A supposedly evil overlord is killed in the past. Now that he has re-awoken, he finds himself stuck inside a piece of his armor in the future where all of humanity is dead. Follow him as he tries to rebuild his former empire with the help of the CMC.
This is a story of a supposedly "evil" lich overlord who has everything he has worked on, stolen away from him by the supposed "hero". Follow Mike and the cutie mark crusaders as they travel around the land of Equestria, collecting pieces of his armour. That is not the only thing that they are going to be doing, Attending school, helping ponies get their cutie marks, dogging the law and killing berserk monsters are only a few things that they are going to be doing. All of their shenanigans are written down in the scrolls below. I hope you enjoy.
My very first fanfic ever. I hope you enjoy this story and any and all criticisms are appreciated.
"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!" The alarm clock blasted into my ear, I should probably get up and turn it off, but the bed is so comfy. Ah screw it where's the hammer. While I was reaching for my hidden hammer someone blasted through my door.
"Rise and shine Mike. Breakfast is ready." A to cherry voice for the morning said. I know that voice to well and if I don't comply now, he is going to open the blinds and I am going to get blinded.
That voice belongs to my royal adviser and best friend Greg. He is a one point seven meter tall chalk white skeleton, with bright red lights in his eye sockets which represent his eyes. He is usually clad in his yellow and blue robe, which he got as a gift from his one hundred and tenth birthday from me. I asked him multiple times why he wares it to work and he always answers the same way "because they are comfy." After some time I just stopped asking, if he likes it, hey I wont bother him about it. That still isn't going to stop me from teasing him about it. Because he really looks like a girl if he is not speaking.
Now back to waking up, but I guess Greg had something planed for today because he didn't even give me a chance to turn my alarm clock off, before he stepped to the blinds and opened them letting the harsh sun into the room and especially into my eyes.The light change was so harsh that I fell out of bed. After that little stunt I was completely awake.
"Okay i'm up, i'm up. Where's the fire." I said while dragging myself up from the floor.
"Under you if you don't get up immediately. You have allot off work today. Court right after breakfast. And after that you need to make an appearance at the new school of magic."
"That's today? I completely forgot."
"That's why you have me. You would probably forget your own head without me. And that might come true if you make the monsters from the empire angry now get dressed and meet me down stairs for breakfast. I asked the chef to make your favorite."
"Yeah, okay. I'll be down there in about five minutes. See you there."
And with that he walked out of my room. Now that I was alone I went into my bathroom to take care of my business. After I finished that I took a quick shower and I brushed my teeth. Once I got myself cleaned up I went to my wardrobe and took out some simple jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. After I finally got dressed I went in front of my mirror to check myself out.
I was a one point six meter tall guy and quite scrawny looking. But I somehow managed to make an empire, but that is besides the point. Now I have to go down to the dining room and eat my favorite breakfast. With that in mind I stepped out of my room.
After I left my room I noticed That I was being flanked by two of my zombie guards. That was weird to me because I thought that I gave all of my guards a week off. After some time I asked them "Why are you all on duty. Didn't I give you the week off? Did Greg ask you to stay?"
The one on my right answered "Sorry if we have disappointed you my lord, but Greg did ask us to stay because of increased patrols near our empire of Farelight."
The one on my left said "We only want to do what we signed up for and that is to protect our empire. If you want to punish us we will take it with no complaints."
"Oh, come on now you guys you know that I don't punish anyone, except for those who are proven to be truly guilty. If you want to protect the empire instead of being at home with your families, that's your choice and I respect it. I'll make sure that you get payed extra for this week." I said while raising my hands in a placating way.
"Thank you my lord." they both said in unison and after that we fell into silence.
The rest of the journey was pretty straight forward. Greeting monsters and other soldiers. After a minute of walking I finally got to the dinning room where Greg was waiting for me. I dismissed my guards and went to my chair and sat down. After we were alone I finally asked the one million dollar question.
"When did you order the guards to stay and protect the empire?"
He responded briskly, as usual "I asked them yesterday when I received a letter from our warewolf scout Black Fang. He thinks that they are trying to gather enough information to attack and destroy our empire"
"I see. So is that the reason for my abrupt awakening. I think we should mobilise our army now, because I have a bad feeling about this." That was always true. Whenever I get a bad feeling, it always ends up being justified. Like last week when I had this feeling, that something bad is going to happen in the town square and boom a fight broke out that I thankfully stopped.
"I'll go and do that immediately, but now is not the time for war, now you should enjoy your chocolate waffles with strawberry yam."
"Oh yeah thank you. We will continue this discussion in morning court. Now if you excuse me i'm going to enjoy my waffles. Are you going to be joining me?"
That put a smile to his face. Don't ask me how a skeleton smiles they just do. After that he answered."You know that I am. Now lets go eat."
The rest of breakfast went without a problem. After we finished, we said our goodbyes and went to our rooms to prepare for morning court. The journey back to my room was uneventful and when I got there I went straight to my armour stand. It's quite the interesting piece. I should probably describe it.
The whole armour is made out of black crystal. A material made by the dwarfs in the collaboration with some of the best skeleton wizards that the empire has to offer. The crystals main feature is that it can regenerate itself if it is damaged. Another feature is that it can be easily enchanted, but the real kicker is that it is also magic resistant. I know pretty retarded, but since my wizards helped in creating the material it is not so difficult for them.
So by the description of the material you can guess that the main colour of the armour is black, but that locked a bit to frightening to the general populace so I decided to add a couple of dark purple and blue highlights to it to make it look less menacing.
Now the rest of the armour was pretty generic, because I don't like to be a walking art piece. so the only two pieces that are stylised are the helmet and the chest plate. On the chest plate I have the symbol of the empire imprinted on it. The symbol is that of a snake that is eating its own tail, which represent the empires eternity. in the center of the snake circle is a dragons head, which represents the empires pride and strength.
And now finally to the helmet. That is the main piece to look at because it has a special visor. Now that may not be interesting to some, but the visor is enchanted to glow a bright green light. Why? Because first it looks bloody cool and second, because it changes colour depending on my mood. I would give you all the colours and all there respective emotions, but I think you can guess which colour corresponds to which emotion. The other attention grabbing thing about the helmet is its crown. Its nothing special. It was added to make me look a little more kingly. Not that I despise it, its actually quite a nice crown made out of rubies , but it is rather outlandish looking. It looks like someone took the skull of a dragon turned it into a ruby and fitted it to someones head. It looks awesome and represents our empire so I have little to complain about.
Now that I finished describing my armour I will quickly put it on. After about twenty minutes of putting on the armour I was finally ready for morning court. I didn't look forward to this day, not only because of the warning that I got from Black Fang; but also because I will have to stop petty squabbles from the populace. Hey its not a pretty job but its my job.
After finally reaching the throne room I sat in my iron throne and waited for my first arrival. In that time I took notice of my surroundings. The throne room is pretty scarcely furnished. the only notable things are the red carpet which leads to the throne, a couple of guards stationed against the walls. There is also big glass windows across the walls which are letting the natural light into the room they also give a nice view on the empire now with my observation complete I waited for Greg to announce the first monster to have a complaint for me.
"Now arriving Roby the endoskeleton and Martha the mummy queen" announced Greg.
After he said that I just couldn't help myself but groan. Why? You may or may not be asking yourself. Well you see, even tho I am the emperor I still need some financial supporters to help me keep this empire afloat. Because I can't keep all of the populace in check by myself and since I have multiple different kinds of monsters here with different needs and wishes. But that still doesn't answer the question why I don't like them, well here goes. Those two are very stuck up sons of bitches thinking that because of their positions they can boss every one around. I don't have this problem with the other races only these two. But don't let me be your judge, see for your self.
"Good morning emperor Mike. How are you today." They both said in unison.
"Well let's see, everything was going well until you two showed up. So let's just get to the chase because we have more important matters to attend to than to listen to your complaints why nobody is listening to you" I said with my visor turning orange.
They both flinched back, when they saw it and then Martha said "Well, Mike we were robed by an imp."
My visor turned back to green and I asked "An imp robed you? Sorry if I am a little sceptical. But they don't have the word stealth in their vocabulary so how did they rob you and what prof do you have, If you don't have any then just turn around and go through those doors."
They then had the audacity to say. "Well we don't have any."
"So let me get this straight you two got robbed by an imp, which don't know the meaning of stealth and yet you have nothing to tie him to this crime, so tell me why shouldn't I throw you two out of a window."
Roby than said "Well you see..."
"I'm going to stop you right there. Just shut up and get out."
"but you didn't hear me out." he tried again.
Than my visor turned red and i yelled "GET OUT OF MY THRONE ROOM AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU HERE FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. NOW SCRAM."
They turned and ran out as if they were chased by a monster. When they were gone, I tried to calm down so I started my breathing exercises.
While I was doing that Greg came up to me and tried to help me calm down.
"Mike are you okay. I've never seen you get so mad at anyone, but I guess those two deserved it"
After I was sufficiently calmed down I said "Phew... Well they did, they always make me so mad, but that just crossed the line. Trying to demolish a playground is one thing, but accusing a monster of theft that's just to far."
"Let's hope they heed your warning." Greg said.
After that Roby returned with an axe and went after me.
His axe struck true and rightfully broke on my armour. Roby steeped back his face contorted into shock and then fear when he saw me getting up.
"Oh, now you've done it Roby." Said Greg.
I grabbed the endoskeleton by his neck and lifted him up of the ground.
"Well what do we say now and make sure you answer correctly."
"please emperor please don't hurt me i'm sorry I didn't know what I was doing please don't kill me." He said while on the verge of crying.
"You answered correctly."
His face then turned into a smile. After that we went to a window and I punched him out of it, but then of in the distance I saw an army slowly approaching. My eyes literally bugged out of my skull.
"Greg, cancel the rest of morning court."
"Of course but why?"
"And is the army ready."
"yes, the army is ready. Dude what's happening? You are starting to scare me."
"Well Greg let's just say we are going to war."
"What! right now."
"Yes Greg right now. They are already approaching the empire. So I'm going to go there and challenge the leader of their army and hope to God that I win."
And with that said I went behind my throne to pick up my war hammer Undertaker. It wasn't anything special it was made from the same material as my armour and had the symbol of the empire on it sides, I absorbed it into my gauntlet and went to the center of the throne room there I drew a rune circle. Why? Because I wasn't sure what they had up their sleeves. This circle will hide the empire away into another dimension where it will be in a state of suspended animation and it will stay that way until my body is back at full power. It's just a fail-safe should I die in battle. By this point Greg already left the room to tell the monsters that the empire is at war and that they should stay indoors because of it. With the circle ready I went out the throne room, which I properly lock behind me, and go out of the castle and in front of my army.
One of the zombie soldiers stepped forward and asked. "Why are we assembled and why is Greg screaming around that there is a war that we need to stop?"
"Well I'm not going to sugar coat it. We are in a war against the human forces. I just saw them coming a couple of minutes ago marching towards us and we need to setup a perimeter around the entire empire. While you do this I'm going to go up front and battle their leader."
"But sir, why don't you let us fight by your side."
"Because no matter what you all feel like my family and I wont let any of you die if it isn't necessary. Now go make that perimeter and make sure no human gets in I've got a fight to get to." And with those last words I left to fight the human army.
***
Say what you want about zombies but they set up that perimeter far sooner than you'd think. But now wasn't the time for reminiscing now was the time to prepare for battle. So I waited on a rock about five kilometers away from the empire and I waited. And waited. and waited. After I almost fell asleep I finally heard it the tale tale marching sound of hundreds of soldiers. So I got in position and when they were around a kilometer away I announced my presence.
"WHO DARES SET FOOT IN THE LANDS OF FARELIGHT EMPIRE. MY NAME IS MIKE THE LICH KING AND I AM THE EMPEROR OF THIS EMPIRE SO I DEMAND THAT YOU LET ME SPEAK WITH YOUR LEADER." My visor during this time was a bloody red colour so I hoped that they knew I was being serious.
And lo and behold one of them stepped up front. He was wearing a silver and gold full body armour just like mine, but his locked like it couldn't even take one hit with my war hammer, but i digress. the emblem that was imprinted on the front of his chest and shield was that of a griffon. He was also sporting quite a big and ornate sword on his belt. After I have finished my examination he started to talk.
"My name is king Arthur and I am the king of Camelot. We are here to end your empire and end your raign of terror once and for all you filthy monster." he said in a posh voice like I was beneath him. I definitely didn't like that.
"So you are here to end me and my empire. Well if you want to destroy it than you will have to go through me first."
"Challenge accepted you filthy creature," With that he pulled out his sword. "Now i'll show you the full might of Excalibur." And then he launched himself at me with full force.
I had just enough time to pull out Undertaker to block his attack but he still managed to launch me back a couple of meters. I decided against flashy and energy wasting attacks and just decided to attack him with brut strength. And I was very successful until I got a little to cocky and so I got a mean cut across my back. The armour quickly started healing itself and while it was busy I went for a nice little surprise uppercut which send him flying into the air, but i didn't stop there so I launched my self to his level and brought my war hammer down on his head. With that I thought he was defeated, but to my surprise he got up and he looked pissed. He charged at me screaming but he was getting unpredictable in his movements so it wasn't a surprise that I got hit a couple of times, but those were shallow cuts. After a couple of strikes I decided to make some distance between us, so I decided to freeze his legs to the ground. And then I said.
"I must admire Your tenacity, but I can clearly see you've not been a king for very long."
"Hold you're tongue creature." He said while struggling to break free of the ice that I coated his legs in.
"You will not tell me what to do. You are a foolish king to think you can boss every one around. I don't even want to think what you're kingdom looks like." I said slyly. I will come to regret ever saying those words because in a sudden burst of strength he got free of the ice and he impaled me through the hart.
"Now go down to hell and rot there for all eternity." He said in a smug tone.
I couldn't help it, but that line made me laugh so hard I didn't even care that it hurt like a bitch. That turned his face from smug to confused.
"Why are you laughing you are about to die?"
After I calmed down enough to speak I said "You really don't know anything about liches. Do you. I will regenerate over time and I will return, so will my empire. Enjoy knowing that this fight was meaningless."
That made him mad. "I will obliterate you there will be nothing left for you to regenerate." And with that he charged somekind of magic into his sword and blasted it all into me making me explode and scattering my armour across the entire world.
"Now with him gone we will attack his... Why is his empire glowing."
With those words there was an audible pop and the entire empire was gone there was nothing left.
Arthur than said "Well that was easy, but I have this feeling that he will return. Eh, a thought for another day. Warriors we have won."
After he finished that his entire army started celebrating a job well done, but little did they know that Mike is going to return one day and when it comes, nothing of significance is going to happen,because he is only going to bring back his empire and nothing more. Well lets hope his day comes soon.
