brown colors. He turned to Rainbow Dash, still trapped in the ball she was in, and used the wind to make the ball become many pieces. After freeing Rainbow he turned to Twilight.
Twilight was stunned at what she saw. Armon used the magic to battle the creature like some sort of ballet. Only Armon used his magic to destroy the creature into who knows how many pieces. The level of skill Armon showed amazed her and somewhat scared her. “How did he become so skilled at shadow magic?” thought Twilight.
Armon walked towards Twilight. When he approached her he looked at her to check if she was injured. “Are you okay?” asked Armon.
“Yes, thank you.” said Twilight. “Armon, that was just amazing. But where did you get that shadow magic? I thought only evil ponies could use it.” asked Twilight.
“I’ll explain it later.” said Armon as Rainbow Dash approached the two. “Are you okay Rainbow?”
“Yeah I’m alright. I gotta say though Armon, that magic you showed was just awesome!” said Rainbow Dash yelling out awesome.
Armon was flattered at Rainbow’s praise but there was more pressing matters to think about. Where did the shadow creature come from? Was it wise to reveal his shadow magic? And more importantly, would they forgive him for what he did to Pinkie?
Armon’s thoughts were interrupted by a stomping applause. The trio turned to see a pony standing there. He had green eyes and haze emitted from them. His body was covered by black and grey rags. It was Mortem. Except to Twilight and Rainbow Dash, it was Sombra.