It was a beautiful afternoon in Equestria. The birds were flying, the bees were buzzing and a yellow furred, and red haired earth pony was walking through the most dangerous part of the entire land. The Everfree forest, but she wasn't afraid she did this multiple times already so she got used to it.
"Ahh, today was a wonderful day. Got a good grade at school, helped a couple of ponies get their cutie marks and now I have the rest of the day of. Nothing could possibly ruin this day."
Right after she said that she tripped on something and went face first into the ground.
"Well Apple bloom that's what you get for jinxing yourself. What did you trip yourself on? And you're talking to yourself great."
Then she finally noticed what she tripped on. It was a black crystal gauntlet with blue and purple accents.
"Wow, this looks awesome."
And then something started to come out. I immediately dropped the objects and smoke started coming out. After a couple of seconds the smoke turned into a vaguely pony like shape. The only difference was that he didn't have a muzzle and he had way smaller eyes. After that his eyes turned on me and I immediately felt calmer. After that he started talking.
"Hello friend. Thank you for letting me borrow a bit of you're magic, since you helped me I give you one wish and if it is in my power to grant it I will"
He was so scary I nearly passed out, but then it hit me.
"A wish? Are you some kind genie?"
"No I am not a genie I am a lich. My name is Mike by the way."
"Oh sorry for not introducing myself the name's Apple bloom and a lich? But aren't those evil?"
That put a slight frown on my face "That is a common misconception, not all liches or monsters are evil, some just want to live in piece and prosper take me for example I was a king of an entire empire but than some uneducated moron decided to destroy everything I have ever worked on. And then... oh sorry didn't mean to scare you."
"Oh no it's okay I can see what you mean. So about that wish. Do I have to use it now or do I have some time."
"No you have some time the only condition to that is that you help me get the rest of my armour pieces."
"What? Why? Didn't me releasing you do enough."
"Well yes it did but you see I want to get my empire back up and running and to do that I'm going to need you're help. And if you help me I will forever be in your debt."
The offer sounded good. There didn't seem to be any hooks to this deal, so after some time to think things over, I decided to agree. So I put my hand into his and then he smiled. I didn't like it one bit and my fears were confirmed because after that I felt some sort energy travel up my arm. It was a weird felling it was hot and cool at the same time. after a couple of seconds there was a huge blast of energy. With that there also came a huge wave of pain. It was so strong that I started to scream. After a minute of screaming I finally blacked out.
***Dreamscape***
I awoke to find myself in a black abyss standing on something that I couldn't see. I thought that I had to be dreaming, but after that all the memories of the last couple of minutes came back to me, so I checked my right arm to see if it was damaged. To my surprise I found the gauntlet on there instead. I tried to pull it of but I just couldn't do it. After a couple of more attempts I heard footsteps behind me I whirled around to find Mike standing behind me. He looked like he felt shame for what he did to me and my suspicions were confirmed when he got in front of me and bowed low. after he did that he said.
"I'm sorry for putting you through so much pain, but as I said earlier I need your help in gathering up the rest of my armour. I don't know what you know about liches but we have falactories basically places where we keep our soulless so that if our original body is killed our destroyed we regenerate around them. So here is the final deal you help me gather up my armour to complete my falactory and you are going to get a wish and a position of power in my empire. So how does that sound."
"First of all, what did you do to me and second a position of power. I am barely thirteen years old. So I don't know how credible of a position that would be."
"To answer your first question I gave you all my powers and a fused us together and to answer the second, if I said a bloody parrot is to become a new minister nobody would question it because I said so and my judgement is final."
That made my eyes bug out. I was fused with a lich, I had his powers, he is giving me a position in his empire and a wish to boot. I don't know if i'm going crazy or did that actually sound reasonable.
"Okay i'm going to help you only on the condition that you give my best friends wishes aswell. Do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal Apple bloom and thank you for helping me. Now it is time to wake up, when you awake just make sure to keep this a secret between you and your friends okay. I know for a fact that you don't want to be exiled or something of the sorts right."
And with that we shook our hands. After we finished the world around us started to get bright and the ream was broken.
***Real world***
When I awoke, I noticed that I was still in the Everfree forest. I checked myself over and I noticed that I was absolutely filthy. My jeans and my flannel shirt were cowered in dirt. I patted myself down as best as I could and then I noticed my gloved hand.
"So everything was real."
"Yes Apple bloom everything was real and I know what you think, how am i going to hide the gauntlet from the other ponies and the answer is that I'm going to turn it invisible. Simple as that."
"Oh, you can do that?"
"No, we can do that if you want to turn yourself completely invisible you can with a simple thought and force of will."
"Really I can do that, but I'm not a unicorn. Well I can see that I'm not a unicorn but I'm also not a regular earth pony anymore. Am I?"
"Well no, you are part lich now and don't worry your pretty little head there will be no side effects to your appearance or health. We can continue this discussion once we get you out of this forest. What do you think?"
"I think you are right."
"Well, if you want to talk to me again you should just call me okay."
And with that he was quite. Well that was definitely something. I should probably heed his warning and go out of this forest. I did scream pretty loud so I'm going to Ponywille. With that in mind, I got my way out of the forest.
***
Ponywille. A place where you can't go out of you're house and not see one pony that you know. It's a simple town of mostly houses with thatched roofs, but that is not to say that there weren't any more colourful buildings like the shops there was carousel boutique, sugar cube corner, the spa and the joke shop. Now any pony could settle down here and be happy until they die of old age, but that is a lie Ponywille is a town which seems to be the epicenter of all things destructive. Why? Because it seems to be attacked almost every few months. There was the Nightmare moon incident, than there was Discord, after him there was Trek and only a few weeks ago there was even the second attack of queen Chrysalis. That last one was the most gearing for me because they replaced my sister.
"Okay Apple bloom could you please stop monologing to yourself it's kinda getting annoying." Mike said annoyed.
"Oh sorry, I didn't know that you could hear my thoughts."
"Well I can, and I would be happy if you would ether stop monologing or if you would do it in a far away corner of your mind."
"Okay I'll try. Oh yeah could you hide the gauntlet for me now. We'll be coming out of the forest pretty soon."
"Done and done, but you are going to be learning how to use my power as well."
With that said the gauntlet on my arm turned invisible and Mike got quite again. I got out of the forest in about five minutes and went to find my friends and tell them the news. With that in mind I went of to the park to hopefully find Scootaloo.
The track through Ponywille sadly it wasn't without interruption. I did have a little run in with Pinkie pie and her pinkie sense. It went along the lines of this.
***Flashback***
"Hey Apple bloom we are being followed by someone."
"Huh? Followed? Who would be following us in the middle of the day?"
"Well if i knew who I probably wouldn't be asking you now would I." Mike said in a voice filled with sarcasm.
"You don't have to be a smartass about it. Could you describe her."
"Well let's see she is wearing a light blue, dress with the same colored knee high boots. Her fur is a bright pink colour and her big bouncy hair looks like it has a slightly darker shade of pink and looks like it is literally filled with air."
"Oh that's just Pinkie pie. Where is she?"
"She is currently hiding behind that haj bale over there."
With that said I addressed her to hopefully get some answers, but i highly doubt it.
"Hello Pinkie. What are you doing?"
"Oh, hey Apple bloom, how's it going. Nothing to interesting. My pinkie sense was going off telling me that there is a new pony in town, but my sense is always directing me towards you, but i already know who you are and then I go away to search somewhere else. And lo and behold I return back here."
"Okay Apple bloom don't look suspicious or we'll both be in trouble. I can sense some sort of magic coming off of her so be careful." He said in a troubled voice.
"Well Pinkie I don't know about a new pony now, but if you're pinkie sense tells you that there is. Well the only thing that I can say is good luck." I said in as calm a voice as possible.
Pinkie looked at me with a very scrutinizing gaze, which almost made me tell her everything. Then her face turned into a smile and she said.
"Okie, dokie, loki. I believe you and thank you."
And with those words said she skipped away.
"Apple bloom be careful around her I have this distinct feeling that we'll be running into her allot more in the future."
"Yeah I'll be careful." And then it hit me. "Wait Pinkie has magic. How? She's not a unicorn."
"Well, you see the simplest way for me to explain is, that she is something like us. She made an accidental pact with a sister of fate. Those are basically creatures that can see a short distance into the future that explains her pinkie sense."
"So wait. She is like us only that she is fused with a sister of fate. Well that explains allot."
"Yeah keep you're distance if possible I'll hide away better inside you're mind. So that she stops looking for me. Okay. Talk to you tomorrow."
And with that he went away again.
***Flashback end***
That is how that encounter went. With that thought. We arrived at the park.
"Ah come on! I lost again?!" Scootaloo yelled at her TV. She's been playing Mortal Combat again. She almost defeated the final boss Shao Kahn, but she got defeated by him still being on one hp. You may say that's a miner nitpick, but she got to him almost one hundred times and yet she still hasn't beat him. She used every single character possible and still nothing. She refuses to put the game difficulty down.
"One hp! He was down to one hp! This game cheats, I can't believe it." I yelled out.
"Scootaloo, sweaty could you please calm down. If the game is giving you so much trouble, maybe you should take a break and go outside." A slightly annoyed yet caring voice yelled from down stairs. It was Scootaloo's mother Comet Crash, she was a pegasus just like her, she had a yellow coat colour and a red mane which, wasn't really that styled. She didn't like to get pampered, she was more of a tomboy,but she still goes to the spa to get a massage every once in a while. But I digress, she's right I need a break and the only way I can take a break is by going out on a nice leisurely drive on my scooter.
"Okay mom!" I yelled downstairs. "And sorry for yelling."
"Okay sweaty just make sure to come back before dinner time."
"Yeah. I'll make sure to come back before eight."
My mom always knows what I do to relax so she always warns to come back home before sundown or I would get grounded for a whole week. And I hate being stuck indoors. It makes me feel cramped. It's bad enough that we had to move from Cloudsdale to Ponywille, just because of my stupid wings. The doctor says that they are going to grow out eventually, but it still hasn't happened. My parents say that it's gonna happen eventually, they're always positive about my wings. If they haven't given up yet than I won't either. Wow that's a depressing thought, that is not what I need right now. What I need right now is to get dressed and go out for a nice cruse. With that thought in mind I went to my wardrobe to get myself dressed for the drive.
I put a nice pair of jeans, a white tank top shirt. After those I put one of my blue jackets, which were recently modified to include my cutie mark, after that I put on my black fingerless gloves and my blue wonderbolt goggles, which I got from rainbow dash at my cute cenera. They are so awesome.
Now, that I got dressed, I went downstairs. There I found my dad sitting in the living room playing his own video game. My dad, Thunder Strike was the best dad ever. Yes he was strict sometimes, but I can always count on him for advice and as a player two for any video game that I can get him play. He was also a pegasus, but he had a more subdued colour scheme compared to my mother. He had a red coat colour and blue mane with a white stripe. Since he looked like he was having fun playing Daring do and the griffins goblet. Quite the great game, but deceptively difficult, so I left him alone. He'll probably be asking me to help him later, but for now I'm just going to go for that ride. So with that thought in mind I went to my front door, grabbed my scooter and went out.
It a beautiful spring afternoon. The perfect day for a ride. But first I need to get myself something small to eat, maybe I can get something at Sugar cube corner. Yeah I'll go there and get myself a nice chocolate doughnut. And so I speed of to get myself a little snack.
When I arrived at Sugar cube I was presented with a peculiar sight. Everything was quite, way to quite. Usually when it is this quite it means that Pinkie is preparing a welcome to Ponywille party and since I didn't want to interrupt it, I decided to go to Bon Bon's bonbons. It is a little disappointing to not be able to get my favorite treat, but hey it's not the end of the world, at least I'm going to be able to share the candy with the other crusaders. So I quickly changed directions and drove of to the shop.
When I arrived at the shop I was happy to find that the shop was still open. So with nothing else to do I leaned my scooter against the shop and went inside.
The candy shop looked amazing on the inside. There were shelves upon shelves of different kinds of candy, they had every kind of candy from rock candy to regular candy. From chocolate to sour candy. They were also every single colour imaginable. With that observation done I went straight up to the counter and rang the bell. After a couple of minutes a beige furred earth pony with dark blue and pink mane. She was happy to see me so she said her stores catchphrase.
"Welcome to Bon Bon's bonbons. What can I get for you?"
"Hello Bon Bon. I want to get a bag of gummy bears. Do you have any." I asked hopefully.
"Yeah Scoots I have a couple. Here you go. That's going to be three bits." With that I handed her the bits and I got the candy. Now that I was done with that I finally went to the park to unwind.
When I arrived I was happy to find the place completely empty. With that observation made I went right on to practicing my tricks. I did flips, grinds and even a couple of ollies, but it didn't come without any fails but hey practice makes perfect. One day I'm going to be able to fly and I can't wait for that, because I have a couple of sick tricks that I want to try, but that will have to wait.
After a couple of hours of me practicing, I heard a very familiar voice it was the voice of Apple Bloom.
"Hello Scootaloo. Do you have some time tomorrow, because we need to have an emergency CMC meeting at the clubhouse."
"Yeah I have time," I said "but why do we have another cutie mark problem to save."
"Well it's not exactly a cutie mark problem, but a problem non the less."
"And why can't you tell me now?" I asked a little skeptical.
"Well this problem requires us to all be present. So how about tomorrow after school."
"Ah so it's a big problem I get ya. After school, okay, I can do that. Do you need me to tell Sweetie Belle?"
"No since I'm already here I'm going to go there and tell her. The boutique is not that far away from here."
"Okay than Apple Bloom see you in school." And with that she left the park.
"Is it just me or does she look a little paler than usual, well, she didn't look sick so I guess I'll ask her about it tomorrow."
Now with her gone I decided to continue my little stunt routine, until it was time to get home.
***
I came back home just in time to hear my dad cry out in joy.
"Finally! Finally I bested this game you can suck an egg in tartarus, and they said this game was hard."
"Well dad that's exactly what they say. The Darring doo games are one of the hardest games that you can buy.Oh yeah and congratulations on beating it. How many times have you died?"
"Well hello there squirt. I died around seventy-six times. That beats my old record by at least half. Now I'm going to ask you a question. How was you're drive?"
"Very relaxing and I only fell a couple of times doing tricks, but I did improve by a large margin." I said with a grin.
"Very god. Hey you think dinner's ready?"
When he asked this I sniffed the air to check and sure enough it smelled like dinner was ready.
"Yup lets go and get seated."
And with that we left the living room and into the kitchen, where mom was patiently waiting for us. She somehow always knows when we will come to eat, because she never calls us to get it. Well except in the morning, but I digress. When we got seated and handed out our portions, we started to eat. When we finally finished I decided to ask them if I can go to Apple Bloom's.
"Of course you can go sweaty. You know the rules, as long as you do your homework, you can go to the moon."
"Okay mom. Well I'm pooped. I think I'm going to hit the hay a little early. Wake me up for school okay."
"Sure squirt cause Celestia knows nothing gets you up in the morning if we don't wake you. Good night Scoots."
"Good night dad. Good night mom."
And then I went upstairs changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed. Before I went to sleep I was thinking of only one thing, why was Apple Bloom so pale looking. Then I just reasoned to myself that she didn't act sick so with that thought squared away for later use I went of to sleep.
It was another day where Sweetie Belle spent the day with her friend Button Mash. He was a good friend, but sometimes he gets of on one of his video game rants, and that can get a little annoying.
"Really, he just let you keep it. Was it that bad?"
Button Mash was a brown furred colt with a lighter brown for his mane. He usually wears a propeller beanie, jeans and some sort of video game T-shirt. Contrary to popular belief he wasn't a over weight nobody. He was quite good looking, and in my personal opinion he was also kinda cute. As for him being a nobody, that was a complete lie. Even at his age, he already has a job as a game tester, he was chosen by multiple game companies to test their games. He plays them and then gives a report to the developers telling them what's wrong with the game and tells them about any exploits or glitches that would need to be fixed. He has become quite the well known game tester and has been recently swamped with games to test, because of that he decided to take a break.
"No it wasn't that bad, he just let me keep it because I did such a good job reviewing it."
"Oh, could I come and play it one of these days?" I asked hopefully.
"Sorry Sweetie but I can't allow that, maybe after the game is released. You know my contracts." He said a little sad.
"Well I guess I will have to wait then."
Yeah I was pretty disappointed, but i knew all the legal actions the companies could take, so I let the matter drop.
"Hey Button I know you have allot of work to do and I really need to get home before Rarity starts having a fit."
"Yeah you probably should or you're getting grounded, and nobody wants that."
"Yeah well goodbye Button see you on Minecraft latter."
"Yeah goodbye."
And with that said we went our separate ways.
***
When I arrived at Carousel boutique, I noticed that it was very quiet. That usually ether meant that Rarity was busy cumming up with ideas for new dresses or that she was at the spa with Fluttershy, and since it wasn't thursday its probably the former. With that in mind I went to the backdoor of the boutique, so that I could get to my room as quietly as possible. When I finally got to my room I went straight for my Pontendo 3DS, with the game Pogo knight, which is a knight who uses a pogo stick as his weapon of choice. I know it sounds weird, but it is actually a pretty good platformer, but enough of my observations it's time to play.
After a couple of hours of play time I heard a knock at the door.
"Sweetie belle are you back from you're date with Button."
"Oh come on Rarity, could you please stop teasing me about that. I don't like him in that way." I yelled out.
After that she opened the door and put her head inside.
"Oh don't be like that. It was just a joke."
"Well I know that, but could you stop with that." I said with a little anger in my voice and my hands crossed.
"Okay Sweetie I'll stop the teasing, but that isn't why I called you, I called you to ask you to go run a couple errands for me. Could you do that for me, I'm currently swamped with orders and I could really use the assistance."
"Yeah of course I can. What do I need to get?"
"Well i need a couple of new needles, a couple of new threads and a bolt of forget me not blue fabric."
While she was talking I was taking down some notes so that I wouldn't forget anything. After she was done telling me everything that I needed to get, she gave me the bits and I was on my way.
***
It didn't take me long to get to the marketplace and when I arrived I found Apple Bloom. She was talking to Applejack. I decide to approach them.
"Hello Apple Bloom, hello Applejack, how are you today."
"Oh, hello Sweetie Belle. Ah reckon it has been going pretty well. Oh I almost forgot Apple Bloom has something to ask you."
"Hiya Sweetie we need to have an emergency meeting tomorrow at the club house."
"Okay I can do that, when do I need to be there?"
"Tomorrow right after school I have some important news to you that will change the crusaders forever."
"Oh that important okay I'll be there."
"Yeah, I'll explain everything tomorrow. Well I would love to stay and chat, but I have some homework left to finished so if you excuse me I need to go."
"Okay Apple Bloom goodbye. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow Sweetie."
After that Apple Bloom went of to the farm.
"Well goodbye Applejack, I would like to talk to you some more, but I need to go run some errands for Rarity."
"Okay Sweetie, see you later."
With that I went off to pick up everything for Rarity.
***
After I gathered up everything I went back to the boutique to give it Rarity. When I entered I noticed that Rarity wasn't in the store front. I decided to leave everything by the sewing machine and go search for her. She wasn't in her workroom, her bedroom or her bathroom. After I searched those places I went to the kitchen and there I found a note stuck to the fridge. On the note it said.
Dear Sweetie,
if you find this note, then I'm currently not home. I just remembered that we are out of a couple of ingredients to finish up dinner. I'll probably return in a couple of minutes. So don't wait up and go finish up you're chores.
love, Rarity.
"Oh, come on. I still need to do my chores." I said dejected.
"Well better get started then."
And with that I went to work. After a couple of minutes of me cleaning the house, i Heard the front door belle open and then I heard.
"Sweetie, are you home?"
"I'm in the kitchen."
Then I heard footsteps cumming towards the kitchen.
"Ah here you are Sweetie. Did you get everything that?"
"Yeah I got everything. Oh and Rarity before I forget tomorrow the CMC are going to have a meeting after school I'm just telling you this so that you don't freak out latter."
"Okay Sweetie thank you for telling me this, because tomorrow me and the rest of the girls are going to go up to Canterlot to talk to the princesses about a weird magic outburst that was found in the Everfree forest."
"Please don't tell me it's another one of those super villains that pop up every six months or so."
"No nothing like that if it was than the princesses would probably tell us today."
"Well, I guess you're right."
And with that said I returned to my job of washing the dishes. When I finally finished, dinner was already prepared. Today we were having something pretty simple grilled cheese sandwiches my favorite. So I didn't waste any time in eating them. After I finished, I excused myself from the table and went up to my room. Since I had a couple of minutes left before bedtime, I decided to call up Button on Teamspeak and go play some Minecraft.
When it finally booted up I opened our multiplayer world and went to work in the mines. After a couple of minutes I heard Button talking through my headphones.
"Hello Sweetie, where are you?"
"Oh I'm down in the mines gathering up some iron for our iron pony project."
"Really, did you find any?"
"No not yet, but I think we should postpone this project until we can setup an iron farm. Let's meet up at the house."
"Okay, see you there."
And with that I went of to the house. When I arrived I found button checking our smelting station probably to see how far away we are from finishing the iron pony project.
"Well here I am Button."
"Ah here you are Sweetie so what are we going to be doing."
"Well I think we should go explore to find a village so that we can start up the iron farm."
"Oh yeah, I always wanted to find one of those. Lets go."
And with that we got our supplies and set of. After twenty minutes of searching I heard Buttons mom telling him to go to bed.
"Hey Sweetie we are going to have to cut this short. Mom is telling to go to bed."
"Okay, it is getting rather late so I guess this is goodnight."
"Goodnight Sweetie."
Then he went offline and I did the same. After it finished turning off I went to bed and after a couple of minutes I went off to sleep.
Apple Bloom was angry. Why? You may or may not be asking yourself, well she was angry at Mike because he lied to her. He told her that there are not going to be any side effects to him being fused with me, but lo and behold there are side effects. One of them was that I look allot paler than usual to the point where it is noticeable and the other thing is that I have a mark in the palm of my hand.
"No side effects he said. No problems he said. I promise you Mike when I get my hands on you I'm going to choke you, then I'm going to wait until you regenerate and then I'm going to strangle you."
I was so angry that I almost hit the Sweet Apple Acres sign. Thank Celestia I noticed or I could have added bloody nose to the list of side effects. With that little problem avoided I made my way to the orchard to hopefully find Big Mac so that I could ask him if there are any other chores that need to be done. After a couple of minutes of searching I finally found him.
"Hiya Big Mac. How's it going."
Big Macintosh or as he prefers it Big Mac is a pretty big stallion I think it has something to do with his tall stature and big muscles. He has red fur and an orange mane. He usually wears some jeans and a red flannel shirt.
"Pretty good Apple Bloom." And then he probably noticed how pale I was. "Hey are ya feeling alright there. You look a little sick."
I'm really reconsidering helping Mike now.
"Yeah I'm alright probably just a little cold it'll pass. So you have any chores for me to do?"
He looked at me and after some time finally said.
"As a matter of fact I do. Could you please prepare the barn for cider season. You probably know what I mean."
Ah yes cider season this is probably the best time of year for the Apple family because it's popular. They say that we make the best apple cider in all of Equestria, and because of its popularity we need to make allot of cider so that everypony can enjoy a mug.
"Of course I can do that anything else to do after that."
"Nope, that will be all. After you finish you should probably get some shuteye to sleep away the cold okay."
"Okay Big Mac I'm going to go take a nap right after I finish."
After I said that he gave me a smile and went right back to work. With the task in mind I went of to the barn. When I arrived I opened the door and looked inside and then I sighed. It looked like a tornado went through tools scattered on the floor, the barrels strewn all over the place and it looked like someone opened a hay bale and strewn its content all over the place.
"Well I asked for this."
And with that said I went of to cleaning.
***
After a couple of hours of work I finally finished cleaning the barn. Yeah it was hard but I still finished before dinner, and now that I'm done I am going to take a well deserved nap. With that in mind I went of to the main house. There in front of the house rocking in her chair was granny Smith. She was probably waiting for me and Applejack to return so that we can go and eat.
"Hello granny who are you waiting for."
Her fur was a light green colour and her mane was completely grayed out, which was natural since she was so old. She was also wearing a some nice dark blue overalls with a nice light green t-shirt which was a slightly lighter green then here fur.
"Oh hiya there Apple Bloom I'm just waiting for a package to arrive."
"Really what did you order."
"Oh nothing fancy I just asked Wood Cutter if he could make me a new rocking chair and I know what you are going to say so don't. I did this without you're brother or sister knowing so can you keep it a secret."
"Yeah, you can count on me, but can I ask where did you get the bots to buy it."
"I just sawing up my bits over the last two months and I was just able to afford it."
"Oh okay then I'm going to go inside and take a nap."
And with that said I went up to my room to take a nap and hopefully see Mike to give him a talking of a lifetime and to get some answers about some questions that I have about this ordeal. I really don't like being in the dark about this.
As I entered my room I noticed that the window was still open. I opened it this morning because it was hot inside. So I went over to it and closed it. After I finished that I decided to check the place, I know that that sounds a little paranoid, but since that last changeling attack, let's just say that I'm not taking any chances. So I checked the inside the closet, under the bed and finally I checked inside my bathroom. When I finished, I just splayed out on my bed and went to sleep.
***Dreamscape***
I again found myself in the black abyss which meant that I'm going to see Mike soon. And speak of the devil he appeared. His head popped out of a trap door right in front of me, and then he turned to me.
"Ah hello Apple Bloom, taking a nap I see. Well let's not dawdle we have little time and allot of things to talk about."
And then he waved me to come down the trap door, but I was to shocked to move, and then he came back.
"Well are you coming?"
Then I snapped out of it and followed him down the trap door. When I came down I was yet again shocked. Why? Well everything was made out crystal and almost every colour of the rainbow. I would describe it a bit more but the colours were slowly changing. After a moment I finally noticed Mike sitting at a low end table sitting on a cushion, eating biscuits and drinking tea.
"Come on now, the tea's getting cold."
That snapped me out and I walked over to the table and sat down.
"Okay then AB. Can I call you AB?"
I just nodded.
"Okay you probably have allot of questions. So what do you want to know first?"
I gave it a little thought and then I decided to ask the most obvious one.
"What does the mark in my hand mean and what does it do?"
"Ah starting with the heavy stuff eh. Okay, to answer the first one the mark is the mark of my empire it basicaly tells anyone that you are part of the empire,as for what it does, well let's just keep that a surprise until you go to bed." He said with a shit eating grin.
"And why can't you tell me now?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Because that would ruin the surprise. So next question."
I guessed that was going to be the best answer I was going to get, so I asked the next question.
"Where are we? Is this like my subconscious or something different?"
"Ah let's see. We are in the space between your conscious and unconscious mind also known as the dreamscape. Here you or I could do basically anything that we desired. The only rule that I placed inside is that we don't have control over each others creations. For examp..." That is when I stopped him.
"So what you are saying is that I can dream up whatever I wish for and you can't do anything to it."
"Basically yeah."
After he confirmed my theory I tried to dream up a simple ball, so I closed my eyes and thought about a simple red ball. Then I heard a puff sound and then something hit me on the head.
"Ow! Did it really have to appear over my head?"
"Well no but I think you didn't specify where you wanted it to appear so it appeared over your head. Trust me you did way better then I first did. I forgot to place this table and it appeared over my head." Then he patted his head. "It really hurt."
And then I visualised the scene in my head and couldn't help but chuckle a little. When i gathered my composure I asked the next question.
"So going to happen to me when I collect all the armor. Will I be consumed while you regenerate around me?" I asked a little worried I don't even know where that question came from.
"Oh no no, that's not what is going to happen. First of all since you want to get your friends involved, they are going to get a piece of my armour and when we do collect all of them you all are going to remove them from your body and then I'm going to regenerate."
"Okay, so how are we going to break this news to my friends."I asked a little worried.
"Ah here we have the million dollar question. Well your encounter will begin with a simple handshake. While you are holding their hands I'm going to brand the same mark into their hands and the..."
I stopped him again. "Why do you need to do that and is it going to hurt them?"
"To answer your first question, they are going to need the mark so that they can see me otherwise they wont be able to. Another thing the mark will allow us to do is communicate through them."
"Like some sort of telepathy or something?"
"Precisely, and it will also allow us to connect in the dreamscape."
"Well that does sound good, but is it going to hurt them?"
"I can see that you are worried, but don't be. To them it is going to feel like a simple static shock. The real pain will appear when they put on a piece of my armor like it did to you."
"So it's only going to hurt when they put a piece of the armour on."
"Yeah pretty much let's hope that they can handle it. So do you have any other question, or do you perhaps know your wish?"
"Yes one more and this is the last one. Why do I look so pale to others."
"Ah that's just your body acclimating to the new magic that is inside you." I wanted to ask if I really have magic, but then he stopped me by raising his hand. "Yes AB you have magic and I am going to teach you how to use it latter. So about that wish."
"To be honest I don't want anything and since I can't wish for your armour to appear, I seriously have nothing that I need."
"Well the offer will stay open until you need it. I like you AB you didn't waste your wish on something stupid and are actually giving it some thought." Then everything started to crack around me. "Ah it seams you are waking up. Well I'll see you when you go to sleep and be prepared for a workout."
And with that said everything turned white.
***Real world***
I awoke to find myself back in my room.
"Well that's going to get disorienting very quickly. Well might as well figure out if dinner's ready."
With that I got out of bed and went downstairs. When I got down there I found that everyone was already sitting at the table probably waiting for granny to bring out dinner. Speaking of dinner, the smell that was coming from the kitchen was simply delightful, so it wasn't a surprise that it waked me right up from my slightly groggy state of mind. I greeted my family and sat down behind the table.
"So Apple Bloom you feeling any better after your little nap?" Asked Big Mac
"Tons better. I really needed that nap." I answered
"It really did you good, the colour has already returned to your face." Applejack added.
"Well that's enough chit chat, it's supper time. Now dig in." Granny then said while bringing the food to the table. Today we were having a nice salad with some mashed potatoes and grilled carrots. To say that it was delicious would be an understatement. Granny may be talented in making apple pies, but she can also make other different kinds of food that are also very delicious. We didn't talk much during diner, Applejack said something about going to Canterlot tomorrow, because the princesses need him for something. It was probably ether another emergency or there is something that they need to prepare and I really hope its the latter.
After we finished up dinner I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When I was ready I got into bed and went to sleep.
***Dreamscape***
"Back so soon. I didn't know you liked me that much." I heard a cheery voice say from behind me. When I turned around I found him standing in front of a boxing ring next to an armour stand in the middle of a nice grassy plain with a single cherry tree which he was leaning against. That certainly confused me and I think it showed on my face, because he started to laugh.
"What's so funny."
After he finally calmed down he answered "Oh, it's just your face it's exactly the same as last time, you should really stop being surprised by this by now."
That snapped me out of it. "Yeah it's just the situations that I find you in are really bizarre."
"You'll get used to them, but now we have some training to do. So you want to get started?"
"Yeah of course. So what will be our first exercise."
"The first thing I am going to teach you is how to summon and dispel your gauntlet."
"But isn't this your gauntlet?"
After a pause he said "for the duration of this quest it is going to be yours so try to not break it. Well let's begin. First we are going to meditate, so that you can empty your mind and block out all distractions. We are going to be doing this for at least one hour and after that I'm going to give you further instructions."
With that said he sat down and crossed his legs. Then he formed an o with his hands and placed it over his stomach. After that he closed his eyes and was completely still. Taking the hint I repeated what he did and tried to relax.
"Okay AB you're doing good now relax and breath slowly, after an hour we are going to continue."
And then he went quiet. Taking his advice I started to relax and then I slowly took in a breath. I held for a moment and then I slowly breathed out. This was actually quite relaxing for me, so I took a mental note to do this everyday, because it might help me in school. Then I emptied my mind and let the calmness take me.
***
After an hour I felt something poke me.
"You did good AB most people don't last this long." He said in a proud voice.
"Well it wasn't that hard. It was very relaxing and I'm definitely going to be doing this allot more."
"Okay AB that's god now that you know how to clear your mind now comes the difficult part you are going to have to clear your mind and then imagine your gauntlet appearing on your arm."
"Well that sounds like something that I can do. Well let me try."
And I did so. I cleared my mind, when I finally did that, I tried to imagine my gauntlet appearing, but it didn't happen.
"It's not happening, what am I doing wrong?"
"Well I already gave you the answer you just need to figure it out." He said with a shit eating grin.
"What does that mean?"
"Let me give you a little hint, you remember what you asked me about earlier."
I thought about it for a moment and then it hit me. "Has it something to do with the mark you gave me?"
"Right on the money."
With that piece of information I tried again. I then felt some sort of cold sensation in the middle of my hand. When I took a look I saw some crystals growing out of the mark. It crawled around my hand and up my forearm, then it finally stopped at my elbow.
"Wow, it actually worked!" Yes it worked, but it looked a little different from the time I first found it, for one it was a different colour for starters. Where before it was black, blue and dark purple it was now a black, a dark red and green.
"Huh so that's what it looks like, well it does look a little different, but not bad. Well can you dispel it?"
I did as he asked and it disappeared. "Well now I am able to summon and dispel it at will. So what now?"
"Well that ends our lesson for the day, tomorrow night we are going to introduce this place to your friends and put together a plan of action to gather up the armour." After that he smiled and waved. "Okay AB enjoy the rest of the night. Goodnight."
And then he disappeared down his trap door and since I was now alone I decided to train what he taught me. That is how I spent the rest of the night.
After some time practicing what I learned, i decided to play around in my dream. I decided to create my very own amusement park. It had massive roller coasters, bumper carts and more. I had so much fun, but like all things it had to come to an end. A bright light was filling my vision and then I woke up.
***Real world***
"Hey Apple Bloom it's time to wake up. You're going to be late for school." I heard my sister yell.
"Uh, five more minutes." I said in a tired voice.
"No Apple Bloom breakfast is ready and then you need to go to school. You have a math test today. So get your lazy but out off bed or I'm going to get the bucket again." I heard her say in an annoyed voice.
Needles to say that got me out of bed pretty quick. Although I'm now half lich would the ice water really affect me that much well I guess that's another question to ask Mike latter.
"Okay, okay I'm up."
"Good now get ready for school."
With that I went to the bathroom to get ready. After I got ready I went and prepared my school bag and after I finished that I went down stairs to get my breakfast. When I finally got down stairs, i was greeted by the best smell that I could have expected. It was the smell of chocolate pancakes with blueberry yam. That was my favorite breakfast ever.
"Good morning everypony. What are we having for breakfast?" I asked excitingly.
"Good morning Apple Bloom, as for breakfast we are having pancakes. So how are you feeling?" Asked Big Mac.
"Oh I'm feeling great. I think that little sickness already past."
"Well you certainly look healthier. Come on now sit down and eat."
I did as he said and sat down to eat. The rest of our breakfast went without incident and after I finished I said goodbye and went off to school.
***
"So Mike you there. Did you find a way to hide yourself from Pinkie."
"Yeah, I'm here and I did. I just beefed up security inside your head so we should be fine to talk now. So you need something from me?"
"No, not really, I just wanted to talk to you."
"Okay, so what do you want to talk about."
"I just thought about this last night, but how long were you out?"
"Now that you mention it, I don't know. Hmm... We will have to do some research today. Maybe we could do it right after we finish that meeting with the crusaders. How does that sound? Maybe we could get them to help out as well."
"Well that definitely sounds like a solid plan to me."
"Then it's settled we are doing research after the meeting huzzah. Wait why am I cheering that's going to be boooring." He said in a whiny voice.
"Oh come on now it's not going to be that bad. We are sure to find something interesting about... Farelight empire was it?"
"Yeah you're right I shouldn't bitch and complain yet... and yeah it's called that."
"You know I noticed something about you. You flip flop between being serious and just being random. Are you sure you're mentally sane?"
"Yeah I'm just random like that. You can ask my friends. I'm just like this, believe me you'll get used to it sooner or later."
"Woo hoo." I said in a sarcastic tone. "Now be quiet we are right in front of my school."
The school was nothing special it was red on the onside with white accents and a bell tower on the top. It also had a playground next to it for the younger children of the school. The inside of the school was much more special, it was basically a long corridor with eight doors, each branching off into a room. It was simple and archaic but it worked.
"Well it's definitely homey."
"I said shut up. My friends are coming and I don't want them to think I'm insane just jet." I whispered back.
"Hello Apple Bloom. Who are you talking to?" Asked Sweetie Belle.
Needles to say that made me swallow hard. "Oh I'm just talking to myself you know just mentally checking if I brought everything."
"Oh, okay then, so do you have everything?"
"Yeah I do. Hey where's Scootaloo?"
And then we heard a buzzing sound. "Well looks like she's coming." Sure enough she stopped right in front of us.
"What's up." She said in a slightly scratchy voice.
"Well, usually the sky, but nothing much what's up with you." I answered back.
"Har, har. Well somebody's feeling a little snarky today, but in all honesty I feel good today, but then again we also have a math test today so its more of a mixed bag of feelings."
"Well I am certainly ready for it." Said Sweetie.
And then we heard the belle to call the students to their first class. "Well looks like class is starting we better go before were late."
With that said we went of to class with the rest of the students.
***
"Good morning class. I hope you are ready because we are writing a test right now, so get your pencils out and wait till you get your test." Her announcement was met with a groans of annoyance, but she was having non of it. "Now, now class settle down. I know you hate these tests but I need to get grades and besides, if you did your homework you should have no problem with it."
Our teachers name was Cheerilee. She was a maroon furred mare with a two toned pink and slightly pinkish white mane. If you wanted to describe her personality in one word it would be motherly. She loved working at the school so it was no surprise that she felt bad for giving us a test.
After she finished handing out the tests she said. "Now you'll each have half an hour to finish this test and the test begins... now."
And so it begun we turned over our tests and began scribbling in our answers. It was very hard test.
"Oh come on we didn't have anything like this in our homework." I whispered to myself. Little did I know that I just called forth the devil, because Mike just decided to appear right next to me.
"Well to me it looks like simple algebra." Of course I flinched, but I didn't let it show to the others.
"Mike, what are you doing here?" I whispered to him.
"What, can't a lich king help out his friend out of a pickle?"
"No, not now I need to concentrate, and besides that would be cheating."
"Okay then but I will be watching."
with that said I concentrated back on my test. When I started writing I heard him his like he was in pain. That was probably a cue for the answer probably being wrong, I checked the answer and sure enough I made a mistake, I corrected it and I got the correct answer. This went on for the rest of the test with him hissing every time I made a mistake. When the half an hour was up Cheerilee said.
"Okay class pencils down and turn your tests over." We did as she said. Almost everypony looked stressed, like they weren't sure if they made the correct answers.
"Well AB, I can assure you that you are getting an A+ for this."
Sadly I couldn't berate him for helping, because Cheerilee was currently at my table, but it's not like he helped me that much, so I guess I couldn't be that mad at him anyway.
"Okay class you can go outside and wait for me to finish grading your tests, see you in about ten to fifteen minutes."
With that said we all left the classroom. Mike entered back into my mark and I left to go outside.
"Mike I swear to Celestia I will find a way to kill you, if you do anything like that again."
"It's not like I gave you the answers, I just told you when you made a mistake."
"Yeah I guess you're right, but that still doesn't excuse that you helped me cheat on a test. Now be quiet."
"So Apple Bloom how did the test go?" Asked Sweetie.
"It went pretty good."
"Really, I'm sure I failed it." Said Scootaloo.
"So Apple Bloom do we still have that meeting at the club house?"
"Yeah we still have it Sweetie and its very important because it is going to change our plans for the future."
And then Scootaloo asked "Is it really that important?"
"Yup pretty much?"
"Oh, you kids don't even know the half of it." Said Mike and then we heard the school bell.
"Well better get inside and find out how well we did." With that we went inside.
After we took our seats we patiently waited for our teacher to give us the results to our tests.
"Okay children I'm proud to say that nobody failed the test." Then the classroom erupted into cheers. Cheerilee patiently waited for us to stop. "Okay then I'm going to give you your test, count the points and check for any mistakes I may have left. If you have any questions just raise your hand and wait for me to come." Then she went right to work handing out everyponys tests. When she came to me she said. "Congratulations Apple Bloom you got all the points keep that up."
"Thank you Cheerilee." And sure enough when I checked I had all the points. To say that I was dumbfounded would be an understatement.
"I told you would get an A+." Said Mike. But I don't think I was even listening because I was to distracted by the procentage that I got. I may had good grades, but I newer got one hundred so it was a real shock to me that I saw it. "Hey AB, you still alive?" That finally shook me out of it.
"Yeah its just that I newer got one hundred percent on a test ever."
"Well you just enjoy it. Next time I'm going to help you study so that I wont be helping you cheat as you put it."
"Yeah okay."
After that I got congratulations from my friends as well from the rest of the class. To say that I was happy would be an understatement, because I felt like I was on top of the world. With that said I went off to get ready for the next class.
***
The rest of school went on without incident. Well mostly Mike decided to play with a couple of the teachers and since I was the only one who could see him. Lets just say that I wasn't bored.
After school me and my friends went to Sugar cube corner, for celebratory milkshakes. Of course this was not meant with no complaints from Mike.
"AB if Pinkie gets us I'm going to murder you." He said in a clearly worried voice.
"Don't worry Mike, if what my sister says is true she and the other elements, Pinkie included, are going to be in Canterlot for at least three days."
"Oh okay then enjoy your milkshake and as a suggestion flavor pick peppermint chocolate trust me it is delicious."
"Okay I'll try that."
"Who are you talking to?" Asked Sweetie in a concerned tone.
"No one I'm just muttering to myself."
"Well okay then but could you stop we were trying to get your attention for like a minute." Said Scootaloo.
"Yeah. Sorry I'm just compiling all the facts for the meeting."
"Okay, just try to pay attention in the future. Now lets get inside and get our milkshakes."
And so we went inside to order our drinks. After a couple of minutes waiting we placed our orders and waited for our drinks. Sweetie ordered a vanilla shake, Scootaloo ordered a strawberry one and I ordered the peppermint chocolate one. It was very delicious, even tho my friends told me that it was a weird combination. I got them to taste it and after that they said that they are going to order their own ones with this flavor.
"Well now that we are done with our milkshakes, lets go to the club house and get the meeting underway."
"Okay I'm really getting curious what's so important. You with me Sweetie?" Said Scootaloo.
"Yeah lets go."
"Well then lets go." and with that we took of running towards the club house.
***
When we finally arrived at our club house. I went straight to the point.
"Okay, now before I tell you this you need to Pinkie promise me that you wont freak out when I show and tell you this."
Then they looked at each other in a confused way, but then they did the signs to the promise while saying "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"Okay then hold out your hands."
"Um why do we need to do that?" Asked Scootaloo.
"Just do it." And then they did so. After that I put my hands into theirs and waited for the magic to start. Of course it did and then they flinched away.
"Ow, what was that? Do you have a joy buzzer in your hands?" Asked Scootaloo.
"Um Scootaloo check your hand." She did and then she screamed.
"Ah, what is this symbol?!"
"Don't worry it's nothing bad, now I want to introduce to you a new friend." With that black smoke started appearing and in came Mike.
"Hiya children the name is Mike and I'll be your lich king for the evening." Then he sat down while crossing his legs and waiting.
"Apple Bloom since when can you do magic?"
"Well she still can't do magic because I haven't tought her yet but that is coming in the near future, but she does know one trick. Show them AB."
With that I remembered my lessons and it happened, my gauntlet appeared.
"Wow that looks cool, but how did you learn it you don't have a horn to cast magic with?"
"Well it all started yesterday when your friend AB tripped on my gauntlet in the Everfree forest." So we recapped everything that happened from there till now. To say that they were impressed would be an understatement.
"So let me get this straight, you found him in the forest and in return for helping him find his armour he is giving each of us a wish while also giving us positions of power in his empire. So where do we begin?"
"Oh I,m glad you asked Scoots. We are going to start by going to the library and doing some research... Why am I sounding so interested its going to be boring. Oh well no guts no glory."
"Do we have to do research?"
"Well yes and no. Yes because I don't know how much time has passed and with that I don't know the layout of the land and no because I can sense where all my pieces are?" That was met with three blank stairs. "So are we going to the library or not?" That broke them out of it.
"Yeah of course we are?" Said Sweetie. "We so or so need to do some research for our history assignment."
"Well lets go then."
"Uh, fine lets go." said Scootaloo.
And with that we went out of our club house and went to the library.
"Okay here we are the Ponywille library/castle." Said Apple Bloom. And what a big castle it. First it was made of a crystall like material that could surely withstand a couple of goo hits from a cyclops. Then came its shape it looked like a fucking tree. It had the whole shebang the trunk the branches and I swear I can see some leaves.
"Well it's definitely big, but this castle has a huge flaw which anybody could exploit."
"And that is?" Asked Sweetie in a inquisitive tone.
"The branches look extremely destructible. I mean one well placed cannon shot could break off an entire branch of this castle. It looks like, but when it comes to a battle it's going to get destroyed."
"Wait, you are a king aren't you? So you probably have your own castle. What does it look like?"
"My castle eh well for one it is made of a special material which was designed by my skeleton scientists and imps. It is a special concrete looking material which has the density of crystal and it is also enchanted so that it can regenerate i it is necessary. As for the shape it looks like your typical castle. It has a courtyard around. Four look out towers and a big central building. I probably have a mental image that I can show you. I just have to find it."
"No you don't have to. We get the picture."
"Okay then I wont show you. Ah, who am I kidding I'm going to show you anyway. Give me a moment." And with that he disappeared back into my mark.
"Well that gives us about half an hour to finish our homework. So lets get started."And with that we went inside of the castle.
When we entered. We found the castle to be pretty empty. You could literally hear a pin drop, but then we heard a voice.
"Hello who's there?" And out came Spike. He was a purple scaled baby dragon with green spikes. He was also wearing a pair of sneakers, a black jacket with a white shirt underneath. "Ah, hello girls what are you doing here, if you are searching for Twilight, she isn't here at the moment."
"Don't worry Spike we are only here to do some research for our history assignment."
"Well okay then what do you need?"
"Well we need a bestiary, an atlas and a general history book."
"Okay. I think we have those books. Follow me." And we did so. This castle/library was pretty big, so it was no surprise that we followed Spike like a shadow. After some time we finally arrived at the main library. We sat down at a table and waited for Spike to return with our books.
"Okay guys here you go a bestiary, an atlas and a general history book. Well if you need to borrow them just make sure to tell me."
"Of course Spike we'll make sure to tell you if we borrow them." Said sweetie while she was opening her school bag. After that he left the room to leave us to our thing.
***
After about two hours we were almost done with our homework, but then Mike appeared.
"Hiya kids How's it going."
"Well we're almost done we only need one more question answered. What do you think humans wore like in the past?"
"Oh that's an easy one humans in the past were... how do I put it. Rather ignorant species. Anything that wasn't inside there strict parameters was labeled as weird, destructive or in the worst case dangerous. And what was labeled with that was usually met with violence."
We all looked at him with looks of befuddlement and then Scootaloo asked. "How do you know so much about humans?"
"Well who do you think killed me."
"Oh, but that means that you are over three thousand years old." After that he completely froze. "Uhm are you okay?" That snapped him out of him.
"Yeah that is a problem three thousand years is usually when monsters from the empire lose their minds and go berserk. That is when we usually have to put them down."
"Wait, wait does that mean that you are going to go berserk?" Sweetie asked in a fear filled voice.
"No, no Sweetie I wont go berserk for at least another two thousand six hundred years, I have a long way before that happens. But that only means that we probably will have to fight some of them, because not all of them are in stasis."
"Wait, did you say fight monsters." I asked.
"Yeah pretty much, but don't worry the more pieces of my armour we find the stronger we'll become and the easier we'll be able to beat them. With that said let's get to mapping out all of the armour pieces."
"Okay how do we do that?" Asked Scootaloo.
"Just open the atlas to a full view of the entire world. I'll put dots on it which will represent the armour pieces." With that said it happened on the atlas ten dots appeared. "Here we go. Huh only ten pieces well that's a relief, i thought there were going to be more pieces, but hell they are spread out."
"They sure are. Now lets see the closest piece to us is in, Canterlot?" Said Sweetie.
"Yeah, what luck. The rest of the pieces are in the Dragon kingdom, Zebrica, the north pole, the Yak kingdom, the Crystal empire, the Cat jungle, the center of the Naga kingdom and finally Tartarus. Well this is definitely going to be one big fetch quest. So are you guys still in on this?"
After some time looking at me they finally said unison. "We are the Cutie mark crusaders we help anybody that needs it, so don't worry Mike we'll help you get your armour back, if it's the last thing that we do. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." With that said and the motions done they completed the Pinkie promise.
"Well kids now we have the locations of the armour now which should be the first piece that we collect."
"That's a nobrainer we start with the one in Canterlot and after that we can get the piece from the crystal empire. So how does that sound." Said Scoots.
"Okay that sounds like a solid plan. Oh before I forget tonight we are going to meet in the dreamscape because I have allot to teach you."
Then I heard a groan. "What do you mean teach us?" Said Scootaloo.
"Oh, don't give me that Scoots, I'm not going to teach you math, I'm going to teach you how to fight. As we discused earlyer, you will probably be fighting a couple of berserk monsters, so you will have to be ready if that happens."
"Oh that's going to be awesome." Said Scoots.
"Uhm do we have to fight? I mean aren't there better ways of dealing with them?" Asked Sweetie in a terrified voice.
"Yes Sweetie, there are, but that still requires you to be able to defend yourself, Because they usually don't listen if they are not tied down."
"Oh."
"Hey, don't worry Sweetie, if you would be in a fight you would more or less be a mage type character so you'll use long ranged attacks, but enough about tactics now is a time to kick back and relax, because when you enter the dreamscape you'll get a workout you newer got before. So lets get to the park and go play some hot potato."
Then they asked in unison "What is hot potato?"
"Oh you're missing out. I'll show you at the park. Now lets go." With that said we went off to the park.
"And that is how you play hot potato." It was a beautiful afternoon and we were at the park playing a couple of monster games.
Then Scoots said "So let me get this straight, hot potato is a game where you pretend the ball is literally a hot potato so you pass it to the nearest player and try to pass it around as long as possible."
"Pretty much yeah. You should've seen the games that we play at the empire. Those usually consist of at least fifty children. That is when the game becomes total chaos. It's pretty fun then. So shall we play."
"Yeah." They all said in unison. And with that said we started to play. It was quite the interesting game but after about half an hour we got two visitors. They were two earth ponies the first one had a faded pink coat and a purple mane with a white line going through it. She was also wearing a blue skirt with a white blouse and a dark blue jacket. To top it all of she was also wearing a tiara. The second one had a grey coat with a silver mane. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a blue shirt and black jacket.
"Hello Sweetie belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom." That certainly got our attention and when we looked we found our other friends Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
"Hello guys wana join?" Asked Scootaloo.
"Uhm yeah sure, but what are you playing." They both asked.
"We are playing hot potato it's a new game we came up with, since You want to play, so lets tell you the rules." We did and after we did we played and played until the sun went down and when that happened we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
***
"Man Mike did you see that pass that Silver did, I mean I didn't now she could kick that hard." I Said.
"Well she is an earth pony so I'm not to surprised, so can we read a little of the bestiary so that I can see what kind of trouble exists in this future."
"Speaking of the future how are you taking this?"
"Well it is a little bit to take in, but I don't let it get to me I usually try to live in the present because when you lived for as long as I have, you start to live in the present."
"Well as long as you're okay and yeah of course we can read it. I am curious as to what creatures exists besides timber wolves and hydras."
"Wait wait did you say timber wolves." I nodded . "God damn it Fang, how did you go berserk? Man I hope we can snap you out of tit I really do."
"Uhm Mike care to fill me in on who Fang is. Is he your friend or...?"
"Oh yeah you don't know him. I sometimes forget that."
"Again uhm you've been alive for like two days. I don't even know your last name. so how could you forget that?" I asked completely befuddled.
"I just did okay. Back on topic Fang was a ware wolf who had magical power over plant matter he was one of my armies general. He was also a pretty good friend of mine."
After I finally digested that whole story I asked "We are going after him aren't we?"
"Yes we are but before I can do that I need to get you all into shape so I'm going to go to the dreamscape now while you eat and prepare yourself for bed. See you in a couple of hours." And then he turned into smoke and disappeared into my mark once again.
"Man I'm really not looking forward to this night. Well we promised him we are going to help him so that is exactly what we are going to do." With that said I went to Sweet apple acres to get myself ready for bed.
***
When I got to the house I noticed that there was a big box in front of the house and there was Big Mac trying to get it inside. So I went up to him to ask what he was doing.
"Good evening Big Mac, What are you doing?"
"Oh hello there Apple Bloom' I'm just bringing grannies new rocking chair inside. Speaking off, can you help me out."
"Sure why not." With that said I went to one side of the box and picked it up while Big Mac was at the other. With me helping we quickly got the box inside and into the living room.
"Good evening young whippersnapper, how did your day go?" She asked in an inquisitive tone.
"Oh you should have been there me and my friends were playing a new game that we made up and it was very fun. The game was called hot potato."
"Wow that sounds like a great game you'll have to show me the game later. Now could you go down to the basement and get me my tool box while I unpack the parts."
"Okay I'm already on it." I did as I said and I was already at the door to the basement. With that I went down there and searched for the tool box after a minute of searching I found it and then I brought it to Big Mac.
"Ah thank you Apple Bloom you want to help me put it together."
"Of course I've got nothing better to do. So how can I help?"
After a second of thinking he said "Could you read me the instructions so that I don't make any mistakes."
"Sure." With that I picked up the instructions and went on to reading it out loud.
After about one hour we finally finished putting the chair together and carried the old one out and then we settled down for dinner. That went down without incident and when I finished I went to get ready for bed.
"Man I can't wait to go to the dreamscape. This is going to be fun." And with that I went to sleep.
***Dreamscape***
When I opened my eyes I was met with a very peculiar site. i was laying in a grass plain next to a lake, but that wasn't the weird part, the weird part was the huge castle of in the distance. Next to the castle I noticed that there was a huge outside gym with a race track surrounding it. And then I heard a familiar voice.
"Welcome AB to casa de Mike and I know what you are going to ask so I'm going to say it out right your friends are not here yet. So while we wait..." Then he materialized a table with four chairs. on the table there was a plate full of biscuits and next to it was a tea pot. "Lets have a little tea party. What do you say?"
"Okay, but can I ask what flavor is the tea."
"Bloom didn't I already explain to you the rules of this place. The tea can be any flavor you want. For all I care you can turn it into ice cream just enjoy Yourself, because as far as I know there are not that many people out there that have a friend that can send them to the dreamscape so again enjoy." When he finished talking he poured me my drink. When I looked inside I found it to be filled with water so I decided to change it to my favorite tea flavor ever. Blueberry mix.
"Well I know this place gives me almost unlimited power, but you can understand why I forget."
"Yes I understand." Then he took a sip of his tea. "So how quickly can you summon your gauntlet by now."
"Eh I can do it pretty quick almost on reflex, but I still need to train with it a bit."
"Good Bloom we will work on that and on your strength today. Now lets wait for your friends to arrive." With that said we went back to our tea party to wait for my friends to arrive. while we were waiting we were making some casual conversation mostly asking him about his kingdom and how it worked, but then we heard a slight pop and lo and behold Sweetie appeared right on the chair to my left.
"A good night Sweetie how is your night going." After Sweetie finally snapped out of her stopper she asked.
"Uhm where am I? Is this the dreamscape that you mentioned Apple Bloom?"
"Yes this is the dreamscape, do you want some tea?"
"Of course." And with that he pored her her glass of boiled water. After some time of looking she asked. "Where's the tea?" Since I didn't want to listen to that explanation again I just decided to spawn in some tea. "What the? Where did this come from?"
"Look Sweetie I'm going to make this quick. In this realm we can do basically anything you can think of. There is just one rule You can not mess with each others creations. Oh yeah and before I forget if you are spawning something in make sure you place it into the room.
"So we basically have god mode enabled in here?"
"Yup pretty much." Said Mike. "So go nuts." And after that we heard another pop and in came Scootaloo, right on the chair to my right holding a rubber chicken for some reason.
"Uhh why am I holding a rubber chicken?"
"Hey where did you find Chica? I've been searching for her for a long time. Well now I have the complete Fazbear collection." After that he took the rubber chicken away and added it to a box next to three other plushies. One was a purple bunny, wearing a bow tie, another was fox dressed as a pirate and the third one was a brown bear wearing a top hat. After that he added the chicken to the box and it turned into another plushie. It was a yellow chicken wearing a bib which said let's eat.
"Uhm, why do you have a box full of stuffed animals?"
"Well my little crusader friends these plushies are going to be your teachers. So do you want to meet them?"
Then I said "Sure, right after I explain the rules of this place to Scootaloo."
"Okay, then when you finish explaining everything to her, come to the training ground where you are going to meet your new teachers." And with that the tea set, table and the chairs disappeared along with him.
***
After I finally finished explaining everything to Scootaloo, we made our way to the training ground. When we finally arrived at the training ground we saw mike behind the four plushies and then he said "Okay crusaders time to meet your teachers." Then some smoke started to come out of the plushies and after that four different robots were standing in their place. They looked exactly as their smaller counter parts only they were allot more metallic. If you want a visual they looked something like this.
Yeah they looked like that but then the bear spoke. "Hello crusaders my name is Freddy Fazbear and these are my friends Bonnie." He pointed to the purple rabbit. "Chica." He pointed to the yellow chicken. "And here we have Foxy." After that the rest of them said hi in unison. After that Mike poked his head over them and he said.
"So crusaders what do you think of your new teachers." He had a shit eating grin on his face after that Scootaloo decided to speak up.
"They look awesome. So what is our first lesson?" Then foxy decided to speak up.
"Ah I like this lass, well first we are going to do some warm ups and then my friend Bonnie is going to take over. So lets begin by doing ten laps on the running track." And then he sped off. With that prompt we all ran off after him to do those ten laps.
After we finished the ten laps we were in different states of exhaustion. With me and Scootaloo basically being okay, but Sweetie was completely exhausted. "okay yea lasses now I will give the captains hat off to Bonnie." And then they switched places.
"Okay then little ones now we are going to split you up. Sweetie you are with Chica on long ranged training. Scootaloo you are with Freddy on aerial combat. And you Apple Bloom are with me on fist to fist combat. now go to your respected teachers and train." Then Scootaloo raised her hand.
"Uhm Bonnie I can't fly." But then Mike said.
"Oh yeah Scoots I can fix that for you. The only thing that you need to do is wish for it."
"Oh yeah we have wishes, wait you can really do that for me." Then Mike nodded.
"I can but for now it will only work in the dreamscape, but when we get our first piece of armour, then you will be able to fly in real life as well."
"Okay then Mike I wish for my wings to grow out."
"Your wish is my command." Then he snapped his fingers and some kind of smoke surrounded Scootaloo and when it disappeared there stood Scootaloo with her wings looking allot bigger and draconic. "Here you go, enjoy."
After she took a good look at her wings. First her face looked like it was in shock, but after that her face split into the biggest smile I have ever seen. Then she spread her wings and shoot straight into the sky.
"Okay then students now that that is over and done with lets go to your respective teachers and lets get to training." Said mike. And then we vent to our teachers. Lets first start with mine training.
"Okay then Apple Bloom. First summon in your gauntlet." Since I could now do this on reflex it didn't take long for me to summon it. "Good then now that you have that down pat lets start with some simple judo moves and after that we are going to spar."
"Um okay then." And with that said we did that for the rest of the night to say that I was bad would be an understatement, but Bonnie said that I am getting better. Next we are going to move on to Scootaloos training. Her training basically consisted of following Freddie and lifting rocks and as for Sweetie. She and Chica were basically shooting at moving targets and that is how our night continued for the next four hours.
After that we met up back at the center of the training course. Then Mike asked our teachers. "So what are your thoughts on the training."
Bonnie said. "Well Apple Bloom has got some work to do, But I think she is going to be fully trained in about a month."
Then Chica said "Sweeties magic and endurance are going to need some work, but i think that if I push her I can get her ready in about the same time."
then Freddie said "The new wings that you gave her, well she needs to get used to them, but other then that she is going to be ready in the same amount of time."
"Well that is definitely good news, you girls are going to be ready in about a month. Okay then gang you can go inside the castle, I still have to talk to them about one last thing." Said Mike.
"Okay boss man see you tomorrow." And then our teachers disappeared.
"Okay girls now that you see what you are going to be doing when do you think you are going to be ready to head out to collect the first piece?"
"Well Mike since we have school why don't we go to Canterlot at the weekend to quickly collect the piece and then come back before anyone notices were gone. It shouldn't be that hard." Said Sweetie.
Then I said "I agree with Sweetie on this. How about you Scootaloo?"
"I don't see any problem with going at the weekend so why not."
"Okay then we're going to Canterlot at the weekend. With that planned out, now enjoy the rest of your separate dreams." Then Mike, Sweetie and Scootaloo disappeared and I was left alone to do as I wished.
"Now lets go on that roller coaster." And that is how I spent the rest of the night.
The rest of the week went by in a routine. First I got up went to school, did our homework, goofed off until night and then we would train during the night. We were already showing some improvement. I was getting a little bit more muscle on me. Scoots was killing it with here maneuvers and Sweeties magic was at a new high point. She knew some more spells, besides the regular levitation she was now able to control the four elements of nature she also learned how to camouflage herself and others, since Mike said that that is going to be of great importance. That is basically all she learned as for me I also learned the camouflage spell and I also learned how to summon in Mikes war hammer, which as Mike said looked a little different but only in colouring. It had a black hammer top with two red and green apples on its side it also had a red pole. It definitely looked interesting and that is how far we were able to train. On the night before we would go to Canterlot we had a combined training session with Mike.
"Okay girls you made some real progress. I'm very proud of you all. Now as for us getting to Canterlot, how are we going to do it?" Then Apple Bloom raised her hand. "Yes AB."
"We can take the train the only real problem is our respective parents, but thank Celestia I already thought of that." Then Sweetie decided to take over.
"We are going to have a slumber party tonight. So if we want to go we can do it tonight." Then Scootaloo said.
"The slumber party is going to take place at Sweeties house, since she is the closest to the train station. I already bought the tickets, so that we could go." She pulled out the tickets out from her pocket.
"Great job girls I knew you would come up with something. Now for the gear we are going to need. We need gloves so that we don't leave any fingerprints. I don't know where exactly in Canterlot the piece is located, but if I had to guess, it is most definitely located in a museum." After that Sweetie spoke up.
"Wait are we going to break into a museum." She said in a fear filled voice.
"Lets hope not, but I rather be safe then sorry. As for clothes bring with you something that you can run in and of course caps so that we don't leave any DNA evidence. Can you do that?" The crusaders all nodded. "Now that we know what we need to bring lets talk about our disguises. Sweetie and AB you two know the spell right?" They nodded. "Okay then Sweetie you are going to think of a disguise for you and Scootaloo while AB is going to think of her own. That is your homework for the evening make sure to do them okay, because I really don't want to get you in trouble. With that said lets go have some fun." I was stopped by Scootaloo.
"Hey what do I have to do besides getting the clothes."
"Ah Scoots. You are going to be on a very important job. You are going to be on lookout duty, since you are a pegasus and therefore have the best eyes out of all of us here. You are the one thing that can ether make or brake this mission so make sure that you are well rested okay." That semed to have satisfied her, because she had the biggest smile on her face. Then I decided to sweeten the deal. "And if I am right this might be the chest plate and if we get that you will be able to fly in real life as well." Then she jumped at me and said.
"Really am I really going to fly in real life too?" I simply nodded and she rocketed into the sky.
"Man I've never seen her this happy." Said Sweetie.
"Me ether." Said Apple Bloom.
"Lets just hope this goes down according to plan." Then Scootaloo landed in front of us and she said.
"Well then lets have some fun what are we doing." That put a smile on my face.
"We are going to watch a movie, but not just any movie we are going to watch one of my favorite movies ever made Deadpool. So, who wants to watch?" Then I saw six hands raise into the air and one hook. "Okay then sit back and enjoy the awesomeness." With that i summoned in a giant TV and started playing the movie.
***
"Man that movie was awesome, it had a little bit of everything, comedy, action and a nice story to boot." I said.
"Well I'm glad that you enjoyed it. It's not often that I find someone who has the same tastes in movies as I do." Mike said to me. We were on our way to Sweeties. To get ready for the quote on quote slumber party.
"So why couldn't we talk about the movie at school." I said in a pouty voice.
"Well you could, but then people would ask question that we don't want to get asked. Scootaloo. Ten a clock." Then I turned left and there she was speeding down the street on her scooter. She promptly noticed me and stepped on the breaks.
"Hello Apple Bloom are you ready for tonight." I just showed her my bag and she understood. "Okay then lets go." and with that we went of to Sweeties.
When we arrived we knocked on the door and sure enough Sweetie opened the door. "Oh hello there guys. You're a bit early, but I guess that means we can have more fun. Come on in." With that we all stepped inside. When we entered we heard a sewing machine and a soft humming. It was Rarity. She was currently working on a dress, but when she noticed us coming in she stopped and said.
"Ah hello there darlings your a bit early aren't you." She said in a very posh voice.
"Yeah we know we just wanted to get some more time for playing games before we go to bed." I said to her.
"Okay just make sure to not stay up too long." With that she returned to her work and we vent upstairs to Sweeties room.
"So we have a couple of hours before we have to go so why don't we play some games. Hey Mike do you know any god games?" Asked Scootaloo. Then Mike appeared and he said.
"Well lets see." After some time of him thinking he snapped his fingers and asked. "Has anyone of you ever played Card wars." We all shock our heads. "Well then I'm going to show you how to play it." Then he summoned in a board with a honeycomb patern, a bunch of cards and four stacks of different square chips. Then he explained how to play it. It wasn't anything too difficult to grasp and after he finished explaining it we played for the next two hours or so.
"That was certainly a nice game we should probably pitch the idea to a game company. Of course if you allow it Mike." Said Sweetie.
"Sure, maybe after we restore my empire, for now what is the next activity." I gave it a little thought and then I said.
"Why don't we play a little bit of truth or dare." Scootaloo and Sweetie were completely om board, but Mike said.
"I'll only play if there is no kissing involved otherwise I'm in." With that detail committed to memory I nodded and we sat into a circle. Sweetie grabbed a bottle and placed it in the centre of the circle.
Then Sweetie said "Well Mike why don't you go first?"
"Okay then." With that he spined the bottle and it started to rotate. After a couple of moments it started to slow down and then it stopped on Sweetie. "Okay Sweetie truth or dare."
"Truth." Then Mike looked thoughtful for a moment and then a smirk appeared on his face.
"Do you have a crush on someone and if you do who is it?" After that Sweetie looked as red as a tomato. After some time she gulped and then she answered.
"Y-yes I do."
"And." I said.
"Who is it?" Said Scootaloo. After she gulped once more she whispered.
"It's Button Mash." After that we were exited.
"Oh I knew it Scoots now you owe me ten bits." Then Sweetie said.
"Wait you knew?"
"Well it is kinda obvious, but don't worry your secret is save with us." Then we did the signs to the Pinkie promise and then Sweetie spined the bottle. It stopped on Mike.
"Truth or dare." After some time of thinking he said.
"Dare." Then Sweetie smiled.
"I dare you to put on the puffiest dress that you can think of and start singing opera songs." Mike just looked dumbfounded.
"Well played and jokes on you I'm actually going to enjoy this." With that he snapped his fingers and the puffy dress appeared on him and to complete the look he also had a giant wig and make-up on. Then he started to sing and dance. We were laughing so much that I was barely taking in breath then he stopped snapped his fingers and he was back to his normal self. "So did you enjoy my performance?" after we calmed down enough we said in unison.
"Yes." Then I said.
"I haven't laughed this much since I've seen the baby pictures from my brother and sister. Man, as funny as it was it was also spectacular. You have a great singing voice." Then he said.
"Why thank you, now lets go back to the game." And with that we played the game until we were ready to head out. Of course we had to keep it down since we didn't want to wake up Rarity.
When we were ready to head out, we dressed up in our clothes and put our backpacks on. Then Mike said.
"Okay then crusaders are we ready to go." We all nodded. "Okay then I'm going to check on Rarity and you go and camouflage yourself." With that Mike went to Rarities room. Me and Sweetie used our magics to change ourselves into something different.
Then we heard mike say "Okay girls Rarity is completely knocked out." Then he turned to us and opened his eyes wider. "Man these are great disguises. Okay now that we are ready put your backpacks on and go." Then we slowly made our way down stairs and out the door. After a short walk we finally arrived at the train station, we boarded the train and sat down in a both. Then Mike asked. "How long does this train ride take?" After some thought I said.
"About an hour, why?" Then he looked thoughtful and then he said.
"Well since we have so much time to waste what do you want to do."
"We could play Card wars some more." Said Scootaloo.
"Okay then." With that he summoned in the game and we played.
***
After an hour of us playing the game we finally arrived at Canterlot. "Well here we are." Said Mike. Then I asked.
"So where do we go now?"
"Now we go down the main street until I find where the signal is coming from." Canterlot was very lively with guards at night, so this might cause a couple of problems. Since we had no other options we went down the main street. We didn't pay too much attention to our surroundings, because we were to concentrated on following Mike, who decided to appear to better search for the armour piece. After about twenty minutes of searching Canterlot, Mike signaled us to follow him down an allyway. "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the armour piece is not located in a museum. The bad news is that it is located in the sewers." We all head faces of disgust and the whole scene was punctuated with us saying eeeev. Sweetie especially voiced her disgust.
"Do we have to? I mean don't get me wrong but isn't it first going to be difficult to get down there, with the guards walking around and second do you want us to pass out from the smell." Mike then thought for a minute and then he said.
"To answer your first concern I'm going to quote myself no guts no glory. As for the second one you and AB can create nose plugs for the stench. Any other questions?" We all shock our head l. "Good then lets find a nearby man hole and get this over with." With that me and sweetie created the aforementioned nose plugs and followed Mike. When we arrived at the man hole Sweetie used her telekinesis to lift it up. Then Scootaloo jumped in, then me and Sweetie would be next, but then we heard a male voice say.
"Hey you stop!" It was one of the guards. With that Sweetie quickly jumped in and I used my crystals to lock the man hole completely.
"Well we better hurry up. We have about three minutes before the sewers are over run with guards." Then Scootaloo decided to ask.
"Are we fugitives now." Then Mike decided to say.
"No we are hooligans now, but when we take that armour piece we might be considered as fugitives. Depends of if they catch us." And with that we quickly and quietly made our way through the brick laid sewers. It didn't take us long to run into trouble. At one point Mike stopped us and said.
"There are guards around this corner. They seem to be looking away. Now lets quickly make it across this intersection and we are home free to get the armour piece." With that in mind we quickly crossed over and made a break for it. After some time Mike stopped us again. "Why are the guards standing watch over the armour piece?" That made me curious and I took a peak and sure enough there were at least four guards who were watching over a black blue and purple chest piece. Then I poked Mike and told him my idea.
"Why don't we use what you taught us to ether lure the guards away or take them on and knock them out." Yeah it was a stupid idea, but it was the best one that we got. After some time of thinking he said.
"Okay Sweetie you use your magic to create a sound further down the hall they are probably going to follow it. Then we make a break for it, we take the armour, Scoots puts it on and we make a hole into the ceiling and she flies us back home. Did everybody get that?" I nodded and summoned in my gauntlet. Scootaloo and Sweetie both nodded and we started our plan. Sweetie made a ball of raw magic in her hand and threw it across the hall from us. It made an explosion and the effect was immediate.
"Hey what was that!" One of them said.
"We should probably check it out." Said another. Then they all abandoned their post to check it out. Then we made our move. We quickly ran towards the podium and after checking and disabling the alarm we took the armour piece and gave it to Scootaloo to put it on. Before she put it on I gave her a cloth to bite into. She looked at me confused and then I said.
"Trust me you need to bite into this. This i going to hurt." Then she took the cloth and put it in her mouth, after that she started putting on the armour. When she finally finished nothing seemed to happen for a second, but then it started to glow and I definitely heard some muffled and I guess I wasn't the only one, because I heard some guards coming our way.
"Hey intruders stop!" Well I guess it was time for plan B.
"Sweetie cover me." With that said I summoned in my battle axe and charged at them. One of the unicorn guards wanted to shot something at me, but sweetie beat him to it. With a clear shot at the guard I launched him at the wall where he promptly collapsed then I did an uppercut motion and sent another one into the ceiling. The last one promptly ran away. "Well that was easy."
"Don't say that yet. You two cower us while I get Scoots back to her senses. This will take a couple of minutes." Said Mike. With that said me and Sweetie went into our battle positions and waited. After some time we heard allot of footsteps approaching us.
"Um Scoots it would be lovely if you stopped being in a comatose state and helped us out." With that me and Sweetie made some walls to block them off.
"Wow that was a rush." We heard Scootaloo say.
"Yeah good for you now get over here pick us up and fly us out of here." With that she completely snapped out of it picked us up and we made our way to the ceiling me and Sweetie blasted a hole into it and we flew up just in time, because the guards finally broke down the walls, but we were long gone by that time. With that we made our way back to Ponywille to get some sleep.
***
When we got back we flew to Sweeties house and got inside through the window that led to her room. When we got in we collapsed into our sleeping bags. We dispelled our enchantments and promptly fell asleep. Before I knocked I heard Mike say. "Ah crusaders sleep well tonight, because the future holds even more trials that are going to be progressively more difficult. Goodnight and sleep well." With that said I quickly fell asleep with a smile on my face.
"The sun was rising and our little heroes are currently still sleeping and Mike was bored out of his mind because they don't want to wake up" I heard Mike say. It definitely woke me up, but I made sure to voice my annoyance with a groan.
"Uh mike could you shut up. I'm trying to sleep here." I said in a sleepy tone.
"No can do Scootaloo. Sweetie and AB are already up and besides don't you want to test your new wings." That made me think and I decided to get up.
"Okay I'm up." I said, but then I heard a click and some giggling. "What? Why are you laughing?" They didn't stop it then I decided to go to the bathroom and check myself. When I did I couldn't help, but laugh as well. I looked like a clown and if the click that I heard was anything to go by they also took a picture. "Ha ha guys, real funny I'm going to get you back for this!" With that said I washed the make up off and returned back to Sweeties room. When I got in I was met with a most curious scene, it was of my friends all huddling around a picture. Then I went over to them and looked at the picture and I couldn't help but fall on my back and lough. Yeah most people think that I can't take a joke, but I can if it's all in good fun. After that we heard the door open and Rarity stepped inside.
"Girls keep it down. Especially you Sweetie, you know I need my beauty sleep. Now keep it down or go outside." With that she closed the door and probably went back to her room to go to sleep. Then Sweetie said.
"Okay then guys lets go outside and test Scootaloos new wings." That made me exited. I almost forgot what we did yesterday and then a thought struck me.
"Hey do you think that we are going to be on the news today for what we did yesterday." Then Mike said.
"Yeah we might be." Then he posed for a minute. "Who wants to watch the news say I." With that we all said I and made our way downstairs. When we got down Sweetie turned on the TV and we sat around to watch it.
"Today on the news yesterday night there was a robbery at the museum of magical artifacts. They say that a powerful chest plate was stolen by three teens no less. One of them was an earth pony, the other one was a unicorn and the last one was a pegasus. The way that they pulled of the heist is through magic that has been said to be long forgotten. If you don't believe me then check out this security tape that we got from the royal guard." With that it cut to a tape that was filming the chest plate. At first nothing much happened only guards walking around, but then they moved off screen and then we appeared. Then all the events from last night played out me putting on the chest plate, Sweetie and Apple Bloom protecting me and all of us blasting out of the sewers. Then the they returned back to the news cast. "Guards say if any of you see these individuals then you should contact the nearest guard station and report them immediately." Then our pictures appeared in the top right hand corner with bounties underneath. Thankfully it said only alive but that still made us think. "With that lets go to the weather." Then Sweetie turned off the TV. Then I said.
"Wow we have bounties and we are wanted. Mike is this normal and why did they say we stole something from a museum?" Then Mike sat down and thought for a moment.
"Hmm it seams someone doesn't like us that much, because that chest plate was nowhere near the museum." Mike said.
"Wait, why do they want us captured?" Asked Apple Bloom.
"I don't know why they want us captured, but if I would to hazard a guess then I think they want to stop me from returning... I think we are going to wait for at least a month before we go after the next piece. Now that who ever knows I'm returning, well have to plan this out allot better then before and to plan better you are all going to have to be at your best. Now with that said you go and get dressed while I prepare breakfast." Then Sweetie said.
"But you can't touch anything how are you going to do that?" Then Mike smiled.
"Well with the chest plate back I can make myself tangible, but only one part at a time. The more of my armour we collect the stronger you and by extension I become. Now go get dressed and I'll prepare breakfast." With that he walked off to the kitchen and started on breakfast while we walked upstairs and got dressed.
***meanwhile in Canterlot castle***
In a shadowy chamber a lone pony was sitting in his throne and he was not happy. He was currently waiting for one of his spies and right when he was about to call him, he appeared before him.
"May we unite as one under the rule of our king. Good morning my king. I'm sorry that you have been waiting for me, but Shining wouldn't let me go. Now as for your request I'm sad to inform that the armour was taken." That seemed to have angered the king.
"Black Fire you need to bring this news to me sooner. As for the armour it seems that the lich king is returning right as the old fart prophesied. This is going to be very annoying if he is able to gather all of the pieces. Then all of the monsters of the Farelight empire are going to become one of our allies and it's bad enough that we are already allied with the griffins and dragons." The aforementioned Black Fire is a black coated unicorn stallion who had a dark grey mane and had red eyes. "Black Fire make sure that you find the lich king and make sure that you kill him for good this time."
"As you command my king." With that said Black Fire disappeared.
"Well even if you did return lich king, I will stop you and I will use your armour to take over the world even if it's the last thing I do. Now with that done I need to go and make my daily appearance in court." With that said he got up from his throne got dressed and left the room. "I will get rid of those unruly monsters if it's the last thing I do."
***Ponywille Sweeties house***
"Ah choo. Oh someone's talking about me." Said Mike while working on some eggs. Then we all entered the kitchen and we smelled the air.
"Mmm. What is that beautiful smell?" Asked Sweetie.
"Oh this? This is something that I had for breakfast back in the day. It's fried eggs with mushrooms cheese and its spiced with origano. Take a seat it will be done in a minute." With that we all took our seats and waited for Mike to finish breakfast. After a couple of minutes Mike gave us our breakfasts and we started to eat. It was freaking delicious.
"Man these are the best eggs that I ever had." I said. That was also met with nods from my friends.
"Well thank you all. I'll make sure to cook for you if I can." Said Mike. Then Sweetie asked.
"So after breakfast what are we going to do today."
"Oh I think we can figure something out." Then he snapped his fingers. "Perhaps we can go to a secluded place in White tail woods and practice your magic. What do you think?" After some time of thinking it over Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah we can do that and since Scootaloo got an armour piece I need to teach her how to summon her armour and weapon."
"Well then that settles it then after breakfast we go to White tail woods to practice." With that said we returned to our separate meals.
***
After breakfast and after telling Rarity where we are going, we left the boutique and made our way towards White tail. On our way through town we heard allot of conversations talking about the robbery at Canterlot. Mostly just speculations of who the teens might be, but thankfully no one was even close. So with that we quickly went towards the forest. After about five minutes of us walking through the forest we finally found a spot where we can train in piece. It was a semi large clearing which was about fifteen meters away from the path. When we arrived at the center Mike said.
"Okay then girls get into your disguises we don't want anyone to see who you are. Then you two go practice over there while I train Sweetie, okay." With that we all put on our disguises and went to our separate sections.
"Okay then Scootaloo lets start by summoning in your armour. First clear your mind and then picture your armour appearing over your body." Putting words to action I cleared my mind and pictured my armour appearing and it did. It was black with orange and dark purple details. That same motive was also extended to my wings. They turned to their draconic style and were cowered by the armour as well. After I finished my check up I heard Apple Bloom say. "Good job Scoots now that you have your armour we are going to work on your weapon. I'm going to ask Mike about what it should be. Hey Mike you got a minute." With that Mike stepped towards us and asked.
"What do you need me for?"
"We need your opinion on what weapon Scootaloo should use. So what do you suggest?" After some time of thinking he said.
"Well shes a pegasus and therefore has an aerial advantage so something quick and deadly." After some more thinking he said to me. "Hey Scoots why don't you try a longbow. Its very powerful and if trained very deadly try it." With that said he went back to Sweetie.
"Okay then lets try a long bow." With that said I pictured a longbow and quiver in my mind. After a couple of seconds it finally appeared in my hand and on back. After checking it was again made of the same material as my armour and coloured in the same way. "So how does it look?" After some time of her checking it out she summoned in her hammer and said.
"Okay then lets see if we can put your bow to god use." With that she struck the ground and four different targets appeared. "Hit the targets in quick succession and we are going to be repeating this until you're good at it." With that she went away and I was left to try this exercise. With that I pulled the first arrow aligned my shot and released then I quickly pulled another and did the same and then one more time. Every target was struck, but not in the center. "How did you?"
"Well it looks like that year of bow training didn't go to waste after all, but I'm a little rusty. I definitely need to train with this." I said.
"Good job Scootaloo. After a night of training you are truly going to become a master. Well I think..." And then we heard a loud crash and then a roar from nearby.
"What was that?" Asked Sweetie.
"That crusaders is a berserk monster so you better get ready to fight." With that we heard a crash and then a monster got to the clearing. Then I said.
"That my friends is a draugr overlord. These guys are difficult too take out especially if they are ten meters tall. Now get into position and take him down." With that said I went back into Apple Bloom and took over one of her eyes.
"Hey what happened to my eye." She said.
"Don't worry AB I only took over your eye to see. Now get to fighting." With that said the draugr roared and finally charged at us. Scootaloo went into the air and started shooting while Sweetie shot a fire spell at it.
"Well Mike you got any tips?" Asked AB While dodging the draugors axe.
"Well use fire spell to burn it and if you use brute force make sure that you attack the joints. Oh and watch out for that fist." And of course I was right, but thankfully she dodged before he hit her.
"Okay then lets see what I can do." Said AB. Then she jumped into the air and attacked his knee. When she struck there was a sickening crack and the lover part of his leg completely fell off. "Okay Scootaloo, Sweetie burn him." They both nodded and attacked with their own fire attacks. After those I delivered the final blow by striking his head. When the hammer struck his head there was another crack and the head completely caved it killing the draugr immediately. Then he fell on his back and stayed down.
"Okay crusaders you did god now get your stuff and lets go before someone decides to search this place. I'll tell you more about this thing at the farm." With that Scootaloo picked us up and we flew to Sweet apple acres.
***
When we finally got to the club house. We got in and sat down then I said.
"Okay crusaders god job." They were all tired out. "Okay we need to work on our endurance because you guys look pooped."
"You think. We just battled a ten meter tall draugr or whatever he is." Scootaloo breathed out.
"Okay then. Does anybody have any questions?" After they finally calmed down enough to talk Sweetie asked.
"Can we expect more of them?"
"No not at least for a long time, but until then I have to ask you which one of you has the best memory?"
"Uhm that would be me. Why?" Asked Sweetie.
"I need you to study the beastiary so that when we do get attacked we are prepared." With that I handed her the beastiary. "This is going to be your homework until next time."
"Yeah sure I'll do my best, but don't you know more about them then I do?"
"I would, but my beastiary is kinda outdated. So you can understand now does anybody else have any questions?" Then Apple Bloom raised her hand.
"Um why did we kill that monster? Why didn't we reason with him?" That made me think and after some time I finally figured out my answer.
"Well that my friends is because that was not a born draugr he was made by a necromancer."
"How could you tell the difference." Asked Sweetie.
"Well mostly the eyes, but he also had a distinctive aura about him."
"Oh great now we have a necromancer as well." Said Scootaloo.
"Now don't be like that it's not that bad and besides if we do run into him then I have the perfect way of taking him out."
"And that is?" Asked Apple Bloom.
"Confuse him and annoy him. If you do that then they can't concentrate and if they can't concentrate then they can't preform their magic, since necromancy requires large amount of concentration."
"That... that actually makes allot of sense." Said Sweetie.
"Okay then I think we all had enough excitement for today. Why don't we go to Sugar cube corner and get ourselves something sweet to eat. How does that sound?" Then Sweetie said.
"That actually sounds quite nice. Lets go." With that said they changed back to their normal modes and we all went to Sugar cube corner.
***
When we got into town we noticed that it was under attack by werewolves.
After some time of us watching Scootaloo asked.
"Okay should we intervene now or should we wait for the guards to do something and fail?"
"Eh lets wait. I want to see what they do." With that said I sat down and watched. Then Apple Bloom asked.
"Um shouldn't we do something before someone gets hurt?" I gave it some thought and then I said.
"Look AB we have to see how capable the guard is so that we can see what they can handle. So with that said sit down and enjoy the show, if someone does get hurt then we have magic to heal them up." After that the rest of the crusaders sat down and we wached. The guards finally arrived and tried to surround the werewolves, but that tactic proved to be their downfall, since they only used unicorn guards. "Okay girls can you tell me what they did wrong there?" Sweetie then answered.
"They only used unicorn guards, which are not supposed to be used for up close and personal combat. They should have used earth ponies, but since the guard is mostly made out of pegasus and unicorn guards that would not be possible." I was impressed and I made sure to voice it. After that we returned to the show. The guard tried a different tactic that basically consisted of them shooting at them. That is not smart only because they are magic resistant, but also because they get angry.
"Okay girls I've seen enough to give my verdict on the guard. They are a bunch of rich posers that have never even won in a sparing mach against a colt. With that said camouflage on, weapons out and lets go." Then I returned to Apple Bloom and watched. When they finally camouflaged themselves and released their armour and weapons we all charged at the rampaging monsters. The first ones to deal any damage were of course Scootaloo and Sweetie since they had ranged attacks so it was no surprise that they already took out two wolfs. After that we were already in range of one of them Apple Bloom pulled back her hammer and struck the third one right in the face, killing it instantly. "Okay crusaders we have five more of them to go and they are all in the town square and are heading towards the castle. Scootaloo you go on ahead and try to delay them and if possible neutralise. Well attack from the back and take them out. Got that?" She nodded and flew off. With that done we quickly sprinted to the town square where we found four little werewolves and their pack leader which was substantially taller then the rest. Standing at around seven meters. Scootaloo was already taking shots at the big one from up above while the guard was busy with the small ones. "Okay Sweetie freeze the ground." She did as I asked making all of the wolves stuck in place. "Okay then AB you go for the alpha while Sweetie you go help the guard with their batch." They both nodded and were off. Apple Bloom didn't waste any time in dealing damage to the alpha. First she went for his legs. When she struck the first one you could hear a sickening crack and after that the tearing of flesh and finally we heard the sound of a wolfs howl. It was very loud.
"Ouch I didn't know that they were that loud." Said Scootaloo. After his haul his leg started to regenerate.
"Oh fuck it's one of the regenerators. Sweetie did you finish your task?" I asked.
"Yeah and now I'm being chased by the guards." She screamed back in a high pitched tone while dodging the guards. The wolf did not like that. Then I snapped my fingers. "Scootaloo pick up Sweetie. Sweetie scream as loud as you can. The wolf seams to be vulnerable to high pitched noises." Scootaloo saluted and went to Sweetie belle and picked her up right before the guards would have captured her. "Okay Sweetie let her rip." After I said that Sweetie let loose the loudest scream that you can imagine and I swear that I saw a couple of windows crack. As for the wolf he simply laid down on his stomach and cowered his ears. After that Apple Bloom took the shot and struck him right on the head. Smashing it to a bloody pulp. "Okay then Scoots now get AB and lets skedaddle before the guard gets their bearings." With that Scootaloo picked up Apple Bloom and we flew off towards the spot where we started. Once there they quickly transformed back and we started walking towards Ponywille like nothing happened.
***
After we got our celebratory milkshakes we approached our crime scene. Twilight, her friends and a couple of guards were there checking it out. Apple Bloom stepped towards her sister and asked.
"Hey Applejack what happened here, did we miss something?" After that she looked towards us and said.
"Apple Bloom what in sam hill are you doing here?"
"Well I saw ponies gathering around here so me and my friends decided to investigate." After that she took a sip of her drink.
"Smooth AB. Smooth." I said. After that applejack sighed.
"Your not going away until I tell you are you?" She and the other crusaders all shook their heads. "Okay then there was an attack on Ponywille conducted by some werewolves. Fluttershy says that they were searching for something, but we were sadly too late because when we arrived they were already defeated by the Teenage attackers as the guard started to call them." Then I said to the crusaders.
"The Teenage attackers huh well that's an interesting name. We'll have to remember that."
"Really they are that powerful to defeat those monsters." Said Scootaloo.
"Yeah, but that is due to the armour that they stole from Canterlot. But I'm not complaining as long as they're helping I don't have any problem with them." Said Applejack. After that Sweetie asked.
"So what's going to happen with the corpses?"
"Oh nothing much Twilight is just going to take some samples to study and the rest will be taken care off by the guards. Now you girls better git before you get in trouble." With that she shooed us away. Then we went towards Sweeties house to discuss what we found out.
***
Once in Sweeties room we finally started to talk about what we found out.
"Okay then crusaders or should I say Teenage attackers. Man that's a stupid name." I said.
"Yeah I guess we have to figure out a new name for us. Does anybody have any ideas."
"How about the lich warriors." Said Apple bloom.
"Nah how about team awesome." suggested Scootaloo.
"No." Said Sweetie. "That's just stupid." After that they all quieted down and thought. Then after some time it hit me.
"How about the Artifact hunters. How does that sound?" After that they just smiled and said in unison.
"Yeah that works." Then a thought occurred to me.
"Hey how come you can speak in unison so much." After that they looked at each other.
"Why is that weird?" Asked Sweetie.
"No it's just... you know what forget I asked that?" After that we went to playing some more card wars.
***
After a couple of rounds of us playing the game it was finally time for each of the girls to go home. I decided to go with Scootaloo this time since I still haven't seen her house or her parents. With that thought in mind I went with her to her house.
"Okay Mike I know you're going to be coming with me, but you have to be at your best behavior. I don't want my parents to think I went crazy. Did I make myself clear." I simply saluted and said.
"Crystal." With that said we arrived at her house and entered.
"Hi mom, hi dad."
"Oh hello there kiddo what's up?" Said a male voice presumably her father.
"Is that Scootaloo? Tell her that she needs to clean her room, before I blow a gasket." A female voice said definitely her mother.
"You heard her kiddo go do it. For both our sakes." Said her father.
"Okay I'm going. Make sure to call me for dinner later."
"Will do." With that we both went to her room to clean it up. When we arrived I saw a room that was a complete mess.
"Okay I didn't expect this from you at least not to the degree of actual pizza slices being stuck to the freaking roof." After that she looked embarrassed if the colour of her cheeks had anything to say about it.
"Look I may or may not be a lazy slob when I'm at home, but I am going to clean it this time." With that said she started on the task and since I knew this was going to take a long time, I decided to pitch in and help her out. After about ten minutes of us cleaning the room we finally heard Scoots dad calling her down for dinner.
"Okay then I've got to go. You make your self comfortable and I'll be right back." After that she went down stairs and I was left alone with my thoughts.
"Okay we are definitely going to have to speed up our our armour hunting if the monsters have anything to say about it. We'll have to go in about two weeks instead of a month to get one armour piece for Sweetie then well be at least able to fight these monsters at full power. I'm going to sleep on this and hope that I can finalize the plan tonight." With that said I simply knocked out and went into the thinking corner of my mind.
The next morning I got woken up by a splash to the face. "Huh I'm up. I'm up. Don't get the teaser Greg." I screamed while also jumping up from the bean bag that I was sleeping in.
"Woah Mike calm down, it's me Scoots." She said. After that I calmed down and noticed that she was holding a glass in her hand.
"Okay what's the big idea. First off how did you know that it wouldn't go through me and second who wakes someone like that, except for the aforementioned Greg." I asked while almost standing over her. After a second she said.
"Look I'm sorry, but I needed to get you up early because I have to deliver newspapers today. Please don't hurt me." I didn't realise at the time that my eyes turned completely black, but I did step away from her and calmed down. When I finished I said.
"I'm sorry Scoots it's just that I'm worried about the future of the empire and lets just say I'm a little stressed. So again sorry for my little outburst." Then I got an idea. "Hey Scoots you want to figure out how fast we can finish your paper route if we fly." Then she smiled and asked.
"Really can I really fly to finish it?" I nodded and then I said.
"Sure as long as you make sure that you are not seen by too many ponies."
"Don't worry I'll put on my disguise when I start. Now lets go." With that she picked up her backpack and scooter and after that she left her room with me following behind.
***
After about five minutes we finally arrived at the Ponywille post office. It looked like a regular building in town the only difference being that it had a big sign that looked like a letter. "So this is the Ponywille post office. You know I notice that the stores architecture looks the most creative and I don't only mean this place, the joke shop looks like a freaking jester hat."
"Well you can thank House Planer for that, He's the one that designed all of the shops in Ponywille and yeah I have noticed that he makes the stores allot more interesting then the regular buildings, but enough about that, lets get my papers before I'm late." With that said we entered the building. Inside we were greeted by a walleyed pegasus with light grey fur and a blonde mane. "Good morning Derpy." Said Scootaloo with a huge smile on her face.
"Oh good morning Scootaloo you're here allot earlier than usual." Said Derpy.
"Yeah I know. I was just too full of energy so I didn't sleep that much, that's the reason why I'm here so early." She answered. I put that little detail about the energy in my mind for later use. After that I concentrated back on the conversation.
"Okay Scootaloo just make sure to get some sleep tonight. See you later." With that Derpy left the post office and we went to the front counter.
"Good morning Post Note I'm here to pick up my bag." The stallion behind the counter known as Post Note had a chalk white coat colour and an orange mane. He was also wearing the traditional blue postman uniform.
"Ah good morning Scootaloo." He said while reaching for a bag behind him. He handed her the bag and then he said. "Here you go. Make sure to finish up before you go to school."
"Was I ever late." She said while putting on her bag.
"No I guess not. Well have a good run." With that we left the post office and went to go find an empty alleyway.
***
After we finished our paper way in literally half a minute. Yeah that quickly an because of that reason we went to Sugar cube corner to waste about ten minutes so that it wouldn't look too suspicious and the best part is that we meet Apple Bloom on our paper route, so that is also the reason why we finished so quickly because they pitched in. Now with that said lets return to our heroes. "So Scoots when do we need to return to the post office." I asked. Then she looked looked at her watch and then she said.
"About eight minutes. Why?" Then I decided to pull up a diagram behind me.
"Well it has something to do with you two being full off energy, as you two said, well I figured out why. It wasn't too noticiable with Apple Bloom, but now with two pieces it seems that you two are getting more energized and I'm a little worried that you are not going to be able to handle the full power." Then Apple Bloom stopped me and asked.
"But isn't this just our bodies getting used to the new power that we get? It is probably going to normalize in the future. We just don't know yet." After giving it some thought I turned to my chart, changed some things and after that I put it away and said.
"Well I guess your right about that. I'll wait for a week, but I'm still going to formulate a plan. In the mean time make sure to use your magic in an unoticiable way. Maybe like a small body shield so that you get some sleep tonight. With that said lets go to the post office." Scootaloo checked her watch then her face turned to shock after that she quickly finished off her muffin and then she zoomed out the door with us just looking at the spot where she was. "Okay then AB lets go to the school. I think we are going to meet her there." That seemed to have snapped her out of it and then she said.
"Sure lets go." With that we left the bakery and started walking towards the school.
***
At the school we met up with Sweetie and waited for Scootaloo to arrive and sure enough she arrived just in time for school to begin. With that we quickly went inside. Once inside we sat down and then the teacher said. "Okay class today we have something special planed for you. We are going to have a visitor you probably know him, because he attacked Ponywille twice by know. Come in Discord." After that a weird chimera of a creature entered the school house. He was just as tall at me and walked on two legs, but that is where the differences end and I would describe him to you, but I rather just show you what he looked like.
Yeah pretty creative, but the icing on the shit sundae is that when he looked my way he saw me. I quickly shushed him before he started to scream and he almost began, but I physically snapped his mouth shut. "Okay Discord I'm going to explain myself as soon as you finish your little presentation, but until then keep your mouth shut. Did you get all that?" He nodded. I let go of his mouth and then I said. "Okay then. Now, put on a show for me." With that I floated to the back of the class and listened to his presentation.
"Are you okay Discord?" Asked the teacher in a worried tone.
"Yeah I'm good. Now let me begin. Hi my name is Discord and I am a draconequus. Now I'm going to answer any and all questions. So lets begin." Nobody lifted up their hand. I had a question so I went to Apple Bloom whispered it to her so that she would forward it. After I gave her my question I went back to the back of the class with a grin on my face. Then Apple Bloom raised her hand. "Yes?"
"Hi my name's Apple Bloom and I want to know how you were created?" That seemed to have shocked him, but he still answered.
"Well if I'm completely honest with you Apple Bloom, I don't know. The reason for that is that I am over two thousand years old and I just don't remember. The only thing that I can tell you on that is that I just appeared. I couldn't be born, since I'm the only one of my species alive and since we are immortal. Does that answer your question?" He said while looking at her and at me. We both nodded and then again nobody raised their hands. "Now come on don't be scared." Then I got another idea.
"Hey Scoots ask him how he flies if he doesn't move his wings." She repeated my question and then he answered.
"Ah that's an easy one. You see my wings are rarely used because I use magic to fly. I know that sounds stupid so let me explain." Then he snapped his fingers and a lab coat appeared around her. "Our earth has a tether on all of us the only thing that I do is cut that tether and I retie it to a random passing cloud and that is how I fly without using my wings." He even explained the whole thing using pictures. "Any other questions?" After that again no one asked any questions I made sure to voice my opinion this time.
"Why isn't anyone asking any questions? Okay then another question umm." Then I snapped my fingers and said. "Hey Sweetie ask him if he has a girlfriend?" She did and then the whole class started laughing and I was just in the background grinning like the cheshire cat, but of course the teacher stopped my little joke by saying.
"Now children calm down, as for you Sweetie you are going to ask anymore questions for the day. Now Discord it was nice having you here, but it seems that the children have no questions for you so with that children say goodbye." They then did what was asked of them and with that Discord said.
"Well it was nice meeting you all with that I say to you ta-ta." Then he snapped his fingers and disappeared. With that I said.
"Hey guys I'm going to be right back I need to go and talk to him real quick." They all subtly nodded and then I went through the wall. On the other side I found Discord.
"Hello there guy." Said Discord.
"Well it's nice to meet you as well and I'm sorry for that last question. It was only a joke."
"Yeah. That was a good one, but enough about that, who are you?" He asked while sitting down on a stool.
"My name is Mike and I am a lick king, who is the ruler of the Farelight empire, which is currently in suspended animation until I find all the pieces of my armour. And the reason why those three kids can hear me is because I gave them a small amount of my magic. Any questions?"
"Just one how far back did your empire exists, because it is reviving some memories, but I just can't remember?" He asked while scratching his head.
"Well about three thousand years back." Then his eyes opened up in shock. "And before you flip out, no I'm not evil that is only something that the humans made up, because they didn't understand me and my powers." Then he calmed down.
"Okay then. That actually explains allot. Well I guess that I'll keep this a secret until further notice. Hey do you guys need any help? I could always teleport you all the pieces if I locate them." That made me think and after some time I got an idea.
"Nah you don't have to trouble yourself with that, but you can keep me up to date on what's happening in the castle regarding the 'sigh' Teenage attackers. And could you please tell them to switch the name to the Artifact Hunters that would be great." I said.
"Sure I'll see what I can do. Now if you excuse me I need to go to a tea party." After that he snapped his fingers and disappeared. I simply turned around and went back inside.
***
Once back inside I Heard the last bit of conversation from Cheerile. "And that class is why you newer ask such questions." Then the bell rang. "Okay then class you have a five minute break and after that we are going to continue with math." With that said all of the students left except for the Crusaders. They waited for Mike to catch up.
"Hey girls come go outside and find a secluded spot, after that I'll tell you everything that happened outside. Now go and have some fun." With that said they all nodded and ran outside. After that I slowly started to walk outside. Once outside I simply enjoyed watching the kids play reminiscing about my empire. "Man I sure hope that I can get them ready before something really bad happens, but with those spirits and determination I'm sure they'll pull it off." I said to myself. Then I noticed the three crusaders waving me over. With that in mind I went over to them. When I was withing talking distance Scootaloo asked.
"So what happened when you left the room?"
"Well Scootaloo I had a little talk with the lord of chaos and he offered some help to us. He is going to keep us up to date with what is happening at the castle. I also asked him to suggest our new name and that is basically all that we talked about." After that Sweetie said.
"Oh that's good we thought that he was going to rat us out."
"Yeah I thought so two." Added Apple Bloom.
"Nah he's cool. And besides I actually knew a couple of draconequuy back in the day. Man those guys always knew how to set up a good party, but that is not the point now with that done go and play, because tonight we are going to train you to the max. We are going for the next piece in two weeks time. Now go and enjoy your day." With that said they again all nodded and went back to playing with their classmates. "Yup it's going to be a long two weeks for them." With that said he continued watching over them.
